Sen. Doris Turner | Facebook
Sen. Doris Turner | Facebook
Illinois legislators are attempting to lessen the burden of schools, as a slew of teaching positions remain unfilled across the state.
In a release Feb. 24. Sen. Doris Turner (D-Springfield) announced measures to address the state’s teacher shortage by allowing school districts to hire substitute teachers with a short-term license for longer periods of time.
“I hope this bill alleviates some of the educational stress around our classrooms,” Turner said in the release. “I am hopeful we can continue to work together on this commonsense solution that ensures the children of Illinois retain their access to a high quality public education.”
According to the release, the legislation seeks to address disruption to school staffing caused by the pandemic, with COVID-19 having led to an unusually high number of teacher absences.
“Advancing this bill will mean that schools across the state will have an easier time finding a well-qualified substitute to stand in their place,” Turner said.
Senate Bill 3907, sponsored by Turner, will allow individuals with a short-term substitute teaching license to teach 15 consecutive days, and will permit school districts to hire an individual with a short term substitute teaching license to cover teacher absences of six days or longer per licensed teacher under contract during a public health emergency.
Sen. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago) also sponsored Senate Bill 3465, hoping to allow retired school teachers to return to teaching without this affecting their pensions and payments.
The Illinois State Board of Education reports that in 2021, there were 4,120.7 unfilled positions across the state.
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