(105 ILCS 5/21A-25)

Sec. 21A-25. Funding.

(a) From a separate appropriation made for the purposes of this Article, for each new teacher participating in a new teacher induction and mentoring program that meets the requirements set forth in Section 21A-20 of this Code or in an existing program that is in the process of transition to a program that meets those requirements, the State Board of Education shall pay the eligible entity for the duration of the grant for the purpose of providing the following:

(1) Mentor teacher compensation and new teacher compensation.

(2) Mentor teacher professional learning or new teacher learning or both.

(3) (Blank).

(b) Each school district shall decide, in conjunction with its exclusive bargaining representative, if any, which eligible applicant offers the most suitable program. If a mentor teacher receives release time to support a new teacher, the total workload of other teachers regularly employed by the public school shall not increase in any substantial manner. If the appropriation is not included in the State budget, the State Board of Education is not required to implement programs established by this Article.

(Source: P.A. 102-521, eff. 8-20-21.)