Quinn signs school reforms
Carpentersville-based Community Unit District 300 relied largely on seniority when it sent out 363 layoff notices earlier this year. But those letters could have ended up in different hands under sweeping education reforms that became law Monday.
Future school layoffs will be based more on performance under the new rules, signed by Gov. Pat Quinn as part of a major package of reforms intended to keep the best teachers in the classroom.
The law also makes it harder for teachers to strike and makes it easier to fire tenured teachers.
“I think in the long run, it's going to be better for educating kids,” said Jane Russell, president of West Suburban Teachers Union, which covers parts of western Cook and DuPage counties.
The new law also means mediators will be brought in earlier if contract negotiations between teachers unions and school districts reach an impasse. Teachers cannot strike until both sides' last, best offers are made public.
The law, which took effect immediately, largely had the support of unions and advocacy groups, putting it in stark contrast to Republican-led efforts in other states, including Wisconsin and Ohio, to strip teachers and other public employees of collective bargaining rights and weaken the teachers unions, which typically support the Democrats. “We didn't do it the way some other states, even in our region have sought to do, where they exclude people or demonize groups of people,” Quinn, a Democrat, said.
That broad unity in support of the plan is one reason Naperville District 203 publicly supported the reforms, which were approved by the Senate earlier this year.
Some observers speculated House lawmakers might seek to make changes that could have killed support.
“We didn't want the House weighing it down with a bunch of baggage,” said District 203 Board President Mike Jaensch.
The House went along, though, with the support of Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, an Aurora Democrat who chairs the House Education Committee. She and other House lawmakers had been talking about reform plans last year.
She praised the new law and called it “a good start.” Chapa LaVia said she'd like to see further reforms to consolidate the education bureaucracy, send more money to early childhood education and put more technology in the hands of students.
“I'd like to see more of a futuristic world,” she said.
Cheryl Crates, District 300's chief financial officer, said the changes Quinn approved Monday were a good step toward emphasizing teacher performance. But, Crates said, it's unfortunate the reforms have emphasized how districts should handle bad teachers when the vast majority of teachers do good jobs.
Now that Quinn has acted, school officials face the challenge of putting the reforms in place, including reworking collective bargaining agreements.
“Implementation is probably going to be the most difficult of all,” Russell said. “Obviously, this is going to be a big change.”
Ÿ The Associated Press contributed.