Bill
HB 2470
The bill allocates state funds to Grow Your Own Illinois to directly support candidate cohorts, caps administrative use at 5%, requires equitable grants to consortia, and empowers
Note on source material
- The provided document appears to combine two different bills with the same bill number: (A) Arizona HB 2470 language concerning initiative and referendum procedure, and (B) Illinois HB 2470 (sponsored by Rep. Jehan Gordon‑Booth) amending the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Act. The legislative sponsors and action history supplied are also mixed across states. This summary focuses on the substantive Grow Your Own Teacher Education Act changes included in the document (the Higher‑Ed / “Grow Your Own Teacher” content), and also flags the unrelated Arizona initiative/referendum language.
Purpose and intent
- Strengthen and clarify the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative by directing how state appropriations are allocated to Grow Your Own Illinois and consortia, limiting administrative use of funds, clarifying grant distribution and cohort operations, and creating pathways for cohorts to raise concerns about operations or funding.
Key provisions (from the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Act amendments)
- Funding intent: State appropriations to Grow Your Own Illinois are to be allocated with the intention of providing direct candidate support through consortia.
- Administrative cap: Grow Your Own Illinois may use no more than 5% of State appropriations for operational expenditures; it may supplement operations with private funds.
- Grants to consortia: Grants must be distributed to consortia equitably based on candidate needs and structured to provide required support for an entire cohort of candidates.
- Consortium composition and expectations:
- Must include at least one Illinois 4‑year institution with an approved teacher preparation program, at least one school district or group of schools, and one or more community organizations (may also include community college, union, regional office).
- Focus on preparing teachers for hard‑to‑staff schools and positions; recruit cohorts sized and scheduled to allow participants to work full time (support paraeducators to remain employed).
- Institutions must document and agree that grant funds supplement — not supplant — existing program expenditures.
- Candidate selection and requirements:
- Candidates can include parents, paraeducators, community leaders, high school dual‑credit students, etc.
- Expected commitments: GPA of at least 2.5 (or equivalent), monthly cohort meetings, and applying for other financial aid before seeking program assistance.
- Candidates must commit to completing state standards and licensure testing.
- Cohort governance and feedback:
- Site‑based cohort coordinators shall identify candidate needs and have authority to inform cohort development/operations.
- The Board of Higher Education may create a process allowing cohorts to communicate operational/funding challenges and may adopt rules to establish a complaint process.
- Review criteria: Grow Your Own Illinois will consider consortium experience with hard‑to‑staff contexts, strategies for serving non‑traditional candidates, articulation agreements (if community colleges participate), cohort size and capacity, and qualifications of cohort support staff.
Who is affected
- Grow Your Own Illinois (program administrator), participating consortia (higher‑education institutions, school districts, community organizations), cohort coordinators, and prospective teacher candidates (especially paraeducators, parents, community leaders, and students from hard‑to‑staff schools). Indirectly affects hard‑to‑staff schools and local communities by aiming to increase local teacher pipelines.
Procedural/timeline notes
- Provisions apply “subject to appropriation” — i.e., implementation depends on annual funding.
- The Board of Higher Education is authorized to adopt rules and procedures for complaint/communication mechanisms.
- Document is truncated in parts; some implementation detail (e.g., Section 35.5 text) is not fully visible in the excerpt.
Unrelated material in the document
- The file also includes Arizona statutory changes regarding initiative and referendum procedures (repeal and replacement of sections, circulator registration rules, and related subpoena/challenge provisions). That text appears unrelated to the Grow Your Own teacher education changes and likely reflects a separate bill with the same number in another state.
Legislative status (as provided)
- Dates in the supplied action list include initial filings and committee actions in 2025 (e.g., filed 2025-02-04, committee hearings 2025-04-14, re‑referrals to Rules and Higher Education committees). Because the document mixes state materials, verify the correct state and chamber record for current status before relying on these dates.
If you want, I can:
- Produce a short one‑page explainer for school districts and community partners on how the amended program would affect grant eligibility and operations; or
- Extract and summarize only the Arizona initiative/referendum provisions separately.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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