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Illinois Senate Bill SB1677

Illinois 2025-2026 Regular Session

Illinois Senate Bill SB1677 Compare Versions

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11 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1677 Introduced 2/5/2025, by Sen. Christopher Belt SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 105 ILCS 5/24A-5 from Ch. 122, par. 24A-5 Amends the Evaluation of Certified Employees Article of the School Code. Provides that a teacher evaluation plan shall prohibit an evaluator from using artificial intelligence tools to perform teacher evaluation tasks. LRB104 11190 LNS 21272 b A BILL FOR 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1677 Introduced 2/5/2025, by Sen. Christopher Belt SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 105 ILCS 5/24A-5 from Ch. 122, par. 24A-5 105 ILCS 5/24A-5 from Ch. 122, par. 24A-5 Amends the Evaluation of Certified Employees Article of the School Code. Provides that a teacher evaluation plan shall prohibit an evaluator from using artificial intelligence tools to perform teacher evaluation tasks. LRB104 11190 LNS 21272 b LRB104 11190 LNS 21272 b A BILL FOR
22 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1677 Introduced 2/5/2025, by Sen. Christopher Belt SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
33 105 ILCS 5/24A-5 from Ch. 122, par. 24A-5 105 ILCS 5/24A-5 from Ch. 122, par. 24A-5
44 105 ILCS 5/24A-5 from Ch. 122, par. 24A-5
55 Amends the Evaluation of Certified Employees Article of the School Code. Provides that a teacher evaluation plan shall prohibit an evaluator from using artificial intelligence tools to perform teacher evaluation tasks.
66 LRB104 11190 LNS 21272 b LRB104 11190 LNS 21272 b
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1111 1 AN ACT concerning education.
1212 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
1313 3 represented in the General Assembly:
1414 4 Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
1515 5 24A-5 as follows:
1616 6 (105 ILCS 5/24A-5) (from Ch. 122, par. 24A-5)
1717 7 Sec. 24A-5. Content of evaluation plans. This Section does
1818 8 not apply to teachers assigned to schools identified in an
1919 9 agreement entered into between the board of a school district
2020 10 operating under Article 34 of this Code and the exclusive
2121 11 representative of the district's teachers in accordance with
2222 12 Section 34-85c of this Code.
2323 13 Each school district to which this Article applies shall
2424 14 establish a teacher evaluation plan which ensures that each
2525 15 teacher in contractual continued service is evaluated at least
2626 16 once in the course of every 2 or 3 school years as provided in
2727 17 this Section.
2828 18 Each school district shall establish a teacher evaluation
2929 19 plan that ensures that:
3030 20 (1) each teacher not in contractual continued service
3131 21 is evaluated at least once every school year; and
3232 22 (2) except as otherwise provided in this Section, each
3333 23 teacher in contractual continued service is evaluated at
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3737 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1677 Introduced 2/5/2025, by Sen. Christopher Belt SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
3838 105 ILCS 5/24A-5 from Ch. 122, par. 24A-5 105 ILCS 5/24A-5 from Ch. 122, par. 24A-5
3939 105 ILCS 5/24A-5 from Ch. 122, par. 24A-5
4040 Amends the Evaluation of Certified Employees Article of the School Code. Provides that a teacher evaluation plan shall prohibit an evaluator from using artificial intelligence tools to perform teacher evaluation tasks.
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6868 1 least once in the course of every 2 school years. However,
6969 2 any teacher in contractual continued service whose
7070 3 performance is rated as either "needs improvement" or
7171 4 "unsatisfactory" must be evaluated at least once in the
7272 5 school year following the receipt of such rating.
7373 6 No later than September 1, 2022, each school district must
7474 7 establish a teacher evaluation plan that ensures that each
7575 8 teacher in contractual continued service whose performance is
7676 9 rated as either "excellent" or "proficient" is evaluated at
7777 10 least once in the course of the 3 school years after receipt of
7878 11 the rating and implement an informal teacher observation plan
7979 12 established by agency rule and by agreement of the joint
8080 13 committee established under subsection (b) of Section 24A-4 of
8181 14 this Code that ensures that each teacher in contractual
8282 15 continued service whose performance is rated as either
8383 16 "excellent" or "proficient" is informally observed at least
8484 17 once in the course of the 2 school years after receipt of the
8585 18 rating.
8686 19 For the 2022-2023 school year only, if the Governor has
8787 20 declared a disaster due to a public health emergency pursuant
8888 21 to Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act,
8989 22 a school district may waive the evaluation requirement of all
9090 23 teachers in contractual continued service whose performances
9191 24 were rated as either "excellent" or "proficient" during the
9292 25 last school year in which the teachers were evaluated under
9393 26 this Section.
