Public Act 095-0592
 
HB1647 Enrolled LRB095 07887 NHT 28048 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 Section
21-25 as follows:
 
    (105 ILCS 5/21-25)  (from Ch. 122, par. 21-25)
    Sec. 21-25. School service personnel certificate.
    (a) For purposes of this Section, "school service
personnel" means persons employed and performing appropriate
services in an Illinois public or State-operated elementary
school, secondary school, or cooperative or joint agreement
with a governing body or board of control or a charter school
operating in compliance with the Charter Schools Law in a
position requiring a school service personnel certificate.
    Subject to the provisions of Section 21-1a, a school
service personnel certificate shall be issued to those
applicants of good character, good health, a citizen of the
United States and at least 19 years of age who have a
Bachelor's degree with not fewer than 120 semester hours from a
regionally accredited institution of higher learning and who
meets the requirements established by the State Superintendent
of Education in consultation with the State Teacher
Certification Board. A school service personnel certificate
with a school nurse endorsement may be issued to a person who
holds a bachelor of science degree from an institution of
higher learning accredited by the North Central Association or
other comparable regional accrediting association. Persons
seeking any other endorsement on the school service personnel
certificate shall be recommended for the endorsement by a
recognized teacher education institution as having completed a
program of preparation approved by the State Superintendent of
Education in consultation with the State Teacher Certification
Board.
    (b) Until August 30, 2002, a school service personnel
certificate endorsed for school social work may be issued to a
student who has completed a school social work program that has
not been approved by the State Superintendent of Education,
provided that each of the following conditions is met:
        (1) The program was offered by a recognized, public
    teacher education institution that first enrolled students
    in its master's degree program in social work in 1998;
        (2) The student applying for the school service
    personnel certificate was enrolled in the institution's
    master's degree program in social work on or after May 11,
    1998;
        (3) The State Superintendent verifies that the student
    has completed coursework that is substantially similar to
    that required in approved school social work programs,
    including (i) not fewer than 600 clock hours of a
    supervised internship in a school setting or (ii) if the
    student has completed part of a supervised internship in a
    school setting prior to the effective date of this
    amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly and receives
    the prior approval of the State Superintendent, not fewer
    than 300 additional clock hours of supervised work in a
    public school setting under the supervision of a certified
    school social worker who certifies that the supervised work
    was completed in a satisfactory manner; and
        (4) The student has passed a test of basic skills and
    the test of subject matter knowledge required by Section
    21-1a.
    This subsection (b) does not apply after August 29, 2002.
    (c) A school service personnel certificate shall be
endorsed with the area of Service as determined by the State
Superintendent of Education in consultation with the State
Teacher Certification Board.
    The holder of such certificate shall be entitled to all of
the rights and privileges granted holders of a valid teaching
certificate, including teacher benefits, compensation and
working conditions.
    When the holder of such certificate has earned a master's
degree, including 8 semester hours of graduate professional
education from a recognized institution of higher learning, and
has at least 2 years of successful school experience while
holding such certificate, the certificate may be endorsed for
supervision.
    (d) Persons who have successfully achieved National Board
certification through the National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards shall be issued a Master School Service
Personnel Certificate, valid for 10 years and renewable
thereafter every 10 years through compliance with requirements
set forth by the State Board of Education, in consultation with
the State Teacher Certification Board. However, each holder of
a Master School Service Personnel Certificate shall be eligible
for a corresponding position in this State in the areas for
which he or she holds a Master Certificate without satisfying
any other requirements of this Code, except for those
requirements pertaining to criminal background checks.
    (e) School service personnel certificates are renewable
every 5 years and may be renewed as provided in this Section.
Requests for renewals must be submitted, in a format prescribed
by the State Board of Education, to the regional office of
education responsible for the school where the holder is
employed.
    Upon completion of at least 80 hours of continuing
professional development as provided in this subsection (e), a
person who holds a valid school service personnel certificate
shall have his or her certificate renewed for a period of 5
years. A person who (i) holds an active license issued by the
State as a clinical professional counselor, a professional
counselor, a clinical social worker, a social worker, or a
speech-language pathologist; (ii) holds national certification
as a Nationally Certified School Psychologist from the National
School Psychology Certification Board; (iii) is nationally
certified as a National Certified School Nurse from the
National Board for Certification of School Nurses; (iv) is
nationally certified as a National Certified Counselor or
National Certified School Counselor from the National Board for
Certified Counselors; or (v) holds a Certificate of Clinical
Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing
Association shall be deemed to have satisfied the continuing
professional development requirements established by the State
Board of Education and the State Teacher Certification Board to
renew a school service personnel certificate.
