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2017 brings hope and trepidation
As the calendar flips to 2017, those of us in public education view the new year with
equal parts hope and trepidation.
The hope is based on the fact that things can’t get much worse (can they?) in terms of
the political impasse in Illinois. Also somewhat encouraging is the fact that Senate
Democrats and Republicans agreed on a “grand bargain” package that includes tax hikes,
pension reform, a two-year property tax freeze, unfunded mandate relief, and term limits.
Who knows how that framework will fly in the House or with the governor. The stark
reality is that our state will continue to deteriorate if the political leaders fail to reach a
compromise that produces a budget and new revenues to help counter the daily fiscal
hemorrhaging that is occurring.
Even against that backdrop, some good things are happening. Governor Bruce Rauner on January 6 signed
into law
Senate Bill 2912 (now Public Act 99-0920) ,a measure that has the potential to help alleviate the
critical shortage of substitute teachers in our state. Streamlining the licensure process and reciprocity with other
states was one of the goals of Vision 20/20 and we appreciate the support of co-sponsors retiring Sen. Dave
Luechtefeld (R-Okawville) and Rep. Fred Crespo (D-Hoffman Estates) as well as Governor Rauner signing the
bill into law.
The new law creates a one-year grace period for retired teachers with lapsed licenses to immediately begin
substitute teaching while they bring their license into good standing. It also allows educators who retire in mid-
cycle of their license renewal to become substitute teachers instead of having their licenses lapse as they did
before SB 2912 became law.
Additionally, this new law creates a provisional in-state
endorsement to allow one additional year to pass the edTPA
while continuing to be able to teach if the candidates have met all
other requirements. Finally, SB 2912 cuts the license fee for
substitute teachers in half, from $100 to $50. All of these
provisions should help increase the pool of teachers and
substitute teachers while maintaining our state’s high teaching
standards in the classroom.
SB 2912 also contains provisions for reciprocity across state
lines, which should help deepen the candidate pool, especially for
school districts in the border counties in Illinois—and 40 of our
102 counties are border counties. With the signing of SB 2912,
the process for educators licensed in other states will be streamlined, enabling ISBE to grant licenses based on
comparable out-of-state licenses and also applying content-area tests from other states for out-of-state
licensees seeking an Illinois license.
I know of one case in the Metro East area where a school district found the perfect candidate—a principal in a
St. Louis school, right across the Mississippi River—for a principal’s position but could not hire the person
because he received his license in Missouri. Even though this person had excellent education, background and
experience, the school district could not wait as long as it would have taken for the candidate to complete the
process to get an Illinois license. This new law will alleviate that sort of problem by applying common sense to
the situation and recognizing comparable out-of-state licenses for teachers and other educators.
Message from the
Executive Director
Dr. Brent Clark