Legislature Attempts to Address Employee Shortage Issues
The legislature sent to the Governor's desk several bills to attempt to address the teacher shortage. Among them:
New Statutes of Note
After a busy legislative season this spring, which saw several changes coming to Illinois schools - including the reversal of the end-of-career TRS limits from 3% back to 6%, a few statutes have already been signed into law by Governor Pritzker which are notable:
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Minimum Wage Bill Increases Wages Gradually Over Next Five Years
With his signature on February 19, 2019, Governor Pritzker made a new minimum wage bill, (known as the "Lifting Up Illinois Working Families Act,") Public Act 101-1, law.
Reimbursement of Employee Expenses
Effective January 1, 2019, the Illinois Wage Payment and Collections Act requires that an employer shall reimburse an employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee, provided that said expenditures are within the employee's scope of employment and directly relate to services performed by the employer.
Remember the Accelerated Tenure Rules Post-PERA
As we approach the season to consider dismissals and non-renewals of probationary teachers, keep in mind that PERA altered the probationary period based upon performance evaluation ratings.
Bidding Cooperatives
Pursuant to Section 10-20.21 of the School Code, school districts must let for competitive bidding any contract in excess of $25,000, subject to certain exceptions provided in the statute. However, there is not currently a valid exception which allows for bidding cooperatives to be exempt from these bidding requirements.
Recognizing and Responding to Discrimination and Harassment Complaints Consistent with Board Policy
Increasingly, issues of legally-compliant responses to discrimination claims turn on the school district's initial recognition that the alleged conduct falls under the umbrella of discrimination. Too often, a school district's informal and poorly documented response to a situation (even a situation where there is insufficient evidence to support a finding of discrimination) is problematic due