    School service personnel certificates may be renewed by the
State Teacher Certification Board based upon proof of
continuing professional development. The State Board of
Education shall (i) establish a procedure for renewing school
service personnel certificates, which shall include without
limitation annual timelines for the renewal process and the
components set forth in this Section; (ii) approve or
disapprove the providers of continuing professional
development activities; and (iii) provide, on a timely basis to
all school service personnel certificate holders, regional
superintendents of schools, school districts, and others with
an interest in continuing professional development,
information about the standards and requirements established
pursuant to this subsection (e).
    Any school service personnel certificate held by an
individual employed and performing services in an Illinois
public or State-operated elementary school, secondary school,
or cooperative or joint agreement with a governing body or
board of control in a certificated school service personnel
position or in a charter school in compliance with the Charter
Schools Law must be maintained Valid and Active through
certificate renewal activities specified in the certificate
renewal procedure established pursuant to this Section,
provided that a holder of a Valid and Active certificate who is
only employed on either a part-time basis or day-to-day basis
as a substitute shall pay only the required registration fee to
renew his or her certificate and maintain it as Valid and
Active. All other school service personnel certificates held
may be maintained as Valid and Exempt through the registration
process provided for in the certificate renewal procedure
established pursuant to Section 21-14 of this Code. A Valid and
Exempt certificate must be immediately activated, through
procedures developed by the State Board of Education upon the
certificate holder becoming employed and performing services
in an Illinois public or State-operated elementary school,
secondary school, or cooperative or joint agreement with a
governing body or board of control in a certificated school
service personnel position or in a charter school operating in
compliance with the Charter Schools Law. A holder of a Valid
and Exempt certificate may activate his or her certificate
through procedures provided for in the certificate renewal
procedure established pursuant to this Section.
    A school service personnel certificate that has been
maintained as Valid and Active for the 5 years of the
certificate's validity shall be renewed as Valid and Active
upon the certificate holder (i) completing the National Board
for Professional Teaching Standards process in an area of
concentration comparable to the holder's school service
personnel certificate of endorsement or (ii) earning 80
continuing professional development units as described in this
Section. If, however, the certificate holder has maintained the
certificate as Valid and Exempt for a portion of the 5-year
period of validity, the number of continuing professional
development units needed to renew the certificate as Valid and
Active must be proportionately reduced by the amount of time
the certificate was Valid and Exempt. If a certificate holder
is employed and performs services requiring the holder's school
service personnel certificate on a part-time basis for all or a
portion of the certificate's 5-year period of validity, the
number of continuing professional development units needed to
renew the certificate as Valid and Active shall be reduced by
50% for the amount of time the certificate holder has been
employed and performing such services on a part-time basis.
"Part-time" means less than 50% of the school day or school
term.
    Beginning July 1, 2008, in order to satisfy the
requirements for continuing professional development provided
for in this Section, each Valid and Active school service
personnel certificate holder shall complete professional
development activities that address the certificate or those
certificates that are required of his or her certificated
position, if the certificate holder is employed and performing
services in an Illinois public or State operated elementary
school, secondary school, or cooperative or joint agreement
with a governing body or board of control, or that certificate
or those certificates most closely related to his or her
teaching position, if the certificate holder is employed in a
charter school. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection
(e), the certificate holder's activities must address and must
reflect the following continuing professional development
purposes:
        (1) Advance both the certificate holder's knowledge
    and skills consistent with the Illinois Standards for the
    service area in which the certificate is endorsed in order
    to keep the certificate holder current in that area.
        (2) Develop the certificate holder's knowledge and
    skills in areas determined by the State Board of Education
    to be critical for all school service personnel.
        (3) Address the knowledge, skills, and goals of the
    certificate holder's local school improvement plan, if the
    certificate holder is employed in an Illinois public or
    State-operated elementary school, secondary school, or
    cooperative or joint agreement with a governing body or
    board of control.
        (4) Address the needs of serving students with
    disabilities, including adapting and modifying clinical or
    professional practices to meet the needs of students with
    disabilities and serving such students in the least
    restrictive environment.
