110 ILCS 947/65.10 — Illinois Code / Chapter 110 / Act 947 / Section 65.10
Section 65.10
Status: in_force

(110 ILCS 947/65.10) Sec. 65.10. Fellowship program. The Commission, with the advice of the Advisory Council on Education of Gifted Children created under Section 14A-4 of the School Code, may make fellowship grants to persons of good character who are graduates of a recognized college or university and are interested in working in programs for the education of gifted children, for full-time study at the graduate level in programs designed to improve their competence for working in such programs. Such grants shall not exceed 50 in any academic year and may be in amounts of $2,000 per academic year and shall be granted 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 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 encourage the application of qualified teachers who are not teaching because of a reduction in force in their school districts. Traineeship program. To encourage a greater number of teachers in mathematics and science in the elementary and secondary schools of Illinois, the Commission, with the advice of the Advisory Council on Education of Gifted Children, may make traineeship grants available to persons whose undergraduate degree involves a major in science or mathematics. These grants are intended to encourage individuals to enter the teaching profession. Such grants shall not exceed 25 in any academic year and may be in amounts of $1,000 per academic year and shall be granted 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 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 rules and regulations promulgated as provided in this Section shall delineate the eligibility criteria to be applied in determining applicants' eligibility for the fellowship and traineeship grants, including the specific criteria used to determine applicants' financial need for the grants. These rules and regulations shall explain the method for evaluating the eligibility criteria, including the weight given to each of the relevant factors. The Commission shall administer the fellowship or traineeship account and related record of each person who is attending an institution of higher learning under a fellowship or traineeship 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 or traineeship, in accordance with an appropriate certificate of the holder of such fellowship or traineeship endorsed by the institution of higher learning attended by the holder. Following the completion of such program of study the recipient of a traineeship grant is expected not to reject employment within one year in an elementary or secondary school in Illinois on the basis of 1/2 year of service for each academic year of training received through a grant under this Article. The recipient of a fellowship grant is expected to contribute to the further development of educational programs for gifted children in Illinois for a period of 2 years. Persons who fail to comply with these provisions may, at the discretion of the Commission and with the advice of the Advisory Council on Education of Gifted Children, be required to refund all or part of the traineeship or fellowship moneys received, and this condition shall be agreed to in writing by all grant recipients at the time the fellowship or traineeship is initially awarded. The rules and regulations promulgated as provided in this Section shall prescribe the standards used by the Commission in determining whether to require that grant recipients refund all or part of the traineeship or fellowship moneys received. This Section is substantially the same as Section 14A-8 of the School Code, which Section is repealed by this amendatory Act of 1993, and shall be construed as a continuation of the fellowship and traineeship programs established by that prior law and not as a new or different fellowship or traineeship 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 programs continued under this Section; and all traineeship and fellowship grants at any time made under those programs 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 programs 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. 88-228.)