Public Act 096-0689
 
HB2675 Enrolled LRB096 03621 NHT 13649 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 adding Section
18-12.5 and by changing Sections 21-1a and 21-10 as follows:
 
    (105 ILCS 5/18-12.5 new)
    Sec. 18-12.5. State aid claims during health emergencies.
After consultation with a local health department, if a school
district closes one or more recognized school buildings, but
not all buildings, during a public health emergency, as
determined by the State Board of Education in consultation with
the Illinois Department of Public Health, the district may
claim a full day of attendance for those days based on the
average of the 3 school days of attendance immediately
preceding the closure of the school building. Attendance for
those days may be claimed only if the school building was
scheduled to be in operation on those days. The partial or no
day of attendance and the reasons thereof shall be certified,
as prescribed by the State Board of Education, within a month
after the closing by the school district superintendent to the
regional superintendent of schools for forwarding to the State
Superintendent of Education for approval.
    This Section is applicable beginning April 1, 2009 and only
if a school district closes a building or buildings, but not
the entire district, which must be done in accordance with
Section 18-12 of this Code.
 
    (105 ILCS 5/21-1a)  (from Ch. 122, par. 21-1a)
    Sec. 21-1a. Tests required for certification and teacher
preparation.
    (a) After July 1, 1988, in addition to all other
requirements, early childhood, elementary, special, high
school, school service personnel, or, except as provided in
Section 34-6, administrative certificates shall be issued to
persons who have satisfactorily passed a test of basic skills,
an assessment of professional teaching, and a test of subject
matter knowledge, provided that a person who passed another
state's test of basic skills as a condition of certification or
of admission to a teacher preparation program shall not be
required to pass this State's test of basic skills and subject
matter knowledge. A person who holds a valid and comparable
out-of-state certificate, however, is not required to take a
test of basic skills and is not required to take a test of
subject matter knowledge, provided that the person has
successfully passed a test of subject matter knowledge in
another state or territory of the United States that is
directly related in content to the specific subject area of
certification. The tests of basic skills and subject matter
knowledge shall be the tests which from time to time are
designated by the State Board of Education in consultation with
the State Teacher Certification Board and may be tests prepared
by an educational testing organization or tests designed by the
State Board of Education in consultation with the State Teacher
Certification Board. The areas to be covered by the test of
basic skills shall include the basic skills of reading,
writing, grammar and mathematics. The test of subject matter
knowledge shall assess content knowledge in the specific
subject field. The tests shall be designed to be racially
neutral to assure that no person in taking the tests is thereby
discriminated against on the basis of race, color, national
origin or other factors unrelated to the person's ability to
perform as a certificated employee. The score required to pass
the tests of basic skills and subject matter knowledge shall be
fixed by the State Board of Education in consultation with the
State Teacher Certification Board. The tests shall be held not
fewer than 3 times a year at such time and place as may be
designated by the State Board of Education in consultation with
the State Teacher Certification Board.
    (b) Except as provided in Section 34-6, the provisions of
subsection (a) of this Section shall apply equally in any
school district subject to Article 34, provided that the State
Board of Education shall determine which certificates issued
under Sections 34-8.1 and 34-83 prior to July 1, 1988 are
comparable to any early childhood certificate, elementary
school certificate, special certificate, high school
certificate, school service personnel certificate or
administrative certificate issued under this Article as of July
1, 1988.
    (c) A person who holds an early childhood, elementary,
special, high school or school service personnel certificate
issued under this Article on or at any time before July 1,
1988, including a person who has been issued any such
certificate pursuant to Section 21-11.1 or in exchange for a
comparable certificate theretofore issued under Section 34-8.1
or Section 34-83, shall not be required to take or pass the
tests in order to thereafter have such certificate renewed.
    (d) The State Board of Education in consultation with the
State Teacher Certification Board shall conduct a pilot
administration of the tests by administering the test to
students completing teacher education programs in the 1986-87
school year for the purpose of determining the effect and
impact of testing candidates for certification.
    Beginning with the 2002-2003 academic year, a student may
not enroll in a teacher preparation program at a recognized
teacher training institution until he or she has passed the
basic skills test.
    Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act of
the 94th General Assembly, prior to completing an approved
teacher preparation program, a preservice education candidate
must satisfactorily pass the test of subject matter knowledge
in the discipline in which he or she will be certified to
teach. The teacher preparation program may require passage of
the test of subject matter knowledge at any time during the
program, including prior to student teaching.
    (e) The rules and regulations developed to implement the
required test of basic skills and subject matter knowledge
shall include the requirements of subsections (a), (b), and (c)
and shall include specific regulations to govern test
selection; test validation and determination of a passing
score; administration of the tests; frequency of
administration; applicant fees; frequency of applicants'
taking the tests; the years for which a score is valid; and,
waiving certain additional tests for additional certificates
to individuals who have satisfactorily passed the test of basic
skills and subject matter knowledge as required in subsection
(a). The State Board of Education shall provide, by rule,
specific policies that assure uniformity in the difficulty
level of each form of the basic skills test and each subject
matter knowledge test from test-to-test and year-to-year. The
State Board of Education shall also set a passing score for the
tests.
    (f) The State Teacher Certification Board may issue a
nonrenewable temporary certificate between July 1, 1988 and
August 31, 1988 to individuals who have taken the tests of
basic skills and subject matter knowledge prescribed by this
Section but have not received such test scores by August 31,
1988. Such temporary certificates shall expire on December 31,
1988.
    (g) Beginning February 15, 2000, the State Board of
Education, in consultation with the State Teacher
Certification Board, shall implement and administer a new
system of certification for teachers in the State of Illinois.
The State Board of Education, in consultation with the State
Teacher Certification Board, shall design and implement a
system of examinations and various other criteria which shall
be required prior to the issuance of Initial Teaching
Certificates and Standard Teaching Certificates. These
examinations and indicators shall be based on national and
State professional teaching standards, as determined by the
State Board of Education, in consultation with the State
Teacher Certification Board. The State Board of Education may
adopt any and all regulations necessary to implement and
administer this Section.
    (h) The State Board of Education shall report to the
Illinois General Assembly and the Governor with
recommendations for further changes and improvements to the
teacher certification system no later than July 1, 1999 and on
an annual basis until July 1, 2001.
(Source: P.A. 93-679, eff. 6-30-04; 94-208, eff. 7-14-05.)
 