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104104 1 Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section
105105 2 or any other Section of this Code, a principal shall not be
106106 3 prohibited from evaluating any teachers within a school during
107107 4 his or her first year as principal of such school. If a
108108 5 first-year principal exercises this option in a school
109109 6 district where the evaluation plan provides for a teacher in
110110 7 contractual continued service to be evaluated once in the
111111 8 course of every 2 or 3 school years, as applicable, then a new
112112 9 2-year or 3-year evaluation plan must be established.
113113 10 The evaluation plan shall comply with the requirements of
114114 11 this Section and of any rules adopted by the State Board of
115115 12 Education pursuant to this Section.
116116 13 The plan shall include a description of each teacher's
117117 14 duties and responsibilities and of the standards to which that
118118 15 teacher is expected to conform, and shall include at least the
119119 16 following components:
120120 17 (a) personal observation of the teacher in the
121121 18 classroom by the evaluator, unless the teacher has no
122122 19 classroom duties.
123123 20 (b) consideration of the teacher's attendance,
124124 21 planning, instructional methods, classroom management,
125125 22 where relevant, and competency in the subject matter
126126 23 taught.
127127 24 (c) by no later than the applicable implementation
128128 25 date, consideration of student growth as a significant
129129 26 factor in the rating of the teacher's performance.
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140140 1 (d) prior to September 1, 2012, rating of the
141141 2 performance of teachers in contractual continued service
142142 3 as either:
143143 4 (i) "excellent", "satisfactory" or
144144 5 "unsatisfactory"; or
145145 6 (ii) "excellent", "proficient", "needs
146146 7 improvement" or "unsatisfactory".
147147 8 (e) on and after September 1, 2012, rating of the
148148 9 performance of all teachers as "excellent", "proficient",
149149 10 "needs improvement" or "unsatisfactory".
150150 11 (f) specification as to the teacher's strengths and
151151 12 weaknesses, with supporting reasons for the comments made.
152152 13 (g) inclusion of a copy of the evaluation in the
153153 14 teacher's personnel file and provision of a copy to the
154154 15 teacher.
155155 16 (h) within 30 school days after the completion of an
156156 17 evaluation rating a teacher in contractual continued
157157 18 service as "needs improvement", development by the
158158 19 evaluator, in consultation with the teacher, and taking
159159 20 into account the teacher's ongoing on-going professional
160160 21 responsibilities including his or her regular teaching
161161 22 assignments, of a professional development plan directed
162162 23 to the areas that need improvement and any supports that
163163 24 the district will provide to address the areas identified
164164 25 as needing improvement.
165165 26 (i) within 30 school days after completion of an
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176176 1 evaluation rating a teacher in contractual continued
177177 2 service as "unsatisfactory", development and commencement
178178 3 by the district of a remediation plan designed to correct
179179 4 deficiencies cited, provided the deficiencies are deemed
180180 5 remediable. In all school districts the remediation plan
181181 6 for unsatisfactory, tenured teachers shall provide for 90
182182 7 school days of remediation within the classroom, unless an
183183 8 applicable collective bargaining agreement provides for a
184184 9 shorter duration. In all school districts evaluations
185185 10 issued pursuant to this Section shall be issued within 10
186186 11 days after the conclusion of the respective remediation
187187 12 plan. However, the school board or other governing
188188 13 authority of the district shall not lose jurisdiction to
189189 14 discharge a teacher in the event the evaluation is not
190190 15 issued within 10 days after the conclusion of the
191191 16 respective remediation plan.
192192 17 (j) participation in the remediation plan by the
193193 18 teacher in contractual continued service rated
194194 19 "unsatisfactory", an evaluator and a consulting teacher
195195 20 selected by the evaluator of the teacher who was rated
196196 21 "unsatisfactory", which consulting teacher is an
197197 22 educational employee as defined in the Illinois
198198 23 Educational Labor Relations Act, has at least 5 years'
199199 24 teaching experience, and a reasonable familiarity with the
200200 25 assignment of the teacher being evaluated, and who
201201 26 received an "excellent" rating on his or her most recent
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212212 1 evaluation. Where no teachers who meet these criteria are
213213 2 available within the district, the district shall request
214214 3 and the applicable regional office of education shall
215215 4 supply, to participate in the remediation process, an
216216 5 individual who meets these criteria.
217217 6 In a district having a population of less than 500,000
218218 7 with an exclusive bargaining agent, the bargaining agent
219219 8 may, if it so chooses, supply a roster of qualified
220220 9 teachers from whom the consulting teacher is to be
221221 10 selected. That roster shall, however, contain the names of
222222 11 at least 5 teachers, each of whom meets the criteria for
223223 12 consulting teacher with regard to the teacher being
224224 13 evaluated, or the names of all teachers so qualified if
225225 14 that number is less than 5. In the event of a dispute as to
226226 15 qualification, the State Board shall determine
227227 16 qualification.
