94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006
HB3626

 

Introduced 2/24/2005, by Rep. Chapin Rose

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/24A-5   from Ch. 122, par. 24A-5
30 ILCS 805/8.29 new

    Amends the School Code. Provides that in a school district having a population of 500,000 or less, if an evaluation rates a fourth-year probationary teacher as "unsatisfactory", but the teacher's immediately preceding evaluation rated the teacher as "excellent" or "satisfactory", and if there has been been a change in the administration or personnel responsible for evaluating that teacher at any time between the current evaluation and the preceding evaluation, then that teacher may receive an optional fifth year of probationary teaching upon the agreement of the school board and the probationary teacher. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB3626 LRB094 11390 RAS 42273 b

1     AN ACT concerning education.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
5 24A-5 as follows:
 
6     (105 ILCS 5/24A-5)  (from Ch. 122, par. 24A-5)
7     Sec. 24A-5. Content of evaluation plans. Each school
8 district to which this Article applies shall establish a
9 teacher evaluation plan which ensures that each teacher in
10 contractual continued service is evaluated at least once in the
11 course of every 2 school years, beginning with the 1986-87
12 school year.
13     The evaluation plan shall comply with the requirements of
14 this Section and of any rules adopted by the State Board of
15 Education pursuant to this Section.
16     The plan shall include a description of each teacher's
17 duties and responsibilities and of the standards to which that
18 teacher is expected to conform.
19     The plan may provide for evaluation of personnel whose
20 positions require administrative certification by independent
21 evaluators not employed by or affiliated with the school
22 district. The results of the school district administrators'
23 evaluations shall be reported to the employing school board,
24 together with such recommendations for remediation as the
25 evaluator or evaluators may deem appropriate.
26     Evaluation of teachers whose positions do not require
27 administrative certification shall be conducted by an
28 administrator qualified under Section 24A-3, or -- in school
29 districts having a population exceeding 500,000 -- by either an
30 administrator qualified under Section 24A-3 or an assistant
31 principal under the supervision of an administrator qualified
32 under Section 24A-3, and shall include at least the following

 

 

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1 components:
2         (a) personal observation of the teacher in the
3     classroom (on at least 2 different school days in school
4     districts having a population exceeding 500,000) by a
5     district administrator qualified under Section 24A-3, or -
6     - in school districts having a population exceeding
7     500,000 -- by either an administrator qualified under
8     Section 24A-3 or an assistant principal under the
9     supervision of an administrator qualified under Section
10     24A-3, unless the teacher has no classroom duties.
11         (b) consideration of the teacher's attendance,
12     planning, and instructional methods, classroom management,
13     where relevant, and competency in the subject matter
14     taught, where relevant.
15         (c) rating of the teacher's performance as
16     "excellent", "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory".
17         (d) specification as to the teacher's strengths and
18     weaknesses, with supporting reasons for the comments made.
19         (e) inclusion of a copy of the evaluation in the
20     teacher's personnel file and provision of a copy to the
21     teacher.
22         (f) except as provided in this subsection (f), within
23     30 days after completion of an evaluation rating a teacher
24     as "unsatisfactory", development and commencement by the
25     district, or by an administrator qualified under Section
26     24A-3 or an assistant principal under the supervision of an
27     administrator qualified under Section 24A-3 in school
28     districts having a population exceeding 500,000, of a
29     remediation plan designed to correct deficiencies cited,
30     provided the deficiencies are deemed remediable. In all
31     school districts the remediation plan for unsatisfactory,
32     tenured teachers shall provide for 90 school days of
33     remediation within the classroom. In all school districts
34     evaluations issued pursuant to this Section shall be issued
35     within 10 days after the conclusion of the respective
36     remediation plan. However, the school board or other

 

 

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1     governing authority of the district shall not lose
2     jurisdiction to discharge a teacher in the event the
3     evaluation is not issued within 10 days after the
4     conclusion of the respective remediation plan.
5     Notwithstanding any other provision in this Section, in a
6     school district having a population of 500,000 or less, if
7     an evaluation rates a fourth-year probationary teacher as
8     "unsatisfactory", but the teacher's immediately preceding
9     evaluation rated the teacher as "excellent" or
10     "satisfactory", and if there has been a change in the
11     administration or personnel responsible for evaluating
12     that teacher at any time between the current evaluation and
13     the preceding evaluation, then that teacher may receive an
14     optional fifth year of probationary teaching upon the
15     agreement of the school board and the probationary teacher.
16         (g) participation in the remediation plan by the
17     teacher rated "unsatisfactory", a district administrator
18     qualified under Section 24A-3 (or -- in a school district
19     having a population exceeding 500,000 -- an administrator
20     qualified under Section 24A-3 or an assistant principal
21     under the supervision of an administrator qualified under
22     Section 24A-3), and a consulting teacher, selected by the
23     participating administrator or by the principal, or -- in
24     school districts having a population exceeding 500,000 --
25     by an administrator qualified under Section 24A-3 or by an
26     assistant principal under the supervision of an
27     administrator qualified under Section 24A-3, of the
28     teacher who was rated "unsatisfactory", which consulting
29     teacher is an educational employee as defined in the
30     Educational Labor Relations Act, has at least 5 years'
31     teaching experience and a reasonable familiarity with the
32     assignment of the teacher being evaluated, and who received
33     an "excellent" rating on his or her most recent evaluation.
34     Where no teachers who meet these criteria are available
35     within the district, the district shall request and the
36     State Board of Education shall supply, to participate in