    (105 ILCS 5/21-10)  (from Ch. 122, par. 21-10)
    Sec. 21-10. Provisional certificate.
    (A) Until July 1, 1972, the State Teacher Certification
Board may issue a provisional certificate valid for teaching in
elementary, high school or special subject fields subject to
the following conditions:
    A provisional certificate may be issued to a person who
presents certified evidence of having earned a bachelor's
degree from a recognized institution of higher learning. The
academic and professional courses offered as a basis of the
provisional certificate shall be courses approved by the State
Board of Education in consultation with the State Teacher
Certification Board.
    A certificate earned under this plan may be renewed at the
end of each two-year period upon evidence filed with the State
Teacher Certification Board that the holder has earned 8
semester hours of credit within the period; provided the
requirements for the certificate of the same type issued for
the teaching position for which the teacher is employed shall
be met by the end of the second renewal period. A second
provisional certificate shall not be issued. The credits so
earned must be approved by the State Board of Education in
consultation with the State Teacher Certification Board and
must meet the general pattern for a similar type of certificate
issued on the basis of credit. No more than 4 semester hours
shall be chosen from elective subjects.
    (B) After July 1, 1972, the State Teacher Certification
Board may issue a provisional certificate valid for teaching in
early childhood, elementary, high school or special subject
fields, or for providing service as school service personnel or
for administering schools subject to the following conditions:
A provisional certificate may be issued to a person who meets
the requirements for a regular teaching, school service
personnel or administrative certificate in another State and
who presents certified evidence of having earned a bachelor's
degree from a recognized institution of higher learning. The
academic and professional courses offered as a basis of the
provisional certificate shall be courses approved by the State
Board of Education in consultation with the State Teacher
Certification Board. A certificate earned under this plan is
valid for a period of 2 years and shall not be renewed;
however, the individual to whom this certificate is issued
shall have passed or shall pass the examinations set forth by
the State Board of Education within 9 months of the date of
issuance of the provisional certificate. Failure to pass the
tests, required in Section 21-1a, shall result in the
cancellation of the provisional certificate.
    (C) The State Teacher Certification Board may also issue a
provisional vocational certificate and a temporary provisional
vocational certificate.
        (1) The requirements for a provisional vocational
    certificate shall be determined by the State Board of
    Education in consultation with the State Teacher
    Certification Board; provided, the following minimum
    requirements are met: (a) after July 1, 1972, at least 30
    semester hours of credit from a recognized institution of
    higher learning; and (b) after July 1, 1974, at least 60
    semester hours of credit from a recognized institution of
    higher learning.
        (2) The requirements for a temporary provisional
    vocational certificate shall be determined by the State
    Board of Education in consultation with the State Teacher
    Certification Board; provided, the following minimum
    requirements are met: (a) after July 1, 1973, at least
    4,000 hours of work experience in the skill to be certified
    for teaching; and (b) after July 1, 1975, at least 8,000
    hours of work experience in the skill to be certified for
    teaching. Any certificate issued under the provisions of
    this paragraph shall expire on June 30 following the date
    of issue. Renewals may be granted on a yearly basis, but
    shall not be granted to any person who does not file with
    the State Teacher Certification Board a transcript showing
    at least 3 semester hours of credit earned during the
    previous year in a recognized institution of learning. No
    such certificate shall be issued except upon certification
    by the employing board, subject to the approval of the
    regional superintendent of schools, that no qualified
    teacher holding a regular certificate or a provisional
    vocational certificate is available and that actual
    circumstances and need require such issuance.
    The courses or work experience offered as a basis for the
issuance of the provisional vocational certificate or the
temporary provisional vocational certificate shall be approved
by the State Board of Education in consultation with the State
Teacher Certification Board.
    (D) Until July 1, 1972, the State Teacher Certification
Board may also issue a provisional foreign language certificate
valid for 4 years for teaching the foreign language named
therein in all grades of the common schools and shall be issued
to persons who have graduated from a recognized institution of
higher learning with not fewer than 120 semester hours of
credit and who have met other requirements as determined by the
State Board of Education in consultation with the State Teacher
Certification Board. If the holder of a provisional foreign
language certificate is not a citizen of the United States
within 6 years of the date of issuance of the original
certificate, such certificate shall be suspended by the
regional superintendent of schools of the region in which the
holder is engaged to teach and shall not be reinstated until
the holder is a citizen of the United States.
    (E) Notwithstanding anything in this Act to the contrary,
the State Teacher Certification Board shall issue part-time
provisional certificates to eligible individuals who are
professionals and craftsmen.
    The requirements for a part-time provisional teachers
certificate shall be determined by the State Board of Education
in consultation with the State Teacher Certification Board,
provided the following minimum requirements are met: 60
semester hours of credit from a recognized institution of
higher learning or 4000 hours of work experience in the skill
to be certified for teaching.
    A part-time provisional certificate may be issued for
teaching no more than 2 courses of study for grades 6 through
12.
    A part-time provisional teachers certificate shall be
valid for 2 years and may be renewed at the end of each 2 year
period.
(Source: P.A. 90-548, eff. 1-1-98; 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
2009.