95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
HB3629

 

Introduced 2/28/2007, by Rep. Michael K. Smith

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/24-11   from Ch. 122, par. 24-11
105 ILCS 5/34-84   from Ch. 122, par. 34-84
105 ILCS 5/34-84.1   from Ch. 122, par. 34-84.1
105 ILCS 5/34-85   from Ch. 122, par. 34-85
30 ILCS 805/8.31 new

    Amends the School Code. In school districts other than the Chicago school district, reduces the probationary period of time before a teacher enters upon contractual continued service from 4 to 3 consecutive school terms. Provides that the provisions concerning a teacher's entrance into contractual continued service after a probationary period of 3 consecutive school terms apply to the Chicago school district (now, the appointment of a teacher in the Chicago school district becomes permanent after a probationary period of 4 years). Makes other changes. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1     AN ACT concerning schools.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections
5 24-11, 34-84, 34-84.1, and 34-85 as follows:
 
6     (105 ILCS 5/24-11)  (from Ch. 122, par. 24-11)
7     Sec. 24-11. Boards of Education - Boards of School
8 Inspectors - Contractual continued service. As used in this and
9 the succeeding Sections of this Article:
10     "Teacher" means any or all school district employees
11 regularly required to be certified under laws relating to the
12 certification of teachers.
13     "Board" means board of directors, board of education, or
14 board of school inspectors, as the case may be.
15     "School term" means that portion of the school year, July 1
16 to the following June 30, when school is in actual session.
17     This Section applies to all school districts. This Section
18 and Sections 24-12 through 24-16 of this Article apply only to
19 school districts having less than 500,000 inhabitants.
20     Any teacher who has been employed in any district as a
21 full-time teacher for a probationary period of 2 consecutive
22 school terms shall enter upon contractual continued service
23 unless given written notice of dismissal stating the specific

 

 

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1 reason therefor, by certified mail, return receipt requested by
2 the employing board at least 45 days before the end of such
3 period; except that (i) for a teacher who is first employed as
4 a full-time teacher by a school district on or after January 1,
5 1998 but before the effective date of this amendatory Act of
6 the 95th General Assembly and who has not before January 1,
7 1998 that date already entered upon contractual continued
8 service in that district, the probationary period shall be 4
9 consecutive school terms before the teacher shall enter upon
10 contractual continued service and (ii) for a teacher who is
11 first employed as a full-time teacher by a school district on
12 or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th
13 General Assembly and who has not before the date of this
14 employment already entered upon contractual continued service
15 in any district pursuant to this Section, the probationary
16 period shall be 3 consecutive school terms before the teacher
17 shall enter upon contractual continued service. For the purpose
18 of determining contractual continued service, the first
19 probationary year shall be any full-time employment from a date
20 before November 1 through the end of the school year. If,
21 however, a teacher who was first employed prior to January 1,
22 1998 or first employed on or after the effective date of this
23 amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly has not had one
24 school term of full-time teaching experience before the
25 beginning of the applicable a probationary period of 2
26 consecutive school terms, the employing board may at its option

 

 

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1 extend the probationary period for one additional school term
2 by giving the teacher written notice by certified mail, return
3 receipt requested, at least 45 days before the end of the last
4 second school term of the applicable probationary period of 2
5 consecutive school terms referred to above. This notice must
6 state the reasons for the one year extension and must outline
7 the corrective actions that the teacher must take to
8 satisfactorily complete probation. The changes made by Public
9 Act 90-653 and this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly
10 this amendatory Act of 1998 are declaratory of existing law.
11     Any full-time teacher who is not completing the last year
12 of the probationary period described in the preceding
13 paragraph, or any teacher employed on a full-time basis not
14 later than January 1 of the school term, shall receive written
15 notice from the employing board at least 45 days before the end
16 of any school term whether or not he will be re-employed for
17 the following school term. If the board fails to give such
18 notice, the employee shall be deemed reemployed, and not later
19 than the close of the then current school term the board shall
20 issue a regular contract to the employee as though the board
21 had reemployed him in the usual manner.
22     Contractual continued service shall continue in effect the
23 terms and provisions of the contract with the teacher during
24 the last school term of the probationary period, subject to
25 this Act and the lawful regulations of the employing board.
26 This Section and succeeding Sections do not modify any existing

 

 

