110 ILCS 947/65.05

(110 ILCS 947/65.05)

Sec. 65.05. Traineeship and fellowship program; training of professional personnel.

(a) The Commission, with the advice of the Advisory Council on Education of Children with Disabilities created under Section 14-3.01 of the School Code, may make traineeship or fellowship grants to persons of good character who are interested in working in programs for the education of children with disabilities, for either part-time or full-time study in programs designed to qualify them under Section 14-1.10 of the School Code. Persons to qualify for a traineeship must have earned at least 60 semester hours of college credit, and persons to qualify for a fellowship must be graduates of a recognized college or university. Such traineeships and fellowships may be in amounts of not more than $1,500 per academic year for traineeships and not more than $3,000 per academic year for fellowships, except an additional sum up to $2,500 annually for each grantee may be allowed to any approved institution of higher learning in Illinois for the actual cost to the institution, as certified by the institution. Part-time students and summer session students may be awarded grants on a pro rata basis. The Commission shall make traineeship or fellowship grants available to bilingual individuals who are interested in working in programs for the education of children from non-English speaking backgrounds, for either part-time or full-time study programs to qualify them under Section 14-1.10 of the School Code.

(b) All grants shall be made under rules and regulations prescribed by the Commission and issued pursuant to this Act; provided that no rule or regulation promulgated by the State Board of Education prior to July 1, 1994 pursuant to the exercise of any right, power, duty, responsibility or matter of pending business transferred from the State Board of Education to the Commission under this Section shall be affected thereby, and all such rules and regulations shall become the rules and regulations of the Commission until modified or changed by the Commission in accordance with law.

(c) The Commission, with the advice of and in consultation with the State Board of Education, may contract with any approved institution of higher learning in Illinois to offer courses required for the professional training of special education personnel at such times and locations as may best serve the needs of children with disabilities in Illinois and may reimburse the institution of higher learning for any financial loss incurred due to low enrollments, distance from campus, or other good and substantial reason satisfactory to the Advisory Council on Education of Children with Disabilities.

(d) The Commission shall administer the traineeship and fellowship account and related record of each person who is attending an institution of higher learning under a traineeship or fellowship awarded pursuant to this Section and at each proper time shall certify to the State Comptroller the current payment to be made to the holder of each fellowship, in accordance with an appropriate certificate of the holder of such fellowship endorsed by the institution of higher learning attended by the holder.

(e) Following the completion of such program of study the recipient of such traineeship or fellowship is expected to accept employment within one year in an approved program of special education for children with disabilities in Illinois on the basis of 1/2 year of service for each academic year of training received through a grant under this Section. Persons who fail to comply with this provision may, at the discretion of the Commission with the advice of the Advisory Council on Education of Children with Disabilities, be required to refund all or part of the traineeship or fellowship moneys received.

(f) This Section is substantially the same as Section 14-10.01 of the School Code, which Section is repealed by this amendatory Act of 1993, and shall be construed as a continuation of the traineeship and fellowship program established by that prior law, and not as a new or different traineeship or fellowship program. The State Board of Education shall transfer to the Commission, as the successor to the State Board of Education for all purposes of administering and implementing the provisions of this Section, all books, accounts, records, papers, documents, contracts, agreements, and pending business in any way relating to the traineeship and fellowship program continued under this Section; and all traineeship and fellowship grants at any time made under that program by, and all applications for any such traineeship or fellowship grants at any time made to, the State Board of Education shall be unaffected by the transfer to the Commission of all responsibility for the administration and implementation of the traineeship and fellowship program continued under this Section. The State Board of Education shall furnish to the Commission such other information as the Commission may request to assist it in administering this Section.

(Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)