The General Assembly makes all of the following findings:
These programs and partnerships continue to benefit many early childhood education students across this State, but, overall, these efforts have not produced adequate early childhood degrees to meet the demands in the field. These types of initiatives are highly contingent upon relationships and partnerships between specific institutions and are often impacted if an institution experiences turnover or program changes. Furthermore, these partnerships often do not address the geographic, structural, and economic barriers the incumbent workforce often faces in accessing bachelor's degree programs while working full-time in the field. These ongoing challenges are not new and have been noted in the development of these previous efforts.
110 ILCS 28/5