Full Text of HB0520 98th General Assembly
HB0520 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014 HB0520 Introduced 1/25/2013, by Rep. Michael J. Madigan SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: | | |
Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Makes a technical change
in a Section concerning the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning education.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is | 5 | | amended by changing Section 52 as follows:
| 6 | | (110 ILCS 947/52)
| 7 | | Sec. 52. Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program.
| 8 | | (a) In order to encourage academically talented Illinois | 9 | | students,
especially minority students, to pursue teaching | 10 | | careers, especially in
teacher shortage
disciplines
(which | 11 | | shall be defined to include early childhood education) or at
| 12 | | hard-to-staff schools (as defined by the
the Commission in | 13 | | consultation with the
State Board of Education), to provide | 14 | | those students with the crucial mentoring, guidance, and | 15 | | in-service support that will significantly increase the | 16 | | likelihood that they will complete their full teaching | 17 | | commitments and elect to continue teaching in targeted | 18 | | disciplines and hard-to-staff schools, and to ensure that | 19 | | students in this State will continue to have access to a pool | 20 | | of highly-qualified teachers, the Commission shall combine the | 21 | | best practices and methods and programmatic functions of the | 22 | | Illinois Future Teacher Corps Program and the Golden Apple | 23 | | Foundation for Excellence in Teaching's Golden Apple Scholars |
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| 1 | | of Illinois Program into one program. The consolidated program | 2 | | shall be known as the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program | 3 | | and shall be managed by the Golden Apple Foundation for | 4 | | Excellence in Teaching. | 5 | | (1) This consolidated program shall be fully | 6 | | operational before July 1, 2012. The existing programs, the | 7 | | Illinois Future Teacher Corps Program and the Golden Apple | 8 | | Scholars Program, shall continue to exist and be governed | 9 | | as they have under this Section before the effective date | 10 | | of this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly and any | 11 | | associated administrative rules, but shall also begin a | 12 | | transition period commencing on the first day of the 2010 | 13 | | fiscal year and ending on the last day of the 2013 fiscal | 14 | | year. | 15 | | (2) During the transition period, the Commission | 16 | | shall, in consultation with the Golden Apple Foundation, | 17 | | establish rules governing the transition period and | 18 | | related fund transfers and to facilitate coordination and | 19 | | implementation of the consolidated program. Eligible | 20 | | students in this State may continue to apply for Illinois | 21 | | Future Teacher Corps scholarships under the current rules | 22 | | governing such applications during the transition period. | 23 | | Fiscal Year 2012 shall be the last year that such | 24 | | scholarships are available. | 25 | | (3) The Commission shall, by March 30, 2010, develop an | 26 | | estimate of General Revenue Funds that it expects will |
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| 1 | | remain unexpended at the end of FY 2010 from the FY 2010 | 2 | | appropriation for the Illinois Future Teacher Corps. No | 3 | | later than April 15, 2010, the Commission shall cause to be | 4 | | transferred funds comprising 85% of this estimated amount | 5 | | to the Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching. | 6 | | The Commission shall subsequently transfer funding from | 7 | | the Illinois Future Teacher Corps Program to the Golden | 8 | | Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching on the | 9 | | following schedule and in the following amounts:
| 10 | | (A) FY 2011: an amount equal to 58% of the total | 11 | | combined appropriation for the Golden Apple Foundation | 12 | | for Excellence in Teaching and the Illinois Future | 13 | | Teacher Corps Program; | 14 | | (B) FY 2012: an amount equal to 80% of the combined | 15 | | total appropriation for the Golden Apple Foundation | 16 | | for Excellence in Teaching and the Illinois Future | 17 | | Teacher Corps Program; | 18 | | (C) FY 2013: the entire appropriation shall be | 19 | | designated for the Golden Apple Foundation for | 20 | | Excellence in Teaching. | 21 | | (4) Following the consolidation of the 2 programs, at | 22 | | least 30% of Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program | 23 | | scholarships available each year shall be awarded to | 24 | | students residing in counties having a population of less | 25 | | than 500,000. | 26 | | (5) Following the consolidation of the 2 programs, the |
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| 1 | | Auditor General shall prepare an annual audit of the | 2 | | operations and finances of the Golden Apple Scholars of | 3 | | Illinois Program. This audit shall be provided to the | 4 | | Governor and the General Assembly. | 5 | | (a-5) The Commission shall, each year until Fiscal Year | 6 | | 2011, receive and consider applications
for scholarship | 7 | | assistance under this Section. An applicant is eligible for an | 8 | | Illinois Future Teacher Corps
scholarship under this Section | 9 | | when the Commission finds that the applicant is:
| 10 | | (1) a United States citizen or eligible noncitizen;
| 11 | | (2) a resident of Illinois;
| 12 | | (3) a high school graduate or a person who has received | 13 | | a General
Educational Development Certificate;
| 14 | | (4) enrolled or accepted for enrollment at or above the | 15 | | junior level,
on at least a half-time basis, at an Illinois | 16 | | institution of higher learning;
and
| 17 | | (5) pursuing a postsecondary course of study leading to | 18 | | initial
certification or pursuing additional
course
work
| 19 | | needed to gain State Board of Education approval to teach, | 20 | | including
alternative teacher certification.
