Side Letter on Joint Legislative Advocacy on Teacher Evaluation

The BOARD and the UNION shall jointly advocate the General Assembly for redesign of the Illinois Performance Evaluation Reform Act of 2010 and its subsequent amendments to address, inter alia, issues noted in the Illinois State Board of Education Teacher Evaluation Research Project, including racial and geographic disparate impact. The parties will follow the current statutory requirements for teacher evaluation, as reflected in this Agreement and the REACH Handbook, until such time as legislative changes to PERA occur, at which point the parties will negotiate the impact of those changes on the evaluation process.

By June 30, 2026, the BOARD will review its DNH Guidelines with a focus on those who receive the designation for performance related terminations. Before finalizing any changes to the guidelines, the Board will share the recommended revisions with all of its Union Partners for feedback and any additional recommendations.

Tenured teachers on the DNH list who were designated as DNH due to an unsatisfactory or developing rating since July 1, 2019, may request a record review of their DNH status by the District. The request must be submitted by December 1, 2025. The District will conduct a record review and share the results of the review and any recommendations with the Joint Evaluation Committee. Additionally, the Joint Evaluation Committee will establish clear and specific criteria for reviewing tenured teachers on the DNH list who were designated as DNH based on an unsatisfactory or developing rating between July 1, 2013, and June 30, 2019. An opt-in process for a record review will be implemented once the criteria have been finalized and communicated.