Public Act 102-0252
 
HB0018 EnrolledLRB102 02679 CMG 12682 b

    AN ACT concerning education.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections
24A-5, 24A-7, and 34-85c as follows:
 
    (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 evaluated at least
once in the course of every 2 or 3 school years as provided in
this Section.
    Each By no later than September 1, 2012, each school
district shall establish a teacher evaluation plan that
ensures that:
        (1) each teacher not in contractual continued service
    is evaluated at least once every school year; and
        (2) except as otherwise provided in this Section, 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.
    No later than September 1, 2022, each school district must
establish a teacher evaluation plan that ensures that each
teacher in contractual continued service whose performance is
rated as either "excellent" or "proficient" is evaluated at
least once in the course of the 3 school years after receipt of
the rating and implement an informal teacher observation plan
established by agency rule and by agreement of the joint
committee established under subsection (b) of Section 24A-4 of
this Code that ensures that each teacher in contractual
continued service whose performance is rated as either
"excellent" or "proficient" is informally observed at least
once in the course of the 2 school years after receipt of the
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 his or her first year as principal of such school. If a
first-year principal exercises this option in a school
district where the evaluation plan provides for a teacher in
contractual continued service to be evaluated once in the
course of every 2 or 3 school years, as applicable, then a new
2-year or 3-year evaluation plan must be established.
    The evaluation plan shall comply with the requirements of
this Section and of any rules adopted by the State Board of
Education pursuant to this Section.
    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
following components:
        (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:
            (i) "excellent", "satisfactory" or
        "unsatisfactory"; or
            (ii) "excellent", "proficient", "needs
        improvement" or "unsatisfactory".
        (e) on and after September 1, 2012, rating of the
    performance of all teachers 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
    evaluator, in consultation with the teacher, and taking
    into account the teacher's on-going professional
    responsibilities including his or her regular teaching
    assignments, of a professional development plan directed
    to the areas that need improvement and any supports that
    the district will provide to address the areas identified
    as needing improvement.
        (i) within 30 school days after completion of an
    evaluation rating a teacher in contractual continued
    service as "unsatisfactory", development and commencement
    by the district of a remediation plan designed to correct
    deficiencies cited, provided the deficiencies are deemed
    remediable. In all school districts the remediation plan
    for unsatisfactory, tenured teachers shall provide for 90
    school days of remediation within the classroom, unless an
    applicable collective bargaining agreement provides for a
    shorter duration. In all school districts evaluations
    issued pursuant to this Section shall be issued within 10
    days after the conclusion of the respective remediation
    plan. However, the school board or other governing
    authority of the district shall not lose jurisdiction to
    discharge a teacher in the event the evaluation is not
    issued within 10 days after the conclusion of the
    respective remediation plan.
        (j) participation in the remediation plan by the
    teacher in contractual continued service rated
    "unsatisfactory", an evaluator and a consulting teacher
    selected by the evaluator of the teacher who was rated
    "unsatisfactory", which consulting teacher is an
    educational employee as defined in the Educational Labor
    Relations Act, has at least 5 years' teaching experience,
    and a reasonable familiarity with the assignment of the
    teacher being evaluated, and who received an "excellent"
    rating on his or her most recent evaluation. Where no
    teachers who meet these criteria are available within the
    district, the district shall request and the applicable
    regional office of education shall supply, to participate
    in the remediation process, an individual who meets these
    criteria.
        In a district having a population of less than 500,000
    with an exclusive bargaining agent, the bargaining agent
    may, if it so chooses, supply a roster of qualified
    teachers from whom the consulting teacher is to be
    selected. That roster shall, however, contain the names of
    at least 5 teachers, each of whom meets the criteria for
    consulting teacher with regard to the teacher being
    evaluated, or the names of all teachers so qualified if
    that number is less than 5. In the event of a dispute as to
    qualification, the State Board shall determine
    qualification.
        (k) a mid-point and final evaluation by an evaluator
    during and at the end of the remediation period,
    immediately following receipt of a remediation plan
    provided for under subsections (i) and (j) of this
    Section. Each evaluation shall assess the teacher's
    performance during the time period since the prior
    evaluation; provided that the last evaluation shall also
    include an overall evaluation of the teacher's performance
    during the remediation period. A written copy of the
    evaluations and ratings, in which any deficiencies in
    performance and recommendations for correction are
    identified, shall be provided to and discussed with the
    teacher within 10 school days after the date of the
    evaluation, unless an applicable collective bargaining
    agreement provides to the contrary. These subsequent
    evaluations shall be conducted by an evaluator. The
    consulting teacher shall provide advice to the teacher
    rated "unsatisfactory" on how to improve teaching skills
    and to successfully complete the remediation plan. The
    consulting teacher shall participate in developing the
    remediation plan, but the final decision as to the
    evaluation shall be done solely by the evaluator, unless
    an applicable collective bargaining agreement provides to
    the contrary. Evaluations at the conclusion of the
    remediation process shall be separate and distinct from
    the required annual evaluations of teachers and shall not
    be subject to the guidelines and procedures relating to
    those annual evaluations. The evaluator may but is not
    required to use the forms provided for the annual
    evaluation of teachers in the district's evaluation plan.
        (l) reinstatement to the evaluation schedule set forth
    in the district's evaluation plan for any teacher in
    contractual continued service who achieves a rating equal
    to or better than "satisfactory" or "proficient" in the
    school year following a rating of "needs improvement" or
    "unsatisfactory".
        (m) dismissal in accordance with subsection (d) of
    Section 24-12 or Section 24-16.5 or 34-85 of this Code of
    any teacher who fails to complete any applicable
    remediation plan with a rating equal to or better than a
    "satisfactory" or "proficient" rating. Districts and
    teachers subject to dismissal hearings are precluded from
    compelling the testimony of consulting teachers at such
    hearings under subsection (d) of Section 24-12 or Section
    24-16.5 or 34-85 of this Code, either as to the rating
    process or for opinions of performances by teachers under
    remediation.
        (n) After the implementation date of an evaluation
    system for teachers in a district as specified in Section
    24A-2.5 of this Code, if a teacher in contractual
    continued service successfully completes a remediation
    plan following a rating of "unsatisfactory" in an annual
    or biennial overall performance evaluation received after
    the foregoing implementation date and receives a
    subsequent rating of "unsatisfactory" in any of the
    teacher's annual or biennial overall performance
    evaluation ratings received during the 36-month period
    following the teacher's completion of the remediation
    plan, then the school district may forego remediation and
    seek dismissal in accordance with subsection (d) of
    Section 24-12 or Section 34-85 of this Code.
    Nothing in this Section or Section 24A-4 shall be
construed as preventing immediate dismissal of a teacher for
deficiencies which are deemed irremediable or for actions
which are injurious to or endanger the health or person of
students in the classroom or school, or preventing the
dismissal or non-renewal of teachers not in contractual
continued service for any reason not prohibited by applicable
employment, labor, and civil rights laws. Failure to strictly
comply with the time requirements contained in Section 24A-5
shall not invalidate the results of the remediation plan.
    Nothing contained in this amendatory Act of the 98th
General Assembly repeals, supersedes, invalidates, or
nullifies final decisions in lawsuits pending on the effective
date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly in
Illinois courts involving the interpretation of Public Act
97-8.
    If the Governor has declared a disaster due to a public
health emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois
Emergency Management Agency Act that suspends in-person
instruction, the timelines in this Section connected to the
commencement and completion of any remediation plan are
waived. Except if the parties mutually agree otherwise and the
agreement is in writing, any remediation plan that had been in
place for more than 45 days prior to the suspension of
in-person instruction shall resume when in-person instruction
resumes and any remediation plan that had been in place for
fewer than 45 days prior to the suspension of in-person
instruction shall be discontinued and a new remediation period
shall begin when in-person instruction resumes. The
requirements of this paragraph apply regardless of whether
they are included in a school district's teacher evaluation
plan.
(Source: P.A. 101-643, eff. 6-18-20.)
 