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1 power of the board except with respect to the procedure of the
2 discharge of a teacher and reductions in salary as hereinafter
3 provided. Contractual continued service status shall not
4 restrict the power of the board to transfer a teacher to a
5 position which the teacher is qualified to fill or to make such
6 salary adjustments as it deems desirable, but unless reductions
7 in salary are uniform or based upon some reasonable
8 classification, any teacher whose salary is reduced shall be
9 entitled to a notice and a hearing as hereinafter provided in
10 the case of certain dismissals or removals.
11     The employment of any teacher in a program of a special
12 education joint agreement established under Section 3-15.14,
13 10-22.31 or 10-22.31a shall be under this and succeeding
14 Sections of this Article. For purposes of attaining and
15 maintaining contractual continued service and computing length
16 of continuing service as referred to in this Section and
17 Section 24-12, employment in a special educational joint
18 program shall be deemed a continuation of all previous
19 certificated employment of such teacher for such joint
20 agreement whether the employer of the teacher was the joint
21 agreement, the regional superintendent, or one of the
22 participating districts in the joint agreement.
23     Any teacher employed after July 1, 1987 as a full-time
24 teacher in a program of a special education joint agreement,
25 whether the program is operated by the joint agreement or a
26 member district on behalf of the joint agreement, for a

 

 

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1 probationary period of two consecutive school terms years shall
2 enter upon contractual continued service in all of the programs
3 conducted by such joint agreement which the teacher is legally
4 qualified to hold; except that (i) for a teacher who is first
5 employed on or after January 1, 1998 but before the effective
6 date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly in a
7 program of a special education joint agreement and who has not
8 before January 1, 1998 that date already entered upon
9 contractual continued service in all of the programs conducted
10 by the joint agreement that the teacher is legally qualified to
11 hold, the probationary period shall be 4 consecutive school
12 terms years before the teacher enters upon contractual
13 continued service in all of those programs and (ii) for a
14 teacher who is first employed by a school district on or after
15 the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General
16 Assembly in a program of a special education joint agreement
17 and who has not before the date of this employment already
18 entered upon contractual continued service in any district
19 pursuant to this Section, the probationary period shall be 3
20 consecutive school terms before the teacher enters upon
21 contractual continued service in all of the programs conducted
22 by the joint agreement for which the teacher is legally
23 qualified. In the event of a reduction in the number of
24 programs or positions in the joint agreement, the teacher on
25 contractual continued service shall be eligible for employment
26 in the joint agreement programs for which the teacher is

 

 

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1 legally qualified in order of greater length of continuing
2 service in the joint agreement unless an alternative method of
3 determining the sequence of dismissal is established in a
4 collective bargaining agreement. In the event of the
5 dissolution of a joint agreement, the teacher on contractual
6 continued service who is legally qualified shall be assigned to
7 any comparable position in a member district currently held by
8 a teacher who has not entered upon contractual continued
9 service or held by a teacher who has entered upon contractual
10 continued service with shorter length of contractual continued
11 service.
12     The governing board of the joint agreement, or the
13 administrative district, if so authorized by the articles of
14 agreement of the joint agreement, rather than the board of
15 education of a school district, may carry out employment and
16 termination actions including dismissals under this Section
17 and Section 24-12.
18     For purposes of this and succeeding Sections of this
19 Article, a program of a special educational joint agreement
20 shall be defined as instructional, consultative, supervisory,
21 administrative, diagnostic, and related services which are
22 managed by the special educational joint agreement designed to
23 service two or more districts which are members of the joint
24 agreement.
25     Each joint agreement shall be required to post by February
26 1, a list of all its employees in order of length of continuing

 

 

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1 service in the joint agreement, unless an alternative method of
2 determining a sequence of dismissal is established in an
3 applicable collective bargaining agreement.
4     The employment of any teacher in a special education
5 program authorized by Section 14-1.01 through 14-14.01, or a
6 joint educational program established under Section 10-22.31a,
7 shall be under this and the succeeding Sections of this
8 Article, and such employment shall be deemed a continuation of
9 the previous employment of such teacher in any of the
10 participating districts, regardless of the participation of
11 other districts in the program. Any teacher employed as a
12 full-time teacher in a special education program prior to
13 September 23, 1987 in which 2 or more school districts
14 participate for a probationary period of 2 consecutive years
15 shall enter upon contractual continued service in each of the
16 participating districts, subject to this and the succeeding
17 Sections of this Article, and in the event of the termination
18 of the program shall be eligible for any vacant position in any
19 of such districts for which such teacher is qualified.
20 (Source: P.A. 90-548, eff. 1-1-98; 90-653, eff. 7-29-98.)
 