| 21 | | (b) Recipients shall be selected from among applicants | 22 | | qualified pursuant to
subsection (a) based on a combination of | 23 | | the following criteria as set forth by
the Commission until | 24 | | Fiscal Year 2011: (1) academic excellence; (2) status as a | 25 | | minority student as
defined in Section 50; and (3) financial | 26 | | need. Preference may be given to
previous recipients of |
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| 1 | | assistance under this Section, provided they continue to
| 2 | | maintain eligibility and maintain satisfactory academic | 3 | | progress as determined
by the institution of higher learning at | 4 | | which they enroll.
| 5 | | In each year until the consolidation of the 2 programs | 6 | | under subsection (a) of this Section has been completed, to | 7 | | support mentoring, guidance, and in-service support for | 8 | | teaching candidates in order to increase the likelihood that | 9 | | they will complete their full teaching commitments and elect to | 10 | | continue teaching in targeted disciplines and hard-to-staff | 11 | | schools, a minimum of 200 awards shall be allocated to | 12 | | participants in the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois program. | 13 | | (c) Each scholarship awarded under this Section shall be in | 14 | | an amount
sufficient to pay the tuition and fees and room and | 15 | | board costs of the Illinois
institution of higher learning at | 16 | | which the recipient is enrolled, up to
an annual maximum of | 17 | | $5,000; except that in the case of a
recipient who
does not
| 18 | | reside
on-campus at the institution of higher learning at which | 19 | | he or she is enrolled,
the amount of the scholarship shall be | 20 | | sufficient to pay tuition and fee
expenses and a commuter | 21 | | allowance, up to an annual maximum of $5,000.
For recipients | 22 | | who agree to teach in a teacher shortage discipline or at a
| 23 | | hard-to-staff school under subsection (i) of this Section, the | 24 | | Commission
may, by rule and subject to appropriation, increase | 25 | | the annual
maximum amount to $10,000. If a recipient agrees to | 26 | | teach in both a
teacher shortage discipline and at a |
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| 1 | | hard-to-staff school under
subsection (i) of this Section, the | 2 | | Commission may increase the amount of the
scholarship awarded
| 3 | | by up to an additional $5,000.
| 4 | | (d) The total amount of scholarship assistance awarded by | 5 | | the Commission
under this Section to an individual in any given | 6 | | fiscal year, when added to
other financial assistance awarded | 7 | | to that individual for that year, shall not
exceed the cost of | 8 | | attendance at the institution of higher learning at which
the | 9 | | student is enrolled.
| 10 | | (e) A recipient may receive up to 4 semesters or 6
quarters | 11 | | of scholarship
assistance under this Section.
| 12 | | (f) All applications for scholarship assistance to be | 13 | | awarded under this
Section shall be made to the Commission in a | 14 | | form as set forth by the
Commission. The form of application | 15 | | and the information required to be set
forth therein shall be | 16 | | determined by the Commission, and the Commission shall
require | 17 | | eligible applicants to submit with their applications such | 18 | | supporting
documents as the Commission deems necessary. | 19 | | Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, following the | 20 | | completion of the transition of funding of the Illinois Future | 21 | | Teacher Corps to the Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in | 22 | | Teaching, all applications for scholarship assistance under | 23 | | this Section shall be in a form determined by the Golden Apple | 24 | | Foundation for Excellence in Teaching.
| 25 | | (g) Subject to a separate appropriation made for such | 26 | | purposes, payment of
any
scholarship awarded under this Section |
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| 1 | | shall be determined by the Commission.