    The coursework or continuing professional development
units ("CPDU") required under this subsection (e) must total 80
CPDUs or the equivalent and must address 3 of the 4 purposes
described in items (1) through (4) of this subsection (e).
Holders of school service personnel certificates may fulfill
this obligation with any combination of semester hours or CPDUs
as follows:
        (A) Collaboration and partnership activities related
    to improving the school service personnel certificate
    holder's knowledge and skills, including (i) participating
    on collaborative planning and professional improvement
    teams and committees; (ii) peer review and coaching; (iii)
    mentoring in a formal mentoring program, including service
    as a consulting teacher participating in a remediation
    process formulated under Section 24A-5 of this Code; (iv)
    participating in site-based management or decision-making
    teams, relevant committees, boards, or task forces
    directly related to school improvement plans; (v)
    coordinating community resources in schools, if the
    project is a specific goal of the school improvement plan;
    (vi) facilitating parent education programs for a school,
    school district, or regional office of education directly
    related to student achievement or school improvement
    plans; (vii) participating in business, school, or
    community partnerships directly related to student
    achievement or school improvement plans; or (viii)
    supervising a student teacher (student services personnel)
    or teacher education candidate in clinical supervision,
    provided that the supervision may be counted only once
    during the course of 5 years.
        (B) Coursework from a regionally accredited
    institution of higher learning related to one of the
    purposes listed in items (1) through (4) of this subsection
    (e), which shall apply at the rate of 15 continuing
    professional development units per semester hour of credit
    earned during the previous 5-year period when the status of
    the holder's school service personnel certificate was
    Valid and Active. Proportionate reductions shall apply
    when the holder's status was Valid and Active for less than
    the 5-year period preceding the renewal.
        (C) Teaching college or university courses in areas
    relevant to the certificate area being renewed, provided
    that the teaching may be counted only once during the
    course of 5 years.
        (D) Conferences, workshops, institutes, seminars, or
    symposiums designed to improve the certificate holder's
    knowledge and skills in the service area and applicable to
    the purposes listed in items (1) through (4) of this
    subsection (e). One CPDU shall be awarded for each hour of
    attendance. No one shall receive credit for conferences,
    workshops, institutes, seminars, or symposiums that are
    designed for entertainment, promotional, or commercial
    purposes or that are solely inspirational or motivational.
    The State Superintendent of Education and regional
    superintendents of schools are authorized to review the
    activities and events provided or to be provided under this
    subdivision (D) and to investigate complaints regarding
    those activities and events. Either the State
    Superintendent of Education or a regional superintendent
    of schools may recommend that the State Board of Education
    disapprove those activities and events considered to be
    inconsistent with this subdivision (D).
        (E) Completing non-university credit directly related
    to student achievement, school improvement plans, or State
    priorities.
        (F) Participating in or presenting at workshops,
    seminars, conferences, institutes, or symposiums.
        (G) Training as external reviewers for quality
    assurance.
        (H) Training as reviewers of university teacher
    preparation programs.
        (I) Other educational experiences related to improving
    the school service personnel's knowledge and skills as a
    teacher, including (i) participating in action research
    and inquiry projects; (ii) traveling related to one's
    assignment and directly related to school service
    personnel achievement or school improvement plans and
    approved by the regional superintendent of schools or his
    or her designee at least 30 days prior to the travel
    experience, provided that the traveling shall not include
    time spent commuting to destinations where the learning
    experience will occur; (iii) participating in study groups
    related to student achievement or school improvement
    plans; (iv) serving on a statewide education-related
    committee, including without limitation the State Teacher
    Certification Board, State Board of Education strategic
    agenda teams, or the State Advisory Council on Education of
    Children with Disabilities; (v) participating in
    work/learn programs or internships; or (vi) developing a
    portfolio of student and teacher work.
        (J) Professional leadership experiences related to
    improving the teacher's knowledge and skills as a teacher,
    including (i) participating in curriculum development or
    assessment activities at the school, school district,
    regional office of education, State, or national level;
    (ii) participating in team or department leadership in a
    school or school district; (iii) participating on external
    or internal school or school district review teams; (iv)
    publishing educational articles, columns, or books
    relevant to the certificate area being renewed; or (v)
    participating in non-strike-related professional
    association or labor organization service or activities
    related to professional development.
(Source: P.A. 94-105, eff. 7-1-05.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
2008.