State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_SJ0026

 
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 1                       SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS,  On  October  12,  2000,  the  State  Board   of
 3    Education  adopted  an amendment by peremptory rulemaking for
 4    rules titled "Certification" (23 Ill. Adm. Code 25;  24  Ill.
 5    Reg. 16109); and

 6        WHEREAS;  The  peremptory  amendment adopted by the State
 7    Board of Education repeals a rule limiting special  education
 8    teachers with certificates endorsed for specific disabilities
 9    to teaching only students with those disabilities; and

10        WHEREAS,  This rulemaking is in response to a court order
11    issued on September 12, 2000 in Corey H., et al., v. Board of
12    Education of City of Chicago, et al., No. 92 C 3409 (9/12/00,
13    U.S. District Court for the Northern  District  of  Illinois,
14    Eastern   Division);    among   the   dispositions   by   the
15    court-appointed  monitor  was   a  requirement that the State
16    Board  of  Education  repeal,  via   peremptory   rulemaking,
17    categorical certification language from 23 Ill. Adm. Code 25,
18    Appendix C; and

19        WHEREAS,  The  Joint  Committee  on Administrative Rules,
20    during its review of the peremptory rulemaking as directed by
21    the Illinois Administrative Procedure  Act,  determined  that
22    the continued enforcement of this rulemaking would constitute
23    a  serious threat to the public interest, safety, and welfare
24    and  particularly  the  welfare  of  this   State's   special
25    education  students;  implementation  of  this rulemaking may
26    result in unqualified teachers being assigned to students for
27    whom the teacher has no training or preparation; and

28        WHEREAS, Based on this determination, the Joint Committee
29    on Administrative Rules suspended this rulemaking; and

30        WHEREAS,  Because   Section   5-125   of   the   Illinois
31    Administrative  Procedure  Act states that a suspension of an
 
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 1    agency's peremptory rulemaking is effective for a  period  of
 2    at  least  180  days,  the  suspension  issued  by  the Joint
 3    Committee  on  Administrative  Rules,  which   commenced   on
 4    February  21, 2001, will terminate on August 19, 2001, unless
 5    continued by the adoption of this joint  resolution  by  both
 6    houses  of the General Assembly as provided in subsection (c)
 7    of Section 5-125 of  the  Illinois  Administrative  Procedure
 8    Act; and

 9        WHEREAS,   On  October  27,  2000,  the  State  Board  of
10    Education adopted  new  rules  through  a  second  peremptory
11    rulemaking  titled  "Standards  for  Certification in Special
12    Education" (23 Ill. Adm. Code 28; 24 Ill. Reg. 16738); and

13        WHEREAS, The peremptory rules adopted by the State  Board
14    of   Education  create  2  categories  of  special  education
15    teachers, Learning Behavior Specialist (LBS) I  and  II,  and
16    create  a  common core of standards for all special education
17    teachers and specific content-area standards for LBS I  (deaf
18    or   hard-of-hearing,   blind  or  visually  impaired,  or  a
19    combination   of   both)   and   LBS   II    (speech-language
20    pathologists, early childhood special education teachers, and
21    learning behavior specialists); LBS II persons can be further
22    categorized as specialists, i.e., as a transition specialist,
23    technology    specialist,    bilingual    special   education
24    specialist,   blind   specialist,    behavior    intervention
25    specialist,  curriculum  adaptation  specialist,  or multiple
26    disabilities specialist; and

27        WHEREAS, The standards will affect both special education
28    teachers  and  the  academic  programs  that  prepare   them;
29    beginning   on  July  31,  2002,  special  education  teacher
30    preparation programs will be not approved by the State  Board
31    of  Education  if  they  do not include these new common core
32    standards; beginning on  January  1,  2003,  any  examination
33    required  for special education certification must assess the
 
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 1    candidate's competence in relation to  these  standards;  for
 2    each  category  of  special education (deaf, early childhood,
 3    etc.), a teacher must understand the foundations  of  special
 4    education,   characteristics  of  the  relevant  category  of
 5    students, assessment procedures, instructional  planning  and
 6    delivery, learning environments, collaborative relationships,
 7    professional  conduct  and  leadership,  and  reflection  and
 8    professional growth; and

 9        WHEREAS, This second peremptory rulemaking is in response
10    to  the court order in which the State Board of Education was
11    directed to adopt the peremptory rules for special  education
12    teacher certification standards; and

13        WHEREAS,  The  Joint  Committee  on Administrative Rules,
14    during its review of  the  second  peremptory  rulemaking  as
15    directed   by  the  Illinois  Administrative  Procedure  Act,
16    determined that the continued enforcement of this  rulemaking
17    would  constitute a serious threat to the public interest and
18    welfare and that  the  reasons  for  the  suspension  are  as
19    follows:
20             (1)  educational  professionals have argued that the
21        teacher training scenario  outlined  in  this  rulemaking
22        will result in teachers who are not as qualified to teach
23        children with special needs as are teachers trained under
24        the previous standards;
25             (2)  the rules place an unreasonable economic burden
26        on  special  education  teachers  who will be required to
27        undergo additional training for the new certification, on
28        school districts that will need to hire special education
29        teachers  with  appropriate  credentials  and  to  supply
30        supplemental  services  to  assist  the   children   with
31        disabilities  in regular classroom instruction, on higher
32        education facilities  that  will  need  to  revamp  their
33        teacher  preparation  programs  to  implement  these  new
 
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 1        special education common core standards, and on the State
 2        Board  of  Education,  which is charged with implementing
 3        the new certification program standards; and
 4             (3)  the economic hardship  being  created  by  this
 5        rulemaking  could  result  in  the  availability of fewer
 6        qualified teachers to serve special  education  students;
 7        and

 8        WHEREAS, Based on this determination, the Joint Committee
 9    on  Administrative  Rules  suspended  the  second  peremptory
10    rulemaking; and

11        WHEREAS,   Because   Section   5-125   of   the  Illinois
12    Administrative Procedure Act states that a suspension  of  an
13    agency's  peremptory  rulemaking is effective for a period of
14    at least  180  days,  the  suspension  issued  by  the  Joint
15    Committee on Administrative Rules, which commenced on January
16    9,  2001, will terminate on July 7, 2001, unless continued by
17    the adoption of this joint resolution by both houses  of  the
18    General  Assembly  as  provided  in subsection (c) of Section
19    5-125  of  the   Illinois   Administrative   Procedure   Act;
20    therefore, be it

21        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  SENATE  OF  THE NINETY-SECOND GENERAL
22    ASSEMBLY  OF  THE   STATE   OF   ILLINOIS,   THE   HOUSE   OF
23    REPRESENTATIVES  CONCURRING HEREIN, that the General Assembly
24    hereby continues  the  2  suspensions  issued  by  the  Joint
25    Committee  on  Administrative  Rules  on  January 9, 2001 and
26    February 21,  2001,  respectively,  of  the  State  Board  of
27    Education's  2  peremptory  rulemakings titled "Standards for
28    Certification in Special Education" (23 Ill. Adm. Code 28; 24
29    Ill. Reg. 16738) and "Certification" (23 Ill. Adm.  Code  25;
30    24 Ill. Reg. 16109); and be it further

31        RESOLVED,  That  suitable  copies  of  this resolution be
32    delivered to the Executive Director of the Joint Committee on
 
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 1    Administrative Rules  and  to  the  State  Superintendent  of
 2    Education.

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