LEGISLATIVE UPDATE (July 08)

Budget Update

In May, the legislature adjourned after passing a budget that included $3.5 million for Grow Your Own Teachers - less than the $4.5 million that the projects had requested and less than the $3.75 million in the State Board of Education budget. But in the 2008 budget climate, an increase is still welcome. As of this writing, the Governor has not acted on this budget, though his office in the past has indicated support for the $4.5 million request.

In the 2007 budget process which resulted in the elimination of many worthy programs and increases for a few, Grow Your Own Teachers was approved for level funding, $3,000,000, for FY 08. This has caused great hardships for the projects, since overall the program is serving 150 more candidates (a 38% increase) with the same funds as in FY 07.

The consortia from around Illinois returned to the legislature with a request for a $4,500,000 appropriation in FY 2009. Here is testimony (prepared for Illinois State Board of Education meetings) that supports this request.

If you can assist in legislative efforts, fill out this form.

Amendments signed by Governor Blagojevich

One significant accomplishment of the 2007 legislative session was the passage of a significant set of amendments to the Grow Your Own Teachers enabling legislation; the Governor signed the bill in August. This bill, now Public Law 95-0476, makes a number of significant changes; in particular it:

• Clarifies the definitions and criteria for eligible schools by specifying that the low-income criterion applies in all cases, and by defining "hard to staff school" in terms of teacher turnover.
• Specifies that consortia are not obligated to continue their programs in the absence of a state appropriation.
• Expands the definition of the indirect expenses that can be covered directly by the grant to include expenditures that are necessary to permit students to maintain their academic progress, including support for acquiring technology.

Click here for a copy of the bill as passed.

As of this date rules for implementing these changes are nearly final. They will be posted here as soon as they are available.