21     (105 ILCS 5/34-84)  (from Ch. 122, par. 34-84)
22     Sec. 34-84. Appointments and promotions of teachers.
23 Appointments and promotions of teachers shall be made for merit
24 only, and after satisfactory service for a probationary period
25 as provided under Section 24-11 of this Code, of 3 years with

 

 

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1 respect to probationary employees employed as full-time
2 teachers in the public school system of the district before
3 January 1, 1998 and 4 years with respect to probationary
4 employees who are first employed as full-time teachers in the
5 public school system of the district on or after January 1,
6 1998 (during which period the board may dismiss or discharge
7 any such probationary employee upon the recommendation,
8 accompanied by the written reasons therefor, of the general
9 superintendent of schools) appointments of teachers shall
10 enter upon contractual continued service become permanent,
11 subject to removal for cause in the manner provided by Section
12 34-85.
13     As used in this Article, "teachers" means and includes all
14 members of the teaching force excluding the general
15 superintendent and principals.
16     There shall be no reduction in teachers because of a
17 decrease in student membership or a change in subject
18 requirements within the attendance center organization after
19 the 20th day following the first day of the school year, except
20 that: (1) this provision shall not apply to desegregation
21 positions, special education positions, or any other positions
22 funded by State or federal categorical funds, and (2) at
23 attendance centers maintaining any of grades 9 through 12,
24 there may be a second reduction in teachers on the first day of
25 the second semester of the regular school term because of a
26 decrease in student membership or a change in subject

 

 

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1 requirements within the attendance center organization.
2     The school principal shall make the decision in selecting
3 teachers to fill new and vacant positions consistent with
4 Section 34-8.1.
5 (Source: P.A. 89-15, eff. 5-30-95; 90-548, eff. 1-1-98.)
 
6     (105 ILCS 5/34-84.1)  (from Ch. 122, par. 34-84.1)
7     Sec. 34-84.1. Teachers employed in Department of Defense
8 overseas dependents' schools. By mutual agreement of a teacher
9 and the board of education, the board may, but is not required
10 to, grant the teacher a leave of absence to accept employment
11 in a Department of Defense overseas dependents' school. If such
12 a leave of absence is granted, the teacher may elect, for a
13 period not exceeding the lesser of the period for which he is
14 so employed or 5 years, (a) to preserve his contractual
15 continued service permanent status under this Act, and (b) to
16 continue receipt, on the same basis as if he were teaching in
17 the school system subject to the board of education, of service
18 credit earned for requirements of promotion, incremental
19 increases in salary, leaves of absence and other privileges
20 based on an established period of service or employment.
21     A person employed to replace a teacher making the election
22 provided for in this Section does not acquire contractual
23 continued service permanent status as a teacher under this
24 Article.
25 (Source: Laws 1967, p. 1999.)
 

 

 

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1     (105 ILCS 5/34-85)  (from Ch. 122, par. 34-85)
2     Sec. 34-85. Removal for cause; Notice and hearing;
3 Suspension. No teacher employed by the board of education shall
4 (after serving the probationary period specified in Section
5 24-11 of this Code 34-84) be removed except for cause. No
6 principal employed by the board of education shall be removed
7 during the term of his or her performance contract except for
8 cause, which may include but is not limited to the principal's
9 repeated failure to implement the school improvement plan or to
10 comply with the provisions of the Uniform Performance Contract,
11 including additional criteria established by the Council for
12 inclusion in the performance contract pursuant to Section
13 34-2.3.
14     The general superintendent must first approve written
15 charges and specifications against the teacher or principal. A
16 local school council may direct the general superintendent to
17 approve written charges against its principal on behalf of the
18 Council upon the vote of 7 members of the Council. The general
19 superintendent must approve those charges within 45 days or
20 provide a written reason for not approving those charges. A
21 written notice of those charges shall be served upon the
22 teacher or principal within 10 days of the approval of the
23 charges. If the teacher or principal cannot be found upon
24 diligent inquiry, such charges may be served upon him by
25 mailing a copy thereof in a sealed envelope by prepaid

 

 

