August 25, 2017

To the Honorable Members of

The Illinois House of Representatives

100th General Assembly:

Today, I veto House Bill 3298, which would provide reimbursement of the substitute teacher licensure fee for licensees who prove they have provided substitute teacher services for at least 10 days within one year of receiving the license.

The bill attempts to address the substitute teacher shortage facing Illinois districts. While the shortage is a very real problem, this legislation will have unacceptable side effects. Specifically, it will cost approximately $1 million and will force the Illinois State Board of Education to eliminate a teacher mentorship program. Teacher mentorship is one of the most effective methods of supporting new teachers. Furthermore, the shortage is being taken seriously and addressed outside this costly legislation. ISBE recently implemented several strategies aimed at addressing the substitute shortage. In 2016, the agency reduced the substitute teacher license fee by 50 percent and created a one-year grace period that allows retired teachers with lapsed licenses to return their licenses to good standing without paying fines or completing additional coursework. The state has not had enough time to see whether these strategies have significantly increased the substitute teacher pool.

It is premature to implement a solution to a problem that has been addressed through previous legislation and policy, especially when the enactment of this bill would have the unintended consequence of eliminating effective highly effective strategy of supporting new teachers. The General Assembly should wait to see the impact of ISBE’s existing strategies to address the substitute teacher shortage and then determine whether further measures are necessary to solve this problem.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 3298 entitled “AN ACT concerning education,: with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.

Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner

GOVERNOR