Opposes 'scapegoating' Chicago teachers... Miguel Del Valle becomes first Chicago mayoral candidate to oppose the 'Performance Counts' legislation funded in Illinois by the 'Billionaire Boys Club'
Chicago City Clerk Miguel Del Valle (above right) became the first mayoral candidate to reject the union busting legislation funded by corporate school reformers for Illinois. Above, Del Valle answering a question during the mayoral forum sponsored by the Chicago Teachers Union on December 16, 2010, the first day of the two days of hearings on the plutocrats' latest attack on public school teachers in the name of corporate "reform." Seated beside Del Valle above is Carol Moseley Braun, also a candidate for mayor who took part in the December 16 CTU forum. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.Chicago City Clerk and mayoral candidate Miguel DelValle has become the first Chicago mayoral candidate to firmly oppose the so-called 'Performance Counts Act.' The proposed legislation was pushed into the lame duck legislative session in Springfield after House Speaker Michael Madigan created a thing called the 'School Reform Committee' to fast track the legislation between now and January 6, 2011. Madigan's enthusiasm for the latest iteration of corporate "school reform" came after a group called "Stand for Children", based in Oregon, funneled more than $600,000 into the recent election campaigns between October 1, 2010 and November 2, 2010 (election day).
Stand for Children, which only opened its Illinois office in December 2010, contributed $100,000 each in October 2010 to two Democratic legislators who are now on Madigan's "school reform committee" — Jehan Gordon of Peoria and Keith Farnham. The group's funding comes almost exclusively from some of the wealthiest people in the USA, although it claims to have a "grass roots" base, and the money that was poured into Illinois politics in October 2010 came from "Stand for Children" offices in Oregon and Massachusetts. When Substance tried to located the Illinois Stand for Children during the first week of December 2010, directory assistance said the group had no phone number in Chicago or Springfield. It is a "501c4" group, meaning it can distribute money without having to reveal the source of its dollars.
Chicago City Clerk Miguel Del Valle was interviewed following the Chicago Teachers Union mayoral forum by Steinmetz High School student reporters (left to right) From left, Steinmetz Star reporters: Eunice Dimas, Regina Crawford, Alyssa Sanchez, and Danielle Brumley. The reporters are from the Steinmetz Star, and award winning school newspaper from Steinmetz, a general public high school on Chicago's northwest side. Substance photo by Sharon Schmidt. Like "Advance Illinois," which reportedly drafted the proposed act with Stand for Children, Stand for Children claims to be a non-partisan group that's only interested in what's best for children. But its ability to make campaign contributions far above anything ordinary teachers might make (Stand for Children was the largest contributor to the re-election campaigns of Jehan Gordon and Keith Farnham) stems from the fact that its money — like the money behind Advance Illinois — comes from millionaires and billionaires.
Members of the Illinois House 'School Reform' Committee during the December 16, 2010 hearings were (left to right) Jehan Gordon, Keith Farnham, Linda Chapa La Via, Roger Eddy, Kay Hatcher, Ed Sullivan Jr., and Robert Pritchard. The committee was convened by House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Democrat, after more than a half million dollars was put into the 2010 Illinois House races by an Oregon corporate "school reform" group called "Stand for Children." Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.Michael Madigan's hastily formed "school reform" committee, which held hearings in Aurora Illinois on December 16 and December 17, 2010, featured "reform" groups, which are massively funded by corporations and foundations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. "Advance Illinois" and "Stand for Children" were given preferential treatment during the hearings by both the Democratic co-chair (Linda Chapa La Via) and the Republican co-chair (Roger Eddy), while actual grass roots local groups were snubbed and members of the committee (such as Karen Yarbrough) were allowed to launch into teacher bashing and union busting tirades during the hearings.
Advance Illinois director Robin Steans (the millionaire sister of State Senator Heather Steans) gave the primary testimony on behalf of the bill on both days of the hearings. On the second day of the hearings, she was aided in her testimony by R. Eden Martin, who has been trying to force the privatization of Chicago's public schools from his position as chairman of the education committee of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
The large audience of more than 100 people turned out for the first day of the hearings on December 16, 2010. Above, part of the audience as Karen Lewis (purple outfit, right) prepared to testify before the members of the committee, who were solicitous towards corporate school reform witnesses like Robin Steans, E. Eden Martin, and the group from Stand for Children and overtly hostile towards veteran school improvement activists like Chicago's Julie Woestehoff or union leaders like Karen Lewis. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.Meanwhile, the chairs of the committee were to exclude long-time school reform groups such as Chicago's PURE and Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO). During the testimony, it was clear that both sides of the supposedly bi-partisan committee were friendly towards the wealthy corporate-financed school reform groups and hostile towards veteran teachers, union leaders, and community representatives. Members of the committee did not even ask what the qualifications were when the witnesses were testifying against the unions, while peppering others with questions.
The hastily convened hearings took place ten days before Christmas and were viewed by many observers as an example of what author Naomi Klein called "The Shock Doctrine". A "crisis" is created (or invoked, in this case) and those who are pushing for the privatization of public assets and the destruction of unions and the rights of working people claim that the solution they are proposing is the only thing that will save the day. The chairs of the "school reform committee" were actually claiming on December 16 and 17, 2010, that the Illinois General Assembly has to act on their pet legislation by the time the current lame duck session ends of terrible things will happen to the children in Illinois public schools.
The committe is co-chaired by State Reps Linda Chapa LaVia (above left) and Roger L. Eddy (above right), both of whom insisted during the pre-Christmas hearings that the 40-page legislation they were presenting as a "bi-partisan" example of "school reform" had to be passed by the January 11, 2011, date the Illinois General Assembly adjourns from its veto session. Substance photo taken December 16, 2010, at the hearings by George N. Schmidt.At the hearings, the co-chairs of the "School Reform Committee" were Linda Chapa La Via (D. Aurora) and Roger Eddy (R, Holdinville).
Both Eddy and Chapa La Via claimed that the legislation, which was reportedly drafted by Stand for Children and Advance Illinois, had to be passed by January 6, 2011 because of the "crisis" facing public education in Illinois.
Neither of them explained during the public hearings why December and January 2010 is any different — or is facing any greater "crisis" — than at any other recent time. Nevertheless, it was clear that the "bi-partisan" leadership of the committee was going to try to force any vote on the issue to take place within the straight jacket of the proposed legislation (see the 40 pages below).
On the second day of the hearings, December 17, 2010, R. Eden Martin (hands outstretched above) of Chicago's "Civic Committee of the Commercial Club" insisted that the legislation was needed immediately if Chicago's school children were to be saved. Eden Martin was the author of the failed "Renaissance 2010" program which Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley used to privatize nearly 100 Chicago public schools between 2004 and 2010, closing dozens of inner city schools and firing more than 1,000 teachers, most of them African Americans, in the process. Despite the failure of "Renaissance 2010" and its enormous cost, Eden Martin continues to promote "market based reforms" for public education with religious zeal. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.Before he became Chicago City Clerk, Miguel Del Valle was an Illinois State Senator and had earned a reputation as one of the foremost supporters of Chicago's public schools and true school reform in Chicago. Del Valle was one of the architects of the 1988 school reform law which created Local School Councils in Chicago.
TEXT OF THE DEL VALLE PRESS RELEASE FOLLOWS HERE:
Miguel del Valle on 'Performance Counts Act' of 2010, Del Valle Calls for Thorough Examination and Discussion of Bill, Rejection of Measures to Limit Collective Bargaining
CHICAGO (December 20, 2010)--Mayoral candidate and Chicago City Clerk Miguel del Valle made the following statement on Monday in response to the proposed Performance Counts Act of 2010, a draft of which has been commissioned by Stand for Children Illinois and Advance Illinois. The Performance Counts Act is likely to be fast-tracked to a vote in the General Assembly in early January 2011. The sweeping proposal includes measures regarding teacher tenure and dismissal, performance evaluations, collective bargaining, and strikes.
I strongly urge leaders in Springfield to reject any bill that limits teachers unions' right to bargain collectively.
The so-called Performance Counts Act of 2010 would limit teachers unions' right to strike in the State of Illinois. While there can be no doubt that a strike must always be an absolute last resort, a strike ban in effect impinges on teachers' bargaining rights, and therefore must be rejected.
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis (far left above) joined Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) President Dan Montgomery (second from left) and Illinois Education Association (IEA) President Ken Swanson (third from left) in testimony against the legislation on the first day of the hearings. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.As Ken Swanson, president of the Illinois Education Association, said recently, some of the proposals of this bill, if enacted, will "create a relationship that will turn collective bargaining into collective begging." Such a relationship will be harmful not only to our teachers, who are entitled to fight for a fair contract, but to our children.
Let's be clear. There has not been a work stoppage for teachers in the City of Chicago since 1987. To me, that says the current law regarding teacher strikes works, and that this proposal is unnecessary. We cannot allow a measure on the books which is not only unneeded, but is designed to effectively intimidate teachers away from fighting for a just contract.
The Illinois House Education Reform Committee wants final legislation within the next couple of weeks and ready to be enacted when the General Assembly convenes in Springfield in early January. This is simply not acceptable. There are several aspects of this proposed bill that merit much more discussion.
None of the members of the school reform committee asked that Chicago Public Schools "Chief Human Capital Officer" Alicia Winckler (above, second from right in green outfit) provide the committee with her resume in education or the footnotes for her controversial claims during testimony. Instead, the members of the committee took her every word for granted, even though Winckler has been working at CPS for one year and worked for Sears Holdings and other corporations prior to being brought to CPS by former "Chief Executive Officer" Ron Huberman. Local school board members like committee co-chairman Roger Eddy would not be allowed to hire unqualified administrators like Winckler even in the smallest downstate districts like Illinois, but they allowed testimony that slandered Chicago teachers and the teachers union to go unchallenged during the hearing on December 16, 2010, when Winckler spoke. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.Any bill that substantively changes the way teachers are treated in the state of Illinois must be considered thoroughly and completely, not rushed through without full input from all stakeholders involved. This should not be forced through in the final days of the 96th General Assembly.
If the bill goes forward in this way, I will continue to voice my strong opposition to it, and as Mayor, I will work to see it changed.
Julie Woestehoff, above, second from left, of Chicago's PURE (Parents United for Responsible Education) was forced by the chairs of the committee to testify during the "miscellaneous" section of the hearing on December 16, despite the fact that her 23 years of experience in public school advocacy in Chicago was greater than the combined experience of the highly paid staff members from Advance Illinois and Stand for Children combined. When asked why Woestehoff was excluded from the "school reform" group that testified during the hearings, Rep. Roger Eddy told Substance that he had never heard of PURE in Springfield. PURE was working with members of the Illinois General Assembly on legislation to improve public schools (not called "school reform" because of the corporate connotations of the term today) when some of the members of the school reform committee were in elementary and high school, but none of the members of the committee bothered to check the qualifications of the witnesses they favored or even bother to Google the history of PURE, which is easily accessible. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt. Chicago is home to some of the finest teachers in the country. Now is not the time to scapegoat our teachers for the problems our schools are facing, but rather to work in collaboration with them to find the best, most effective solutions possible for our children.
