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92_HB1026 LRB9207609NTsb 1 AN ACT concerning transitional bilingual education 2 teaching certificates. 3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 4 represented in the General Assembly: 5 Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing 6 Sections 14C-8 and 21-2 as follows: 7 (105 ILCS 5/14C-8) (from Ch. 122, par. 14C-8) 8 Sec. 14C-8. Teacher certification - Qualifications - 9 Issuance of certificates. No person shall be eligible for 10 employment by a school district as a teacher of transitional 11 bilingual education without either (a) holding a valid 12 teaching certificate issued pursuant to Article 21 of this 13 Code and meeting such additional language and course 14 requirements as prescribed by the State Board of Education, 15 in consultation with the State Teacher Certification Board, 16 or (b) meeting the requirements set forth in this Section. 17 The State Board of Education, in consultation with the State 18 Teacher Certification Board, shall issue certificates valid 19 for teaching in all grades of the common school in 20 transitional bilingual education programs to any person who 21 presents it with satisfactory evidence that he possesses an 22 adequate speaking and reading ability in a language other 23 than English in which transitional bilingual education is 24 offered and communicative skills in English, and possessed 25 within 5 years previous to his or her applying for a 26 certificate under this Section a valid teaching certificate 27 issued by a foreign country, or by a State or possession or 28 territory of the United States, or other evidence of teaching 29 preparation as may be determined to be sufficient by the 30 State Board of Education, in consultation with the State 31 Teacher Certification Board, or holds a degree from an -2- LRB9207609NTsb 1 institution of higher learning in a foreign country which the 2 State Board of Education, in consultation with the State 3 Certification Board, determines to be the equivalent of a 4 bachelor's degree from a recognized institution of higher 5 learning in the United States; provided that any person 6 seeking a certificate under this Section must meet the 7 following additional requirements: 8 (1) Such persons must be in good health; 9 (2) Such persons must be of sound moral character; 10 (3) Such persons must be legally present in the United 11 States and possess legal authorization for employment; 12 (4) Such persons must not be employed to replace any 13 presently employed teacher who otherwise would not be 14 replaced for any reason. 15 Certificates issuedissuablepursuant to this Section 16 shall be called transitional bilingual certificates. These 17 certificates are valid for 2 years and may not be renewed 18 more than 3 times for a period of 2 years each, after the 19 2nd, 4th, and 6th year of teaching. A transitional bilingual 20 certificate may not be renewed unless the holder successfully 21 completes a minimum of 9 semester hours of college or 22 university coursework in an approved education program 23 leading to eligibility for an Initial or Standard Teaching 24 Certificate, issued pursuant to Section 21-2 of this Code, 25 during each 2-year validity period of the transitional 26 bilingual certificate. All applications for renewal of a 27 transitional bilingual certificate shall be directed to the 28 State Board of Education and shall contain documentation that 29 the certificate holder has successfully completed the 30 required coursework.issuable only during the 5 years31immediately following the effective date of this Act and32thereafter for additional periods of one year only upon a33determination by the State Board of Education that a school34district lacks the number of teachers necessary to comply-3- LRB9207609NTsb 1with the mandatory requirements of Sections 14C-2.1 and 14C-32of this Article for the establishment and maintenance of3programs of transitional bilingual education and said4certificates issued by the Certification Board shall be valid5for a period of 6 years following their date of issuance and6shall not be renewed, except that one renewal for a period of7two years may be granted if necessary to permit the holder of8a certificate issued under this Section to acquire a teaching9certificate pursuant to Article 21 of this Code.Such 10 certificates and the persons to whom they are issued shall be 11 exempt from the provisions of Article 21 of this Code except 12 that Sections 21-12, 21-13, 21-16, 21-17, 21-19, 21-21, 13 21-22, 21-23 and 21-24 shall continue to be applicable to all 14 such certificates and certificate holders. 