Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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110 ILCS 947/65.25

(110 ILCS 947/65.25)

Sec. 65.25. Teacher shortage scholarships.

(a) The Commission may annually award a number of scholarships
to persons preparing to teach in areas of identified staff shortages.  Such
scholarships shall be issued to individuals who make application to the
Commission and who agree to take courses at qualified institutions of
higher learning which will prepare them to teach in areas of identified staff
shortages.

(b) Scholarships awarded under this Section shall be issued pursuant to
regulations promulgated by the Commission;
provided that no rule or regulation promulgated by the State Board of
Education prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1993 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.  The Commission
shall allocate the scholarships awarded between persons
initially preparing to teach, persons holding valid teaching
certificates issued under Articles 21 and 34 of the School Code, and persons
holding a bachelor's degree from any accredited college or university who
have been employed for a minimum of 10 years in a field other than teaching.

(c) Each scholarship shall be utilized by its holder for the payment of
tuition and non-revenue bond fees at any qualified institution of higher
learning. Such tuition and fees shall be available only for courses that
will enable the individual to be certified to teach in areas of identified
staff shortages.  The Commission shall determine which
courses are eligible for tuition payments under this Section.

(d) The Commission may make tuition payments directly to
the qualified institution of higher learning which the individual attends for
the courses prescribed or may make payments to the teacher.  Any teacher
who received payments and who fails to enroll in the courses prescribed
shall refund the payments to the Commission.

(e) Following the completion of the program of study, persons who held
valid teaching certificates and persons holding a bachelor's degree from
any accredited college or university who have been employed for a minimum
of 10 years in a field other than teaching prior to
receiving a teacher shortage scholarship must accept employment within
2 years in a school in Illinois within 60 miles of the person's
residence to teach in an area of identified staff shortage for a period of
at least 3 years; provided, however that any such person instead may
elect to accept employment within such 2 year period to teach in an area
of identified staff shortage for a period of at least 3 years in a school
in Illinois which is more than 60 miles from such person's residence.
Persons initially preparing to teach prior to receiving a teacher shortage
scholarship must accept employment within 2 years in a school in Illinois
to teach in an area of identified staff shortage for a period of at least
3 years.  Individuals who fail to comply with this provision shall
refund all of the scholarships awarded to the Commission,
whether payments were made directly to the institutions of higher learning
or to the individuals, and this condition shall be agreed to in writing by
all scholarship recipients at the time the scholarship is awarded.  No
individual shall be required to refund tuition payments if his or her
failure to obtain employment as a teacher in a school is the result of
financial conditions within school districts.  The
rules and regulations promulgated as provided in this Section shall contain
provisions regarding the waiving and deferral of such
payments.

(f) The Commission, with the cooperation of the State Board of Education,
shall assist individuals who have
participated in the scholarship program established by this Section in
finding employment in areas of identified staff shortages.

(g) Beginning in September, 1994 and annually thereafter, the Commission,
using data annually supplied by the State Board of Education under procedures
developed by it to measure the level of shortage of qualified bilingual
personnel serving students with disabilities,
shall annually publish (i) the level of shortage of qualified
bilingual personnel serving students with disabilities, and (ii) allocations
of scholarships for personnel preparation training programs in the areas of
bilingual special education teacher training and bilingual school service
personnel.

(h) Appropriations for the scholarships outlined in this Section shall
be made to the Commission from funds appropriated by the General
Assembly.

(i) This Section is substantially the same as Section 30-4c of the School
Code, which Section is repealed by this amendatory Act of 1993, and shall be
construed as a continuation of the teacher shortage scholarship program
established under that prior law, and not as a new or different teacher
shortage scholarship 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 teacher shortage scholarship program continued under this
Section;
and all scholarships at any time awarded under that program
by, and all applications for any such scholarships
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 teacher shortage scholarship 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.

(j) For the purposes of this Section:

"Qualified institution of higher learning" means the University of
Illinois, Southern Illinois University, Chicago State University, Eastern
Illinois University, Governors State University, Illinois State University,
Northeastern Illinois University, Northern Illinois University, Western
Illinois University, the public community colleges subject to the Public Community
College Act and any Illinois privately operated college, community college or
university offering degrees and instructional programs above the high
school level either in residence or by correspondence.  The Board of
Higher Education and the Commission, in consultation with the State Board of
Education, shall identify qualified
institutions to supply the demand for bilingual special education teachers
and bilingual school service personnel.

"Areas of identified staff shortages" means courses of study, including, but not limited to, agricultural education, in which the
number of teachers is insufficient to meet student or school district demand
for such instruction as determined by the State Board of Education.

(Source: P.A. 99-826, eff. 1-1-17.)