Teacher Tenure Revisions

Illinois Public Act 103-500 was signed by Governor Pritzker on August 4, 2023 with an immediate effective date.  It revises tenure acquisition rules.

Tenure acquisition is set by statute, and is automatic for those who pass the relevant periods.  The only changes to those first employed before July 1, 2023 are that accelerated tenure now takes only two excellent evaluations over three years instead of three, and the statute explicitly restricts acquisition to those with a professional educator license.

For those first employed as a full-time teacher after July 1, 2023, the tenure periods are:

• 3 consecutive school terms of service in which the teacher holds a Professional Educator License and receives overall annual evaluation ratings of at least "Proficient" in the second and third school terms;
• 2 consecutive school terms of service in which the teacher holds a Professional Educator License and receives 2 overall annual evaluations of "Excellent."

The statute continues to contain an accelerated tenure provision which allows teachers to earn tenure in two years if they previously earned tenure in another district and receive two excellent evaluation overall ratings in the employing district, but with the new accelerated tenure time of 2 years (instead of 3), the statutory section is redundant.

Additionally, the statute replaces the deadline to notify teachers of dismissal (for both reduction in force and dismissal purposes) to April 15 from the prior requirement of 45 calendar days before the end of the school year. Schools approaching dismissal and reduction in force in the spring should be mindful of contract or policy provisions which may set an earlier date (such as 45 or 60 days before the end of the school year as required by prior versions of the statute).

Tenure acquisition rules are not waivable by the union and cannot be averted by the employer.  Because tenure is a function of law, all districts are subject to accelerated tenure acquisition, whether they reach agreement with the union or not.  School administrators should be mindful, when issuing evaluation summative ratings, of the impact on tenure acquisition.

Finally, because tenure acquisition is not a right conferred by the school (but rather by statute), schools do not need to notify staff of their tenure status and need not notify staff of which period and what rules are applicable.  The effect of the change is to alter a right, and because it does so, the school has no duty to confer any additional right on any staff.