Ambitious education reforms on the table in Springfield could change how Illinois schoolteachers earn tenure and hold onto their jobs amid tough financial times, with seniority for the first time mattering less than performance. The proposed changes would upend the way teachers long have been treated when financially strapped districts cut staff.
Ambitious education reforms on the table in Springfield could change how teachers across Illinois earn tenure and hold on to their jobs amid tough financial times, with seniority for the first time mattering less than performance.
The proposed changes would upend the way teachers long have been treated when financially strapped districts cut staff. Rather than simply laying off the newest teachers first, educators would consider a teacher’s specialty, performance and ability, with years of service playing the role of tie-breaker.
What’s more, the proposals would make it tougher for teachers to strike, according to details that emerged after months of closed-door negotiations. Reform advocates contend the process to dismiss poor-performing teachers would be streamlined.
“No longer is tenure the top indicator. It’s performance,” said Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, who led the negotiations with teachers unions, school administrators, business leaders, lawmakers and education advocates.
Gov. Pat Quinn supports the “landmark education reforms,” a spokeswoman said late Wednesday.
The proposals come as hot-button issues such as collective bargaining — including everything from how teachers can be fired to how they pay dues — have roiled nearby states like Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio, sparking protests and legal challenges.
In Illinois, by contrast, negotiations unfolded quietly behind closed doors, bringing to the table groups sometimes at odds.
“This is proof education employee unions can and should be leaders in reform,” read a joint statement by the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Illinois Education Association and the Chicago Teachers Union, all of which participated in the dealmaking.
The consensus reached in the early morning hours Wednesday is the result of Lightford’s negotiations. In the state House, meanwhile, lawmakers have not yet signed on, saying they need to see the exact language of any legislation.
Still, Rep. Roger Eddy, a downstate Republican who also is a school superintendent, said he expects the core elements of the Senate agreement likely will be approved this session.
“This is a sea change,” Eddy said. “There are significant changes in the way we have done business … in how we use (teacher) evaluations and (how) we decide who is in front of the classrooms.”
The proposed measure would overhaul how school districts for years have staffed their classrooms, by:
Tying tenure to a teacher’s performance evaluations. For example, teachers who receive excellent ratings during their first three school years could receive tenure in three years, rather than four.
Requiring that school layoffs not rely strictly on seniority. In certain circumstances, a teacher’s average performance evaluation over two years would be calculated to determine where they stand, with seniority breaking the tie between teachers with the same scores. Drafters of the bill said the proposal addresses districts outside of Chicago, noting Chicago Public Schools and the teachers union have gone to court over recent layoffs of tenured teachers.
Giving principals authority to fill teaching jobs based on merit, ability, experience and performance, with seniority again used as a tie-breaker (this policy already exists in Chicago Public Schools).
Allowing the state schools superintendent to suspend or revoke a teaching certificate based on two unsatisfactory ratings within a seven-year period. However, the proposed language also could require professional development, with teachers paying the cost.
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The measure also takes aim at contract negotiations with two sets of regulations, one for Chicago and another for the suburbs and downstate. Both would require the school boards and unions to air their sides before an arbitrator as a precursor to any strike, Lightford said.
One key change for Chicago would be a requirement that 75 percent of Chicago Teachers Union members would have to vote to go on strike, according to Lightford. It is a higher standard because Chicago has more students and teachers impacted by a strike, she said. Suburban and downstate teachers unions would be able to strike with a simple majority vote, the current standard for unions, Lightford said.
CTU President Karen Lewis defended teachers’ right to strike, but stood by the agreement in the bill.
“We have our right to strike. That was never, ever, ever going to be off the table,” Lewis said.
The consensus reached by the Senate negotiators also could open the door for a longer school day and school year in Chicago, long a concern voiced by Mayor Richard Daley. Under the proposal, Chicago would be able to lengthen the time kids are in school without having to negotiate those time periods, Lightford said. Unions still could bargain over more pay or benefits if more time is added.
Leaders with Advance Illinois, a bipartisan education policy group involved in the negotiations, called the reform package “huge.”
“It’s going to change the standard to which everyone is held,” said Executive Director Robin Steans.
The intense debate surfaced publicly this past December, when educators, policymakers, parents, and community and business groups jammed into a state House hearing in Aurora.
At the time, educators and teachers union officials appealed to the newly formed House Education Reform Committee to give them more time to analyze proposals that would bring dramatic change to the way teachers earn tenure and keep their jobs.
After that hearing, the state Senate took the lead in negotiations that continued for months, until a consensus was reached this week. Lightford, an assistant majority leader, brought all players to the table.
“The negotiations have been really solid since December,” said Jeff Mays, president of the Illinois Business Roundtable, who participated in the talks.
Through the months, key House members were kept updated on the talks. Rep. Marlow Colvin, a Chicago Democrat on the House Elementary and Secondary Committee, said it was “too early to tell” how the legislation would be accepted in the House.
“But the appetite to get something done on education reform is clear,” Colvin said. “The House hasn’t had a really good look at it, and given the divergent opinions of the larger (House) chamber that’s twice the size (of the Senate), it’s hard to say.”
Still, union leaders and reform groups involved in the effort said they remained optimistic the bill ultimately would pass.
Illinois Education Association President Ken Swanson called on other states to heed Illinois’ example.
“You don’t need to attack collective bargaining rights,” Swanson said. “It should be recognized that unions have a great deal to bring to the table in shaping reforms that work.”
Tribune reporter Todd Wilson contributed.