DRAFT OF THE PROPOSED 'PERFORMANCE COUNTS' ACT (ALL 40 PAGES REPRINTED FROM THE PDG CIRCULATED DURING THE COMMITTEE HEARINGS) BELOW HERE
A BILL FOR AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented by the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Performance Counts Act of 2010.
Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section 10-17a as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/10-17a) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-17a)
Sec. 10-17a. Better schools accountability.
(1) Policy and Purpose. It shall be the policy of the State of Illinois that each school district in this State, including special charter districts and districts subject to the provisions of Article 34, shall submit to parents, taxpayers of such district, theGovernor, the General Assembly, and the State Board of Education a school report card assessing the performance of its schools and students. The report card shall be an index of school performance measured against statewide and local standards and will provide information to make prior year comparisons and to set future year targets through the school improvement plan.
Members of the Illinois 'School Reform Committee' during the December 17 hearings (second day of the hearings) while hearing testimony of R. Eden Martin (back to camera, second from left) and Robin Steans (third from left, back to camera). The members of the committee showed deference to corporate school reform advocates and hostility to union members, parents, and others who opposed the legislation. Members of the committee are (left to right): Karen Yarbrough, Jehan Gordon, Keith Farnham, Linda Chapa LaVia, Roger Eddy, Darlene Senger, and Ed Sullivan Jr, all members of the Illinois House of Representatives. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.(2) Reporting Requirements. Each school district shall prepare a report card in accordance with the guidelines set forth in this Section which describes the performance of its students by school attendance centers and by district and the district's financial resources and use of financial resources. Such report card shall be presented at a regular school board meeting subject to applicable notice requirements, posted on the school district's Internet web site, if the district maintains an Internet web site, made available to a newspaper of general circulation serving the district, and, upon request, sent home to a parent (unless the district does not maintain an Internet web site, in which case the report card shall be sent home to parents without request). If the district posts the report card 3 on its Internet web site, the district shall send a written notice home to parents stating (i) that the report card is available on the web site, (ii) the address of the web site, (iii) that a printed copy of the report card will be sent to parents upon request, and (iv) the telephone number that parents may call to request a printed copy of the report card. In addition,each school district shall submit the completed report card to the office of the district's Regional Superintendent which shall make copies available to any individuals requesting them.
The report card shall be completed and disseminated prior to October 31 in each school year. The report card shall contain, but not be limited to, actual local school attendance center, school district and statewide data indicating the present performance of the school, the State norms an dthe areas for planned improvement for the school and school district.
(3) (a) The report card shall include the following 20 applicable indicators of attendance center, district, and 21 statewide student performance: percent of students who exceed, 22 meet,ordonotmeetstandardsestablishedbytheStateBoardof 23 Education pursuant to Section 2-3.25a; composite and subtest 24 means on nationally normed achievement tests for college bound 25 students; student attendance rates; chronic truancy rate; 26 dropout rate; graduation rate; and student mobility, turnover 27 shown as a percent of transfers out and a percent of transfers 28 in.
29 (b) The report card shall include the following 30 descriptions for the school, district, and State: average class 31 size; amount of time per day devoted to mathematics, science, 32 English and social science at primary, middle and junior high 33 schoolgradelevels;numberofstudentstakingthePrairieState 34 Achievement Examination under subsection (c) of Section 2-3.64, 35 the number of those students who received a score of excellent, 36 and the average score by school of students taking the 37 examination; pupil-teacher ratio; pupil-administrator ratio; 38 operating expenditure per pupil at the school level calculated 39 using actual teacher salaries; district expenditure by fund; 40 average administrator salary; and average teacher salary. The 41 report card shall also specify the amount of money that the 42 districtreceivesfromallsources,includingwithoutlimitation 43 subcategories specifying the amount from local property taxes,
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1 the amount from general State aid, the amount from other State 2 funding,andtheamountfromotherincome.
3 (c) The report card shall include applicable indicators of 4 parental involvement in each attendance center. The parental 5 involvement component of the report card shall include the 6 percentage of students whose parents or guardians have had one 7 ormorepersonalcontactswiththestudents'teachersduringthe 8 school year concerning the students' education, and such other 9 information, commentary, and suggestions as the school district
10 desires. For the purposes of this paragraph, "personal contact" 11 includes, but is not limited to, parent-teacher conferences, 12 parental visits to school, school visits to home, telephone 13 conversations, and written correspondence. The parental 14 involvement component shall not single out or identify 15 individualstudents,parents,orguardiansbyname.
16 (d) Commencing with the report card disseminated during the 17 2012-13 school year, the report card shall include applicable 18 indicators of student growth based on a growth model developed 19 bytheStateBoardofEducation.
20 (e) Commencing with the report card disseminated during the 21 2012-13 school year, the report card shall include applicable 22 indicators of learning conditions. These indicators should be 23 developed based on a standard survey of teachers and students 24 adopted or developed by the state. This provision is subject to 25 appropriation of funds for the development and deployment of a 26 statelearningconditionssurveyusedateachschool.
27 (df) The report card form shall be prepared by the State 28 Board of Education and provided to school districts by the most 29 efficient, economic, and appropriate means including a manner 30 which aggregates all report card data for all schools and is 31 machinereadable.
32 (Source:P.A.95-331,eff.8-21-07.)
33 Section 10. The School Code is amended by changing Section 34 10-22.4asfollows:
35 (105 ILCS 5/10-22.4) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-22.4)
36 Sec. 10-22.4. Dismissal of teachers. To dismiss a teacher 37 for incompetency, cruelty, negligence, immorality or other 38 sufficientcause,todismissanyteacherwhofailstocompletea
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1 1-year remediation plan with a "satisfactory" or better rating 2 on the basis of performance evaluation results pursuant to 3 Sections 24A-5(m) or 24A-5(n) of this Code and to dismiss any 4 teacher whenever, in its opinion, he is not qualified to teach, 5 or whenever, in its opinion, the interests of the schools 6 require it, subject, however, to the provisions of Sections 24- 7 10 to 24-15, inclusive. Temporary mental or physical incapacity 8 to perform teaching duties, as found by a medical examination, 9 is not a cause for dismissal. Marriage is not a cause of
10 removal. 11 (Source:P.A.85-248.)
12 Section 15. The School Code is amended by adding Section 13 21-23casfollows:
14 (105 ILCS 5/21-23c) (New)
15 Sec. 21-23c. Non-issuance, non-renewal, and revocation of 16 certificatesforperformanceevaluationoutcomes.
17 (a) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this 18 Article 21, any teacher or principal who receives an 19 unsatisfactory PERA performance evaluation rating, as defined in 20 subsection (b), for any three or more years during a ten year 21 period shall (1) no longer be eligible for the issuance or 22 renewal of any certificate by the State Board of Education, and 23 (2) have the teacher's or principal's current certificate or 24 certificates revoked by the State Superintendent. The State 25 Superintendent's revocation authority set forth in this Section 26 is in addition to, and not in limitation of, the State 27 Superintendent's revocation authority in Sections 21-23 and 21- 28 23aofthisCode.
29 (b) An unsatisfactory PERA performance evaluation rating 30 means an unsatisfactory performance evaluation rating resulting 31 from a performance evaluation instrument and process that meets 32 the minimum requirements for teacher or principal evaluation 33 instruments and processes set forth in rules adopted by the 34 State Board of Education to implement Public Act 96-861, the 35 PerformanceEvaluationReformAct.
36 (c) The State Board of Education's non-issuance or non- 37 renewal of a certificate and the State Superintendent's 38 revocationofacertificatepursuanttosubsection(a)shallnot 39 be effective until the teacher or principal has an opportunity
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1 for a hearing before the State Teacher Certification Board on 2 the sole issue of whether the teacher's or principal's 3 unsatisfactory performance evaluation ratings validly result 4 from a performance evaluation instrument and process that meets 5 the minimum requirements for teacher or principal evaluation 6 instruments and processes set forth in rules adopted by the 7 State Board of Education to implement Public Act 96-861. The 8 hearingmustbeheldwithin120daysfromthedatetheappealis 9 taken, unless the State Teacher Certification Board requests a
10 delay. In such an instance, the stay of the State Board's or 11 State Superintendent's action must be continued until the 12 completionoftheproceedings.
13 Section 20. The School Code is amended by changing Section 14 24-1asfollows:
15 (105 ILCS 5/24-1) (from Ch. 122, par. 24-1)
16 Sec. 24-1. Appointment—Salaries—Payment—School month—School 17 term. School boards shall appoint all teachers, determine 18 qualifications of employment and fix the amount of their 19 salariessubjecttolimitationsetforthinthisAct.Theyshall 20 pay the wages of teachers monthly, subject, however, to the 21 provisions of Section 24-21. The school month shall be the same 22 as the calendar month but by resolution the school board may 23 adopt for its use a month of 20 days, including holidays. The 24 school term shall consist of at least the minimum number of 25 pupil attendance days required by Section 10-19, any additional 26 legal school holidays, days of teachers' institutes, or 27 equivalent professional educational experiences, and one or two 28 days at the beginning of the school term when used as a 29 teachers'workshop.
30 The selection of teachers to fill new and vacant positions 31 shall be made and based upon merit and ability to perform in 32 that position without regard to seniority or length of service, 33 and such decisions shall be made by either the principal or the 34 superintendent in accordance with procedures adopted by the 35 school board. Any provisions in a collective bargaining 36 agreement that are contrary to this Section of this amendatory 37 Act of the 96th General Assembly shall be null, void and 38 considered contrary to law and public policy upon the effective 39 date of this amendatory Act or upon the expiration of any 40 collectivebargainingagreementineffectonsuchdate.
41 (Source: P.A. 80-249.)
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1 Section 25. The School Code is amended by changing Section 2 24-11asfollows:
3 (105 ILCS 5/24-11) (from Ch. 122, par. 24-11)
4 Sec. 24-11. Boards of Education—Boards of School Inspectors 5 —Contractual continued service. As used in this and the 6 succeedingSectionsofthisArticle:
7 "Teacher" means any or all school district employees 8 regularly required to be certified under laws relating to the 9 certificationofteachers.
10 "Board" means board of directors, board of education, or 11 boardofschoolinspectors,asthecasemaybe.
12 "School term" means that portion of the school year, July 1 13 tothefollowingJune30,whenschoolisinactualsession.
14 This Section and Sections 24-12 through 24-16 of this 15 Article apply only to school districts having less than 500,000 16 inhabitants.
