Tuition Support

The following definitions apply to this Policy:

1. Participant: A temporarily assigned teacher, probationary appointed teacher, tenured teacher, paraprofessional and school-related employee, or educational support personnel employee who has applied for and been approved to participate in a Board-sponsored professional development or educational program.
2. Temporarily assigned teachers: Certified teachers who are not appointed to a full-time, permanent position, but are employed on a temporary, provisional or conditional basis, as follows: (1) regularly certified teachers assigned to fill a full-time teaching position, which is encumbered by an appointed teacher, but which has become temporarily vacant as a result of a leave taken by the appointed teacher; or (2) teachers with provisional or conditional teaching certificates who are assigned to fill a full-time role
3. Probationary appointed teacher: Are either (1) newly appointed teachers who have not completed the statutory probationary period of continuous service necessary to attain tenure; or, (2) formerly tenured teachers who have had a break in service, been reappointed and have not completed the statutory probationary period of continuous service necessary to attain tenure since their reappointment.
4. Tenured Teacher: Any teacher who has entered upon contractual continued service and has not had a break in service
5. Paraprofessional and school-related personnel: Full or part-time employees who are not required to have teaching or administrative certificates/licenses issued by the Illinois State Board of Education to perform the duties of their position.
6. Educational support personnel: All full-time non-teaching personnel
7. Board sponsored professional development or educational program: Courses of study paid for in whole or in part by the Board and arranged for by the Board, in partnership with a university or educational institution, to enable the Board’s temporarily assigned teachers, probationary appointed teachers, tenured teachers, paraprofessional and school related personnel, and educational support personnel to obtain or enhance their professional educator instructional or curricular skills, endorsements, or licenses. “Board sponsored professional development or educational programs” do not include seminars or conferences.
8. Break in service: when the employment relationship between the Board and the participant has been severed for a period of one (1) year.
9. Culturally Responsive Education: In alignment with Illinois State Board of Education Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards, Culturally Responsive Teachers and Leaders:
   
   • are reflective and gain a deeper understanding of themselves and how they impact others, leading to more cohesive and productive student development as it relates to academic and social-emotional development for all students;
   • understand that there are systems in our society that create and reinforce inequities, thereby creating oppressive conditions. Educators work actively against these systems in their everyday roles in educational institutions;
   • view and value their students as individuals within the context of their families and communities;
   • (who fundamentally believe all students are capable) center learning around students’ experiences and position them as co-creators, with emphasis on prioritizing historically marginalized students;
   • will partner with families and communities to build rapport, form collaborative and mutual relationships, and engage in effective cross-cultural communication;
   • intentionally embrace student identities and prioritize representation in the curriculum. In turn, students are not only given a chance to identify with the curriculum, they become exposed to other cultures within their schools and both their local and global communities;
   • ensure the diversity of their student population is equally represented within the learning environment. In turn, all members of the student population feel seen, heard, and affirmed. Exceptionally well-versed culturally responsive teachers and leaders provide exposure to under or misrepresented minority groups even when they are not present within the population of their school and community at large. (See 23 Ill. Adm. Code 24.50)
10. Diversity: Diversity includes all the ways in which people differ, and it encompasses all the different characteristics that make one individual or group different from another. A broad definition includes not only race, ethnicity, and gender — the groups that most often come to mind when the term "diversity" is used — but also age, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language, and physical appearance. It also involves different ideas, perspectives, and values (The University of California Berkeley Strategic Plan for Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity, Pathway to Excellence, 2009).
11. Inclusive Partnerships: Inclusive Partnerships value and prioritize the diverse voices of students, families, caregivers, and communities when making decisions that affect their lived experiences. This relationship requires the people and institutions who hold power to account for past inequities and to create conditions for healing and co-design an equitable future. CPS prioritizes three key stakeholder groups: people with institutional or historical memory, people most impacted by inequity, and people responsible for implementing and driving change (CPS Equity Framework 2020).

The following conditions must be satisfied to establish eligibility for tuition support:

1. Participants must have an active and valid teaching license or certificate from the Illinois State Board of Education unless the professional development program is specifically designed for those who are seeking a non-teaching job-related endorsement, license, or certificates or the program is designed to help the employee acquire a teaching license or certificate;
2. The participant’s school principal or other appropriate administrator shall approve/sponsor the participant’s admission to the program and certify that the participant’s participation is relevant to the participant’s current or future duties and is in the best interest of the Board, provided however, that the required approval shall not be unreasonably denied;
3. The participant agrees to the post-program service requirements in Section III.C of this Policy; and
4. The participant agrees to repay the Board for its tuition support via payroll withholding or otherwise in the event the participant fails to complete the program for any reason or fails to comply with the post-program completion service requirements as provided in Section III.C of this Policy.