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1 certified mail, return receipt requested, to the teacher's or
2 principal's last known address. A return receipt showing
3 delivery to such address within 20 days after the date of the
4 approval of the charges shall constitute proof of service.
5     No hearing upon the charges is required unless the teacher
6 or principal within 10 days after receiving notice requests in
7 writing of the general superintendent that a hearing be
8 scheduled, in which case the general superintendent shall
9 schedule a hearing on those charges before a disinterested
10 hearing officer on a date no less than 15 nor more than 30 days
11 after the approval of the charges. The general superintendent
12 shall forward a copy of the notice to the State Board of
13 Education within 5 days from the date of the approval of the
14 charges. Within 10 days after receiving the notice of hearing,
15 the State Board of Education shall provide the teacher or
16 principal and the general superintendent with a list of 5
17 prospective, impartial hearing officers. Each person on the
18 list must be accredited by a national arbitration organization
19 and have had a minimum of 5 years of experience as an
20 arbitrator in cases involving labor and employment relations
21 matters between educational employers and educational
22 employees or their exclusive bargaining representatives.
23     The general superintendent and the teacher or principal or
24 their legal representatives within 3 days from receipt of the
25 list shall alternately strike one name from the list until only
26 one name remains. Unless waived by the teacher, the teacher or

 

 

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1 principal shall have the right to proceed first with the
2 striking. Within 3 days of receipt of the first list provided
3 by the State Board of Education, the general superintendent and
4 the teacher or principal or their legal representatives shall
5 each have the right to reject all prospective hearing officers
6 named on the first list and to require the State Board of
7 Education to provide a second list of 5 prospective, impartial
8 hearing officers, none of whom were named on the first list.
9 Within 5 days after receiving this request for a second list,
10 the State Board of Education shall provide the second list of 5
11 prospective, impartial hearing officers. The procedure for
12 selecting a hearing officer from the second list shall be the
13 same as the procedure for the first list. Each party shall
14 promptly serve written notice on the other of any name stricken
15 from the list. If the teacher or principal fails to do so, the
16 general superintendent may select the hearing officer from any
17 name remaining on the list. The teacher or principal may waive
18 the hearing at any time prior to the appointment of the hearing
19 officer. Notice of the selection of the hearing officer shall
20 be given to the State Board of Education. The hearing officer
21 shall be notified of his selection by the State Board of
22 Education. A signed acceptance shall be filed with the State
23 Board of Education within 5 days of receipt of notice of the
24 selection. The State Board of Education shall notify the
25 teacher or principal and the board of its appointment of the
26 hearing officer. In the alternative to selecting a hearing

 

 

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1 officer from the first or second list received from the State
2 Board of Education, the general superintendent and the teacher
3 or principal or their legal representatives may mutually agree
4 to select an impartial hearing officer who is not on a list
5 received from the State Board of Education, either by direct
6 appointment by the parties or by using procedures for the
7 appointment of an arbitrator established by the Federal
8 Mediation and Conciliation Service or the American Arbitration
9 Association. The parties shall notify the State Board of
10 Education of their intent to select a hearing officer using an
11 alternative procedure within 3 days of receipt of a list of
12 prospective hearing officers provided by the State Board of
13 Education. Any person selected by the parties under this
14 alternative procedure for the selection of a hearing officer
15 shall have the same qualifications and authority as a hearing
16 officer selected from a list provided by the State Board of
17 Education. The teacher or principal may waive the hearing at
18 any time prior to the appointment of the hearing officer. The
19 State Board of Education shall promulgate uniform standards and
20 rules of procedure for such hearings, including reasonable
21 rules of discovery.
22     The per diem allowance for the hearing officer shall be
23 paid by the State Board of Education. The hearing officer shall
24 hold a hearing and render findings of fact and a recommendation
25 to the general superintendent. The teacher or principal has the
26 privilege of being present at the hearing with counsel and of

 

 

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1 cross-examining witnesses and may offer evidence and witnesses
2 and present defenses to the charges. The hearing officer may
3 issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses and, at
4 the request of the teacher or principal against whom a charge
5 is made or the general superintendent, shall issue such
6 subpoenas, but the hearing officer may limit the number of
7 witnesses to be subpoenaed in behalf of the teacher or
8 principal or the general superintendent to not more than 10
9 each. All testimony at the hearing shall be taken under oath
10 administered by the hearing officer. The hearing officer shall
11 cause a record of the proceedings to be kept and shall employ a
12 competent reporter to take stenographic or stenotype notes of
13 all the testimony. The costs of the reporter's attendance and
14 services at the hearing shall be paid by the State Board of
15 Education. Either party desiring a transcript of the hearing
16 shall pay for the cost thereof.
17     Pending the hearing of the charges, the person charged may
18 be suspended in accordance with rules prescribed by the board
19 but such person, if acquitted, shall not suffer any loss of
20 salary by reason of the suspension.
21     Before service of notice of charges on account of causes
22 that may be deemed to be remediable, the teacher or principal
23 shall be given reasonable warning in writing, stating
24 specifically the causes which, if not removed, may result in
25 charges; however, no such written warning shall be required if
26 the causes have been the subject of a remediation plan pursuant