    (105 ILCS 5/24A-7)  (from Ch. 122, par. 24A-7)
    Sec. 24A-7. Rules. The State Board of Education is
authorized to adopt such rules as are deemed necessary to
implement and accomplish the purposes and provisions of this
Article, including, but not limited to, rules:
        (1) (i) relating to the methods for measuring student
    growth (including, but not limited to, limitations on the
    age of usable useable data; the amount of data needed to
    reliably and validly measure growth for the purpose of
    teacher and principal evaluations; and whether and at what
    time annual State assessments may be used as one of
    multiple measures of student growth);
        (2) , (ii) defining the term "significant factor" for
    purposes of including consideration of student growth in
    performance ratings;
        (3) , (iii) controlling for such factors as student
    characteristics (including, but not limited to, students
    receiving special education and English Language Learner
    services), student attendance, and student mobility so as
    to best measure the impact that a teacher, principal,
    school and school district has on students' academic
    achievement;
        (4) , (iv) establishing minimum requirements for
    district teacher and principal evaluation instruments and
    procedures; , and
        (5) (v) establishing a model evaluation plan for use
    by school districts in which student growth shall comprise
    50% of the performance rating.
    Notwithstanding any other provision in this Section, such
rules shall not preclude a school district having 500,000 or
more inhabitants from using an annual State assessment as the
sole measure of student growth for purposes of teacher or
principal evaluations.
    The State Superintendent of Education shall convene a
Performance Evaluation Advisory Council, which shall be
staffed by the State Board of Education. Members of the
Council shall be selected by the State Superintendent and
include, without limitation, representatives of teacher unions
and school district management, persons with expertise in
performance evaluation processes and systems, as well as other
stakeholders. The Council shall meet at least quarterly, and
may also meet at the call of the chairperson of the Council,
following August 18, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act
100-211) this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly
until June 30, 2024 2021. The Council shall advise the State
Board of Education on the ongoing implementation of
performance evaluations in this State, which may include
gathering public feedback, sharing best practices, consulting
with the State Board on any proposed rule changes regarding
evaluations, and other subjects as determined by the
chairperson of the Council.
    Prior to the applicable implementation date, these rules
shall 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.
(Source: P.A. 100-211, eff. 8-18-17; revised 7-15-19.)
 