15 Each holder of a transitional bilingual certificate must 16 develop a plan for satisfying the renewal requirements every 17 2 years, if necessary, and must maintain records of 18 completion of required coursework to document his or her 19 progress. Each school district that employs a holder of a 20 transitional bilingual certificate must (i) review the 21 certificate holder's plan, (ii) monitor the certificate 22 holder's progress made annually, and (iii) retain the 23 documentation provided by the certificate holder. The school 24 district must certify to the State Board of Education that 25 the certificate holder has successfully completed the 26 required coursework. If exceptional circumstances exist, the 27 State Superintendent of Education may grant an additional 28 period of time to fulfill the renewal requirements for one 29 2-year period, as long as the maximum amount of time a 30 certificate is held is 8 years. Eligibility and application 31 for the additional period of time shall be determined in 32 accordance with rules established by the State Board of 33 Education, in consultation with the State Teacher 34 Certification Board. Each school district that employs a -4- LRB9207609NTsb 1 holder of a transitional bilingual certificate must provide 2 mentoring by an experienced teacher during the first 2 years 3 that the holder's certificate is valid. 4 An individual who completes 4 years of teaching after 5 receiving a transitional bilingual certificate issued and 6 renewed pursuant to this Section qualifies for a Standard 7 Teaching Certificate, provided that the individual satisfies 8 the requirements for a Standard Certificate established under 9 subsection (c) of Section 21-2 of this Code, including 10 successful completion of the Standard Teaching Certificate 11 Examination beginning July 1, 2003. An individual who so 12 qualifies for a Standard Teaching Certificate without receipt 13 of an Initial Teaching Certificate must successfully complete 14 the Initial Teaching Certification examination established 15 under subsection (b) of Section 21-2 of this Code. A 16 transitional bilingual certificate may not be renewed after 17 the 4th year of teaching unless the certificate holder 18 satisfactorily passes the test of basic skills established 19 under Section 21-1a of this Code before application for a 20 second renewal.After the effective date of this amendatory21Act of 1984, an additional renewal for a period to expire22August 31, 1985, may be granted. The State Board of Education23shall report to the General Assembly on or before January 31,241985 its recommendations for the qualification of teachers of25bilingual education and for the qualification of teachers of26English as a second language. Said qualification program27shall take effect no later than August 31, 1985.28 Beginning July 1, 2001, the State Board of Education 29 shall implement a test or tests to assess the speaking, 30 reading, writing, and grammar skills of applicants for a 31 certificate issued under this Section in the English language 32 and in the language of the transitional bilingual education 33 program requested by the applicant and shall establish 34 appropriate fees for these tests. The State Board of -5- LRB9207609NTsb 1 Education, in consultation with the Certification Board, 2 shall promulgate rules to implement the required tests, 3 including specific provisions to govern test selection, test 4 validation, determination of a passing score, administration 5 of the test or tests, frequency of administration, applicant 6 fees, identification requirements for test takers, frequency 7 of applicants taking the tests, the years for which a score 8 is valid, waiving tests for individuals who have 9 satisfactorily passed other tests, and the consequences of 10 dishonest conduct in the application for or taking of the 11 tests. 12 If the qualifications of an applicant for a certificate 13 valid for teaching in transitional bilingual education 14 programs in all grades of the common schools do not meet the 15 requirements established for the issuance of that 16 certificate, the Certification Board nevertheless shall issue 17 the applicant a substitute teacher's certificate under 18 Section 21-9 whenever it appears from the face of the 19 application submitted for certification as a teacher of 20 transitional bilingual education and the evidence presented 21 in support thereof that the applicant's qualifications meet 22 the requirements established for the issuance of a 23 certificate under Section 21-9; provided, that if it does not 24 appear from the face of such application and supporting 25 evidence that the applicant is qualified for issuance of a 26 certificate under Section 21-9 the Certification Board shall 27 evaluate the application with reference to the requirements 28 for issuance of certificates under Section 21-9 and shall 29 inform the applicant, at the time it denies the application 30 submitted for certification as a teacher of transitional 31 bilingual education, of the additional qualifications which 32 the applicant must possess in order to meet the requirements 33 established for issuance of (i) a certificate valid for 34 teaching in transitional bilingual education programs in all -6- LRB9207609NTsb 1 grades of the common schools and (ii) a substitute teacher's 2 certificate under Section 21-9. 3 (Source: P.A. 91-370, eff. 7-30-99.) 4 (105 ILCS 5/21-2) (from Ch. 122, par. 21-2) 5 Sec. 21-2. Grades of certificates. 