17 Any teacher who has been employed in any district as a 18 full-time teacher for a probationary period of 2 4 consecutive 19 school terms shall enter upon contractual continued service 20 unless given written notice of dismissal stating the specific 21 reason therefor, by certified mail, return receipt requested by 22 the employing board at least 45 days before the end of such 23 period; except that for a teacher who is first employed as a 24 full-time teacher by a school district on or after January 1, 25 1998 and who has not before that date already entered upon 26 contractual continued service in that district, the probationary 27 period shall be 4 consecutive school terms before the teacher 28 shall enter upon contractual continued service after the 29 implementation date of an evaluation system for teachers in a 30 district as specified by Section 24A-2.5 of this Code, the 31 probationary period shall be 4 school terms of "satisfactory", 32 "proficient" or "excellent" service before the teacher shall 33 enter upon contractual continued service. For the purpose of 34 determining contractual continued service, the first 35 probationary year shall be any full-time employment from a date 36 before November 1 through the end of the school year. If, 37 however, a teacher who was first employed prior to January 1, 38 1998 has not had one school term of full-time teaching 39 experience before the beginning of a probationary period of 2 40 consecutive school terms, the employing board may at its option
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1 extendtheprobationaryperiodforoneadditionalschooltermby 2 giving the teacher written notice by certified mail, return 3 receiptrequested,atleast45daysbeforetheendofthesecond 4 schooltermoftheperiodof2consecutiveschooltermsreferred 5 to above. This notice must state the reasons for the one year 6 extension and must outline the corrective actions that the 7 teacher must take to satisfactorily complete probation. The 8 changes made by this amendatory Act of 1998 are declaratory of 9 existinglaw.
10 Any full-time teacher who is not completing the last year 11 oftheprobationaryperioddescribedintheprecedingparagraph, 12 or any teacher employed on a full-time basis not later than 13 January 1 of the school term, shall receive written notice from 14 the employing board at least 45 days before the end of any 15 school term whether or not he will be re-employed for the 16 following school term. If the board fails to give such notice, 17 the employee shall be deemed reemployed, and not later than the 18 close of the then current school term the board shall issue a 19 regular contract to the employee as though the board had 20 reemployedhimintheusualmanner.
21 Contractual continued service shall continue in effect the 22 termsandprovisionsofthecontractwiththeteacherduringthe 23 last school term of the probationary period, subject to this 24 Act, the right of the school board to return the teacher to 25 probationary status and terminate contractual continued service 26 pursuant to Section 24-12(b), and the lawful regulations of the 27 employing board. This Section and succeeding Sections do not 28 modify any existing power of the board except with respect to 29 the procedure of the discharge of a teacher and reductions in 30 salary as hereinafter provided. Contractual continued service 31 status shall not restrict the power of the board to transfer a 32 teacher to a position which the teacher is qualified to fill or 33 to make such salary adjustments as it deems desirable, but 34 unless reductions in salary are uniform or based upon some 35 reasonable classification, any teacher whose salary is reduced 36 shall be entitled to a notice and a hearing as hereinafter 37 providedinthecaseofcertaindismissalsorremovals.
38 The employment of any teacher in a program of a special 39 education joint agreement established under Section 3-15.14, 10- 40 22.31 or 10-22.31a shall be under this and succeeding Sections 41 of this Article. For purposes of attaining and maintaining 42 contractualcontinuedserviceandcomputinglengthofcontinuing 43 service as referred to in this Section and Section 24-12,
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1 employment in a special educational joint program shall be 2 deemedacontinuationofallpreviouscertificatedemploymentof 3 such teacher for such joint agreement whether the employer of 4 the teacher was the joint agreement, the regional 5 superintendent, or one of the participating districts in the 6 jointagreement.
7 Any teacher employed after July 1, 1987 as a full-time 8 teacher in a program of a special education joint agreement, 9 whether the program is operated by the joint agreement or a
10 member district on behalf of the joint agreement, for a 11 probationary period of two 4 consecutive years shall enter upon 12 contractual continued service in all of the programs conducted 13 by such joint agreement which the teacher is legally qualified 14 to hold; except that for a teacher who is first employed on or 15 after January 1, 1998 in a program of a special education joint 16 agreement and who has not before that date already entered upon 17 contractual continued service in all of the programs conducted 18 by the joint agreement that the teacher is legally qualified to 19 hold, the probationary period shall be 4 consecutive years 20 before the teacher enters upon contractual continued service in 21 all of those programs after the implementation date of an 22 evaluation system for teachers in a joint program as specified 23 by Section 24A-2.5 of this Code, the probationary period shall 24 be4schooltermsof"satisfactory","proficient"or"excellent" 25 service before the teacher shall enter upon contractual 26 continued service. In the event of a reduction in the number of 27 programs or positions in the joint agreement, the teacher on 28 contractual continued service shall be eligible for employment 29 inthejointagreementprogramsforwhichtheteacherislegally 30 qualified in order of greater length of continuing service in 31 the joint agreement unless an alternative method of determining 32 the sequence of dismissal is established in a collective 33 bargainingagreement.Intheeventofthedissolutionofajoint 34 agreement, the teacher on contractual continued service who is 35 legally qualified shall be assigned to any comparable position 36 in a member district currently held by a teacher who has not 37 entered upon contractual continued service or held by a teacher 38 who has entered upon contractual continued service with shorter 39 lengthofcontractualcontinuedservice.
40 The governing board of the joint agreement, or the 41 administrative district, if so authorized by the articles of 42 agreement of the joint agreement, rather than the board of 43 education of a school district, may carry out employment and
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1 termination actions including dismissals under this Section and 2 Section24-12.
3 For purposes of this and succeeding Sections of this 4 Article, a program of a special educational joint agreement 5 shall be defined as instructional, consultative, supervisory, 6 administrative, diagnostic, and related services which are 7 managed by the special educational joint agreement designed to 8 service two or more districts which are members of the joint 9 agreement.
10 Each joint agreement shall be required to post by February 11 1, a list of all its employees in order of length of continuing 12 service in the joint agreement, unless an alternative method of 13 determining a sequence of dismissal is established in an 14 applicablecollectivebargainingagreement.
15 The employment of any teacher in a special education 16 program authorized by Section 14-1.01 through 14-14.01, or a 17 joint educational program established under Section 10-22.31a, 18 shallbeunderthisandthesucceedingSectionsofthisArticle, 19 and such employment shall be deemed a continuation of the 20 previous employment of such teacher in any of the participating 21 districts,regardlessoftheparticipationofotherdistrictsin 22 the program. Any teacher employed as a full-time teacher in a 23 specialeducationprogrampriortoSeptember23,1987inwhich2 24 or more school districts participate for a probationary period 25 of 2 consecutive years shall enter upon contractual continued 26 service in each of the participating districts, subject to this 27 andthesucceedingSectionsofthisArticle,andintheeventof 28 the termination of the program shall be eligible for any vacant 29 position in any of such districts for which such teacher is 30 qualified.
31 (Source:P.A.90-548,eff.1-1-98;90-653,eff.7-29-98.)
32 Section 30. The School Code is amended by changing Section 33 24-12asfollows:
34 (105 ILCS 5/24-12) (from Ch. 122, par. 24-12)
35 Sec. 24-12. Removal or dismissal of teachers in contractual 36 continuedservice.
37 (a) Honorable dismissals. If a teacher in contractual 38 continued service is removed or dismissed as a result of a
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1 decision of the a school board to decrease the number of 2 teachers employed by the board or, a decision of a school board 3 to discontinue some particular type of teaching service, or a 4 reduction in the number of programs or positions in a special 5 educationjointagreement,writtennoticeshallbemailedtothe 6 teacher and also given the teacher either by certified mail, 7 return receipt requested or personal delivery with receipt at 8 least60daysbeforetheendoftheschoolterm,togetherwitha 9 statementofhonorabledismissalandthereasontherefor,andin
10 all such cases the board shall first remove or dismiss all 11 teacherswhohavenotentereduponcontractualcontinuedservice 12 before removing or dismissing any teacher who has entered upon 13 contractual continued service and who is legally qualified to 14 hold a position currently held by a teacher who has not entered 15 uponcontractualcontinuedservice.Asbetweenteacherswhohave 16 entered upon contractual continued service, the teacher or 17 teachers with the shorter length of continuing service with the 18 district shall be dismissed first unless an alternative method 19 of determining the sequence of dismissal is established in a 20 collective bargaining agreement or contract between the board 21 andaprofessionalfacultymembers'organizationandexceptthat 22 thisprovisionshallnotimpairtheoperationofanyaffirmative 23 action program in the district, regardless of whether it exists 24 by operation of law or is conducted on a voluntary basis by the 25 board.Inallsuchcases,aschoolboardorgoverningboardofa 26 joint agreement, as applicable, in consultation with the 27 exclusive bargaining representative of its teachers if any, 28 shallpromulgateproceduresgoverningthelayofforreductionin 29 force of teachers, including, but not limited to, criteria for 30 such layoffs or reductions in force of such teachers and the 31 priority to be given to any particular criterion. Such criteria 32 shall take into account factors including, but not be limited 33 to, qualifications, certifications, experience, performance 34 ratings or evaluations and any other factors relating to a 35 teacher's job performance. Procedures must require the 36 consideration of performance ratings or evaluations prior to 37 experience. Any provision in a policy or collective bargaining 38 agreement or any practice that is inconsistent with this 39 provision of this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly 40 shall be considered null, void and contrary to law and public 41 policy upon the effective date of this amendatory Act or upon 42 the expiration of any collective bargaining agreement in effect 43 on such date. Any teacher dismissed as a result of such 44 decreaseordiscontinuanceshallbepaidallearnedcompensation 45 on or before the third business day following the last day of 46 pupil attendance in the regular school term. If the board or
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1 joint agreement has any vacancies for the following school term 2 or within one calendar year from the beginning of the following 3 school term, the positions thereby becoming available shall be 4 tendered to the teachers so removed or dismissed who submit 5 applications for such positions shall be first considered for 6 suchpositionssofarastheyarelegallyqualifiedtoholdsuch 7 positions; provided, however, that if the number of honorable 8 dismissalnoticesbasedoneconomicnecessityexceeds15%ofthe 9 number of full time equivalent positions filled by certified
10 employees (excluding principals and administrative personnel) 11 during the preceding school year, then if the board has any 12 vacancies for the following school term or within 2 calendar 13 years from the beginning of the following school term, the 14 positions so becoming available shall be tendered to the 15 teachers who were so notified and removed or dismissed whenever 16 they are legally qualified to hold such positions. Each board 17 shall, in consultation with any exclusive employee 18 representatives, each year establish a list, categorized by 19 positions, showing the length of continuing service of each 20 teacher who is qualified to hold any such positions, unless an 21 alternative method of determining a sequence of dismissal is 22 established as provided for in this Section, in which case a 23 list shall be made in accordance with the alternative method. 24 Copies of the list shall be distributed to the exclusive 25 employee representative on or before February 1 of each year. 26 Whenever the number of honorable dismissal notices based upon 27 economic necessity exceeds 5, or 150% of the average number of 28 teachershonorablydismissedinthepreceding3years,whichever 29 is more, then the school board or governing board of a joint 30 agreement, as applicable, also shall hold a public hearing on 31 the question of the dismissals. Following the hearing and board 32 review the action to approve any such reduction shall require a 33 majorityvoteoftheboardmembers.
