Call to Action: Make Your Voices Heard!
Happy Monday!
We are writing today with a call to action for four pieces of legislation that are scheduled to be heard in committees this week when the General Assembly returns to action from their spring break. We have two legislative measures that we are requesting you to demonstrate OPPOSITION to related to teacher tenure and employment. We also have two measures that are initiatives of Illinois ASBO and IASA that we are asking for you to sign PROPONENT witness slips for.
OPPONENT WITNESS SLIPS NEEDED
We have written about the bills related to teacher tenure a few times over the last few months as the legislative session has progressed, and although the bills were not called for a vote in the Senate prior to the spring break adjournment, they have received deadline extensions and are scheduled for hearing this week.
Please file a witness slip IN OPPOSITION to SB 1872. The legislation would reduce the number of years to tenure to two years for those who have received Excellent ratings, and to three years for those who have received Proficient ratings. Additionally, teachers who are in their third year of probationary service who do not achieve a rating of at least Proficient must be non-renewed, limiting a district’s ability to continue to work towards development for an additional year.
Please file a witness slip IN OPPOSITION to SB 1352. The bill would add procedural requirements for the school district if a teacher resigns from the district within 30 days before the new school year is scheduled to begin.
PROPONENT WITNESS SLIPS NEEDED
We have had success in moving our legislative initiatives through their chambers of origin, and they are both scheduled for hearing in their second chambers this week. This is our opportunity to move them one step closer to passage as they are both scheduled for hearing this week.
Please file a PROPONENT witness slip to support SB 2324. This bill addresses ballot access for the County Schools Facility Sales Tax. Currently, the question can be placed on the ballot if schools that represent over 50% of the student population of the county approve it, and this bill would add a provision that allows the question to get to the ballot if two-thirds of the districts in the county approve of the question being placed on the ballot.
Please file a PROPONENT witness slip to support HB 2233. This initiative would increase the competitive bid threshold from $25,000 to $35,000.
As always, thank you for your continued support and advocacy!