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Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Westchester, announced Thursday a plan
that would make it harder for teachers in the state to strike and
ties teacher tenure, promotions and firing to job performance.
Senate Bill 630 passed unanimously in the Senate later in the
day. Lightford, who led five months of discussions, said it's been
a long process with no one party getting exactly what it wanted.
"We all agreed that the most important effort in our negotiations
is that at the end of the day (we do) what's best for the child in
the classroom. And that's how we did it (created reform)," Lightford
said.
Chief among the reforms has been change in collective bargaining
rights, which have been the main point of contention for teachers’
unions.
The proposal would create two sets of collective bargaining
rights, one for teachers in Chicago and one for teachers downstate.
Before Chicago teachers can strike, they would have to go through
extensive mediation and provide a report to the public for review.
If negotiations fail, three-fourths of all union members must vote
to strike.
The entire process could take up to three to four months for
Chicago teachers, and for those located downstate, up to two months.
Jessica Handy with Stand for Children said Chicago always has
been treated differently.
"Especially in regards to contract negotiations, (in) Chicago,
just the threat of a strike when you have 400,000-plus students
becomes a lot more of a trump card and has really stifled reform a
lot more in Chicago than the rest of the state, we've seen," Handy
said.
Currently, teachers' unions statewide must inform schools of
their intent to strike 10 days before a strike.
Stand for Children is an education reform advocacy organization
that focuses "on securing adequate funding for public schools and
reforming education policies and practices to help children thrive
academically," according to its website.
Despite the tougher regulations, the Illinois Education
Association teachers' union president, Ken Swanson, credits the open
discussion to the desire to avoid situations that have developed in
neighboring states, such as Wisconsin.
"What we've shown is you do not have to have draconian,
unwarranted attacks on public employee rights (for) collective
bargaining," Swanson said. "You can do this through collective
bargaining. You can do this through bringing the parties to the
table."
The plan also places more stringent time frames for firing
tenured teachers, while making it easier for teachers with tenure in
one district to attain tenure in another district.
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Other key reforms shifted the emphasis from teacher seniority to
performance.
Layoffs will be based on qualifications, certification and
performance evaluations before seniority is considered.
Teachers will be promoted based on "relevant experience" instead
of seniority.
Performance evaluations will be added as a requirement to attain
tenure.
The stimulus for education reform came after Illinois failed to
grab millions of federal "Race to the Top" funds last fall.
Robin Steans, executive director of Advance Illinois, said the
unsuccessful attempt paved the way for even greater reforms.
"While we were unfortunately not the recipient of half a billion
dollars in Race to the Top, ... what we got as a result was a
comprehensive blueprint for educational reform for the state,"
Steans said.
Advance Illinois is an education reform group co-founded by
former Illinois Republican Gov. Jim Edgar and former U.S. Secretary
of Commerce Bill Daley, now White House chief of staff to President
Barack Obama.
Not everyone thought the plan would be the panacea for Illinois'
education ailments. Sen. David Luechtefeld, R-Okawville, however,
said it was a first step in the right direction.
"Will you see a huge difference in education -- all of a sudden
it's going to take off and be the greatest in the country? Probably
not. There are some issues that we can't solve with legislation,"
said Luechtefeld.
If passed, reforms are expected to be fully implemented by the
2013-2014 school year.
"There is a lot here to be implemented," Swanson said. "We need
time to do it right, so I hope everyone can take a deep breath and
let us start implementing."
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By MELISSA LEU] |