34 (b) Dismissals on the basis of performance evaluation 35 results. If dismissal of a teacher in contractual continued 36 serviceissoughtonthebasisofperformanceevaluationresults 37 pursuant to Sections 24A-5(m) or 24A-5(n) of this Code, the 38 school board must first provide written notice to the teacher 39 within 90 days after the completion of the last performance 40 evaluation used as a basis for such termination. The notice 41 shall describe the basis for the termination and include a copy 42 of each performance evaluation result used as a basis for the 43 termination. Within 10 days of notice the teacher has an 44 opportunitytoappealthedismissaltothesuperintendentorhis 45 orherdesignee,withtheburdenupontheteachertodemonstrate
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1 that the performance evaluation result or results used as a 2 basis for the termination are not valid or appropriate. The 3 superintendent will convene a hearing in front of a panel that 4 includes a designee from the superintendent, a designee 5 appointed by its teachers or, where applicable, the exclusive 6 bargaining representative of its teachers, and a designee 7 appointed by the school board. The State Board of Education 8 shall promulgate uniform standards and rules of procedures for 9 such hearings. The teacher will have one day to provide
10 evidence and testimony confined to the validity and 11 appropriateness of the performance evaluation result or results 12 used as a basis for the termination. The superintendent shall, 13 within30daysfromtheconclusionofthehearing,rendertothe 14 school board the panel's findings and conclusions and, based on 15 a majority vote of the panel, recommend to the school board one 16 of the three following actions: the teacher be dismissed; the 17 teacher be retained; or the teacher be returned to probationary 18 statusandcontractualcontinuedservicestatusforthatteacher 19 be terminated. The school board shall review the panel's 20 findings and conclusions and the recommendation of the 21 superintendent and adopt, through written order, one of the 22 three following actions: the teacher be dismissed; the teacher 23 be retained; or the teacher be returned to probationary status 24 and contractual continued service status for that teacher be 25 terminated. If the school board dismisses the teacher over the 26 superintendent's recommendation of retention, the school board 27 shallmakeaconclusion,givingitsreasonstherefor,whichmust 28 be supported by the panel's findings and conclusions, and such 29 conclusionandreasonsshallbeincludedinitswrittenorder.A 30 teacher returned to probationary status shall be provided full- 31 timeemploymentforatleastoneschooltermfollowingthefinal 32 decision of the school board, and the first school term 33 following the teacher's return to probationary status shall be 34 deemed the teacher's first probationary year. A decision by a 35 school board to return a teacher to probationary status and 36 terminate contractual continued service for that teacher shall 37 be final and shall not be subject to judicial review. The 38 provisions of the Administrative Review Law, and all amendments 39 and modifications thereof and the rules adopted thereto, shall 40 apply to and govern all proceedings instituted for the judicial 41 review of a final decision by a school board to dismiss a 42 teacher in contractual continued service pursuant to this 43 subsection (b), except that the circuit court may only reverse 44 the dismissal decision of the school board if it finds the 45 decisiontobearbitrary,capricious,anabuseofdiscretion,or 46 otherwisenotinaccordancewithlaw.
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1 (c) Other dismissals. If a dismissal or removal is sought 2 for any other reason or cause other than for the reasons and 3 causes described in subsections (a) and (b) of this Section, 4 includingthoseunderSection10-22.4otherthanonthebasisof 5 performance evaluation results, the board must first approve a 6 motioncontainingspecificchargesbyamajorityvoteofallits 7 members.Writtennoticeofsuchchargesshallbeserveduponthe 8 teacherwithin5daysoftheadoptionofthemotion.Suchnotice 9 shallcontainabillofparticulars.Nohearinguponthecharges
10 is required unless the teacher within 10 days after receiving 11 notice requests in writing of the board that a hearing be 12 scheduled, in which case the board shall schedule a hearing on 13 those charges before a disinterested hearing officer on a date 14 nolessthan15normorethan30daysaftertheenactmentofthe 15 motion. The secretary of the school board shall forward a copy 16 of the notice to the State Board of Education. Within 5 days 17 after receiving this notice of hearing, the State Board of 18 Education shall provide a list of 5 prospective, impartial 19 hearing officers. Each person on the list must be accredited by 20 a national arbitration organization and have had a minimum of 5 21 years of experience directly related to labor and employment 22 relations matters between educational employers and educational 23 employees or their exclusive bargaining representatives. No one 24 on the list may be a resident of the school district. The Board 25 and the teacher or their legal representatives within 3 days 26 shall alternately strike one name from the list until only one 27 name remains. Unless waived by the teacher, the teacher shall 28 havetherighttoproceedfirstwiththestriking.Within3days 29 of receipt of the first list provided by the State Board of 30 Education, the board and the teacher or their legal 31 representatives shall each have the right to reject all 32 prospective hearing officers named on the first list and to 33 requiretheStateBoardofEducationtoprovideasecondlistof 34 5 prospective, impartial hearing officers, none of whom were 35 named on the first list. Within 5 days after receiving this 36 request for a second list, the State Board of Education shall 37 provide the second list of 5 prospective, impartial hearing 38 officers.Theprocedureforselectingahearingofficerfromthe 39 second list shall be the same as the procedure for the first 40 list.Inthealternativetoselectingahearingofficerfromthe 41 firstorsecondlistreceivedfromtheStateBoardofEducation, 42 the board and the teacher or their legal representatives may 43 mutuallyagreetoselectanimpartialhearingofficerwhoisnot 44 on a list received from the State Board of Education either by 45 directappointmentbythepartiesorbyusingproceduresforthe 46 appointment of an arbitrator established by the Federal
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1 Mediation and Conciliation Service or the American Arbitration 2 Association. The parties shall notify the State Board of 3 Education of their intent to select a hearing officer using an 4 alternative procedure within 3 days of receipt of a list of 5 prospective hearing officers provided by the State Board of 6 Education. Any person selected by the parties under this 7 alternative procedure for the selection of a hearing officer 8 shall not be a resident of the school district and shall have 9 the same qualifications and authority as a hearing officer
10 selected from a list provided by the State Board of Education. 11 The State Board of Education shall promulgate uniform standards 12 and rules of procedure for such hearings. As to prehearing 13 discovery,suchrulesandregulationsshall,ataminimum,allow 14 for: (1) discovery of names and addresses of persons who may be 15 called as expert witnesses at the hearing, the omission of any 16 such name to result in a preclusion of the testimony of such 17 witness in the absence of a showing of good cause and the 18 express permission of the hearing officer; (2) bills of 19 particulars; (3) written interrogatories; and (4) production of 20 relevant documents. The per diem allowance for the hearing 21 officer shall be determined and paid by the State Board of 22 Education.Thehearingofficershallholdahearingandrendera 23 final decision. The teacher has the privilege of being present 24 atthehearingwithcounselandofcross-examiningwitnessesand 25 may offer evidence and witnesses and present defenses to the 26 charges. The hearing officer may issue subpoenas and subpoenas 27 duces tecum requiring the attendance of witnesses and, at the 28 request of the teacher against whom a charge is made or the 29 board, shall issue such subpoenas, but the hearing officer may 30 limit the number of witnesses to be subpoenaed in behalf of the 31 teacher or the board to not more than 10. All testimony at the 32 hearing shall be taken under oath administered by the hearing 33 officer. The hearing officer shall cause a record of the 34 proceedings to be kept and shall employ a competent reporter to 35 take stenographic or stenotype notes of all the testimony. The 36 costs of the reporter's attendance and services at the hearing 37 shall be paid by the State Board of Education. Either party 38 desiring a transcript of the hearing shall pay for the cost 39 thereof. If in the opinion of the board the interests of the 40 schoolrequireit,theboardmaysuspendtheteacherpendingthe 41 hearing, but if acquitted the teacher shall not suffer the loss 42 ofanysalarybyreasonofthesuspension.
43 Before setting a hearing on charges stemming from causes 44 that are considered remediable, a board must give the teacher 45 reasonable warning in writing, stating specifically the causes
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1 which, if not removed, may result in charges; however, no such 2 written warning shall be required if the causes have been the 3 subject of a remediation plan pursuant to Article 24A. The 4 hearing officer shall consider and give weight to all of the 5 teacher's evaluations written pursuant to Article 24A. The 6 hearingofficershall,within30daysfromtheconclusionofthe 7 hearing or closure of the record, whichever is later, make a 8 decisionastowhetherornottheteachershallbedismissedand 9 shall give a copy of the decision to both the teacher and the
10 school board. If the hearing officer fails to render a decision 11 within 30 days, the State Board of Education shall communicate 12 with the hearing officer to determine the date that the parties 13 can reasonably expect to receive the decision. The State Board 14 of Education shall provide copies of all such communications to 15 theparties.Intheeventthehearingofficerfailswithoutgood 16 cause to make a decision within the 30 day period, the name of 17 such hearing officer shall be struck for a period of not more 18 than 24 months from the master list of hearing officers 19 maintainedbytheStateBoardofEducation.Ifahearingofficer 20 fails without good cause to render a decision within 3 months 21 after the hearing is concluded or the record is closed, 22 whichever is later, the State Board of Education shall provide 23 the parties with a new list of prospective, impartial hearing 24 officers, with the same qualifications provided herein, one of 25 whom shall be selected, as provided in this Section, to review 26 therecordandrenderadecision.Thepartiesmaymutuallyagree 27 to select a hearing officer pursuant to the alternative 28 procedure, as provided in this Section, to rehear the charges 29 heardbythehearingofficerwhofailedtorenderadecision.If 30 the hearing officer fails without good cause to render a 31 decision within 3 months after the hearing is concluded or the 32 record is closed, whichever is later, the hearing officer shall 33 be removed from the master list of hearing officers maintained 34 by the State Board of Education. The board shall not lose 35 jurisdictiontodischargeateacherifthehearingofficerfails 36 to render a decision within the time specified in this Section. 37 The decision of the hearing officer is final unless reviewed as 38 provided in Section 24-16 of this Act. In the event such review 39 is instituted, any costs of preparing and filing the record of 40 proceedingsshallbepaidbytheboard.
41 If a decision of the hearing officer is adjudicated upon 42 review or appeal in favor of the teacher, then the trial court 43 shall order reinstatement and shall determine the amount for 44 which the board is liable including but not limited to loss of 45 incomeandcostsincurredtherein.
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Any teacher who is reinstated by any hearing or adjudicationbroughtunderthisSectionshallbeassignedbythe board to a position substantially similar to the one which that teacherheldpriortothatteacher'ssuspensionordismissal.
If, by reason of any change in the boundaries of school districts, or by reason of the creation of a new school district, the position held by any teacher having a contractual continued service status is transferred from one board to the control of a new or different board, the contractual continued servicestatusofsuchteacherisnottherebylost,andsuchnew or different board is subject to this Act with respect to such teacher in the same manner as if such teacher were its employee and had been its employee during the time such teacher was actually employed by the board from whose control the position wastransferred.
(Source:P.A.89-618,eff.8-9-96;90-224,eff.7-25-97.)
Section 35. The School Code is amended by changing Section 24-12.1asfollows:
(105 ILCS 5/24-12.1) (from Ch. 122, par. 24-12.1)
Sec. 24-12.1. Rights of recalled teachers. Any teacher on contractual continued service who is removed or dismissed as a result of a decision of the board to decrease the number of teachersemployedbytheboardortodiscontinuesomeparticular typeofteachingserviceandwhoacceptsthetenderofavacancy is rehired within one calendar year from the beginning of the following school term pursuant to Section 24-12 shall lose no rightswhichaccruedwhileincontractualcontinuedservice.