There shall be a | 2 | | separate appropriation made for scholarships awarded
to | 3 | | recipients who agree to teach in a teacher shortage discipline | 4 | | or at a
hard-to-staff school under subsection (i) of this | 5 | | Section.
The Commission may use for scholarship assistance | 6 | | under this Section
(i) all funds appropriated for scholarships | 7 | | under this Section that were
formerly known as ITEACH Teacher | 8 | | Shortage Scholarships and (ii) all
funds appropriated for | 9 | | scholarships under Section 65.65 of this Act
(repealed by this | 10 | | amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly), formerly
known as | 11 | | Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarships.
| 12 | | All scholarship funds distributed in accordance with this | 13 | | Section shall be
paid
to the institution on behalf of the | 14 | | recipients. Scholarship funds are
applicable toward 2 | 15 | | semesters or 3 quarters of enrollment within an academic
year.
| 16 | | (h) The Commission shall administer the
scholarship | 17 | | program established by this Section and shall make all | 18 | | necessary
and
proper rules not inconsistent with this Section | 19 | | for its effective
implementation.
| 20 | | (i) Prior to receiving scholarship assistance for any | 21 | | academic year, each
recipient of a scholarship awarded under | 22 | | this
Section shall be required by the Commission to sign an | 23 | | agreement under which
the
recipient pledges that, within the | 24 | | one-year period following the
termination
of the academic | 25 | | program for which the recipient was awarded a scholarship, the
| 26 | | recipient: (i) shall begin teaching for a period of not
less |
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| 1 | | than 5 years, (ii) shall fulfill this teaching obligation at a | 2 | | nonprofit
Illinois public,
private, or parochial
preschool or | 3 | | an Illinois public elementary or secondary school, and (iii)
| 4 | | shall, upon request of
the
Commission, provide the Commission | 5 | | with evidence that he or she is fulfilling
or has fulfilled the | 6 | | terms of the teaching agreement provided for in this
| 7 | | subsection.
| 8 | | (j) If a recipient of a scholarship awarded under this | 9 | | Section fails to
fulfill the teaching obligation set forth in | 10 | | subsection (i) of this Section,
the Commission shall require | 11 | | the recipient to repay the amount of the
scholarships received, | 12 | | prorated according to the fraction of the teaching
obligation | 13 | | not completed, plus interest at a rate of 5% and if applicable, | 14 | | reasonable
collection fees. The Commission is authorized to | 15 | | establish rules relating to
its collection activities for | 16 | | repayment
of scholarships under this Section.
Payments | 17 | | received by the Commission under this subsection (j)
shall be | 18 | | remitted to the State Comptroller for deposit into
the General | 19 | | Revenue Fund, except that that portion of a
recipient's | 20 | | repayment that equals the amount in expenses that
the | 21 | | Commission has reasonably incurred in attempting
collection | 22 | | from that recipient shall be remitted to the State
Comptroller | 23 | | for deposit into the Commission's Accounts
Receivable Fund. | 24 | | (k) A recipient of a scholarship awarded by the Commission | 25 | | under this
Section shall not be in violation of the agreement | 26 | | entered into pursuant to
subsection (i) if the recipient (i) |
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| 1 | | enrolls on a full-time basis as a graduate
student in a course | 2 | | of study related to the field of teaching at an institution
of | 3 | | higher learning; (ii) is serving as a member of the armed | 4 | | services of the
United States; (iii) is temporarily totally | 5 | | disabled, as established by sworn
affidavit of a qualified | 6 | | physician; (iv) is seeking and unable to find
full-time | 7 | | employment as a teacher at a school that satisfies the criteria | 8 | | set
forth
in subsection (i) and is able to provide evidence of | 9 | | that fact; (v) is taking additional courses, on at least a | 10 | | half-time basis, needed to obtain certification as a teacher in | 11 | | Illinois; or (vi) is fulfilling teaching requirements | 12 | | associated with other programs administered by the Commission | 13 | | and cannot concurrently fulfill them under this Section in a | 14 | | period of time equal to the length of the teaching obligation. | 15 | | Any such
extension of the period during which the teaching | 16 | | requirement must be fulfilled
shall be subject to limitations | 17 | | of duration as established by the Commission.
| 18 | | (Source: P.A. 95-939, eff. 1-1-09; 96-411, eff. 8-13-09.)
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