A series of new laws are set to take effect in Illinois at the start of 2024, and many of those pieces of legislation pertain to the education system.
Those new laws will apply to various levels of that system, including new benefits for community college students, bonuses for teachers in “hard-to-staff” schools, and changes in curriculum to educate students on the dangers of fentanyl and how to deal with allergens.
To help wrangle all of those new laws, we’ve highlighted 18 pieces of legislation, summarizing the bills and including links to the full text of the bills.
HB 0342: The state Board of Education must develop a district-level Children’s Adversity Index to measure community childhood trauma exposure and requires teachers to provide instruction on trauma-informed practices.
HB 2392: Any teacher who is a member of a statewide association representing teachers and is elected to represent that group in federal advocacy work may spend up to 10 days in a school term representing the association in such a fashion with no deduction of wages. The association will be required to reimburse the employing school district for the cost of a substitute teacher.
HB 2503: Any person who wishes to take a course not offered by their local community college may take that course at another community college, and will be charged the price they would have been charged at their local school.
Local
HB 2789: In order to be eligible for state grants, a public library or library system shall develop a written policy prohibiting the practice of banning books. Alternatively, libraries may adopt the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights.
HB 3402: When hiring physical education, music or visual arts educators, school districts must prioritize the hiring of educators who hold a license and endorsement in those specific areas.
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HB 3428: Schools shall maintain a supply of opioid-reversal agents.
HB 3559: A school building’s emergency and crisis response plan must include a plan for law enforcement to rapidly enter a school building in the event of an emergency.
HB 3592: In situations of alleged sexual abuse, witnesses who are under the age of 18 shall only be questioned by a hearing officer, rather than by the teacher accused of misconduct, or a representative of that teacher.
HB 3801: Retention bonuses of $4,000 per year shall be awarded to National Board-certified teachers employed in hard-to-staff schools on a first-come, first-served basis.
HB 3814: In the daily pupil attendance calculation, participation in a “Supervised Career Development Experience” shall be counted toward the calculation of clocked hours of school work per day. Parents and students will be required to obtain assignments missed because of those activities, which include events surrounding State FFA, 4-H programs and more.
HB 3822: The Board of Education must deliver a report to the General Assembly on how to incentivize dual language instruction in schools.
HB 3924: Schools shall provide instruction on the dangers of fentanyl to students in grades 9-12.
HB 3932: Students in grades 9-12 shall be educated on allergen safety, including ways of recognizing symptoms and signs of an allergic reaction, and steps to take to prevent exposure to allergens, and how to safely administer epinephrine.
SB 0099: Changes laws on how to document if a student has a disability. It also requires makes changes to how it’s determined if students are eligible for accommodations, and provides that such regulations be made easily-accessible for students.
SB 0183: An “Alternative School Bill of Rights” will take effect, by which a pupil who is offered a transfer to an alternative school in place of disciplinary action shall be provided with information by administrators. Makes other changes to placement in alternative educational facilities.
SB 1558: Models of study for credit must be made publicly-available to enable students to become direct support professionals for organizations that specialize in assistance for those with developmental disabilities.
SB 1709: The Department of Human resources shall partner with the Board of Education to provide technical assistance for the provision of mental health care during school days with the goal of increasing availability of mental health resources for students.
SB 2374: The State Board of Education shall establish a competitive grant program to support the development or enhancement of computer science programs in K-12 schools.
