Full Text of HB1945 94th General Assembly
HB1945 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006 HB1945
Introduced 2/14/2005, by Rep. Michael J. Madigan - Barbara Flynn Currie - Kevin A. McCarthy SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Makes a technical change
in a Section concerning the Illinois Future Teacher Corps
Program.
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A BILL FOR
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HB1945 |
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LRB094 02989 NHT 32990 b |
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| AN ACT concerning education.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 |
| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is | 5 |
| amended by changing Section 52 as follows:
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| (110 ILCS 947/52)
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| Sec. 52. Illinois Future Teacher Corps Program.
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| (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
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| hard-to-staff schools (as defined by the
the Commission in | 13 |
| consultation with the
State Board of Education),
the Commission | 14 |
| shall, each year, receive and consider applications
for | 15 |
| scholarship assistance under this Section. An applicant is | 16 |
| eligible for a
scholarship under this Section when the | 17 |
| Commission finds that the applicant is:
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| (1) a United States citizen or eligible noncitizen;
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| (2) a resident of Illinois;
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| (3) a high school graduate or a person who has received | 21 |
| a General
Educational Development Certificate;
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| (4) enrolled or accepted for enrollment at or above the | 23 |
| junior level,
on at least a half-time basis, at an Illinois | 24 |
| institution of higher learning;
and
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| (5) pursuing a postsecondary course of study leading to | 26 |
| initial
certification or pursuing additional
course
work
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| needed to gain State Board of Education approval to teach, | 28 |
| including
alternative teacher certification.
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| (b) Recipients shall be selected from among applicants | 30 |
| qualified pursuant to
subsection (a) based on a combination of | 31 |
| the following criteria as set forth by
the Commission: (1) | 32 |
| academic excellence; (2) status as a minority student as
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HB1945 |
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LRB094 02989 NHT 32990 b |
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| defined in Section 50; and (3) financial need. Preference may | 2 |
| be given to
previous recipients of assistance under this | 3 |
| Section, provided they continue to
maintain eligibility and | 4 |
| maintain satisfactory academic progress as determined
by the | 5 |
| institution of higher learning at which they enroll.
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| (c) Each scholarship awarded under this Section shall be in | 7 |
| an amount
sufficient to pay the tuition and fees and room and | 8 |
| board costs of the Illinois
institution of higher learning at | 9 |
| which the recipient is enrolled, up to
an annual maximum of | 10 |
| $5,000; except that in the case of a
recipient who
does not
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| reside
on-campus at the institution of higher learning at which | 12 |
| he or she is enrolled,
the amount of the scholarship shall be | 13 |
| sufficient to pay tuition and fee
expenses and a commuter | 14 |
| allowance, up to an annual maximum of $5,000.
For recipients | 15 |
| who agree to teach in a teacher shortage discipline or at a
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| hard-to-staff school under subsection (i) of this Section, the | 17 |
| Commission
may, by rule and subject to appropriation, increase | 18 |
| the annual
maximum amount to $10,000. If a recipient agrees to | 19 |
| teach in both a
teacher shortage discipline and at a | 20 |
| hard-to-staff school under
subsection (i) of this Section, the | 21 |
| Commission may increase the amount of the
scholarship awarded
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| by up to an additional $5,000.
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| (d) The total amount of scholarship assistance awarded by | 24 |
| the Commission
under this Section to an individual in any given | 25 |
| fiscal year, when added to
other financial assistance awarded | 26 |
| to that individual for that year, shall not
exceed the cost of | 27 |
| attendance at the institution of higher learning at which
the | 28 |
| student is enrolled.
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| (e) A recipient may receive up to 4 semesters or 6
quarters | 30 |
| of scholarship
assistance under this Section.
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| (f) All applications for scholarship assistance to be | 32 |
| awarded under this
Section shall be made to the Commission in a | 33 |
| form as set forth by the
Commission. The form of application | 34 |
| and the information required to be set
forth therein shall be | 35 |
| determined by the Commission, and the Commission shall
require | 36 |
| eligible applicants to submit with their applications such |
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| supporting
documents as the Commission deems necessary.
