103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB2392

 

Introduced 2/15/2023, by Rep. Sue Scherer

 

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

    Amends the Evaluation of Certified Employees Article of the School Code. With respect to a school district's teacher evaluation plan, provides that a teacher does not need to undergo the last evaluation cycle before the teacher retires if the teacher has notified the school district of the teacher's intent to retire. Effective immediately.


LRB103 29836 NHT 56244 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB2392LRB103 29836 NHT 56244 b

1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
524A-5 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/24A-5)  (from Ch. 122, par. 24A-5)
7    Sec. 24A-5. Content of evaluation plans. This Section
8does not apply to teachers assigned to schools identified in
9an agreement entered into between the board of a school
10district operating under Article 34 of this Code and the
11exclusive representative of the district's teachers in
12accordance with Section 34-85c of this Code.
13    Each school district to which this Article applies shall
14establish a teacher evaluation plan which ensures that each
15teacher in contractual continued service is evaluated at least
16once in the course of every 2 or 3 school years as provided in
17this Section, except that a teacher does not need to undergo
18the last evaluation cycle before the teacher retires if the
19teacher has notified the school district of the teacher's
20intent to retire.
21    Each school district shall establish a teacher evaluation
22plan that ensures that:
23        (1) each teacher not in contractual continued service

 

 

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1    is evaluated at least once every school year; and
2        (2) except as otherwise provided in this Section, each
3    teacher in contractual continued service is evaluated at
4    least once in the course of every 2 school years. However,
5    any teacher in contractual continued service whose
6    performance is rated as either "needs improvement" or
7    "unsatisfactory" must be evaluated at least once in the
8    school year following the receipt of such rating.
9    No later than September 1, 2022, each school district must
10establish a teacher evaluation plan that ensures that each
11teacher in contractual continued service whose performance is
12rated as either "excellent" or "proficient" is evaluated at
13least once in the course of the 3 school years after receipt of
14the rating and implement an informal teacher observation plan
15established by agency rule and by agreement of the joint
16committee established under subsection (b) of Section 24A-4 of
17this Code that ensures that each teacher in contractual
18continued service whose performance is rated as either
19"excellent" or "proficient" is informally observed at least
20once in the course of the 2 school years after receipt of the
21rating.
22    For the 2022-2023 school year only, if the Governor has
23declared a disaster due to a public health emergency pursuant
24to Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act,
25a school district may waive the evaluation requirement of all
26teachers in contractual continued service whose performances

 

 

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1were rated as either "excellent" or "proficient" during the
2last school year in which the teachers were evaluated under
3this Section.
4    Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section
5or any other Section of this Code, a principal shall not be
6prohibited from evaluating any teachers within a school during
7his or her first year as principal of such school. If a
8first-year principal exercises this option in a school
9district where the evaluation plan provides for a teacher in
10contractual continued service to be evaluated once in the
11course of every 2 or 3 school years, as applicable, then a new
122-year or 3-year evaluation plan must be established.
13    The evaluation plan shall comply with the requirements of
14this Section and of any rules adopted by the State Board of
15Education pursuant to this Section.
16    The plan shall include a description of each teacher's
17duties and responsibilities and of the standards to which that
18teacher is expected to conform, and shall include at least the
19following components:
20        (a) personal observation of the teacher in the
21    classroom by the evaluator, unless the teacher has no
22    classroom duties.
23        (b) consideration of the teacher's attendance,
24    planning, instructional methods, classroom management,
25    where relevant, and competency in the subject matter
26    taught.

 

 

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1        (c) by no later than the applicable implementation
2    date, consideration of student growth as a significant
3    factor in the rating of the teacher's performance.
4        (d) prior to September 1, 2012, rating of the
5    performance of teachers in contractual continued service
6    as either:
7            (i) "excellent", "satisfactory" or
8        "unsatisfactory"; or
9            (ii) "excellent", "proficient", "needs
10        improvement" or "unsatisfactory".
11        (e) on and after September 1, 2012, rating of the
12    performance of all teachers as "excellent", "proficient",
13    "needs improvement" or "unsatisfactory".
14        (f) specification as to the teacher's strengths and
15    weaknesses, with supporting reasons for the comments made.
16        (g) inclusion of a copy of the evaluation in the
17    teacher's personnel file and provision of a copy to the
18    teacher.
19        (h) within 30 school days after the completion of an
20    evaluation rating a teacher in contractual continued
21    service as "needs improvement", development by the
22    evaluator, in consultation with the teacher, and taking
23    into account the teacher's on-going professional
24    responsibilities including his or her regular teaching
25    assignments, of a professional development plan directed
26    to the areas that need improvement and any supports that

 

 

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1    the district will provide to address the areas identified
2    as needing improvement.
3        (i) within 30 school days after completion of an
4    evaluation rating a teacher in contractual continued
5    service as "unsatisfactory", development and commencement
6    by the district of a remediation plan designed to correct
7    deficiencies cited, provided the deficiencies are deemed
8    remediable. In all school districts the remediation plan
9    for unsatisfactory, tenured teachers shall provide for 90
10    school days of remediation within the classroom, unless an
11    applicable collective bargaining agreement provides for a
12    shorter duration. In all school districts evaluations
13    issued pursuant to this Section shall be issued within 10
14    days after the conclusion of the respective remediation
15    plan. However, the school board or other governing
16    authority of the district shall not lose jurisdiction to
17    discharge a teacher in the event the evaluation is not
18    issued within 10 days after the conclusion of the
19    respective remediation plan.
20        (j) participation in the remediation plan by the
21    teacher in contractual continued service rated
22    "unsatisfactory", an evaluator and a consulting teacher
23    selected by the evaluator of the teacher who was rated
24    "unsatisfactory", which consulting teacher is an
25    educational employee as defined in the Educational Labor
26    Relations Act, has at least 5 years' teaching experience,