(Source:P.A.82-997.)
Section 40. The School Code is amended by changing Section 24A-2.5asfollows:
(105 ILCS 5/24A-2.5) Sec. 24A-2.5. Definitions. In this Article: "Evaluator" means: (1) an administrator qualified under Section 24A-3; or
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1 (2) other individuals qualified under Section 24A-3, 2 provided that, if such other individuals are in the bargaining 3 unit of a district's teachers, the district and the exclusive 4 bargaining representative of that unit must agree to those 5 individualsevaluatingotherbargainingunitmembers.
6 Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in item (2) of 7 thisdefinition,aschooldistrictoperatingunderArticle34of 8 this Code may require department chairs qualified under Section 9 24A-3 to evaluate teachers in their department or departments,
10 provided that the school district shall bargain with the 11 bargaining representative of its teachers over the impact and 12 effectsondepartmentchairsofsucharequirement.
13 "Implementation date" means, unless otherwise specified and 14 provided that the requirements set forth in subsection (d) of 15 Section24A-20havebeenmet:
16 (1) For school districts having 500,000 or more 17 inhabitants,inatleast300schoolsbySeptember1,2012andin 18 theremainingschoolsbySeptember1,2013.
19 (2) For school districts receiving funding from the State 20 forthespecificpurposeofadoptingateacherevaluationsystem 21 that meets the requirements of Public Act 96-861 (the 22 Performance Evaluation Reform Act), September 1, 2013 if the 23 district receives funding in State Fiscal Year 2012. The State 24 Superintendent shall determine the amount of funding to be 25 received by each district in consultation with the Performance 26 EvaluationAdvisoryCouncil.
27 (23) For school districts having less than 500,000 28 inhabitants and receiving a Race to the Top Grant or School 29 Improvement Grant after the effective date of this amendatory 30 Act of the 96th General Assembly, the date specified in those 31 grants for implementing an evaluation system for teachers and 32 principalsincorporatingstudentgrowthasasignificantfactor.
33 (34) For the lowest performing 20% percent of remaining 34 school districts having less than 500,000 inhabitants (with the 35 measure of and school year or years used for school district 36 performance to be determined by the State Superintendent of 37 Education at a time determined by the State Superintendent), 38 September1,2015.
39 (45) For all other school districts having less than 40 500,000inhabitants,September1,2016.
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"Race to the Top Grant" means a grant made by the Secretary oftheU.S.DepartmentofEducationfortheprogramfirstfunded pursuant to paragraph (2) of Section 14006(a) of the American RecoveryandReinvestmentActof2009.
"School Improvement Grant" means a grant made by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education pursuant to Section1003(g)oftheElementaryandSecondaryEducationAct.
(Source:P.A.96-861,eff.1-15-10.)
Section 45. The School Code is amended by changing Section 24A-5asfollows:
(105 ILCS 5/24A-5) (from Ch. 122, par. 24A-5)
Sec. 24A-5. Content of evaluation plans. This Section does not apply to teachers assigned to schools identified in an agreement entered into between the board of a school district operating under Article 34 of this Code and the exclusive representative of the district's teachers in accordance with Section 34-85c of this Code. Each school district to which this Article applies shall establish a teacher evaluation plan which ensures that each teacher in contractual continued service is evaluatedatleastonceinthecourseofevery2schoolyears.
By no later than September 1, 2012, each school district shallestablishateacherevaluationplanthatensuresthat:
(1) each teacher not in contractual continued service is evaluated at least once every school year; and
(2) each teacher in contractual continued service is evaluated at least once in the course of every 2 school years. However, any teacher in contractual continued service whose performance is rated as either "needs improvement" or "unsatisfactory" must be evaluated at least once in the school year following the receipt of such rating.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section or any other Section of the School Code, a principal shall not be prohibited from evaluating any teachers within a school during hisorherfirstyearasprincipalofsuchschool.
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The evaluation plan shall comply with the requirements of this Section and of any rules adopted by the State Board of EducationpursuanttothisSection.
The plan shall include a description of each teacher's duties and responsibilities and of the standards to which that teacher is expected to conform, and shall include at least the followingcomponents:
(a) personal observation of the teacher in the classroom by the evaluator, unless the teacher has no classroom duties.
(b) consideration of the teacher's attendance, planning, instructional methods, classroom management, where relevant, and competency in the subject matter taught.
(c) by no later than the applicable implementation date, consideration of student growth as a significant factor in the rating of the teacher's performance.
(d) prior to September 1, 2012, rating of the performance of teachers in contractual continued service as either:
or
(i) "excellent", "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory";
(ii) "excellent", "proficient", "needs improvement" or "unsatisfactory".
(e) on and after September 1, 2012, rating of the performance of teachers in contractual continued service as "excellent", "proficient", "needs improvement" or "unsatisfactory".
(f) specification as to the teacher's strengths and weaknesses, with supporting reasons for the comments made.
(g) inclusion of a copy of the evaluation in the teacher's personnel file and provision of a copy to the teacher.
(h) within 30 school days after the completion of an evaluation rating a teacher in contractual continued service as "needs improvement", development by the
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1 evaluator, in consultation with the teacher, and taking 2 into account the teacher's on-going professional 3 responsibilities including his or her regular teaching 4 assignments, of a professional development plan directed to 5 the areas that need improvement and any supports that the 6 district will provide to address the areas identified as 7 needing improvement.
8 (i) within 30 school days after completion of an
9 evaluation rating a teacher in contractual continued 10 service as "unsatisfactory", development and commencement 11 by the district of a remediation plan designed to correct 12 deficiencies cited, provided the deficiencies are deemed 13 remediable. In all school districts the remediation plan 14 for unsatisfactory, tenured teachers shall provide for 90 15 school days of remediation within the classroom, unless an 16 applicable collective bargaining agreement provides for a 17 shorter duration. In all school districts evaluations 18 issued pursuant to this Section shall be issued within 10 19 days after the conclusion of the respective remediation 20 plan. However, the school board or other governing 21 authority of the district shall not lose jurisdiction to 22 discharge a teacher in the event the evaluation is not 23 issued within 10 days after the conclusion of the 24 respective remediation plan.
25 (j) participation in the remediation plan by the 26 teacher in contractual continued service rated 27 "unsatisfactory", an evaluator and a consulting teacher 28 selected by the evaluator of the teacher who was rated 29 "unsatisfactory", which consulting teacher is an 30 educational employee as defined in the Educational Labor 31 Relations Act, has at least 5 years' teaching experience, 32 and a reasonable familiarity with the assignment of the 33 teacher being evaluated, and who received an "excellent" 34 rating on his or her most recent evaluation. Where no 35 teachers who meet these criteria are available within the 36 district, the district shall request and the applicable 37 regional office of education shall supply, to participate 38 in the remediation process, an individual who meets these 39 criteria.
40 In a district having a population of less than 500,000 41 with an exclusive bargaining agent, the bargaining agent 42 may, if it so chooses, supply a roster of qualified 43 teachers from whom the consulting teacher is to be
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1 selected. That roster shall, however, contain the names of 2 at least 5 teachers, each of whom meets the criteria for 3 consulting teacher with regard to the teacher being 4 evaluated, or the names of all teachers so qualified if 5 that number is less than 5. In the event of a dispute as to 6 qualification, the State Board shall determine 7 qualification.
8 (k) a mid-point and final evaluation by an evaluator
9 during and at the end of the remediation period, 10 immediately following receipt of a remediation plan 11 provided for under subsections (i) and (j) of this Section. 12 Each evaluation shall assess the teacher's performance 13 during the time period since the prior evaluation; provided 14 that the last evaluation shall also include an overall 15 evaluation of the teacher's performance during the 16 remediation period. A written copy of the evaluations and 17 ratings, in which any deficiencies in performance and 18 recommendations for correction are identified, shall be 19 provided to and discussed with the teacher within 10 school 20 days after the date of the evaluation, unless an applicable 21 collective bargaining agreement provides to the contrary. 22 These subsequent evaluations shall be conducted by an 23 evaluator. The consulting teacher shall provide advice to 24 the teacher rated "unsatisfactory" on how to improve 25 teaching skills and to successfully complete the 26 remediation plan. The consulting teacher shall participate 27 in developing the remediation plan, but the final decision 28 as to the evaluation shall be done solely by the evaluator, 29 unless an applicable collective bargaining agreement 30 provides to the contrary. Evaluations at the conclusion of 31 the remediation process shall be separate and distinct from 32 the required annual evaluations of teachers and shall not 33 be subject to the guidelines and procedures relating to 34 those annual evaluations. The evaluator may but is not 35 required to use the forms provided for the annual 36 evaluation of teachers in the district's evaluation plan.
37 (l) reinstatement to the evaluation schedule set forth 38 in the district's evaluation plan for any teacher in 39 contractual continued service who achieves a rating equal 40 to or better than "satisfactory" or "proficient" in the 41 school year following a rating of "needs improvement" or 42 "unsatisfactory".
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1 (m) dismissal in accordance with Section 24-12(b) or 2 34-85(a) of the School Code of any teacher who fails to 3 complete any applicable remediation plan with a rating 4 equal to or better than a "satisfactory" or "proficient" 5 rating. Districts and teachers subject to dismissal 6 hearings are precluded from compelling the testimony of 7 consulting teachers at such hearings under Section 24-12(b) 8 or 34-85(a), either as to the rating process or for 9 opinions of performances by teachers under remediation.
10 (n) After the implementation date of an evaluation 11 system for teachers in a district as specified by Section 12 24A-2.5, any teacher in contractual continued service who 13 successfully completes a remediation plan following a 14 rating of "unsatisfactory" and who receives a subsequent 15 rating of "unsatisfactory" during the 5-year period 16 following the initial rating of "unsatisfactory" in any 17 district, may not be offered a subsequent remediation plan 18 and, and if dismissal is sought, shall be subject to 19 dismissal in accordance with Section 24-12(b) or 34-85(a) 20 of the Code.
21 Nothing in this Section or Section 24A-4 shall be construed 22 as preventing immediate dismissal of a teacher for deficiencies 23 whicharedeemedirremediableorforactionswhichareinjurious 24 toorendangerthehealthorpersonofstudentsintheclassroom 25 or school, or preventing the dismissal or non-renewal of 26 teachersnotincontractualcontinuedserviceforanyreasonnot 27 prohibited by applicable employment, labor, and civil rights 28 laws. Failure to strictly comply with the time requirements 29 contained in Section 24A-5 shall not invalidate the results of 30 theremediationplan.
31 (Source: P.A. 95-510, eff. 8-28-07; 96-861, eff. 1-15-10; 96- 32 1423,eff.8-3-10.)
