Section 60.90  Planning Grants

In order to identify potential consortia with a substantial likelihood of establishing additional Grow Your Own programs, the State Superintendent of Education will issue an RFP for planning grants.  The RFP may be issued repeatedly, contingent upon the availability of funding.  Each RFP shall indicate the maximum amount to be reserved for planning grants and the maximum available amount per grant.  The RFP shall specify the information that proposals must include and a deadline for their submission, which shall provide no fewer than 30 calendar days in which to submit proposals.

a)         Eligible applicants for planning grants shall be as set forth in Section 60.30 of this Part.

b)         Allowable uses of planning grant funds shall include:

1)         activities that are designed to secure the participation and commitment of the required members and the optional members of a consortium; and

2)         activities that are designed to attract or identify potential candidates for teacher preparation who are paraeducators or parent and community leaders as contemplated by the Act, including assistance that will permit potential candidates to complete developmental coursework that will verify their academic readiness for enrolling in teacher preparation; and

3)         activities that are designed to identify barriers to teacher certification for potential members of a given cohort and to identify strategies and resources for mitigating those barriers.

c)         Each proposal shall describe a plan of work for developing a consortium and a Grow Your Own program that will be eligible for an implementation grant under this Part.  Each proposal shall include a budget for the planned activities, provided in a format specified in the RFP.

d)         Applicants may be asked to clarify aspects of their proposals.

e)         Each proposal that is submitted by an eligible applicant and meets the requirements of this Section shall be considered qualified for funding.  Funding decisions shall be made in each cycle by balancing the goals of geographic distribution and accessibility with the level of need and the potential number of candidates to be served by the potential consortia.

(Source:  Amended at 31 Ill. Reg. 3589, effective February 15, 2007)