CAPITOL RECAP: Pritzker signs bills aimed at making teacher licensure easier

CAPITOL RECAP: Pritzker signs bills aimed at making teacher licensure easier

By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker signed a package of bills Wednesday, April 27, aimed at easing the state’s shortage of teachers and other education professionals, even as a new report shows Illinois just added a record number of new teachers to its ranks.

Speaking in the library of Springfield High School just blocks from the Capitol, Pritzker said that while the education workforce picture is improving, more work still needs to be done.

“In Illinois, schools still have more than 2,100 unfilled teaching positions statewide,” he said. “That includes 15 unfilled teaching slots here in Springfield and 64 in Decatur, with similar need for paraprofessional positions. With new tools though, and new funding at their disposal, districts all across the state are working to find new ways to bring people into this profession and to encourage them to stay there.”

Pritzker signed four bills Wednesday, including House Bill 4246, which lowers the cost of renewing a lapsed educator license to $50 instead of $500; House Bill 4798, allowing currently enrolled teaching students with at least 90 credit hours to be licensed as substitute teachers; Senate Bill 3988, lowering the minimum age to become a paraprofessional in grades eight or below to 18 instead of 19; and Senate Bill 3907, allowing short-term substitute teachers to teach up to 15 consecutive days in a classroom instead of just five.

Those bills come on top of numerous other measures the state has taken in recent years to lure more people into the teaching profession.

Pritzker noted that the budget bill he signed into law April 19 increases funding for minority teacher scholarships to $4.2 million. And starting next year, the minimum annual salary for first-year teachers will increase to $40,000 due to a bill he signed in 2019.

According to a new report from the Illinois State Board of Education, those efforts appear to be having an impact.

ISBE’s most recent Unfilled Positions Survey, released April 21, shows Illinois schools hired a record 5,676 new teachers in the fall of 2021, the most ever recorded in a single year and more than in the past five years combined. That was enough to lower the statewide vacancy rate to just 1.5 percent.

But the survey also showed schools in Illinois still have more than 2,100 unfilled teaching positions, mostly concentrated in chronically struggling schools, underfunded schools and those serving low-income communities.

* * *

CREDIT UPGRADE: Illinois on Thursday, April 21, received its second credit rating upgrade from Moody’s Investors Service within one year, moving up one notch but remaining in the worst shape of the 50 states.

It’s the third upgrade between the three major credit ratings agencies during Gov. JB Pritzker’s tenure.

The upgrade to Baa1 status, or three notches above what is referred to as “junk bond” status, reflects “solid tax revenue growth,” which allowed the state to bolster financial reserves and increase payments toward unfunded liabilities, according to Moody’s.

The upgrade to the general obligation bond rating likely means lower interest costs when the state borrows money.

“Higher credit ratings result in the elimination of wasteful spending, and they mean that we will have more resources for education, for health care, public safety and future tax breaks,” Pritzker said in a news conference called after the Moody’s announcement.

Pritzker credited the upgrade to the recently passed $46 billion state operating budget, and the fact that the state dedicated an added $500 million to its pension system and retired $900 million in other interest-accruing health insurance debts.

The budget dedicated $1 billion to the state’s “rainy day” fund and created an ongoing $3.75 million monthly contribution to the fund beginning in July 2023.

The pension investment is expected to reduce unfunded liabilities in the pension system by about $1.8 billion. At the end of 2021, the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability pegged that unfunded liability at about $130 billion.

While the pension investment indicated an “increased commitment to paying its single-largest long-term liability,” according to the report, the remaining liability precluded a more substantial upgrade.

As well, the report noted, Illinois’ economy has routinely expanded at a slower pace than the nation at large in recent years, as evidenced by its 4.7 percent March unemployment rate compared to a 3.6 percent rate nationwide rate.

Comptroller Susana Mendoza, a frequent critic of former Gov. Bruce Rauner who presided over eight credit downgrades between the three major agencies, said the state began making fiscal progress prior to the direct receipt of federal funds.

An unpaid backlog of bills overseen by the comptroller’s office that once reached nearly $17 billion under Rauner now sits within a 30-day billing cycle from the date vouchers are received by the comptroller’s office.

* * *

DCFS CONTEMPT: A Cook County judge found DCFS Director Marc Smith in contempt on Thursday, April 21.

