The Illinois State Board of Education announced a $4 million grant, funded with federal pandemic relief dollars, to support the bilingual educator pipeline. The grant will cover the cost of tuition for current educators to earn full licensure to teach English Learners. Illinois schools have a high demand for bilingual education teachers, second only to the demand for special education teachers. In October 2021, Illinois school districts reported 98 vacancies for bilingual education classroom teachers. There are 2,220 bilingual education teachers in Illinois who currently have a non-renewable five-year provisional license, known as the Educator License with Stipulations with a Transitional Bilingual Education endorsement (ELS-TBE). These educators need to earn a Professional Educator License (PEL) in order to continue serving as teachers beyond the five-year term of the ELS-TBE.  ISBE has extended the deadline for interested school districts to fill out the Intent to Apply form to 5 p.m. March 11. Find additional resources about bilingual and ESL licensure on the ISBE website, www.isbe.net.