Illinois is taking new steps to support its bilingual educator pipeline.
The Board of Education announced a $4 million grant to cover the cost of tuition for current educators to earn an English learners license.
Last year, Illinois School District reported close to 100 vacancies for bilingual teachers and the state hopes to use federal pandemic relief dollars to fill the gap.
The grant also supports those with a Professional Educator License who earned an English as a second language or bilingual endorsement. The deadline to apply is March 11.