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| (g) Subject to a separate appropriation made for such | 3 |
| purposes, payment of
any
scholarship awarded under this Section | 4 |
| shall be determined by the Commission.
There shall be a | 5 |
| separate appropriation made for scholarships awarded
to | 6 |
| recipients who agree to teach in a teacher shortage discipline | 7 |
| or at a
hard-to-staff school under subsection (i) of this | 8 |
| Section.
The Commission may use for scholarship assistance | 9 |
| under this Section
(i) all funds appropriated for scholarships | 10 |
| under this Section that were
formerly known as ITEACH Teacher | 11 |
| Shortage Scholarships and (ii) all
funds appropriated for | 12 |
| scholarships under Section 65.65 of this Act
(repealed by this | 13 |
| amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly), formerly
known as | 14 |
| Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarships.
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| All scholarship funds distributed in accordance with this | 16 |
| Section shall be
paid
to the institution on behalf of the | 17 |
| recipients. Scholarship funds are
applicable toward 2 | 18 |
| semesters or 3 quarters of enrollment within an academic
year.
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| (h) The Commission shall administer the
scholarship | 20 |
| program established by this Section and shall make all | 21 |
| necessary
and
proper rules not inconsistent with this Section | 22 |
| for its effective
implementation.
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| (i) Prior to receiving scholarship assistance for any | 24 |
| academic year, each
recipient of a scholarship awarded under | 25 |
| this
Section shall be required by the Commission to sign an | 26 |
| agreement under which
the
recipient pledges that, within the | 27 |
| one-year period following the
termination
of the academic | 28 |
| program for which the recipient was awarded a scholarship, the
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| recipient: (i) shall begin teaching for a period of not
less | 30 |
| than 5 years, (ii) shall fulfill this teaching obligation at a | 31 |
| nonprofit
Illinois public,
private, or parochial
preschool or | 32 |
| an Illinois public elementary or secondary school, and (iii)
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| shall, upon request of
the
Commission, provide the Commission | 34 |
| with evidence that he or she is fulfilling
or has fulfilled the | 35 |
| terms of the teaching agreement provided for in this
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| subsection.
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| (j) If a recipient of a scholarship awarded under this | 2 |
| Section fails to
fulfill the teaching obligation set forth in | 3 |
| subsection (i) of this Section,
the Commission shall require | 4 |
| the recipient to repay the amount of the
scholarships received, | 5 |
| prorated according to the fraction of the teaching
obligation | 6 |
| not completed, plus interest at a rate of 5% and if applicable, | 7 |
| reasonable
collection fees. The Commission is authorized to | 8 |
| establish rules relating to
its collection activities for | 9 |
| repayment
of scholarships under this Section.
Payments | 10 |
| received by the Commission under this subsection (j)
shall be | 11 |
| remitted to the State Comptroller for deposit into
the General | 12 |
| Revenue Fund, except that that portion of a
recipient's | 13 |
| repayment that equals the amount in expenses that
the | 14 |
| Commission has reasonably incurred in attempting
collection | 15 |
| from that recipient shall be remitted to the State
Comptroller | 16 |
| for deposit into the Commission's Accounts
Receivable Fund.
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| (k) A recipient of a scholarship awarded by the Commission | 18 |
| under this
Section shall not be in violation of the agreement | 19 |
| entered into pursuant to
subsection (i) if the recipient (i) | 20 |
| enrolls on a full-time basis as a graduate
student in a course | 21 |
| of study related to the field of teaching at an institution
of | 22 |
| higher learning; (ii) is serving as a member of the armed | 23 |
| services of the
United States; (iii) is temporarily totally | 24 |
| disabled, as established by sworn
affidavit of a qualified | 25 |
| physician; or (iv) is seeking and unable to find
full-time | 26 |
| employment as a teacher at a school that satisfies the criteria | 27 |
| set
forth
in subsection (i) and is able to provide evidence of | 28 |
| that fact. Any such
extension of the period during which the | 29 |
| teaching requirement must be fulfilled
shall be subject to | 30 |
| limitations of duration as established by the Commission.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-845, eff. 1-1-03; 93-21, eff. 7-1-03.)
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