    (105 ILCS 5/34-85c)
    Sec. 34-85c. Alternative procedures for teacher
evaluation, remediation, and removal for cause after
remediation.
    (a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the board and
the exclusive representative of the district's teachers are
hereby authorized to enter into an agreement to establish
alternative procedures for teacher evaluation, remediation,
and removal for cause after remediation, including an
alternative system for peer evaluation and recommendations;
provided, however, that no later than September 1, 2012: (i)
any alternative procedures must include provisions whereby
student performance data is a significant factor in teacher
evaluation and (ii) teachers are rated as "excellent",
"proficient", "needs improvement" or "unsatisfactory".
Pursuant exclusively to that agreement, teachers assigned to
schools identified in that agreement shall be subject to an
alternative performance evaluation plan and remediation
procedures in lieu of the plan and procedures set forth in
Article 24A of this Code and alternative removal for cause
standards and procedures in lieu of the removal standards and
procedures set forth in Section 34-85 of this Code. To the
extent that the agreement provides a teacher with an
opportunity for a hearing on removal for cause before an
independent hearing officer in accordance with Section 34-85
or otherwise, the hearing officer shall be governed by the
alternative performance evaluation plan, remediation
procedures, and removal standards and procedures set forth in
the agreement in making findings of fact and a recommendation.
    (a-5) If the Governor has declared a disaster due to a
public health emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois
Emergency Management Agency Act that suspends in-person
instruction, the timelines connected to the commencement and
completion of any remediation plan are paused. Except where
the parties mutually agree otherwise and such agreement is in
writing, any remediation plan that had been in place for 45 or
more days prior to the suspension of in-person instruction
shall resume when in-person instruction resumes; any
remediation plan that had been in place for fewer than 45 days
prior to the suspension of in-person instruction shall
discontinue and a new remediation period will begin when
in-person instruction resumes.
    (a-10) No later than September 1, 2022, the school
district must establish a teacher evaluation plan that ensures
that each teacher in contractual continued service whose
performance is rated as either "excellent" or "proficient" is
evaluated at least once in the course of the 3 school years
after receipt of the rating and establish an informal teacher
observation plan that ensures that each teacher in contractual
continued service whose performance is rated as either
"excellent" or "proficient" is informally observed at least
once in the course of the 2 school years after receipt of the
rating.
    (b) The board and the exclusive representative of the
district's teachers shall submit a certified copy of an
agreement as provided under subsection (a) of this Section to
the State Board of Education.
(Source: P.A. 101-643, eff. 6-18-20.)