Bill Text: IL HB3945 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends the Evaluation of Certified Employees Article of the School Code. Provides that school districts may not tie teacher performance evaluations to an entire school's standardized testing performance or to a curriculum area in which the teacher is not certified.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2023-03-10 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB3945 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2023-HB3945-Introduced.html
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1 | AN ACT concerning education.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | 24A-5 as follows:
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6 | (105 ILCS 5/24A-5) (from Ch. 122, par. 24A-5) | |||||||||||||||||||
7 | Sec. 24A-5. Content of evaluation plans. This Section | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | does not apply to teachers assigned to schools identified in | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | an agreement entered into between the board of a school | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | district operating under Article 34 of this Code and the | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | exclusive representative of the district's teachers in | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | accordance with Section 34-85c of this Code.
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13 | Each school district to
which this Article applies shall | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | establish a teacher evaluation plan
which ensures that each | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | teacher in contractual continued service
is evaluated at least | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | once in the course of every 2 or 3 school years as provided in | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | this Section. | |||||||||||||||||||
18 | Each school district shall establish a teacher evaluation | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | plan that ensures that: | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | (1) each teacher not in contractual continued service | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | is evaluated at least once every school year; and | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | (2) except as otherwise provided in this Section, each | |||||||||||||||||||
23 | teacher in contractual continued service is evaluated at |
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1 | least once in the course of every 2 school years. However, | ||||||
2 | any teacher in contractual continued service whose | ||||||
3 | performance is rated as either "needs improvement" or | ||||||
4 | "unsatisfactory" must be evaluated at least once in the | ||||||
5 | school year following the receipt of such rating. | ||||||
6 | No later than September 1, 2022, each school district must | ||||||
7 | establish a teacher evaluation plan that ensures that each | ||||||
8 | teacher in contractual continued service whose performance is | ||||||
9 | rated as either "excellent" or "proficient" is evaluated at | ||||||
10 | least once in the course of the 3 school years after receipt of | ||||||
11 | the rating and implement an informal teacher observation plan | ||||||
12 | established by agency rule and by agreement of the joint | ||||||
13 | committee established under subsection (b) of Section 24A-4 of | ||||||
14 | this Code that ensures that each teacher in contractual | ||||||
15 | continued service whose performance is rated as either | ||||||
16 | "excellent" or "proficient" is informally observed at least | ||||||
17 | once in the course of the 2 school years after receipt of the | ||||||
18 | rating. | ||||||
19 | For the 2022-2023 school year only, if the Governor has | ||||||
20 | declared a disaster due to a public health emergency pursuant | ||||||
21 | to Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, | ||||||
22 | a school district may waive the evaluation requirement of all | ||||||
23 | teachers in contractual continued service whose performances | ||||||
24 | were rated as either "excellent" or "proficient" during the | ||||||
25 | last school year in which the teachers were evaluated under | ||||||
26 | this Section. |
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1 | Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section | ||||||
2 | or any other Section of this Code, a principal shall not be | ||||||
3 | prohibited from evaluating any teachers within a school during | ||||||
4 | his or her first year as principal of such school. If a | ||||||
5 | first-year principal exercises this option in a school | ||||||
6 | district where the evaluation plan provides for a teacher in | ||||||
7 | contractual continued service to be evaluated once in the | ||||||
8 | course of every 2 or 3 school years, as applicable, then a new | ||||||
9 | 2-year or 3-year evaluation plan must be established. | ||||||
10 | The evaluation plan shall comply with the requirements of | ||||||
11 | this Section and
of any rules adopted by the State Board of | ||||||
12 | Education pursuant to this Section. | ||||||
13 | The plan shall include a description of each teacher's | ||||||
14 | duties
and responsibilities and of the standards to which that | ||||||
15 | teacher
is expected to conform, and shall include at least the | ||||||
16 | following components: | ||||||
17 | (a) personal observation of the teacher in the | ||||||
18 | classroom by the evaluator, unless
the teacher has no | ||||||
19 | classroom duties. | ||||||
20 | (b) consideration of the teacher's attendance, | ||||||
21 | planning,
instructional methods, classroom management, | ||||||
22 | where relevant, and
competency in the subject matter | ||||||
23 | taught. | ||||||
24 | (c) by no later than the applicable implementation | ||||||
25 | date, consideration of student growth as a significant | ||||||
26 | factor in the rating of the teacher's performance. |
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1 | (d) prior to September 1, 2012, rating of the | ||||||
2 | performance of teachers in contractual continued service | ||||||
3 | as either: | ||||||
4 | (i) "excellent",
"satisfactory" or | ||||||
5 | "unsatisfactory"; or | ||||||
6 | (ii) "excellent", "proficient", "needs | ||||||
7 | improvement" or "unsatisfactory". | ||||||
8 | (e) on and after September 1, 2012, rating of the | ||||||
9 | performance of all teachers as "excellent", "proficient", | ||||||
10 | "needs improvement" or "unsatisfactory". | ||||||
11 | (f) specification as to the teacher's strengths and | ||||||
12 | weaknesses, with
supporting reasons for the comments made. | ||||||
13 | (g) inclusion of a copy of the evaluation in the | ||||||
14 | teacher's personnel
file and provision of a copy to the | ||||||
15 | teacher. | ||||||
16 | (h) within 30 school days after the completion of an | ||||||
17 | evaluation rating a teacher in contractual continued | ||||||
18 | service as "needs improvement", development by the | ||||||
19 | evaluator, in consultation with the teacher, and taking | ||||||
20 | into account the teacher's on-going professional | ||||||
21 | responsibilities including his or her regular teaching | ||||||
22 | assignments, of a professional development plan directed | ||||||
23 | to the areas that need improvement and any supports that | ||||||
24 | the district will provide to address the areas identified | ||||||
25 | as needing improvement. | ||||||
26 | (i) within 30 school days after completion of an |
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1 | evaluation rating a teacher
in contractual continued | ||||||
2 | service as "unsatisfactory", development and commencement | ||||||
3 | by the district of a remediation plan designed to correct | ||||||
4 | deficiencies
cited, provided the deficiencies are deemed | ||||||
5 | remediable.
