District 203 Board Discusses Proposed Legislation

The Board of Education agenda was light Monday night, yet the room was packed with teachers.

What drew the teachers to the meeting? The answer: A presentation from an official with Advance Illinois and an official with Illinois Education Association who spoke about proposed legislation that has yet to hit the statehouse floor. If and when the legislation moves forward it would mean significant changes for education and educators.

Robin Steans of Advance Illinois and Jim Reed, director of government relations for the Illinois Education Association presented information about proposals that would change the way teachers are evaluated for certification, evaluated for tenure, the process by which they would be considered for layoffs and dismissals, along with collective bargaining changes and improvements to the school report card.

“We are way overdue to look at the evaluation systems for teachers and support staff,” Steans said. “In many places the evaluation had become a rubber stamp.”

Advance Illinois is a state-level bipartisan advocacy organization, Steans said during her presentation. Reed represents the roughly 133,000 teachers and support staff working in the state.

Steans and Reed came together for the meeting and said both groups agree on most of the items that are being discussed in the proposed legislation — which has yet to be introduced at the legislative level.

Steans said the majority of issues in question had been negotiated successfully and although she was not at liberty to go into detail, she did offer a few examples.

She said before offering tenure, a performance evaluation would be conducted. Layoffs would not necessarily be a “last hired first fired” situation, and teachers would be reviewed based on a number of factors such as qualifications, roles and responsibilities and performance.

After the presentation, several of the school board members questioned how the changes might be instituted if it becomes legislation. Would it be up to school leadership to implement or would change be forced upon the local community?

“When I hear about statewide legislation I get a little nervous,” said board member Suzyn Price.

Steans said that the groups are trying to set the correct broad framework so there are boundaries that allow local entities to make useful decisions.

Board President Mike Jaensch asked, “What are the three points we can tell the elected officials to go get this done.”

Steans answered, “The key message is pass that legislation — key important steps were taken and pass the legislation.”