 

 

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1 to Article 24A. No written warning shall be required for
2 conduct on the part of a teacher or principal which is cruel,
3 immoral, negligent, or criminal or which in any way causes
4 psychological or physical harm or injury to a student as that
5 conduct is deemed to be irremediable. No written warning shall
6 be required for a material breach of the uniform principal
7 performance contract as that conduct is deemed to be
8 irremediable; provided however, that not less than 30 days
9 before the vote of the local school council to seek the
10 dismissal of a principal for a material breach of a uniform
11 principal performance contract, the local school council shall
12 specify the nature of the alleged breach in writing and provide
13 a copy of it to the principal.
14     The hearing officer shall consider and give weight to all
15 of the teacher's evaluations written pursuant to Article 24A.
16     The hearing officer shall within 45 days from the
17 conclusion of the hearing report to the general superintendent
18 findings of fact and a recommendation as to whether or not the
19 teacher or principal shall be dismissed and shall give a copy
20 of the report to both the teacher or principal and the general
21 superintendent. The board, within 45 days of receipt of the
22 hearing officer's findings of fact and recommendation, shall
23 make a decision as to whether the teacher or principal shall be
24 dismissed from its employ. The failure of the board to strictly
25 adhere to the timeliness contained herein shall not render it
26 without jurisdiction to dismiss the teacher or principal. If

 

 

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1 the hearing officer fails to render a decision within 45 days,
2 the State Board of Education shall communicate with the hearing
3 officer to determine the date that the parties can reasonably
4 expect to receive the decision. The State Board of Education
5 shall provide copies of all such communications to the parties.
6 In the event the hearing officer fails without good cause to
7 make a decision within the 45 day period, the name of such
8 hearing officer shall be struck for a period not less than 24
9 months from the master list of hearing officers maintained by
10 the State Board of Education. The board shall not lose
11 jurisdiction to discharge the teacher or principal if the
12 hearing officer fails to render a decision within the time
13 specified in this Section. If a hearing officer fails to render
14 a decision within 3 months after the hearing is declared
15 closed, the State Board of Education shall provide the parties
16 with a new list of prospective, impartial hearing officers,
17 with the same qualifications provided herein, one of whom shall
18 be selected, as provided in this Section, to rehear the charges
19 heard by the hearing officer who failed to render a decision.
20 The parties may also select a hearing officer pursuant to the
21 alternative procedure, as provided in this Section, to rehear
22 the charges heard by the hearing officer who failed to render a
23 decision. A violation of the professional standards set forth
24 in "The Code of Professional Responsibility for Arbitrators of
25 Labor-Management Disputes", of the National Academy of
26 Arbitrators, the American Arbitration Association, and the

 

 

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1 Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, or the failure of a
2 hearing officer to render a decision within 3 months after the
3 hearing is declared closed shall be grounds for removal of the
4 hearing officer from the master list of hearing officers
5 maintained by the State Board of Education. The decision of the
6 board is final unless reviewed as provided in Section 34-85b of
7 this Act.
8     In the event judicial review is instituted, any costs of
9 preparing and filing the record of proceedings shall be paid by
10 the party instituting the review. If a decision of the board
11 hearing officer is adjudicated upon review or appeal in favor
12 of the teacher or principal, then the trial court shall order
13 reinstatement and shall determine the amount for which the
14 board is liable including but not limited to loss of income and
15 costs incurred therein. Nothing in this Section affects the
16 validity of removal for cause hearings commenced prior to the
17 effective date of this amendatory Act of 1978.
18 (Source: P.A. 89-15, eff. 5-30-95; revised 1-20-03.)
 
19     Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
20 Section 8.31 as follows:
 
21     (30 ILCS 805/8.31 new)
22     Sec. 8.31. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8
23 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the
24 implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory Act of

 

 

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1 the 95th General Assembly.
 
2     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
3 becoming law.