The Chief Talent Officer, with or without the recommendation of the Department Head sponsoring the tuition support, may disqualify a participant from continued participation in a tuition support/professional development program and from future tuition support opportunities for one or more of the reasons below in this Section III.C. In the event a participant is disqualified from continued participation after the Board has made tuition support payments to or on behalf of the participant, the participant will be obligated to repay the Board 100% of the amounts paid in compliance with Section III.D of this Policy. In determining whether to disqualify a participant and require the participant to repay 100% of the amounts paid, the Chief Talent Officer may take into account mitigating factors. The Chief Talent Officer’s decision regarding disqualification and the requirement to repay 100% of the amounts paid may be grieved by employees under the applicable collective bargaining agreements.

1. The participant’s conviction of crime enumerated in Section 34-18.5 of the Illinois School Code;
2. The participant’s non-payment of any previous studies or courses at participating partner programs;
3. The participant’s failure to maintain a passing grade under grading systems of the professional development program;
4. The participant’s resignation, retirement, dismissal from Board employment or any other severance of the participant’s employment relationship with the Board;
5. The participant’s receipt of a Notice of Unsatisfactory Teaching Performance under Section 24A-5 of the Illinois School Code or a finding that the participant has violated Group 3-5 Acts of Misconduct in the Board’s Employee Discipline and Due Process Policy;
6. The participant’s failure to maintain an attendance rate of 85% for all courses, laboratories, practicum or other instructional sessions for which the Board has paid all or part of the tuition or fees; and,
7. The participant’s failure to complete mentoring, course, internship, practicum or other requirements of the professional development program.

1. Except as provided in Section III.C.2, participants must agree to and must continue to be employed for a period of time upon completion of the professional development program in compliance with the following schedule:
   

   Amount of Total Tuition or Professional Development Support Provided by Program	Post-Program Service Commitment
   $0.00 to $2,500.00	One (1) year
   $2,500.01 to $5,000.00	Two (2) years
   $5,000.01 to $7,500.00	Three (3) years
   $7,500.01 to $10,000.00	Four (4) years
   $10,000.01 to $12,500.00	Five (5) years
   $12,500.01 or more	Six (6) years

   
   If a participant has received tuition support prior to the application, the cost of the current year and prior years’ tuition will be used to calculate the post-program service commitment. The post-service commitment may be served at any local school or district office to which the participant has received an assignment or appointment.
2. If the Board, the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Talent Officer or any administrator closes a participant’s position and the participant suffers a break in service as result of the position closing, the participant must be relieved of the service obligation in Section III.D.1 above.
3. A participant may petition the Chief Talent Officer to relieve them of the service commitment or obligation to repay, or both, on grounds that the service commitment or obligation to repay will impose an undue hardship on the participant on account of unforeseen circumstances beyond the participant’s control. The Chief Talent Officer must advise the participant in writing whether their petition is granted and, if not, the grounds for the denial. Participants who are covered by collective bargaining agreements may grieve a denial of the petition using the provisions of the applicable collective bargaining agreement.
4. Nothing in Sections III.D.1 or III.D.2 above preclude the Board, Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Talent Officer, or their designees from dismissing a participant in compliance with the Board’s Employee Discipline and Due Process Policy.

If a participant fails to meet any of the conditions of their participation in a tuition support program, including the post-program completion service commitment, the Board may pursue the following remedies from or against the participant:

1. Repayment of tuition and fees. The participant must repay to the Board, through payroll withholding or otherwise, in the following amounts:
   
   • One hundred percent (100%) of the tuition support paid by the Board if:
     
     • the participant fails to satisfactorily complete the educational program; or
     • the participant fails to satisfactorily complete the educational program in a timely manner; or
     • the participant completes less than twenty percent (20%) of post-program completion service requirements.
   • Seventy-five percent (75%) of the tuition support paid by the Board if the participant completes twenty percent (20%) but less than forty (40%) of the post-program completion service requirements;
   • Fifty percent (50%) of the tuition support paid by the Board if the participant completes forty percent (40%) but less than sixty percent (60%) of the post-program completion service requirements;
   • Twenty-five percent (25%) of the tuition support paid by the Board if the participant completes sixty percent (60%) percent but less than eighty percent (80%) of the post-program completion service requirements;
   • Ten percent (10%) of the tuition support paid by the Board if the participant completes eighty percent (80%) but less than one hundred percent (100%) of the post-program completion service requirements.
2. Discipline and Dismissal. The Board reserves the right to discipline or dismiss a participant for acts or omissions occurring in connection with the participant’s participation in the Board sponsored professional development or educational program.
3. Reassignment and layoff of employees. The Board reserves the right to reassign or layoff any participant who fails to meet the conditions of his/her participation in the educational program if, in so doing, the participant fails to maintain or become qualified for the position to which he/she is assigned.
4. Other. The Board reserves its right to seek any other remedies against a participant who fails to meet the conditions of his/her participation in the educational program.