Below are the changes effective with the signing of HB 5627. Evaluations are being updated based on these changes. There is no need to contact Educator Effectiveness to request an updated evaluation.
Outlines timelines and number of days that retirees can work in a school year and still receive retirement annuities:
- Before July 1, 2001: 100 paid days or 500 paid hours in a school year
- July 1, 2001-June 30, 2011: 120 paid days or 600 paid hours in a school year
- July 1, 2011-June 30, 2018: 100 paid days or 500 paid hours in a school year
- July 1, 2018-June 30, 2020: 120 paid days or 600 paid hour each school year, but no more than 100 paid days in the same classroom
- July 1,
2020 and forward: 100 paid days or 500 paid hours in a school year.
Short-Term Substitute Teaching License Training: School boards must develop a short-term substitute teacher training program that provides individuals who hold this license with information on curriculum, classroom management techniques, school safety, and district/building operations. ISBE may develop a model program for use. This section is repealed on July 1, 2023.
Clean-up: Replaced “state superintendent” with “state board” with respect to authority to issue or endorsement licenses and reviewing individuals for alternative program admission; removed paragraphs and sentences that contained dates that have already passed or credentials that are no longer issued (GADM, resident teacher.)
- Subsequent Endorsement Requirements: Individuals who already hold a PEL can add additional endorsements by completing 24 semester hours of coursework + the applicable content test, or as otherwise specified by rule. Additional details will be written into rule this summer.
- The ELS-PEDU will no longer be issued since individuals who would have previously qualified for the ELS-PEDU will now qualify for the PEL.
- New Educator Licenses with Stipulations: All approvals (with the exception of the short-term emergency and the short-term approval) will now be issued as endorsements on an ELS. The approvals will be categorized into similar areas, such as school support personnel interns and special education areas. ELIS is currently being reconfigured for this change; the option to apply
- for the ELS instead of an approval is not yet available in ELIS. The field will be notified once the option is available.
- Individuals who hold a lapsed PEL can now obtain a substitute teaching license. Previously, if an individual had a lapsed PEL, they had to reinstate the PEL before being qualified to sub. Now, the only requirement for a sub license is a degree from a regionally-accredited institution of higher education. Individuals who hold a suspended or revoked PEL are still ineligible to receive a sub license.
- School districts cannot require educators who already hold a PEL or ELS to also hold a substitute teaching license in order to sub.
- New License: Short-Term Substitute Teaching License:
- Valid for PK-12
- Application fee is $25 (can be refunded within 18 months after teaching 10 days within one year of the license being issued.)
- No registration fee
- Associate degree or 60 semester hrs from a regionally-accredited IHE required
- Can teach no more than 5 consecutive days per licensed teacher under contract
- Must complete the training for short-term subs before teaching on the license
- All licenses shall have an expiration date of June 30, 2023. Thus, depending on issue date, some licenses will have a cycle that is shorter than 5 years. No licenses will be issued after this date.
Reciprocity: Educators not entitled by an Illinois IHE can meet one of the two requirements for licensure:
- Hold a valid, comparable OOS license + the relevant degree needed for the license, OR
- Complete a state-approved program and all other current licensure requirements (tests, PEL coursework, student teaching/internship, etc.)
- Retirees: Clarifies that individuals who are retired from an Illinois retirement system must mark themselves as “retired” in ELIS so their license can be retained in “retired” status.
- Explicitly states that educators may not “double dip” with PD that is taken between July 1 and August 31 of a renewal year. Activities may be counted toward one cycle only.
- PD Providers must request an
IEIN from all participants.
- Clarifies that all PD providers will be audited at least once every 5 years and that ISBE may audit more often if evidence suggests requirements from law or rule are not being met.
Clarifies that all entities, whether they are for-profit or not-for-profit, must meet the same requirements, including receiving approval from IBHE, before being recognized to conduct educator preparation programs through ISBE.
