HB3312 Summary

• Amends the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Act to include Illinois non-public special education facilities as eligible schools under the program.

• Expands the Initiative's purpose to recruit and prepare parent and community leaders and paraeducators to become teachers in non-public special education facilities, in addition to hard-to-staff public schools.

• Updates definitions of "eligible school," "cohort," "paraeducator," and "parent and community leader" to encompass non-public special education facilities under Section 14-7.02 of the School Code.

• Modifies the Initiative's goal to add 1,000 teachers to low-income hard-to-staff Illinois schools and non-public special education facilities by 2016.

• Requires forgivable student loans to be fully forgiven for graduates who complete 5 years of service in hard-to-staff schools, hard-to-staff teaching positions, or Illinois non-public special education facilities.