In all school districts the
remediation plan | ||||||
6 | for unsatisfactory, tenured teachers shall
provide for 90 | ||||||
7 | school days of remediation within the
classroom, unless an | ||||||
8 | applicable collective bargaining agreement provides for a | ||||||
9 | shorter duration. In all school districts evaluations | ||||||
10 | issued pursuant
to
this Section shall be
issued within 10 | ||||||
11 | days after the conclusion of the respective remediation | ||||||
12 | plan.
However, the school board or other governing | ||||||
13 | authority of the district
shall not lose
jurisdiction to | ||||||
14 | discharge a teacher in the event the evaluation is not | ||||||
15 | issued
within 10 days after the conclusion of the | ||||||
16 | respective remediation plan. | ||||||
17 | (j) participation in the remediation plan by the | ||||||
18 | teacher in contractual continued service rated
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19 | "unsatisfactory", an evaluator and a consulting teacher | ||||||
20 | selected by the evaluator of the teacher who was rated | ||||||
21 | "unsatisfactory", which
consulting teacher is an | ||||||
22 | educational employee as defined in the Educational
Labor | ||||||
23 | Relations Act, has at least 5 years' teaching experience, | ||||||
24 | and a
reasonable familiarity with the assignment of the | ||||||
25 | teacher being evaluated,
and who received an "excellent" | ||||||
26 | rating on his or her most
recent evaluation. Where no |
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1 | teachers who meet these criteria are available
within the | ||||||
2 | district, the district shall request and the applicable | ||||||
3 | regional office of education shall supply, to participate | ||||||
4 | in the remediation process, an
individual who meets these | ||||||
5 | criteria. | ||||||
6 | In a district having a population of less than 500,000 | ||||||
7 | with an
exclusive bargaining agent, the bargaining agent
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8 | may, if it so chooses, supply a roster of qualified | ||||||
9 | teachers from whom the
consulting teacher is to be | ||||||
10 | selected. That roster shall, however, contain
the names of | ||||||
11 | at least 5 teachers, each of whom meets the criteria for
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12 | consulting teacher with regard to the teacher being | ||||||
13 | evaluated, or the names
of all teachers so qualified if | ||||||
14 | that number is less than 5. In the event of
a dispute as to | ||||||
15 | qualification, the State Board shall determine | ||||||
16 | qualification. | ||||||
17 | (k) a mid-point and final evaluation by an evaluator | ||||||
18 | during and at the end of the remediation period, | ||||||
19 | immediately following receipt of a remediation plan | ||||||
20 | provided for under subsections (i) and (j) of this | ||||||
21 | Section. Each evaluation shall assess the teacher's | ||||||
22 | performance during the time period since the prior | ||||||
23 | evaluation; provided that the last evaluation shall also | ||||||
24 | include an overall evaluation of the teacher's performance | ||||||
25 | during the remediation period. A written copy of the | ||||||
26 | evaluations and ratings, in which any deficiencies in |
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1 | performance and recommendations for correction are | ||||||
2 | identified, shall be provided to and discussed with the | ||||||
3 | teacher within 10 school days after the date of the | ||||||
4 | evaluation, unless an applicable collective bargaining | ||||||
5 | agreement provides to the contrary. These subsequent | ||||||
6 | evaluations
shall be conducted by an evaluator. The | ||||||
7 | consulting
teacher shall provide advice to the teacher | ||||||
8 | rated "unsatisfactory" on how
to improve teaching skills | ||||||
9 | and to successfully complete the remediation
plan. The | ||||||
10 | consulting teacher shall participate in developing the
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11 | remediation plan, but the final decision as to the | ||||||
12 | evaluation shall be done
solely by the evaluator,
unless | ||||||
13 | an applicable collective bargaining agreement provides to | ||||||
14 | the contrary.
