103rd General Assembly Update
Happy Friday!
We had hoped to also be wishing you a “Happy End of Session Day,” but unfortunately, we won’t be able to do that because today will not be the last day of session as originally scheduled. As of this morning, neither a budget bill or a budget implementation bill have been filed. Wednesday, May 17 was the final day a budget could be introduced and still see the legislature adjourn as scheduled. Nothing happened on Wednesday, but there was still hope that if a bill was dropped yesterday, Thursday the 18, legislators could wrap up in the early morning hours on Saturday. Unfortunately, Thursday came and went without the budget or the budget implementation bill being filed, so we are now anticipating action going into next week.
As of the publishing of this Advocacy Alert, there is no final budget to report on, however, we would like to provide an update on some of the measures that have passed both chambers and are waiting to be sent to the Governor’s desk for signature. There are also several measures that are waiting for a concurrence vote as of this morning. There are approximately 50 bills we are tracking that have officially passed, around a dozen that are awaiting concurrence and a handful more that are on 3rd reading that may also pass. For a full picture of important education bills that have passed and where others stand in the process, please log on to the Illinois ASBO website to review our bill tracker tool! We will be updating it today as floor action takes place.
Minimum Teacher Salary and CPI
HB0300 (Stuart; D-Collinsville) is a measure the Illinois ASBO/IASA government relations team worked on with the intention of providing consistency and clarity to the process of applying annual CPI to the required minimum teacher salary starting with the 2024-2025 school year. The final bill directs the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability to provide the new minimum teacher salary amount annually on July 20th prior to the fiscal year in which the new minimum salary will be in place. Due to timeline constraints, the new minimum salary for the 2024-2025 school year will be published by September 30, 2023. The timeline from which the CPI will be taken will be the time period of July through June of the previous school year.
Teacher Evaluation and Tenure
Several bills impacting teacher evaluation and tenure have passed both chambers.
SB1351 (Lightford; D-Hillside) provides that certified teachers who are scheduled to be evaluated in their final year of service prior to retirement, are not required to be evaluated.
SB2218 (Preston; D-Chicago) requires that the honorable dismissal list include the race or ethnicity of the teacher, if provided by the teacher.
The following two bills have passed both chambers, but are waiting on a concurrence vote for official passage, which we expect them to receive today or next week.
SB1352 (Lightford; D-Hillside) makes changes to the process of when a teacher decides to leave their school district within 30 days before the start of the new school year. Specifically, it requires the school board to inform ISBE within 10 days of the board meeting if the teacher’s resignation has been denied, and gives a timeline for ISBE to respond with the outcome of the hearing. The bill now extends the same 30 day requirements for non-tenured teachers, as well, which was not previously what the statute provided for.
SB1872 (Lightford; D-Hillside) removes one year in the tenure process for excellent and proficient teachers. If passed, teachers who receive an Excellent rating in their first two years would achieve tenure at the beginning of their third year of employment, and teachers who receive a Proficient rating in their second and third years would achieve tenure at the beginning of their fourth year of employment. The bill would be effective for teachers who are hired starting with the 2023-2024 school year, and provides that the nonrenewal date is now April 15th, rather than 45 days prior to the end of the school year.
Curriculum
HB1633 (West; D-Rockford) will require a unit of instruction to study the experience of Native Americans, and mandates the existing requirement for a unit of instruction in the Holocaust and genocides also include instruction on the Native American genocide in North America.
Additionally, HB3924 (Yang Rohr; D-Naperville) adds specific requirements in high school health courses related to instruction on the dangers of fentanyl, and HB3932 (Yang Rohr; D-Naperville) adds instruction on allergen safety into high school health courses.
Bullying Notification
HB3425 (Croke; D-Chicago) expands the definition of bullying to cover harassment on the basis of physical appearance, socioeconomic status, academic status, pregnancy, parenting status and homelessness. Current statute requires school officials to promptly notify parents of students involved in bullying allegations, and the bill changes the notification requirement to within 24 hours of knowledge of the allegation. There are additional reporting requirements, including reporting to the State Board of Education on verified instances of bullying, and associated factors.
Mandated Training
Illinois ASBO and IASA worked with other management groups, as well as labor groups, to move HB3690 (Mussman; D-Schaumburg) which clarifies existing statute related to required mandated trainings and provides that certain trainings must only be completed once every 5 years. We believe this measure will receive a concurrence vote in the next week.
Two additional training mandates were added to school code, including HB1561 (Lilly; D-Oak Park), which requires training every two years on methods to respond to physical trauma, and HB3116 (Stuart; D-Collinsville), which requires training every two years on homelessness.
ISBEs Initiatives
SB2390 (Pacione-Zayas; D-Chicago) is an initiative of ISBE and will allow school districts to adopt a policy to waive non-resident tuition for the children of employees, which would eliminate the need for a waiver approval by the General Assembly. The bill also extends the ability of educators with short-term approvals to teach early childhood students through 2028-2029, extends the allowance of short-term substitute licenses through June 2028 and makes changes to the Alternative Educator Licensure Program.
HB3071 (Crespo; D-Streamwood) clarifies that the State Board is not required to collect personally identifiable information in the categories of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity unless required for federal reporting. The bill also represents the agency's annual “clean-up” legislation where various sections of the school code are addressed.
Individualized Education Plans
A few measures related to Individualized Education Plans have also passed both chambers. HB3224 (Ness; D-Carpentersville) requires a school district to provide information about the district’s career and technical education opportunities to the parent/guardian of a student as part of the student’s transition planning. HB3680 (Benton; D-Plainfield) requires that student accommodations during emergencies be taken into account as part of the IEP development process.
Undesignated Medication
Two measures related to schools’ ability to house undesignated medications have moved this session. HB3613 (Mason; D-Gurnee) adds oxygen tanks to the list of permissive undesignated medications a school may have on property, and awaiting concurrence is HB3428 (Blair Sherlock; D-Villa Park) removes the permissive nature of a school’s ability to have undesignated opioid antagonists on campus and now makes it a requirement.
Bills That Await an Appropriation
There are a few bills that may have passed, but await their fate as we all wait for a budget as they will only be implemented if an appropriation is allocated for these specific purposes.
HB2471 (West; D-Rockford) would revive free meals for all IL students post-pandemic. The bill creates the Health School Meals for All program, which, if fully funded, would essentially create a statewide Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program. Full funding for the program is estimated to be around $200M annually. Advocates have also proposed funding appropriations below this threshold that would incentivize the 43% of schools that are eligible for CEP participation to enroll in the program.
SB2374 (Lightford; D-Hillside), if funded, will direct ISBE to establish a competitive grant program to support the development of computer science programs in K12 schools.
Wrap-Up
We anticipate sending a follow-up Advocacy Alert next week with details about the budget, budget implementation bill, and any other important legislation that may come up before session is officially adjourned for the year.