Bill Text: IL HB5393 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Amends the Educator Licensure Article of the School Code with respect to the Illinois Teaching Excellence Program. Removes language that provides that the monetary assistance and incentives that qualified educators are eligible for must be based on outlined priorities; makes related changes. Removes from monetary assistance the fee for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards' Take One! for up to 500 qualified educators. Adds, as monetary assistance, a maximum of $1,000 towards the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards' renewal application fee. Removes the annual incentive equal to $1,500 paid to each qualified educator who holds both a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards designation and a current corresponding certificate issued by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, who is employed in a school district, and who agrees, in writing, to provide 30 hours of mentoring or National Board for Professional Teaching Standards professional development or both during the school year to teachers or school counselors in a poverty or low-performing school. Provides that funds must be dispersed on a first-come, first-serve basis, with priority given to poverty or low-performing schools. Removes language requiring mentoring to include mentoring of National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Take One! participants. Provides that funds may be used for instructional leadership training for qualified educators interested in supporting implementation of the Illinois Learning Standards or teaching and learning priorities of the State Board of Education or both. Effective July 1, 2014.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)

Status: (Passed) 2014-06-11 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 98-0646 [HB5393 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-HB5393-Chaptered.html

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Public Act 098-0646
HB5393 Enrolled LRB098 17477 NHT 55367 b
AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
21B-70 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/21B-70)
Sec. 21B-70. Illinois Teaching Excellence Program.
(a) As used in this Section:
"Poverty or low-performing school" means a school in
academic early warning status or academic watch status or a
school in which 50% or more of its students are eligible for
free or reduced-price school lunches.
"Qualified educator" means a teacher or school counselor
currently employed in a school district who is in the process
of obtaining certification through the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards or who has completed
certification and holds a current Professional Educator
License with a National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards designation or a retired teacher or school counselor
who holds a Professional Educator License with a National Board
for Professional Teaching Standards designation.
(b) Beginning on July 1, 2011, any funds appropriated for
the Illinois Teaching Excellence Program must be used to

provide monetary assistance and incentives for qualified
educators who are employed by school districts and who have or
are in the process of obtaining licensure through the National
Board for Professional Teaching Standards. The goal of the
program is to improve instruction and student performance.
The State Board of Education shall allocate an amount as
annually appropriated by the General Assembly for the Illinois
Teaching Excellence Program for (i) application fees for each
qualified educator seeking to complete certification through
the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, to be
paid directly to the National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards, and (ii) incentives for each qualified educator to
be distributed to the respective school district. The school
district shall distribute this payment to each eligible teacher
or school counselor as a single payment.
The State Board of Education's annual budget must set out
by separate line item the appropriation for the program. Unless
otherwise provided by appropriation, qualified educators are
eligible for monetary assistance and incentives based on the
priorities outlined in subsection (c) of this Section.
(c) When there are adequate funds available, priorities
(1), (2), (3), (4), and (5), as outlined in this subsection
(c), must be funded. If full funding to meet all priorities as
outlined in this subsection (c) is not available, funding must
be distributed in the order of the priorities listed in this
subsection (c). If funding is insufficient to fund a priority

in full, then funding for that priority must be prorated and no
further priorities shall be funded. Priorities for monetary
assistance and incentives shall include the following be as
follows:
(1) Priority 1: A maximum of $2,000 towards the
application fee for up to 750 teachers or school counselors
in a poverty or low-performing school who apply on a
first-come, first-serve basis for National Board
certification.
(2) Priority 2: A maximum of $2,000 towards the
application fee for up to 250 teachers or school counselors
in a school other than a poverty or low-performing school
who apply on a first-come, first-serve basis for National
Board certification. However, if there were fewer than 750
individuals supported in item priority (1) of this
subsection (c), then the number supported in this item
priority (2) may be increased as such that the combination
of item priority (1) of this subsection (c) and this item
priority (2) shall equal 1,000 applicants.
(3) A maximum of $1,000 towards the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards' renewal application fee.
Priority 3: The fee for the National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards' Take One! (the test for National Board
certification) for up to 500 qualified educators who apply
on a first-come, first-serve basis.
(4) (Blank). Priority 4: An annual incentive equal to

$1,500, which shall be paid to each qualified educator who
holds both a National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards designation and a current corresponding
certificate issued by the National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards, who is employed in a school district,
and who agrees, in writing, to provide 30 hours of
mentoring or National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards professional development or both during the
school year to teachers or school counselors in a poverty
or low-performing school, as applicable.
(5) Priority 5: An annual incentive equal to $1,500,
which shall be paid to each qualified educator currently
employed in a school district who holds both a National
Board for Professional Teaching Standards designation and
a current corresponding certificate issued by the National
Board for Professional Teaching Standards and who agrees,
in writing, to provide at least 30 hours of mentoring or
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
professional development or both during the school year to
classroom teachers or school counselors, as applicable.
Funds must be dispersed on a first-come, first-serve basis,
with priority given to poverty or low-performing schools.
Mentoring for all priorities shall include, either singly
or in combination, mentoring of the following:
(A) National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards certification candidates.

(B) National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards re-take candidates.
(C) National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards renewal candidates.
(D) (Blank). National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards Take One! participants.
Funds may also be used for instructional leadership
training for qualified educators interested in supporting
implementation of the Illinois Learning Standards or teaching
and learning priorities of the State Board of Education or
both.
(Source: P.A. 97-607, eff. 8-26-11.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
2014.