Education (Teachers)

Amends the School Code. Requires the State Board of Education to establish the State Instructional Technology Advisory Board, which shall collaborate with the State Board of Education to provide guidance, integration, oversight, and evaluation of education technologies, including, but not limited to, artificial intelligence technologies. Sets forth the membership of the Advisory Board and terms. Requires the State Board, with the Advisory Board, to develop standards concerning safety, transparency, data privacy, and educational quality for any artificial intelligence technology that may be used in schools and develop guidance for school districts and educators on the use of artificial intelligence in education. Requires the annual school district report to the State Board regarding educational technology capacity and policies to include student, teacher, and district use of artificial intelligence. Effective immediately.

Amends the School Code. Authorizes the State Board of Education to administer the Illinois Classroom Supply Assistance Program. Requires the State Board to create a list of preapproved items which may be purchased using funds loaded onto a Classroom Supply Assistance Card (CSAC). Provides that at the beginning of each school quarter starting during the 2027-2028 school year, the State Board shall distribute funds from the Illinois Classroom Supply Assistance Program Fund to teachers throughout the State. Provides that funds for the Program shall be distributed according to a needs-based formula taking into account school district funding, district poverty rates and Title 1 status, per-pupil spending disparities, student performance metrics, and teacher-to-student ratios. Provides that purchases made with a CSAC shall be tracked electronically and monitored to ensure compliance with the list of approved supplies. Provides that teachers shall have access to an online portal to manage funds, review balances, and track purchases. Provides that annual audits shall be conducted to maintain transparency and prevent misuse. Requires the State Board to launch a pilot program in high-needs districts for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 school years to test the funding model and distribution process. Requires the State Board to annually report to the Governor and the General Assembly on the status of the Program and any problems that arose with its implementation in the preceding calendar year. Creates the Illinois Classroom Supply Assistance Fund. Makes a conforming change in the State Finance Act.

Amends the School Boards Article of the School Code. In provisions concerning the dismissal of teachers, includes releasing student record information to unauthorized parties, engaging in aggressive physical contact with a student or a member of staff if the physical contact does not serve to promote greater safety, and disparaging a student or a member of staff based on protected characteristics as sufficient causes to dismiss a teacher. Effective immediately.

Amends the School Code. Provides that a foreign language endorsement on an Educator License with Stipulations may be issued to an applicant who provides satisfactory evidence that he or she meets specified requirements. Provides that the foreign language endorsement on an Educator License with Stipulations is valid until June 30 following the fifth anniversary of the endorsement's issuance. Provides that an individual who holds a valid foreign language endorsement on an Educator License with Stipulations may teach a course on the foreign language for which the foreign language endorsement is issued. Provides that an individual who holds a valid foreign language endorsement on an Educator License with Stipulations but does not hold a bachelor's degree and who is 25 years of age or older may substitute teach in foreign language classrooms. Effective July 1, 2025.

Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that aggravated assault of a teacher upon school grounds or grounds adjacent to a school or in any part of a building used for school purposes is a Class 4 felony (rather than a Class A misdemeanor).

Amends the Educator Licensure Article of the School Code. In provisions concerning Substitute Teaching Licenses, requires an applicant who is enrolled in an approved educator preparation program to have either earned at least 75 credit hours or completed 3 semesters in an educator preparation program (rather than requiring the applicant to have earned at least 90 credit hours). Provides that a school district may not require an individual who retired within the last 5 years while holding a valid Professional Educator License or Educator License with Stipulations to seek or hold a Substitute Teaching License to teach as a substitute teacher if substitute teaching for no more than one year. Provides that a retired educator may not be charged an application fee for a Substitute Teaching License if certain conditions are met.

Amends the School Code. Allows, if an assessment is determined to be non-uniform, a provisional in-state educator endorsement on an Educator License with Stipulations to be issued to a candidate who has completed an Illinois-approved educator preparation program at an Illinois institution of higher education and who has not successfully completed an applicable content area test but who: holds at least a bachelor's degree; has completed an approved educator preparation program at an Illinois institution; has passed an evidence-based assessment of teacher effectiveness; and has attempted an applicable content area test that has been determined to be non-uniform and has not attempted any uniform content area tests. Provides that the process by which the State Board of Education evaluates content area tests shall be public information and shall be made available on the website of the State Board. Requires the State Board to evaluate each content area test after it has been administered for at least 10 months, but not more than 12 months, and shall determine that a content test is non-uniform. Provides that if a content test is determined to be non-uniform, the State Board shall: convene one or more committees to review the content, bias, and passing score requirements of that content test and recommend changes to improve uniformity; offer the most recent uniform content area test for the same license or endorsement as an option until the new assessment is determined to be uniform; provide an opportunity to attempt the most recent uniform content area test for the same license or endorsement to candidates who attempted but did not pass the most recent version of the content area test; and implement a process by which candidates who attempted but did not pass the content test may apply for provisional licensure. Provides that if the State Board finds that the content area test forms available as of January 1, 2025 are not uniform in the level of difficulty as compared to previous forms of those exams, any candidate for licensure who attempted any content area test in the form that was available as of January 1, 2025, and whose best scores in each subsection of the same content area exam, taken across multiple attempts on the same form of the exam, equal or exceed the passing score for that content area exam as of January 1, 2025, shall be determined to have passed that content area exam.

Amends the School Code. Allows a METT Educator District License for teaching a course in manufacturing, engineering, technology, or a trade (METT) to be issued to an applicant who has at least 10,000 working hours in a trade. Provides that a METT Educator District License may be issued to qualified individuals who have not obtained a bachelor's degree or an equivalent number of hours in an educational program at an institution of higher education. Provides that a METT Educator District License is valid until June 30 immediately following 5 years of the license being issued and may be renewed. Provides that a METT Educator District License is valid only for the teaching of a course that the State Board of Education has identified as related to the work experience of the licensee. Sets forth other provisions regarding the license. Amends the Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act. Provides that the State Board of Education, in conjunction with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity or the Department of Labor, shall expand a database to identify METT labor shortages. Provides that by July 1, 2028, school districts in identified regions shall be notified by the State Board and shall participate in a College and Career Pathway Endorsement program and offer a METT endorsement. Makes other changes.

HB 3954 allocates $7.05 billion from state funds to cover Illinois public school teachers' retirement contributions for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025. It specifies funding from the General Fund, Common School Fund, and Education Assistance Fund to pay the state's required contributions to teacher retirement systems, including health insurance support and minimum retirement allowances. The bill directly affects all Illinois public school teachers by ensuring state funding for their retirement benefits. This is a routine budgetary measure, not a policy change, with no new requirements for teachers or schools.

Amends the Board of Higher Education Act. Requires the Board of Higher Education to set, by rule, the maximum amount of classes a teaching assistant may teach without a professor, instructor, or teacher present.