 

 

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1    and a reasonable familiarity with the assignment of the
2    teacher being evaluated, and who received an "excellent"
3    rating on his or her most recent evaluation. Where no
4    teachers who meet these criteria are available within the
5    district, the district shall request and the applicable
6    regional office of education shall supply, to participate
7    in the remediation process, an individual who meets these
8    criteria.
9        In a district having a population of less than 500,000
10    with an exclusive bargaining agent, the bargaining agent
11    may, if it so chooses, supply a roster of qualified
12    teachers from whom the consulting teacher is to be
13    selected. That roster shall, however, contain the names of
14    at least 5 teachers, each of whom meets the criteria for
15    consulting teacher with regard to the teacher being
16    evaluated, or the names of all teachers so qualified if
17    that number is less than 5. In the event of a dispute as to
18    qualification, the State Board shall determine
19    qualification.
20        (k) a mid-point and final evaluation by an evaluator
21    during and at the end of the remediation period,
22    immediately following receipt of a remediation plan
23    provided for under subsections (i) and (j) of this
24    Section. Each evaluation shall assess the teacher's
25    performance during the time period since the prior
26    evaluation; provided that the last evaluation shall also

 

 

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1    include an overall evaluation of the teacher's performance
2    during the remediation period. A written copy of the
3    evaluations and ratings, in which any deficiencies in
4    performance and recommendations for correction are
5    identified, shall be provided to and discussed with the
6    teacher within 10 school days after the date of the
7    evaluation, unless an applicable collective bargaining
8    agreement provides to the contrary. These subsequent
9    evaluations shall be conducted by an evaluator. The
10    consulting teacher shall provide advice to the teacher
11    rated "unsatisfactory" on how to improve teaching skills
12    and to successfully complete the remediation plan. The
13    consulting teacher shall participate in developing the
14    remediation plan, but the final decision as to the
15    evaluation shall be done solely by the evaluator, unless
16    an applicable collective bargaining agreement provides to
17    the contrary. Evaluations at the conclusion of the
18    remediation process shall be separate and distinct from
19    the required annual evaluations of teachers and shall not
20    be subject to the guidelines and procedures relating to
21    those annual evaluations. The evaluator may but is not
22    required to use the forms provided for the annual
23    evaluation of teachers in the district's evaluation plan.
24        (l) reinstatement to the evaluation schedule set forth
25    in the district's evaluation plan for any teacher in
26    contractual continued service who achieves a rating equal

 

 

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1    to or better than "satisfactory" or "proficient" in the
2    school year following a rating of "needs improvement" or
3    "unsatisfactory".
4        (m) dismissal in accordance with subsection (d) of
5    Section 24-12 or Section 24-16.5 or 34-85 of this Code of
6    any teacher who fails to complete any applicable
7    remediation plan with a rating equal to or better than a
8    "satisfactory" or "proficient" rating. Districts and
9    teachers subject to dismissal hearings are precluded from
10    compelling the testimony of consulting teachers at such
11    hearings under subsection (d) of Section 24-12 or Section
12    24-16.5 or 34-85 of this Code, either as to the rating
13    process or for opinions of performances by teachers under
14    remediation.
15        (n) After the implementation date of an evaluation
16    system for teachers in a district as specified in Section
17    24A-2.5 of this Code, if a teacher in contractual
18    continued service successfully completes a remediation
19    plan following a rating of "unsatisfactory" in an overall
20    performance evaluation received after the foregoing
21    implementation date and receives a subsequent rating of
22    "unsatisfactory" in any of the teacher's overall
23    performance evaluation ratings received during the
24    36-month period following the teacher's completion of the
25    remediation plan, then the school district may forego
26    remediation and seek dismissal in accordance with

 

 

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1    subsection (d) of Section 24-12 or Section 34-85 of this
2    Code.
3    Nothing in this Section or Section 24A-4 shall be
4construed as preventing immediate dismissal of a teacher for
5deficiencies which are deemed irremediable or for actions
6which are injurious to or endanger the health or person of
7students in the classroom or school, or preventing the
8dismissal or non-renewal of teachers not in contractual
9continued service for any reason not prohibited by applicable
10employment, labor, and civil rights laws. Failure to strictly
11comply with the time requirements contained in Section 24A-5
12shall not invalidate the results of the remediation plan.
13    Nothing contained in this amendatory Act of the 98th
14General Assembly repeals, supersedes, invalidates, or
15nullifies final decisions in lawsuits pending on the effective
16date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly in
17Illinois courts involving the interpretation of Public Act
1897-8.
19    If the Governor has declared a disaster due to a public
20health emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois
21Emergency Management Agency Act that suspends in-person
22instruction, the timelines in this Section connected to the
23commencement and completion of any remediation plan are
24waived. Except if the parties mutually agree otherwise and the
25agreement is in writing, any remediation plan that had been in
26place for more than 45 days prior to the suspension of

 

 

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1in-person instruction shall resume when in-person instruction
2resumes and any remediation plan that had been in place for
3fewer than 45 days prior to the suspension of in-person
4instruction shall be discontinued and a new remediation period
5shall begin when in-person instruction resumes. The
6requirements of this paragraph apply regardless of whether
7they are included in a school district's teacher evaluation
8plan.
9(Source: P.A. 101-643, eff. 6-18-20; 102-252, eff. 1-1-22;
10102-729, eff. 5-6-22.)
 
11    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
12becoming law.