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92_SB1521eng
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1 AN ACT relating to education.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
5 Section 5.545 as follows:
6 (30 ILCS 105/5.545 new)
7 Sec. 5.545. The Illinois Future Teacher Corps
8 Scholarship Fund.
9 Section 10. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act
10 is amended by adding Section 65.65 as follows:
11 (110 ILCS 947/65.65 new)
12 Sec. 65.65. Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarships.
13 (a) In this Section:
14 "Fees" means matriculation, graduation, activity, term,
15 or incidental fees. "Fees" does not include any other
16 fees, including book rental, service, laboratory, supply,
17 and union building fees, hospital and medical insurance fees,
18 and any fees established for the operation and maintenance of
19 buildings the income of which is pledged to the payment of
20 interest and principal on bonds issued by the governing board
21 of an institution of higher learning.
22 "Shortage" means an unfilled teaching position or one
23 that is filled but is occupied by a person who is not fully
24 certified by the State for that teaching position at the
25 start of the school year.
26 "Scholarship" means an Illinois Future Teacher Corps
27 Scholarship.
28 "Tuition and other necessary fees" includes the
29 customary charge for instruction and use of facilities in
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1 general and the additional fixed fees charged for specified
2 purposes that are required generally of non-scholarship
3 recipients for each academic term for which the recipient of
4 a scholarship under this Section actually enrolls. "Tuition
5 and other necessary fees" does not include fees payable only
6 once or breakage fees and other contingent deposits that are
7 refundable in whole or in part. "Tuition and other necessary
8 fees" does not include expenses for any sectarian or
9 denominational instruction, for the construction or
10 maintenance of sectarian or denominational facilities, or for
11 any other sectarian or denominational purposes or activity.
12 (b) A program is created to provide new teacher training
13 scholarships, to be known as Illinois Future Teacher Corps
14 Scholarships. The scholarships are for full-time
15 undergraduate and graduate students pursuing studies at
16 qualified institutions of higher learning leading to teacher
17 certification in this State. To receive a scholarship, a
18 graduate student must be seeking retraining, from another
19 field, to enter a teaching career. No more than half of the
20 scholarships shall be awarded to graduate students seeking
21 retraining.
22 (c) The Commission, in accordance with rules adopted for
23 the program created under this Section, shall provide
24 funding, determine the eligibility of applicants, and
25 designate each year's new recipients from among those
26 applicants who qualify for consideration by showing:
27 (1) that he or she is a resident of this State
28 and a citizen or a lawful permanent resident alien of the
29 United States;
30 (2) that he or she (i) has successfully completed
31 the program of instruction at an approved high
32 school or (ii) is a student in good standing at that
33 school and is enrolled in a program of instruction that
34 will be completed by the end of the school year and, in
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1 either event, that his or her cumulative grade point
2 average was or is in the upper one-third of his or her
3 high school class;
4 (3) that he or she has a superior capacity to
5 profit by a higher education; and
6 (4) that he or she intends to teach in an
7 elementary or secondary school in this State.
8 (d) If for any academic year the number of qualified
9 applicants exceeds the number of scholarships to be
10 awarded, the Commission shall prioritize the awarding of
11 scholarships to applicants by considering (i) identified
12 teacher shortage areas established by the State Board of
13 Education and (ii) an applicant's cumulative class rank in
14 high school or, for graduate student applicants, total
15 undergraduate cumulative grade point average.
16 (e) Unless otherwise indicated, scholarships shall be
17 good for a period of up to 4 academic years while the
18 recipient is enrolled for full-time residence credit at a
19 qualified institution of higher learning. Each academic
20 year, the scholarship shall cover tuition and other necessary
21 fees for 2 semesters plus the summer session or 4 quarters.
22 For purposes of calculating scholarship assistance for
23 recipients attending private institutions of higher learning,
24 tuition and other necessary fees for students at private
25 institutions shall not exceed the average tuition and other
26 necessary fees for students at State universities for the
27 academic year in which the scholarship is made.
28 (f) Before receiving scholarship assistance, a
29 scholarship recipient shall be required by the Commission to
30 sign an agreement under which the recipient pledges that,
31 within the 5-year period following the completion of the
32 academic program for which the recipient was awarded a
33 scholarship, the recipient (i) shall teach for a period of
34 not less than 4 years for each academic year of scholarship
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1 assistance that he or she was awarded, (ii) shall fulfill
2 this teaching obligation at a public or nonprofit private
3 preschool, elementary school, or secondary school in this
4 State, and (iii) shall, upon request by the Commission,
5 provide the Commission with evidence that he or she is
6 fulfilling or has fulfilled the terms of the teaching
7 agreement provided for in this subsection (f).
8 (g) If a scholarship recipient fails to fulfill the
9 teaching obligation set forth in subsection (f) of this
10 Section, the Commission shall require the recipient to repay
11 the amount of the scholarship assistance received, at a rate
12 of interest equal to 5%, and, if applicable, reasonable
13 collection fees. The Commission may establish rules relating
14 to its collection activities for the repayment of
15 scholarships. All repayments collected under this Section
16 shall be forwarded to the State Comptroller for deposit into
17 the General Revenue Fund.