It’s the ninth time this year that Smith has faced contempt citations for failing to place children in settings that comply with the agency’s recommendations and court orders.

The latest case involves a 15-year-old boy with special needs who remains in a locked psychiatric unit despite a medical release on Jan. 31. The court ordered on March 14 that DCFS move the child to an appropriate placement by March 25. DCFS had not moved the child as of Friday.

Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert represents the boy in court and stated DCFS failed for months to schedule a neuropsychological exam to assess the boy’s special needs.

Gov. JB Pritzker’s spokesperson, Jordan Abudayyeh, said Pritzker and Smith share the judge’s frustration with lack of appropriate placements.

“DCFS is working hard to find placements for these vulnerable children with special needs. Tragically, when Gov. Rauner decimated social services, we were warned that it would be much easier to lose the 500 beds he destroyed than to recreate them again. Advocates warned that these services weren’t like a light switch that could be turned on and off with ease,” Abudayyeh said.

Golbert said the hope is the contempt citations will drive change within the agency, including removing children from inappropriate and harmful settings. Golbert said there are empty beds at existing group homes and residential facilities, but they are not appropriately staffed.

In the long term, Golbert said, DCFS needs to expand placement across the board, but especially in specialized foster care.

Gov. Pritzker’s budget set aside $250 million to hire additional staff, increase rates for DCFS’ private partners and create new residential capacity, Abudayyeh said.

“Since taking office, the governor increased DCFS’ budget by over $340 million with DCFS launching aggressive hiring efforts to bring on hundreds of additional staff,” she said. “The administration inherited a DCFS with outdated technology and inadequate trainings. Since then, technology has been overhauled and trainings and retrainings have taken place for every DCFS staff member.” 

The contempt citations, child deaths and death of a DCFS investigator have drawn scrutiny from the legislature and the public.

Pritzker has been asked on multiple occasions about his confidence in Smith’s leadership at DCFS, most recently on April 9, saying that every time a challenge arises, the answer is not “let’s toss out the director.”

* * *

LABOR BOARD APPOINTEE: Former Illinois Prisoner Review Board member Jeffrey Mears, who failed to receive confirmation for that post from the Illinois Senate last month, has been appointed to the Illinois Labor Relations Board.

Gov. JB Pritzker made that appointment Thursday, setting Mears up to face another Senate vote in the next General Assembly.

The Illinois Labor Relations Board certifies collective bargaining units. It also investigates and remedies unfair labor practices by public employers and unions, assists with arbitration and mediation to resolve labor-related disputes, and conducts emergency investigations of public employee strikes.

Before serving on the Prisoner Review Board, Mears was employed as a union painter for the Department of Corrections for nearly 20 years, but also served as a hostage negotiations coordinator, the negotiations team and statewide audit review team.

“His experience in de-escalation and crisis intervention speaks to his skills in collaboration, communication and thoughtful approach to complex issues and we look forward to his continued service to the state of Illinois,” Pritzker spokesperson Jordan Abudayyeh said.

Mears’ new appointment to the Labor Relations Board comes with a nearly $98,000 salary.

Mears was one of six members to leave the Prisoner Review Board in recent weeks after the appointment process came under scrutiny by Republican members of the Senate.

PRB member Oreal James resigned. Eleanor Kaye Wilson, along with Mears, failed to win Senate confirmation. Pritzker pulled his appointment of Max Cerda, who had been convicted and served time for a double murder before his release from prison and his working with offenders.

Senators voting against Mears and Wilson cited some of their votes to release controversial individuals.  Senate Republicans long raised concerns about the number of PRB members who were voting on offender releases without being confirmed by the Senate. Those releases included offenders convicted of rape and murder, killing police officers and the murder of children.

In addition to 18 Republicans who voted no on Mears’ appointment to the PRB, 18 Democrats did not vote. Sen. Patrick Joyce, D-Essex, joined the GOP and voted no.

Mears served on the Prisoner Review Board for a year, making decisions on 40 cases involving the release of those serving time in the Illinois Department of Corrections. He received an annual salary of roughly $90,000.

He also serves as the Democratic Party Chairman for Johnson County in southern Illinois.

 

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government that is distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

 

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