228228 17 (k) a mid-point and final evaluation by an evaluator
229229 18 during and at the end of the remediation period,
230230 19 immediately following receipt of a remediation plan
231231 20 provided for under subsections (i) and (j) of this
232232 21 Section. Each evaluation shall assess the teacher's
233233 22 performance during the time period since the prior
234234 23 evaluation; provided that the last evaluation shall also
235235 24 include an overall evaluation of the teacher's performance
236236 25 during the remediation period. A written copy of the
237237 26 evaluations and ratings, in which any deficiencies in
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248248 1 performance and recommendations for correction are
249249 2 identified, shall be provided to and discussed with the
250250 3 teacher within 10 school days after the date of the
251251 4 evaluation, unless an applicable collective bargaining
252252 5 agreement provides to the contrary. These subsequent
253253 6 evaluations shall be conducted by an evaluator. The
254254 7 consulting teacher shall provide advice to the teacher
255255 8 rated "unsatisfactory" on how to improve teaching skills
256256 9 and to successfully complete the remediation plan. The
257257 10 consulting teacher shall participate in developing the
258258 11 remediation plan, but the final decision as to the
259259 12 evaluation shall be done solely by the evaluator, unless
260260 13 an applicable collective bargaining agreement provides to
261261 14 the contrary. Evaluations at the conclusion of the
262262 15 remediation process shall be separate and distinct from
263263 16 the required annual evaluations of teachers and shall not
264264 17 be subject to the guidelines and procedures relating to
265265 18 those annual evaluations. The evaluator may but is not
266266 19 required to use the forms provided for the annual
267267 20 evaluation of teachers in the district's evaluation plan.
268268 21 (l) reinstatement to the evaluation schedule set forth
269269 22 in the district's evaluation plan for any teacher in
270270 23 contractual continued service who achieves a rating equal
271271 24 to or better than "satisfactory" or "proficient" in the
272272 25 school year following a rating of "needs improvement" or
273273 26 "unsatisfactory".
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284284 1 (m) dismissal in accordance with subsection (d) of
285285 2 Section 24-12 or Section 24-16.5 or 34-85 of this Code of
286286 3 any teacher who fails to complete any applicable
287287 4 remediation plan with a rating equal to or better than a
288288 5 "satisfactory" or "proficient" rating. Districts and
289289 6 teachers subject to dismissal hearings are precluded from
290290 7 compelling the testimony of consulting teachers at such
291291 8 hearings under subsection (d) of Section 24-12 or Section
292292 9 24-16.5 or 34-85 of this Code, either as to the rating
293293 10 process or for opinions of performances by teachers under
294294 11 remediation.
295295 12 (n) After the implementation date of an evaluation
296296 13 system for teachers in a district as specified in Section
297297 14 24A-2.5 of this Code, if a teacher in contractual
298298 15 continued service successfully completes a remediation
299299 16 plan following a rating of "unsatisfactory" in an overall
300300 17 performance evaluation received after the foregoing
301301 18 implementation date and receives a subsequent rating of
302302 19 "unsatisfactory" in any of the teacher's overall
303303 20 performance evaluation ratings received during the
304304 21 36-month period following the teacher's completion of the
305305 22 remediation plan, then the school district may forgo
306306 23 remediation and seek dismissal in accordance with
307307 24 subsection (d) of Section 24-12 or Section 34-85 of this
308308 25 Code.
309309 26 (o) Teachers who are due to be evaluated in the last
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320320 1 year before they are set to retire shall be offered the
321321 2 opportunity to waive their evaluation and to retain their
322322 3 most recent rating, unless the teacher was last rated as
323323 4 "needs improvement" or "unsatisfactory". The school
324324 5 district may still reserve the right to evaluate a teacher
325325 6 provided the district gives notice to the teacher at least
326326 7 14 days before the evaluation and a reason for evaluating
327327 8 the teacher.
328328 9 (p) Evaluators are prohibited from using artificial
329329 10 intelligence tools to perform teacher evaluation tasks,
330330 11 including, but not limited to, transcription,
331331 12 summarization, an analysis of video, audio, text, or
332332 13 numerical data, or the assignment of ratings.
333333 14 Nothing in this Section or Section 24A-4 shall be
334334 15 construed as preventing immediate dismissal of a teacher for
335335 16 deficiencies which are deemed irremediable or for actions
336336 17 which are injurious to or endanger the health or person of
337337 18 students in the classroom or school, or preventing the
338338 19 dismissal or non-renewal of teachers not in contractual
339339 20 continued service for any reason not prohibited by applicable
340340 21 employment, labor, and civil rights laws. Failure to strictly
341341 22 comply with the time requirements contained in Section 24A-5
342342 23 shall not invalidate the results of the remediation plan.
343343 24 Nothing contained in Public Act 98-648 repeals,
344344 25 supersedes, invalidates, or nullifies final decisions in
345345 26 lawsuits pending on July 1, 2014 (the effective date of Public
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