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[ Engrossed ] | [ Senate Amendment 001 ] |
92_SB1843 LRB9214177NTmg 1 AN ACT in relation to 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 adding Section 5 14-9.05 as follows: 6 (105 ILCS 5/14-9.05 new) 7 Sec. 14-9.05. Temporary special education teacher 8 certification. 9 (a) The General Assembly makes all of the following 10 findings: 11 (1) There exists throughout this State a severe 12 shortage of special education teachers, and this shortage 13 has existed for many years and gives no indication of 14 abating at anytime in the future. 15 (2) As a result of this shortage of special 16 education teachers, school districts and private special 17 education facilities throughout this State are finding it 18 increasingly difficult to hire and maintain a sufficient 19 number of special education teachers to meet the needs of 20 their children with disabilities. 21 (3) If a solution is not found to alleviate the 22 effects of this shortage of special education teachers, 23 the high quality of special education that the school 24 districts and private special education facilities of 25 this State provide could be in jeopardy. 26 (4) As a result of this shortage of special 27 education teachers and the potential impact that this 28 shortage may have on this State's special education 29 system, the General Assembly believes that a temporary 30 certification process for special education teachers is 31 necessary. -2- LRB9214177NTmg 1 (b) The State Teacher Certification Board shall issue 2 temporary special education teacher certificates for teaching 3 children with disabilities, other than students who are deaf 4 or hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired, or speech or 5 language impaired, to persons who satisfy the requirements of 6 this Section. Certificates shall be issued only during the 7 3-year period beginning on July 1, 2002. The powers granted 8 to the State Teacher Certification Board concerning the 9 issuance of temporary special education teacher certificates 10 under this Section expire on July 1, 2005. Notwithstanding 11 that expiration, any certificate issued before July 1, 2005 12 is valid until the date of the certificate's expiration. Once 13 issued, a temporary special education teacher certificate is 14 valid for a period of 3 years. 15 (c) A person seeking certification under this Section 16 must meet all of the following requirements: 17 (1) The person possesses either a valid teaching 18 certificate issued by any state or a possession or 19 territory of the United States or a certificate issued 20 pursuant to Section 21-9 of this Code. 21 (2) The person has the qualifications to be 22 certified to teach under Section 21-1 of this Code. 23 (d) A person seeking temporary special education teacher 24 certification must be enrolled in an approved special 25 education teacher preparation program at a recognized 26 institution of higher learning, as defined under Article 21 27 of this Code, and meet, within 3 years after issuance of the 28 temporary special education teacher certificate, the 29 requirements to receive a special certificate pursuant to 30 Section 21-4 of this Code, except that a person seeking 31 temporary special education teacher certification who has 32 been teaching under a certificate valid for teaching in the 33 common schools of this State for a minimum of 3 years and who 34 has received a satisfactory evaluation and an appropriate -3- LRB9214177NTmg 1 teaching performance critique from the institution of higher 2 learning is exempt from the student teaching requirement. The 3 holder of a temporary special education teacher certificate 4 must pass the basic skills test required for certification to 5 teach in the common schools of this State within one year 6 after issuance of the temporary special education teacher 7 certificate. 8 (e) A person is not eligible for employment by a school 9 district, for employment in a program under a special 10 education joint agreement, or for employment in a private 11 special education facility as a temporarily certified special 12 education teacher unless he or she holds a valid substitute 13 teacher's certificate pursuant to Section 21-9 of this Code. 14 The person must not be employed to replace any currently 15 employed teacher who otherwise would not be replaced for any 16 reason. Before being assigned to a classroom with children 17 with disabilities for the first time, the person must 18 successfully complete a pre-service training program on 19 educating children with disabilities that has been approved 20 by the State Board of Education and that is provided by the 21 employing entity or a recognized institution of higher 22 learning, as defined under Article 21 of this Code. An 23 employing entity must assign a mentoring teacher to the 24 person for the duration of his or her employment with the 25 entity as a temporarily certified special education teacher. 26 (f) A person employed by a school district or employed in 27 a program under a special education joint agreement as a 28 temporarily certified special education teacher shall have 29 that employment credited to him or her for the purpose of 30 determining, under the provisions of this Code, eligibility 31 to enter upon contractual continued service, provided that 32 the employment immediately precedes and is consecutive with 33 the year in which the person becomes certified under Article 34 21 of this Code. For the purposes of determining the minimum -4- LRB9214177NTmg 1 salary payable to the person and the employment benefits that 2 the person is entitled to, the person is deemed to have been 3 trained at a recognized institution of higher learning, as 4 defined under Article 21 of this Code, and the person is 5 eligible for salary and benefits as a beginning full-time 6 teacher of the employing entity. 7 (g) The provisions of Article 21 of this Code that apply 8 to certificates issued under Article 21 apply to temporary 9 special education teacher certificates to the extent that 10 those provisions are not contradicted by or inconsistent with 11 any provision of this Section. 12 (h) In order to assist the State Board of Education and 13 the State Teacher Certification Board in evaluating the 14 special education certification process in this State, any 15 school district, program under a special education joint 16 agreement, or private special education facility that hires a 17 temporarily certified special education teacher must annually 18 report all of the following to the State Board of Education: 19 (1) The number of temporarily certified special 20 education teachers that have been hired. 21 (2) The number of temporarily certified special 22 education teachers hired who have obtained special 23 certificates pursuant to Section 21-4 of this Code. 24 (3) The total number of children with disabilities 25 that are serviced. 26 (4) The number of special education teacher 27 vacancies that exist. 28 (5) The other methods that are being undertaken to 29 fill special education teacher vacancies. 30 (i) The State Board of Education, in consultation with 31 the State Teacher Certification Board, may adopt any rules 32 necessary to implement and administer this Section. 33 Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding -5- LRB9214177NTmg 1 Section 8.26 as follows: 2 (30 ILCS 805/8.26 new) 3 Sec. 8.26. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 4 and 8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required 5 for the implementation of any mandate created by this 6 amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly. 7 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on July 8 1, 2002.