33 Section 50. The School Code is amended by changing Section 34 34-84asfollows:
35 (105 ILCS 5/34-84) (from Ch. 122, par. 34-84)
36 Sec. 34-84. Appointments and promotions of teachers. 37 Appointments and promotions of teachers shall be made for merit 38 only, and after satisfactory a probationary period of 4 39 consecutive years of “satisfactory”, "proficient" or "excellent" 40 service for a probationary period of 3 years with respect to
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1 probationary employees employed as full-time teachers in the 2 public school system of the district before January 1, 1998 and 3 4 years with respect to probationary employees who are first 4 employed as full-time teachers in the public school system of 5 the district on or after January 1, 1998 (during which period 6 the board may dismiss or discharge any such probationary 7 employee upon the recommendation, accompanied by the written 8 reasons therefor, of the general superintendent of schools) and 9 after which period appointments of teachers shall become
10 permanent, subject to the right of the board to return the 11 teacher to probationary status and terminate contractual 12 continued service pursuant to Section 34-85(a) and removal for 13 causeinthemannerprovidedbySection34-85.
14 As used in this Article, "teachers" means and includes all 15 members of the teaching force excluding the general 16 superintendentandprincipals.
17 There shall be no reduction in teachers because of a 18 decrease in student membership or a change in subject 19 requirementswithintheattendancecenterorganizationafterthe 20 20th day following the first day of the school year, except 21 that: (1) this provision shall not apply to desegregation 22 positions, special education positions, or any other positions 23 funded by State or federal categorical funds, and (2) at 24 attendancecentersmaintaininganyofgrades9through12,there 25 may be a second reduction in teachers on the first day of the 26 secondsemesteroftheregularschooltermbecauseofadecrease 27 instudentmembershiporachangeinsubjectrequirementswithin 28 theattendancecenterorganization.
29 The school principal shall make the decision in selecting 30 teachers to fill new and vacant positions consistent with 31 Section34-8.1.
32 (Source:P.A.89-15,eff.5-30-95;90-548,eff.1-1-98.)
33 Section 55. The School Code is amended by changing Section 34 34-85asfollows:
35 (105 ILCS 5/34-85) (from Ch. 122, par. 34-85)
36 Sec. 34-85. Removal for cause; Notice and hearing; 37 Suspension.
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1 (a) Dismissals on the basis of performance evaluation 2 results. If dismissal of a teacher in contractual continued 3 serviceissoughtonthebasisofperformanceevaluationresults 4 pursuant to Sections 24A-5(m) or 24A-5(n) of this Code, the 5 boardmustfirstprovidewrittennoticetotheteacherwithin90 6 days after the completion of the last performance evaluation 7 used as a basis for such termination. The notice shall describe 8 the basis for the termination and include a copy of each 9 performance evaluation result used as a basis for the
10 termination. Within 10 days of notice the teacher has an 11 opportunity to appeal the dismissal to the general 12 superintendent or his or her designee, with the burden upon the 13 teachertodemonstratethattheperformanceevaluationresultor 14 results used as a basis for the termination are not valid or 15 appropriate. The general superintendent will convene a hearing 16 in front of a panel that includes a designee from the general 17 superintendent, a designee appointed by the exclusive bargaining 18 representative of its teachers, and a designee appointed by the 19 board. The State Board of Education shall promulgate uniform 20 standards and rules of procedures for such hearings. The 21 teacher will have one day to provide evidence and testimony 22 confined to the validity and appropriateness of the performance 23 evaluation result or results used as a basis for the 24 termination. The general superintendent shall, within 30 days 25 from the conclusion of the hearing, render to the board the 26 panel's findings and conclusions and, based on a majority vote 27 of the panel, recommend to the board one of the three following 28 actions: the teacher be dismissed; the teacher be retained; or 29 the teacher be returned to probationary status and contractual 30 continued service status for that teacher be terminated. The 31 board shall review the panel's findings and conclusions and the 32 recommendation of the general superintendent and adopt, through 33 written order, one of the three following actions: the teacher 34 be dismissed; the teacher be retained; or the teacher be 35 returned to probationary status and contractual continued 36 service status for that teacher be terminated. If the board 37 dismisses the teacher over the superintendent's recommendation 38 of retention, the board shall make a conclusion, giving its 39 reasons therefor, which must be supported by the panel's 40 findings and conclusions, and such conclusion and reasons shall 41 be included in its written order. A teacher returned to 42 probationary status shall be provided full-time employment for 43 at least one school term following the final decision of the 44 board, and the first school term following the teacher's return 45 to probationary status shall be deemed the teacher's first 46 probationary year. A decision by the board to return a teacher
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1 to probationary status and terminate contractual continued 2 serviceforthatteachershallbefinalandshallnotbesubject 3 to judicial review. The provisions of the Administrative Review 4 Law, and all amendments and modifications thereof and the rules 5 adopted thereto, shall apply to and govern all proceedings 6 instituted for the judicial review of a final decision by the 7 board to dismiss a teacher in contractual continued service 8 pursuant to this subsection (a), except that the circuit court 9 mayonlyreversethedismissaldecisionoftheboardifitfinds
10 the decision to be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of 11 discretion,orotherwisenotinaccordancewithlaw.
12 (b) Other dismissals and removals. This subsection (b) 13 applies to dismissals and removals for cause, other than 14 dismissals on the basis of performance evaluation results 15 pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section. No teacher employed 16 by the board of education shall (after serving the probationary 17 period specified in Section 34-84) be removed except for cause. 18 Teachers (who have completed the probationary period specified 19 in Section 34-84 of this Code) shall be removed for cause in 20 accordance with the procedures set forth in this Section 21 subsection or such other procedures established in an agreement 22 entered into between the board and the exclusive representative 23 ofthedistrict'steachersunderSection34-85cofthisCodefor 24 teachers (who have completed the probationary period specified 25 inSection34-84ofthisCode)assignedtoschoolsidentifiedin 26 that agreement. No principal employed by the board of education 27 shall be removed during the term of his or her performance 28 contract except for cause, which may include but is not limited 29 to the principal's repeated failure to implement the school 30 improvementplanortocomplywiththeprovisionsoftheUniform 31 Performance Contract, including additional criteria established 32 by the Council for inclusion in the performance contract 33 pursuanttoSection34-2.3.
34 The general superintendent must first approve written 35 charges and specifications against the teacher or principal. A 36 local school council may direct the general superintendent to 37 approve written charges against its principal on behalf of the 38 Council upon the vote of 7 members of the Council. The general 39 superintendent must approve those charges within 45 days or 40 provide a written reason for not approving those charges. A 41 writtennoticeofthosechargesshallbeservedupontheteacher 42 or principal within 10 days of the approval of the charges. If 43 the teacher or principal cannot be found upon diligent inquiry, 44 suchchargesmaybeserveduponhimbymailingacopythereofin
25
1 a sealed envelope by prepaid certified mail, return receipt 2 requested,totheteacher'sorprincipal'slastknownaddress.A 3 return receipt showing delivery to such address within 20 days 4 after the date of the approval of the charges shall constitute 5 proofofservice.
6 No hearing upon the charges is required unless the teacher 7 or principal within 10 days after receiving notice requests in 8 writing of the general superintendent that a hearing be 9 scheduled, in which case the general superintendent shall
10 schedule a hearing on those charges before a disinterested 11 hearing officer on a date no less than 15 nor more than 30 days 12 after the approval of the charges. The general superintendent 13 shall forward a copy of the notice to the State Board of 14 Education within 5 days from the date of the approval of the 15 charges. Within 10 days after receiving the notice of hearing, 16 the State Board of Education shall provide the teacher or 17 principal and the general superintendent with a list of 5 18 prospective,impartialhearingofficers.Eachpersononthelist 19 must be accredited by a national arbitration organization and 20 have had a minimum of 5 years of experience as an arbitrator in 21 cases involving labor and employment relations matters between 22 educational employers and educational employees or their 23 exclusivebargainingrepresentatives.
24 The general superintendent and the teacher or principal or 25 their legal representatives within 3 days from receipt of the 26 list shall alternately strike one name from the list until only 27 one name remains. Unless waived by the teacher, the teacher or 28 principal shall have the right to proceed first with the 29 striking.Within3daysofreceiptofthefirstlistprovidedby 30 theStateBoardofEducation,thegeneralsuperintendentandthe 31 teacher or principal or their legal representatives shall each 32 have the right to reject all prospective hearing officers named 33 onthefirstlistandtorequiretheStateBoardofEducationto 34 provide a second list of 5 prospective, impartial hearing 35 officers, none of whom were named on the first list. Within 5 36 days after receiving this request for a second list, the State 37 Board of Education shall provide the second list of 5 38 prospective, impartial hearing officers. The procedure for 39 selecting a hearing officer from the second list shall be the 40 same as the procedure for the first list. Each party shall 41 promptly serve written notice on the other of any name stricken 42 from the list. If the teacher or principal fails to do so, the 43 general superintendent may select the hearing officer from any 44 name remaining on the list. The teacher or principal may waive
26
1 the hearing at any time prior to the appointment of the hearing 2 officer.Noticeoftheselectionofthehearingofficershallbe 3 giventotheStateBoardofEducation.Thehearingofficershall 4 be notified of his selection by the State Board of Education. A 5 signed acceptance shall be filed with the State Board of 6 Education within 5 days of receipt of notice of the selection. 7 The State Board of Education shall notify the teacher or 8 principal and the board of its appointment of the hearing 9 officer. In the alternative to selecting a hearing officer from
10 the first or second list received from the State Board of 11 Education, the general superintendent and the teacher or 12 principal or their legal representatives may mutually agree to 13 select an impartial hearing officer who is not on a list 14 received from the State Board of Education, either by direct 15 appointment by the parties or by using procedures for the 16 appointment of an arbitrator established by the Federal 17 Mediation and Conciliation Service or the American Arbitration 18 Association. The parties shall notify the State Board of 19 Education of their intent to select a hearing officer using an 20 alternative procedure within 3 days of receipt of a list of 21 prospective hearing officers provided by the State Board of 22 Education. Any person selected by the parties under this 23 alternative procedure for the selection of a hearing officer 24 shall have the same qualifications and authority as a hearing 25 officer selected from a list provided by the State Board of 26 Education.Theteacherorprincipalmaywaivethehearingatany 27 time prior to the appointment of the hearing officer. The State 28 Board of Education shall promulgate uniform standards and rules 29 of procedure for such hearings, including reasonable rules of 30 discovery.
31 The per diem allowance for the hearing officer shall be 32 paid by the State Board of Education. The hearing officer shall 33 hold a hearing and render findings of fact and a recommendation 34 to the general superintendent. The teacher or principal has the 35 privilege of being present at the hearing with counsel and of 36 cross-examining witnesses and may offer evidence and witnesses 37 and present defenses to the charges. The hearing officer may 38 issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses and, at 39 therequestoftheteacherorprincipalagainstwhomachargeis 40 made or the general superintendent, shall issue such subpoenas, 41 but the hearing officer may limit the number of witnesses to be 42 subpoenaed in behalf of the teacher or principal or the general 43 superintendent to not more than 10 each. All testimony at the 44 hearing shall be taken under oath administered by the hearing 45 officer. The hearing officer shall cause a record of the
27
1 proceedings to be kept and shall employ a competent reporter to 2 take stenographic or stenotype notes of all the testimony. The 3 costs of the reporter's attendance and services at the hearing 4 shall be paid by the State Board of Education. Either party 5 desiring a transcript of the hearing shall pay for the cost 6 thereof.
