Bill Text: IL SR1303 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Affirms the importance and targeted value of the Minority Teachers of Illinois scholarship in increasing diversity in the teacher workforce. Celebrates the support that the Minority Teachers of Illinois scholarship has offered to aspiring teachers to date and the scholarship's role in growing the diversity of teacher preparation in Illinois. Urges the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to continue to administer the Minority Teachers of Illinois scholarship in order to support aspiring teachers of color to enter the teaching profession. Urges the State of Illinois and its entities to continue to support efforts grounded in research and data that increase the diversity of the educator workforce in order to improve outcomes for all students in this State.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-12-04 - Added as Co-Sponsor Sen. David Koehler [SR1303 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SR1303-Introduced.html

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SENATE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The Illinois constitution states "a fundamental
goal of the People of the State is the educational development
of all persons to the limits of their capacities"; and
WHEREAS, The education system in this State produces
inequitable outcomes along lines of race and ethnicity with 9%
of Black students, 15% of Latinx students, 23% of American
Indian or Alaska Native students, 35% of Native Hawaiian or
Pacific Islander students, and 31% of multiracial students
reaching proficiency in math compared to 38% of white students
and 61% of Asian students; and
WHEREAS, More than 20 years of research indicates that
teacher diversity has positive impacts on student outcomes,
including academic achievement, graduation rates, attendance,
instances of exclusionary discipline, and college aspirations;
and
WHEREAS, Research demonstrates the positive impact of
alignment between teacher and student racial and ethnic
diversity; and
WHEREAS, In Illinois, teachers of color make up less than
18% of the workforce while students of color make up 54% of the

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student body; and
WHEREAS, Representation of Black, Latinx, Asian, American
Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander,
and multiracial teachers does not match the respective
proportion of Illinois students who are Black, Latinx, Asian,
American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific
Islander, and multiracial; and
WHEREAS, Longstanding systemic racism and ongoing barriers
lead to reductions in diversity throughout the teacher
pipeline starting with unequal high school graduation rates
and rates of enrollment in postsecondary institutions,
including racial disparities in educator preparation
enrollment and retention in the teaching profession; and
WHEREAS, One of the most significant challenges in the
teacher pipeline is the gap in diversity between Illinois
colleges and Illinois educator preparation programs; and
WHEREAS, More debt can discourage those in pursuit of a
career in the teaching profession; and
WHEREAS, Teachers of color are more likely to borrow money
to pay for teacher preparation; and

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WHEREAS, The Minority Teachers of Illinois Scholarship was
created to encourage academically talented Illinois minority
students to enroll in educator preparation and pursue teaching
careers so that students of color in Illinois are more likely
to be taught by teachers of color; and
WHEREAS, Recipients of the Minority Teachers of Illinois
Scholarship are required to teach in schools at which no less
than 30% of the enrolled students are minority students in the
year during which the recipient begins teaching at the school
or, if the recipient received a scholarship as a qualified
bilingual minority applicant, in a program in transitional
bilingual education pursuant to Article 14C of the School Code
or in a school in which 20 or more English learner students in
the same language classification are enrolled; and
WHEREAS, More than 8,000 awards have been distributed to
aspiring teachers of color through the Minority Teachers of
Illinois scholarship; and
WHEREAS, The pool of candidates enrolling in educator
preparation programs has indeed grown more diverse over time
but is still not as diverse as Illinois colleges; and
WHEREAS, The teacher workforce has gradually grown more
diverse over the last decade but still lags student diversity

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significantly; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we affirm the
importance and targeted value of the Minority Teachers of
Illinois scholarship in increasing diversity in the teacher
workforce; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we celebrate the support that the Minority
Teachers of Illinois scholarship has offered to aspiring
teachers to date and the scholarship's role in growing the
diversity of teacher preparation in Illinois; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois Student Assistance
Commission to continue to administer the Minority Teachers of
Illinois scholarship in order to support aspiring teachers of
color to enter the teaching profession; and be it further