 

 

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1     the remediation process, an individual who meets these
2     criteria.
3         In a district having a population of less than 500,000
4     with an exclusive bargaining agent, the bargaining agent
5     may, if it so chooses, supply a roster of qualified
6     teachers from whom the consulting teacher is to be
7     selected. That roster shall, however, contain the names of
8     at least 5 teachers, each of whom meets the criteria for
9     consulting teacher with regard to the teacher being
10     evaluated, or the names of all teachers so qualified if
11     that number is less than 5. In the event of a dispute as to
12     qualification, the State Board shall determine
13     qualification.
14         (h) evaluations and ratings once every 30 school days
15     for the 90 school day remediation period immediately
16     following receipt of a remediation plan provided for under
17     subsections (f) and (g) of this Section; provided that in
18     school districts having a population exceeding 500,000
19     there shall be monthly evaluations and ratings for the
20     first 6 months and quarterly evaluations and ratings for
21     the next 6 months immediately following completion of the
22     remediation program of a teacher for whom a remediation
23     plan has been developed. These subsequent evaluations
24     shall be conducted by the participating administrator, or -
25     - in school districts having a population exceeding
26     500,000 -- by either the principal or by an assistant
27     principal under the supervision of an administrator
28     qualified under Section 24A-3. The consulting teacher
29     shall provide advice to the teacher rated "unsatisfactory"
30     on how to improve teaching skills and to successfully
31     complete the remediation plan. The consulting teacher
32     shall participate in developing the remediation plan, but
33     the final decision as to the evaluation shall be done
34     solely by the administrator, or -- in school districts
35     having a population exceeding 500,000 -- by either the
36     principal or by an assistant principal under the

 

 

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1     supervision of an administrator qualified under Section
2     24A-3, unless an applicable collective bargaining
3     agreement provides to the contrary. Teachers in the
4     remediation process in a school district having a
5     population exceeding 500,000 are not subject to the annual
6     evaluations described in paragraphs (a) through (e) of this
7     Section. Evaluations at the conclusion of the remediation
8     process shall be separate and distinct from the required
9     annual evaluations of teachers and shall not be subject to
10     the guidelines and procedures relating to those annual
11     evaluations. The evaluator may but is not required to use
12     the forms provided for the annual evaluation of teachers in
13     the district's evaluation plan.
14         (i) in school districts having a population of less
15     than 500,000, reinstatement to a schedule of biennial
16     evaluation for any teacher who completes the 90 school day
17     remediation plan with a "satisfactory" or better rating,
18     unless the district's plan regularly requires more
19     frequent evaluations; and in school districts having a
20     population exceeding 500,000, reinstatement to a schedule
21     of biennial evaluation for any teacher who completes the 90
22     school day remediation plan with a "satisfactory" or better
23     rating and the one year intensive review schedule as
24     provided in paragraph (h) of this Section with a
25     "satisfactory" or better rating, unless such district's
26     plan regularly requires more frequent evaluations.
27         (j) dismissal in accordance with Section 24-12 or 34-85
28     of The School Code of any teacher who fails to complete any
29     applicable remediation plan with a "satisfactory" or
30     better rating. Districts and teachers subject to dismissal
31     hearings are precluded from compelling the testimony of
32     consulting teachers at such hearings under Section 24-12 or
33     34-85, either as to the rating process or for opinions of
34     performances by teachers under remediation.
35     In a district subject to a collective bargaining agreement
36 as of the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997, any

 

 

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1 changes made by this amendatory Act to the provisions of this
2 Section that are contrary to the express terms and provisions
3 of that agreement shall go into effect in that district only
4 upon expiration of that agreement. Thereafter, collectively
5 bargained evaluation plans shall at a minimum meet the
6 standards of this Article. If such a district has an evaluation
7 plan, however, whether pursuant to the collective bargaining
8 agreement or otherwise, a copy of that plan shall be submitted
9 to the State Board of Education for review and comment, in
10 accordance with Section 24A-4.
11     Nothing in this Section shall be construed as preventing
12 immediate dismissal of a teacher for deficiencies which are
13 deemed irremediable or for actions which are injurious to or
14 endanger the health or person of students in the classroom or
15 school. Failure to strictly comply with the time requirements
16 contained in Section 24A-5 shall not invalidate the results of
17 the remediation plan.
18 (Source: P.A. 89-15, eff. 5-30-95; 90-548, eff. 1-1-98; 90-653,
19 eff. 7-29-98.)
 
20     Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
21 Section 8.29 as follows:
 
22     (30 ILCS 805/8.29 new)
23     Sec. 8.29. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8
24 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the
25 implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory Act of
26 the 94th General Assembly.
 
27     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
28 becoming law.