7 Pending the hearing of the charges, the person charged may 8 be suspended in accordance with rules prescribed by the board 9 but such person, if acquitted, shall not suffer any loss of
10 salarybyreasonofthesuspension.
11 Before service of notice of charges on account of causes 12 that may be deemed to be remediable, the teacher or principal 13 shall be given reasonable warning in writing, stating 14 specifically the causes which, if not removed, may result in 15 charges; however, no such written warning shall be required if 16 the causes have been the subject of a remediation plan pursuant 17 toArticle24Aorwheretheboardofeducationandtheexclusive 18 representative of the district's teachers have entered into an 19 agreement pursuant to Section 34-85c of this Code, pursuant to 20 an alternative system of remediation. No written warning shall 21 be required for conduct on the part of a teacher or principal 22 which is cruel, immoral, negligent, or criminal or which in any 23 waycausespsychologicalorphysicalharmorinjurytoastudent 24 asthatconductisdeemedtobeirremediable.Nowrittenwarning 25 shallberequiredforamaterialbreachoftheuniformprincipal 26 performance contract as that conduct is deemed to be 27 irremediable; provided however, that not less than 30 days 28 before the vote of the local school council to seek the 29 dismissal of a principal for a material breach of a uniform 30 principal performance contract, the local school council shall 31 specify the nature of the alleged breach in writing and provide 32 acopyofittotheprincipal.
33 The hearing officer shall consider and give weight to all 34 oftheteacher'sevaluationswrittenpursuanttoArticle24A.
35 The hearing officer shall within 45 days from the 36 conclusion of the hearing report to the general superintendent 37 findings of fact and a recommendation as to whether or not the 38 teacherorprincipalshallbedismissedandshallgiveacopyof 39 the report to both the teacher or principal and the general 40 superintendent. The board, within 45 days of receipt of the 41 hearing officer's findings of fact and recommendation, shall 42 make a decision as to whether the teacher or principal shall be 43 dismissed from its employ. The failure of the board to strictly
28
1 adhere to the timeliness contained herein shall not render it 2 withoutjurisdictiontodismisstheteacherorprincipal.Ifthe 3 hearing officer fails to render a decision within 45 days, the 4 State Board of Education shall communicate with the hearing 5 officer to determine the date that the parties can reasonably 6 expect to receive the decision. The State Board of Education 7 shall provide copies of all such communications to the parties. 8 In the event the hearing officer fails without good cause to 9 make a decision within the 45 day period, the name of such
10 hearing officer shall be struck for a period not less than 24 11 months from the master list of hearing officers maintained by 12 the State Board of Education. The board shall not lose 13 jurisdiction to discharge the teacher or principal if the 14 hearing officer fails to render a decision within the time 15 specified in this Section. If a hearing officer fails to render 16 adecisionwithin3monthsafterthehearingisdeclaredclosed, 17 the State Board of Education shall provide the parties with a 18 new list of prospective, impartial hearing officers, with the 19 same qualifications provided herein, one of whom shall be 20 selected, as provided in this Section, to rehear the charges 21 heard by the hearing officer who failed to render a decision. 22 The parties may also select a hearing officer pursuant to the 23 alternative procedure, as provided in this Section, to rehear 24 the charges heard by the hearing officer who failed to render a 25 decision.Aviolationoftheprofessionalstandardssetforthin 26 "The Code of Professional Responsibility for Arbitrators of 27 Labor-Management Disputes", of the National Academy of 28 Arbitrators, the American Arbitration Association, and the 29 Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, or the failure of a 30 hearing officer to render a decision within 3 months after the 31 hearing is declared closed shall be grounds for removal of the 32 hearing officer from the master list of hearing officers 33 maintained by the State Board of Education. The decision of the 34 board is final unless reviewed as provided in Section 34-85b of 35 thisAct.
36 In the event judicial review is instituted, any costs of 37 preparing and filing the record of proceedings shall be paid by 38 the party instituting the review. If a decision of the board is 39 adjudicated upon review or appeal in favor of the teacher or 40 principal, then the trial court shall order reinstatement and 41 shall determine the amount for which the board is liable 42 including but not limited to loss of income and costs incurred 43 therein.NothinginthisSectionaffectsthevalidityofremoval 44 forcausehearingscommencedpriortotheeffectivedateofthis 45 amendatoryActof1978.
29
1 (Source:P.A.95-510,eff.8-28-07.)
2 Section 60. The Educational Labor Relations Act is amended 3 bychangingSection4.5asfollows:
4 (115 ILCS 5/4.5)
5 Sec. 4.5. Subjects of collective bargaining.
6 (a) Notwithstanding the existence of any other provision 7 in this Act or other law, collective bargaining between an 8 educational employer whose territorial boundaries are 9 coterminous with those of a city having a population in excess
10 of 500,000 and an exclusive representative of its employees may 11 shallnotincludeanyofthefollowingsubjects:
12 (1) (Blank). Decisions to implement performance- 13 based, assignment-based and other differentiated or 14 alternative teacher compensation plans as a supplement to 15 the base salaries provided by a collective bargaining 16 agreement, and the impact of these decisions on individual 17 employees or the bargaining unit.
18 (2) Decisions to contract with a third party for one 19 or more services otherwise performed by employees in a 20 bargaining unit, and the procedures for obtaining such 21 contract or the identity of the third party, and the impact 22 of these decisions on individual employees or the 23 bargaining unit.
24 (3) Decisions to layoff or reduce in force employees, 25 including, but not limited to, layoffs or reductions in 26 force resulting from a lack of work or funds, the closing 27 of an attendance center or program, a decline in student 28 enrollment, a change in the subject requirements within an 29 attendance center or program and a change in the 30 educational focus of an attendance center, and the impact 31 of these decisions on individual employees or the 32 bargaining unit.
33 (4) Decisions to determine class size, class staffing 34 and assignment, class schedules, academic calendar, length 35 of the school day or work day, hours and places of 36 instruction, or pupil assessment policies, and the impact 37 of these decisions on individual employees or the 38 bargaining unit.
30
1 (5) Decisions concerning use and staffing of 2 experimental or pilot programs and decisions concerning use 3 of technology to deliver educational programs and services 4 and staffing to provide the technology, and the impact of 5 these decisions on individual employees or the bargaining 6 unit.
7 (b) The subject or matters described in subsection (a) are 8 permissive prohibited subjects of bargaining between an 9 educational employer and an exclusive representative of its
10 employees and, for the purpose of this Act, are within the sole 11 discretion authority of the educational employer to decide to 12 bargain, provided that the educational employer is required to 13 bargainovertheimpactofadecisionconcerningsuchsubjector 14 matter on the bargaining unit upon request by the exclusive 15 representative. During this bargaining, the educational employer 16 shallnotbeprecludedfromimplementingitsdecision.If,after 17 a reasonable period of bargaining, a dispute or impasse exists 18 between the educational employer and the exclusive 19 representative, the dispute or impasse shall be resolved 20 exclusivelyassetforthinsubsection(b)ofSection12ofthis 21 ActinlieuofastrikeunderSection13ofthisAct.
22 (c) A provision in a collective bargaining agreement that 23 was rendered null and void because it involved a prohibited 24 subject of collective bargaining under this subsection (c) as 25 this subsection (c) existed before the effective date of this 26 amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly remains null and 27 void and shall not otherwise be reinstated in any successor 28 agreement unless the educational employer and exclusive 29 representative otherwise agree to include an agreement reached 30 on a subject or matter described in subsection (a) of this 31 Section as subsection (a) existed before this amendatory Act of 32 the 93rd General Assembly. Any provision in a policy or 33 collective bargaining agreement or any practice that is 34 inconsistent with this Section of this amendatory Act of the 35 96th General Assembly shall be considered null, void and 36 contrary to law and public policy upon the effective date of 37 this amendatory Act or upon the expiration of any collective 38 bargainingagreementineffectonsuchdate.
39 (Source:P.A.93-3,eff.4-16-03.)
40 Section 65. The Educational Labor Relations Act is amended 41 bychangingSection12asfollows:
31
1 (115 ILCS 5/12) (from Ch. 48, par. 1712)
2 Sec. 12. Impasse procedures.
3 (a) Negotiations period. If the parties engaged in 4 collective bargaining have not reached an agreement by 90 days 5 before the scheduled start of the forthcoming school year, the 6 parties shall notify the Illinois Educational Labor Relations 7 Boardconcerningthestatusofnegotiations.
8 Upon demand of either party, collective bargaining between
9 the employer and an exclusive bargaining representative must 10 begin within 60 days of the date of certification of the 11 representative by the Board, or in the case of an existing 12 exclusive bargaining representative, within 60 days of the 13 receipt by a party of a demand to bargain issued by the other 14 party. Once commenced, collective bargaining must continue for 15 atleasta60dayperiod,unlessacontractisenteredinto.
16 (b) Mediation. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 17 (b) of this Section, if If after a reasonable period of 18 negotiation and within 45 days of the scheduled start of the 19 forth-coming school year, the parties engaged in collective 20 bargaining have reached an impasse, either party may petition 21 the Board to initiate mediation. Alternatively, the Board on 22 its own motion may initiate mediation during this period. 23 However, mediation shall be initiated by the Board at any time 24 when jointly requested by the parties and the services of the 25 mediators shall continuously be made available to the employer 26 and to the exclusive bargaining representative for purposes of 27 arbitration of grievances and mediation or arbitration of 28 contract disputes. If requested by the parties, the mediator 29 may perform fact-finding and in so doing conduct hearings and 30 make written findings and recommendations for resolution of the 31 dispute. Such mediation shall be provided by the Board and 32 shall be held before qualified impartial individuals. Nothing 33 prohibits the use of other individuals or organizations such as 34 the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service or the American 35 Arbitration Association selected by both the exclusive 36 bargainingrepresentativeandtheemployer.
37 If the parties engaged in collective bargaining fail to 38 reach an agreement within 15 days of the scheduled start of the 39 forthcoming school year and have not requested mediation, the 40 Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board shall invoke 41 mediation.
32
1 Whenever mediation is initiated or invoked under this 2 subsection (a), the parties may stipulate to defer selection of 3 amediatorinaccordancewithrulesadoptedbytheBoard.
4 (c)
5 (1) 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 (2) 27
28 29 30
31 32
33 34
35 36
37 38 39
Fact-finding.
For collective bargaining agreements that expire or are terminated on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, if the parties fail to reach an agreement after a reasonable period of mediation, the Board shall order that the dispute be submitted to a three-member fact-finding panel. Within three days following the Board's order, each party shall appoint one member of the fact- finding panel. Within three days following these appointments, the parties shall select a qualified impartial member to serve as the chairperson of the fact-finding panel. If the parties are unable to agree upon a qualified impartial member, the parties shall request a panel of qualified impartial members from either the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service or the American Arbitration Association and shall select the chairperson of the fact-finding panel from such panel in accordance with the procedures established by the organization providing the panel. The chairperson of the fact-finding panel shall not be the same individual who was appointed as a mediator.