6 (a) Until February 15, 2000, all certificates issued 7 under this Article shall be State certificates valid, except 8 as limited in Section 21-1, in every school district coming 9 under the provisions of this Act and shall be limited in time 10 and designated as follows: Provisional vocational 11 certificate, temporary provisional vocational certificate, 12 early childhood certificate, elementary school certificate, 13 special certificate, high school certificate, school service 14 personnel certificate, administrative certificate, 15 provisional certificate, and substitute certificate. The 16 requirement of student teaching under close and competent 17 supervision for obtaining a teaching certificate may be 18 waived by the State Teacher Certification Board upon 19 presentation to the Board by the teacher of evidence of 5 20 years successful teaching experience on a valid certificate 21 and graduation from a recognized institution of higher 22 learning with a bachelor's degree with not less than 120 23 semester hours and a minimum of 16 semester hours in 24 professional education. 25 (b) Initial Teaching Certificate. Beginning February 26 15, 2000, persons who (1) have completed an approved teacher 27 preparation program, (2) are recommended by an approved 28 teacher preparation program, (3) have successfully completed 29 the Initial Teaching Certification examinations required by 30 the State Board of Education, and (4) have met all other 31 criteria established by the State Board of Education in 32 consultation with the State Teacher Certification Board, 33 shall be issued an Initial Teaching Certificate valid for 4 -7- LRB9207609NTsb 1 years of teaching, as defined in Section 21-14 of this Code. 2 Initial Teaching Certificates shall be issued for categories 3 corresponding to Early Childhood, Elementary, Secondary, and 4 Special K-12, with special certification designations for 5 Special Education, Bilingual Education, fundamental learning 6 areas (including Language Arts, Reading, Mathematics, 7 Science, Social Science, Physical Development and Health, 8 Fine Arts, and Foreign Language), and other areas designated 9 by the State Board of Education, in consultation with the 10 State Teacher Certification Board. 11 (c) Standard Certificate. Beginning February 15, 2000, 12 persons who (1) have completed 4 years of teaching, as 13 defined in Section 21-14 of this Code, with an Initial 14 Certificate or an Initial Alternative Teaching Certificate 15 and have met all other criteria established by the State 16 Board of Education in consultation with the State Teacher 17 Certification Board, (2) have completed 4 years of teaching 18 on a valid equivalent certificate in another State or 19 territory of the United States, have completed 4 years of 20 teaching on a valid certificate issued pursuant to Section 21 14C-8 of this Code, or have completed 4 years of teaching in 22 a nonpublic Illinois elementary or secondary school with an 23 Initial Certificate or an Initial Alternative Teaching 24 Certificate, and have met all other criteria established by 25 the State Board of Education, in consultation with the State 26 Teacher Certification Board, or (3) were issued teaching 27 certificates prior to February 15, 2000 and are renewing 28 those certificates after February 15, 2000, shall be issued a 29 Standard Certificate valid for 5 years, which may be renewed 30 thereafter every 5 years by the State Teacher Certification 31 Board based on proof of continuing education or professional 32 development. Beginning July 1, 2003, persons who have 33 completed 4 years of teaching, as described in clauses (1) 34 and (2) of this subsection (c), have successfully completed -8- LRB9207609NTsb 1 the Standard Teaching Certificate Examinations, and have met 2 all other criteria established by the State Board of 3 Education, in consultation with the State Teacher 4 Certification Board, shall be issued Standard Certificates. 5 Standard Certificates shall be issued for categories 6 corresponding to Early Childhood, Elementary, Secondary, and 7 Special K-12, with special certification designations for 8 Special Education, Bilingual Education, fundamental learning 9 areas (including Language Arts, Reading, Mathematics, 10 Science, Social Science, Physical Development and Health, 11 Fine Arts, and Foreign Language), and other areas designated 12 by the State Board of Education, in consultation with the 13 State Teacher Certification Board. 14 (d) Master Certificate. Beginning February 15, 2000, 15 persons who have successfully achieved National Board 16 certification through the National Board for Professional 17 Teaching Standards shall be issued a Master Certificate, 18 valid for 10 years and renewable thereafter every 10 years 19 through compliance with requirements set forth by the State 20 Board of Education, in consultation with the State Teacher 21 Certification Board. However, each teacher who holds a Master 22 Certificate shall be eligible for a teaching position in this 23 State in the areas for which he or she holds a Master 24 Certificate without satisfying any other requirements of this 25 Code, except for those requirements pertaining to criminal 26 background checks. A teacher who holds a Master Certificate 27 shall be deemed to meet State certification renewal 28 requirements in the area or areas for which he or she holds a 29 Master Certificate for the 10-year term of the teacher's 30 Master Certificate. 31 (Source: P.A. 90-548, eff. 1-1-98; 90-653, eff. 7-29-98; 32 90-811, eff. 1-26-99; 91-102, eff. 7-12-99; 91-606, eff. 33 8-16-99; 91-609, eff. 1-1-00; revised 10-7-99.) -9- LRB9207609NTsb 1 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 2 becoming law.