Section 60.30  Eligible Applicants

a)         Only consortia whose membership meets the requirements of Section 20(1) and (2) of the Act shall be eligible to apply for implementation grants to cover expenditures discussed in Section 25 of the Act.

b)         Pursuant to Section 30 of the Act, potential consortia shall be eligible for grant funds for planning purposes under the Act.  A "potential consortium" will be considered eligible to submit a proposal if it includes a four-year institution of higher education and at least one community organization and if its proposal:

1)         provides evidence that at least a subset of the teachers typically prepared by the institution seeks employment in communities where hard-to-staff schools are located; and

2)         demonstrates that the institution is not applying for funding on behalf of an existing consortium that is currently serving a group of candidates under a model substantially similar to that described in the Act and that further information is needed about the specific barriers that exist with respect to enabling individuals with a long-term commitment to those communities to complete teacher preparation; and

3)         includes:

A)        letters of interest from one or more school districts or schools indicating willingness to collaborate in offering opportunities for candidates in the program to complete pre-student teaching clinical experiences in hard-to-staff schools or positions; and

B)        if additional community organizations are being considered for membership in the consortium, letters of invitation that the applicant has sent to one or more relevant community organizations proposing a role for the organizations in the proposed consortium, along with a rationale provided by the applicant for inclusion of these organizations.