Section 70.30  Planning Grants – Procedures and Content of Proposals

A planning grant shall be used to support costs associated with developing a plan for implementation of an Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Assistance Grant program, which shall include the identification and recruitment of the group of individuals to be enrolled in the program.

a)         When sufficient funding is available, the State Superintendent of Education shall issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) specifying the information that applicants shall include in their planning proposals, informing applicants of any bidders' conferences, and requiring that proposals be submitted no later than the date specified in the RFP.  The RFP shall provide at least 30 calendar days in which to submit proposals.

b)         Each proposal submitted in response to an RFP shall include the following components.

1)         Demographic information about the area to be served by the program, which shall include statistics about number of programs funded under Section 2-3.71 of the School Code that serve the area and their need for educator licensed teachers.

2)         Demographic information about individuals employed by State-funded preschool education programs and other early childhood education programs who do not hold professional educator licenses endorsed in early childhood education, including, but not limited to, their race/ethnicity, language (other than English) and cultural background, and educational attainment.

3)         Descriptive information about each entity involved in the partnership:

A)        the teacher preparation program must provide the specific information about the institution's success in preparing teachers for early childhood teaching positions, particularly in areas serving bilingual and minority children; and

B)        the community-based or nonpublic educational organization must include its mission statement, organizational structure, and goals or policies regarding early childhood programs and services, including the applicant's existing competencies to provide early childhood education programs, if applicable, and a list of any early childhood accreditations that have been achieved.

4)         A list of the persons, and their affiliations, who will be involved in the planning process.

5)         A plan of work for the planning process that includes objectives, specific activities, timelines and responsible parties.

6)         Budget information that corresponds to the categories of allowable expenditures identified in subsection (c), completed on the forms provided and detailing each line item of expenditure.

7)         Any certifications and assurances as the State Superintendent of Education may require.

c)         Allowable uses of planning grant funds shall include:

1)         activities that are designed to secure the participation and commitment of the required partners;

2)         activities that are designed to attract or identify individuals for teacher preparation who currently work in State-funded preschool education programs or other early childhood education programs and hold either a bachelor's degree or an associate's degree but do not have a professional educator license endorsed for early childhood education; and

3)         activities that are designed to identify barriers to educator licensure for the individuals to be enrolled and to identify strategies and resources for mitigating those barriers.

(Source:  Amended at 40 Ill. Reg. 2202, effective January 13, 2016)