Teacher Vacancy Grant
Forecasted
Teacher Vacancy Grant supports Illinois public school districts with teacher recruitment incentives, preparation pathways, and retention strategies to address local shortages and reduce chronic vacancies.
Funder: Illinois State Board of Education
Due Dates (Anticipated): May 2027 (Regular-year amendments) | August 2027 (Extended-year amendments) | October 2027 (Original application)
Funding Amounts: FY27: $15 million total; district awards equal a $45,000–$125,000 base plus $3,336.47 per unfilled teaching FTE
Summary: Supports selected Illinois public school districts in recruiting, preparing, supporting, and retaining teachers to reduce chronic vacancies.
Key Information: Noncompetitive formula grant restricted to districts selected by ISBE; meeting funding-tier requirements alone does not establish eligibility.
Description
The Illinois State Board of Education’s Teacher Vacancy Grant provides targeted financial assistance to understaffed Illinois public school districts. Districts have flexibility to develop innovative, creative, and evidence-based strategies addressing local causes of teacher shortages. Supported approaches include recruitment incentives, teacher preparation pathways, and investments in working conditions and retention.
Funds can support signing bonuses, housing stipends, down-payment assistance, loan repayments, tuition and fees, residencies, and apprenticeships. Retention strategies include instructional coaching, mentoring, professional learning, classroom materials, school culture improvements, and teacher appreciation programs. The program originated as a three-year pilot serving 170 districts in FY24–FY26. For FY27, ISBE selected 100 districts accounting for 77% of reported statewide teacher vacancies.
