The Illinois State Board of Education is scheduled to vote on its legislative agenda for the upcoming fall veto session and regular spring 2020 legislative session when it meets in East St. Louis this week.
On the agenda for the regular meeting, which was held this year at the East St. Louis School District 189 administration building, are recommendations for a pair of trailer bills for the fall veto session and safeguards relating to educator misconduct to be discussed in spring session.
According to the meeting agenda, the policy positions are recommended by Illinois Superintendent of Schools Carmen Ayala.
One of the trailer bills is a follow-up to Senate Bill 1952, which eliminated the requirement for educators to pass a basic skills test and revamped other licensing requirements. The trailer bill would allow someone who holds a high school diploma to obtain an educator’s license with a paraprofessional endorsement if they pass a paraprofessional competency test.
Another trailer bill would follow up on House Bill 3302, extending the time for individuals to file due process hearing requests for special education services that were delayed or denied in the 2016-2017 or 2017-2018 school year in certain districts.
Ayala is expected to recommend a pair of educator misconduct safeguards. The first would require a local state’s attorney to notify ISBE when certain charges are filed against any individual who holds a license issued by ISBE.
The other provision would require regional offices of education and intermediate service centers to submit updated background check hits to ISBE, to notify the employer and to update a teacher’s state licensure account within 10 business days of receiving the updated background check information.
The board plans to support measures revising requirements for alternative licensure programs among a number of other licensure-related initiatives as well.
One recommendation would allow substitute teachers to fill a vacant teaching position in an emergency situation for 90 days, which at present is 30 days allowed.
Another recommendation would allow career and technical educators to renew their licenses with a test of workplace proficiency.
10/15/2019 12:30 pm
In related news the Illinois State Board of Education will be announcing their 2019 Illinois Report Card next week.
The award winning school report card gives a snapshot of fiscal and academic data to help families and communities serve as informed partners in children’s education, according to a media announcement this morning.
According to the release, for the first time ever, the 2019 Illinois Report Card will display spending at the school level.
The ISBE will be hosting two media calls between now and next week to review new data points used and discuss state level data.
The full 2019 Illinois Report Card will not be published until it is released online at www.IllinoisReportCard.com on October 30th.