18 A scholarship recipient shall not be considered in
19 violation of the agreement entered into pursuant to
20 subsection (f) of this Section if the recipient (i) enrolls
21 on a full-time basis as a graduate student in a course of
22 study related to the field of teaching at a qualified
23 institution of higher learning, (ii) is serving as a member
24 of the armed services of the United States for a period of
25 time not to exceed 3 years, (iii) is temporarily totally
26 disabled for a period of time not to exceed 3 years, as
27 established by sworn affidavit of a qualified physician, (iv)
28 is seeking and unable to find full-time employment as a
29 teacher at a public or nonprofit private preschool,
30 elementary school, or secondary school that satisfies the
31 criteria set forth in subsection (f) of this Section and is
32 able to provide evidence of that fact, or (v) becomes
33 permanently totally disabled, as established by sworn
34 affidavit of a qualified physician. No claim for repayment
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1 may be filed against the estate of a decedent or incompetent.
2 Each person applying for a scholarship shall be provided
3 with a copy of this subsection (g) at the time he or she
4 applies for the scholarship.
5 (h) The Commission may prescribe, by rule, detailed
6 provisions concerning the computation of tuition and other
7 necessary fees, which must not be inconsistent with this
8 Section.
9 (i) If an applicant for a scholarship under this Section
10 accepts another teacher preparation scholarship administered
11 by the Commission for the same academic year as the
12 scholarship under this Section, that applicant shall not be
13 eligible for a scholarship under this Section.
14 (j) To continue receiving scholarship assistance, a
15 scholarship recipient must remain a full-time student and
16 must maintain a cumulative grade point average at the
17 postsecondary level of no less than 2.5 on a 4.0 scale.
18 (k) A scholarship shall not be awarded to or continued
19 for anyone who has been convicted of a criminal offense that
20 would disqualify that person from receiving teacher
21 certification in this State.
22 (l) If a scholarship recipient satisfies the president
23 of the institution of higher learning in which the recipient
24 is enrolled (or someone designated by the president) that the
25 recipient requires a leave of absence for the purpose of
26 earning funds to defray his or her expenses while enrolled
27 in the institution, for study abroad or internship study, or
28 on account of illness or military service, then leave may be
29 granted for a period of time not to exceed 6 years (with time
30 spent in the armed forces not included as part of this time
31 limit) without violating the agreement entered into pursuant
32 to subsection (f) of this Section.
33 (m) Scholarship amounts due to an institution of
34 higher learning shall be payable by the Comptroller to that
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1 institution on vouchers approved by the Commission.
2 (n) The Commission shall administer the program created
3 under this Section and shall adopt all necessary and proper
4 rules not inconsistent with this Section for the program's
5 effective implementation. All applications for scholarship
6 assistance shall be made to the Commission in a form as set
7 forth by the Commission. The form of application and the
8 information required to be set forth in the application shall
9 be determined by the Commission, and the Commission shall
10 require applicants to submit with their applications any
11 supporting documents that the Commission deems necessary.
12 (o) If an appropriation to the Commission for a given
13 fiscal year is insufficient to provide scholarships to all
14 qualified applicants, then the Commission shall allocate the
15 available scholarship funds for that fiscal year on the
16 basis of the date the Commission receives a complete
17 application form from a qualified applicant.
18 Section 15. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by
19 adding Section 3-648 as follows:
20 (625 ILCS 5/3-648 new)
21 Sec. 3-648. Education license plates.
22 (a) The Secretary, upon receipt of an application made
23 in the form prescribed by the Secretary, may issue special
24 registration plates designated as Education license plates.
25 The special plates issued under this Section shall be affixed
26 only to passenger vehicles of the first division and motor
27 vehicles of the second division weighing not more than 8,000
28 pounds. Plates issued under this Section shall expire
29 according to the multi-year procedure established by Section
30 3-414.1 of this Code.
31 (b) The design and color of the plates shall be
32 determined by a contest that every elementary school pupil in
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1 the State of Illinois is eligible to enter. The designs
2 submitted for the contest shall be judged on September 30,
3 2002, and the winning design shall be selected by a committee
4 composed of the Secretary, the Director of State Police, 2
5 members of the Senate, one member chosen by the President of
6 the Senate and one member chosen by the Senate Minority
7 Leader, and 2 members of the House of Representatives, one
8 member chosen by the Speaker of the House and one member
9 chosen by the House Minority Leader. The Secretary may allow
10 the plates to be issued as vanity or personalized plates
11 under Section 3-405.1 of the Code. The Secretary shall
12 prescribe stickers or decals as provided under Section 3-412
13 of this Code.
14 (c) An applicant for the special plate shall be charged
15 a $40 fee for original issuance, in addition to the
16 appropriate registration fee. Of this $40 additional original
17 issuance fee, $15 shall be deposited into the Secretary of
18 State Special License Plate Fund, to be used by the Secretary
19 to help defray the administrative processing costs, and $25
20 shall be deposited into the Illinois Future Teacher Corps
21 Scholarship Fund. For each registration renewal period, a
22 $40 fee, in addition to the appropriate registration fee,
23 shall be charged. Of this $40 additional renewal fee, $2
24 shall be deposited into the Secretary of State Special
25 License Plate Fund and $38 shall be deposited into the
26 Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarship Fund. Each fiscal
27 year, once deposits from the additional original issuance and
28 renewal fees into the Secretary of State Special License
29 Plate Fund have reached $500,000, all the amounts received
30 for the additional fees for the balance of the fiscal year
31 shall be deposited into the Illinois Future Teacher Corps
32 Scholarship Fund.
33 (d) The Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarship Fund
34 is created as a special fund in the State treasury. All
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1 moneys in the Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarship Fund
2 shall be appropriated to the Illinois Student Assistance
3 Commission for scholarships under Section 65.65 of the Higher
4 Education Student Assistance Act.
5 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
6 becoming law.
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