The fact-finding panel shall have the following duties and powers:
(A)
(B) (C) (D) (E)
To require the parties to submit a statement of disputed issues and their position regarding each issue either jointly or separately;
To identify disputed issues that are economic in nature;
To meet with the parties either separately or jointly;
To conduct hearings and regulate the time, place, course and manner of such hearings;
To request the Board to issue subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses or the production of evidence;
33
1 2
3 4
5
6 7
8 9
10 (3) 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21
22 23
24 25
26
27 28
29 30 31 32 33
(F) To administer oaths and affirmations;
(G) To examine witnesses and documents;
(H) To create a full and complete written record of the hearings;
(I) To attempt mediation;
(J) To require the parties to submit final offers; and
(K) To employ any other measures deemed appropriate to resolve the impasse.
If the dispute is not settled within 90 days of the appointment of the fact-finding panel, and after the fact-finding panel has conducted a hearing on the disputed issues, the fact-finding panel shall issue a private report to the parties that contains advisory findings of fact and recommended terms of settlement for all disputed issues and that sets forth a rationale for each recommendation. The fact-finding panel, acting by a majority of its members, shall base its findings and recommendations upon the following criteria as applicable:
(A) (B)
(C)
(D) (E)
(F)
The lawful authority of the employer;
The federal and state statutes or local ordinances applicable to the employer;
Prior collective bargaining agreements and the bargaining history between the parties;
Stipulations of the parties;
The interests and welfare of the public and of the students and families served by the employer;
The ability of the employer to finance and administer the proposals at issue, provided that such ability is not predicated on the premise that the employer will develop additional sources of revenue;
34
1 2 3
4 5
6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 (4) 26 27 28
29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
(G)
(H) (I)
(J)
(K) (L)
The impact of any economic adjustments on the employer's ability to pursue its educational mission;
The present and future general economic conditions in the locality and State;
The average consumer prices for goods and services, which is commonly known as the cost of living;
The overall compensation presently received by the employees involved in the dispute, including direct wage compensation; vacations, holidays and other excused time; insurance and pensions; medical and hospitalization benefits; the continuity and stability of employment and all other benefits received;
Changes in any of the above circumstances during the fact-finding procedures; and
Such other factors, not confined to the foregoing, that are normally or traditionally considered in the determination of wages, hours and conditions of employment through collective bargaining, mediation, fact-finding, arbitration or other impasse resolution procedures in public employment.
The fact-finding panel's recommended terms of settlement shall be deemed agreed upon by the parties as the final resolution of the disputed issues and incorporated into the collective bargaining agreement executed by the parties, unless either party tenders to the other party and the chairperson of the fact- finding panel a notice of rejection of the recommended terms of settlement, with a rationale for the rejection, within ten days of the date of issuance of the fact-finding panel's report. If either party submits a notice of rejection, the chairperson of the fact-finding panel shall publish the fact-finding panel's report for public information by delivering a copy to all newspapers of general circulation in the community with simultaneous written notice to the parties.
35
1 (5) 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 (6) 20 21 22
23
24 (7) 25 26 27
28 29 30 31 32 33
34 (8) 35 36 37
38 39 40
After the publication of the fact-finding panel's report, the fact-finding panel's recommended terms of settlement shall be deemed agreed upon by the parties as the final resolution of the disputed issues and incorporated into the collective bargaining agreement executed by the parties, unless either party tenders to the other party and the chairperson of the fact- finding panel a notice of rejection of the recommended terms of settlement, with a rationale for the rejection, within five days of the date on which the chairperson of the fact-finding panel delivers for publication the fact-finding panel's report. If either party submits a notice of rejection, the chairperson of the fact-finding panel shall publish such party's notice of rejection and the rationale for each rejection for public information by delivering a copy to all newspapers of general circulation in the community.
If the dispute is not settled through fact-finding, within ten days of the date on which the chairperson of the fact-finding panel delivers for publication the fact-finding panel's report, the parties shall exchange final offers on each disputed issue.
After the expiration of the ten-day period defined in paragraph (6), and upon the affirmative vote of two- thirds of its members, the governing body of the employer shall resolve each disputed issue by adopting one of the final offers submitted pursuant to paragraph (6) or the fact-finding panel’s recommended terms of settlement for such disputed issue. The terms of settlement adopted by the governing body of the employer shall be incorporated into the collective bargaining agreement executed by the parties.
If the governing body of the employer fails to adopt a resolution for each disputed issue within forty days of the date on which the chairperson of the fact- finding panel delivers for publication the fact- finding panel's report, the exclusive bargaining representative shall have the right to engage in a strike in accordance with Section 13 of this Act.
41 (bd) Exception for Section 4.5 subjects of collective 42 bargaining. If, after a period of bargaining of at least 60 43 days, a dispute or impasse exists between an employer whose
36
1 territorial boundaries are coterminous with those of a city 2 having a population in excess of 500,000 and the exclusive 3 bargaining representative over a subject or matter set forth in 4 Section4.5ofthisAct,thepartiesshallsubmitthedisputeor 5 impasse to the dispute resolution procedure agreed to between 6 the parties. The procedure shall provide for mediation of 7 disputes by a rotating mediation panel and may, at the request 8 of either party, include the issuance of advisory findings of 9 fact and recommendations. A dispute or impasse over a Section
10 4.5subjectshallnotberesolvedthroughtheimpasseresolution 11 procedure set forth in this Act, and the mediator and fact- 12 finding panel has no jurisdiction over any Section 4.5 subject. 13 The changes made to this Section by this amendatory Act of the 14 96thGeneralAssemblyaredeclarativeofexistinglaw.
15 (ce) Costs. The costs of fact finding and mediation shall 16 be shared equally between the employer and the exclusive 17 bargainingagent,providedthat,forpurposesofmediationunder 18 thisAct,ifeitherpartyrequeststheuseofmediationservices 19 from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the other 20 party shall either join in such request or bear the additional 21 cost of mediation services from another source. The costs and 22 expensesofthemediatorandthechairpersonofthefact-finding 23 panel shall be shared equally between the parties. All other 24 costsandexpensesofcomplyingwiththisSectionshallbeborne 25 bythepartyincurringthem.
26 (f) Refusal to participate in mediation or fact-finding 27 when required. If the representatives of either the employer or 28 exclusive bargaining representative refuse to participate in the 29 mediation or fact-finding procedures when required by this 30 Section, such refusal shall be deemed a refusal to bargain in 31 good faith. In the absence of an unfair labor practice charge 32 filed by an aggrieved party, the Board on its own motion may 33 issue an unfair labor practice complaint based on such refusal 34 andconducthearingsandissueordersasprovidedforinSection 35 15ofthisAct.
36 (dg) Alternate impasse procedures. Nothing in this Act 37 prevents an employer and an exclusive bargaining representative 38 from mutually submitting to final and binding impartial 39 arbitration unresolved issues concerning the terms of a new 40 collectivebargainingagreement.
41 (Source:P.A.93-3,eff.4-16-03.) 37
1 Section 70. The Educational Labor Relations Act is amended 2 bychangingSection13asfollows:
3 (115 ILCS 5/13) (from Ch. 48, par. 1713)
4 Sec. 13. Strikes.
5 (a) Notwithstanding the existence of any other provision 6 in this Act or other law, educational employees employed in 7 school districts organized under Article 34 of the School Code 8 shall not engage in a strike at any time during the 18 month 9 period that commences on the effective date of this amendatory
10 Act of 1995 except as permitted under subsection (b). An 11 educational employee employed in a school district organized 12 underArticle34oftheSchoolCodewhoparticipatesinastrike 13 in violation of this Section is subject to discipline by the 14 employer. In addition, no educational employer organized under 15 Article 34 of the School Code may pay or cause to be paid to an 16 educational employee who participates in a strike in violation 17 of this subsection Section any wages or other compensation for 18 any period during which an educational employee participates in 19 the strike, except for wages or compensation earned before 20 participation in the strike. Notwithstanding the existence of 21 any other provision in this Act or other law, during the 18- 22 month period that strikes are prohibited under this subsection 23 nothinginthissubsectionSectionshallbeconstruedtorequire 24 an educational employer to submit to a binding dispute 25 resolution process. If any strike occurs in violation of this 26 Section, the employer may initiate in the circuit court of the 27 county in which such strike occurs an action for an injunction 28 and other relief, and the circuit court shall impose at least 29 one or more of the following penalties on the exclusive 30 bargaining representative in addition to ordering other 31 appropriaterelief:
32 (1) 33 34 35
36 37
38 (2) 39 40
Revoke the designation of the exclusive bargaining representative as the exclusive bargaining representative of the employees involved in the dispute and declare the exclusive bargaining representative to be ineligible for such designation for a period of two years; or
Prohibit the employer from deducting dues on behalf of the exclusive bargaining representative for a period of two years; or
38
1 (3) 2 3
4 (4) 5
Void the collective bargaining agreement and permit the employer to set initial terms and conditions of employment for bargaining unit members; or
Impose fines on the exclusive bargaining representative and/or its officers.
6 (b) 7 in this Act or any other law, educational employees other than 8 those employed in a school district organized under Article 34 9 of the School Code and, after the expiration of the 18 month
10 period that commences on the effective date of this amendatory 11 Act of 1995, educational employees in a school district 12 organized under Article 34 of the School Code shall not engage 13 inastrikeexceptunderthefollowingconditions:
14 (1) 15
16 (2) 17 18 19
20 (3) 21 22 23
24 25
26 (34) 27 28 29
30
31 (45) 32 33
they are represented by an exclusive bargaining representative;
mediation has been used without success the parties have in good faith fully and completely engaged in mediation and fact-finding as required by Section 12(b) and (c) of this Act;
the governing body of the employer has failed to adopt a resolution for each disputed issue within forty days of the date on which the chairperson of the fact- finding panel delivers for publication the fact- finding panel's report as set forth in Section 12(c)(8) of this Act;
at least 10 days have elapsed after a notice of intent to strike has been given by the exclusive bargaining representative to the educational employer, the regional superintendent and the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board;
the collective bargaining agreement between the educational employer and educational employees, if any, has expired or has been terminated; and
Notwithstanding the existence of any other provision
34 (56)the employer and the exclusive bargaining 35 representative have not mutually submitted the 36 unresolved issues to arbitration.
37 If, however, in the opinion of an employer the strike is or 38 has become a clear and present danger to the health, or safety
39
1 or welfare of the public, the employer may initiate in the 2 circuit court of the county in which such danger exists an 3 action for relief which may include, but is not limited to, 4 injunction. The court may grant appropriate relief upon the 5 finding that such clear and present danger exists. An unfair 6 practice or other evidence of lack of clean hands by the 7 educational employer is a defense to such action. Except as 8 provided for in this paragraph, the jurisdiction of the court 9 underthisSectionislimitedbytheLaborDisputeAct.
10 (Source:P.A.89-15,eff.5-30-95;90-548,eff.1-1-98.)
11 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 12 becominglaw.