Evaluations at the
conclusion of the | ||||||
15 | remediation process shall be separate and distinct from | ||||||
16 | the
required annual evaluations of teachers and shall not | ||||||
17 | be subject to the
guidelines and procedures relating to | ||||||
18 | those annual evaluations. The evaluator
may but is not | ||||||
19 | required to use the forms provided for the annual | ||||||
20 | evaluation of
teachers in the district's evaluation plan. | ||||||
21 | (l)
reinstatement to the evaluation schedule set forth | ||||||
22 | in the district's evaluation plan for any teacher in | ||||||
23 | contractual continued service
who achieves a rating equal | ||||||
24 | to or better than "satisfactory" or "proficient" in the | ||||||
25 | school year following a rating of "needs improvement" or | ||||||
26 | "unsatisfactory". |
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1 | (m) dismissal in accordance with subsection (d) of | ||||||
2 | Section 24-12 or Section 24-16.5 or 34-85 of this
Code of | ||||||
3 | any teacher who fails to complete any applicable | ||||||
4 | remediation plan
with a rating equal to or better than a | ||||||
5 | "satisfactory" or "proficient" rating. Districts and | ||||||
6 | teachers subject to
dismissal hearings are precluded from | ||||||
7 | compelling the testimony of
consulting teachers at such | ||||||
8 | hearings under subsection (d) of Section 24-12 or Section | ||||||
9 | 24-16.5 or 34-85 of this Code, either
as to the rating | ||||||
10 | process or for opinions of performances by teachers under
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11 | remediation. | ||||||
12 | (n) After the implementation date of an evaluation | ||||||
13 | system for teachers in a district as specified in Section | ||||||
14 | 24A-2.5 of this Code, if a teacher in contractual | ||||||
15 | continued service successfully completes a remediation | ||||||
16 | plan following a rating of "unsatisfactory" in an overall | ||||||
17 | performance evaluation received after the foregoing | ||||||
18 | implementation date and receives a subsequent rating of | ||||||
19 | "unsatisfactory" in any of the teacher's overall | ||||||
20 | performance evaluation ratings received during the | ||||||
21 | 36-month period following the teacher's completion of the | ||||||
22 | remediation plan, then the school district may forego | ||||||
23 | remediation and seek dismissal in accordance with | ||||||
24 | subsection (d) of Section 24-12 or Section 34-85 of this | ||||||
25 | Code. | ||||||
26 | Nothing in this Section or Section 24A-4 shall be |
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1 | construed as preventing immediate
dismissal of a teacher for | ||||||
2 | deficiencies which are
deemed irremediable or for actions | ||||||
3 | which are injurious to or endanger the
health or person of | ||||||
4 | students in the classroom or school, or preventing the | ||||||
5 | dismissal or non-renewal of teachers not in contractual | ||||||
6 | continued service for any reason not prohibited by applicable | ||||||
7 | employment, labor, and civil rights laws. Failure to
strictly | ||||||
8 | comply with the time requirements contained in Section 24A-5 | ||||||
9 | shall
not invalidate the results of the remediation plan. | ||||||
10 | Nothing contained in this amendatory Act of the 98th | ||||||
11 | General Assembly repeals, supersedes, invalidates, or | ||||||
12 | nullifies final decisions in lawsuits pending on the effective | ||||||
13 | date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly in | ||||||
14 | Illinois courts involving the interpretation of Public Act | ||||||
15 | 97-8. | ||||||
16 | If the Governor has declared a disaster due to a public | ||||||
17 | health emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois | ||||||
18 | Emergency Management Agency Act that suspends in-person | ||||||
19 | instruction, the timelines in this Section connected to the | ||||||
20 | commencement and completion of any remediation plan are | ||||||
21 | waived. Except if the parties mutually agree otherwise and the | ||||||
22 | agreement is in writing, any remediation plan that had been in | ||||||
23 | place for more than 45 days prior to the suspension of | ||||||
24 | in-person instruction shall resume when in-person instruction | ||||||
25 | resumes and any remediation plan that had been in place for | ||||||
26 | fewer than 45 days prior to the suspension of in-person |
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1 | instruction shall be discontinued and a new remediation period | ||||||
2 | shall begin when in-person instruction resumes. The | ||||||
3 | requirements of this paragraph apply regardless of whether | ||||||
4 | they are included in a school district's teacher evaluation | ||||||
5 | plan. | ||||||
6 | School districts may not tie teacher performance | ||||||
7 | evaluations to a entire school's standardized testing | ||||||
8 | performance or to a curriculum area in which the teacher is not | ||||||
9 | certified. | ||||||
10 | (Source: P.A. 101-643, eff. 6-18-20; 102-252, eff. 1-1-22; | ||||||
11 | 102-729, eff. 5-6-22.)
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