UPDATED X1 ACTION NEEDED: Calls & Action Needed

UPDATED (10/26/2019)

The legislative process in Springfield moves very quickly.  We've worked with our coalition partners to align the language in the bill with the original intent of the law.  IAASE strongly believes in a collaborative IEP process where every parent/guardian is fully included in a process that is user friendly.  We also recognize that our teams are overloaded with significant caseloads and the issues that come along with managing paperwork.  With this in mind, our legislative team is working with others to make changes to the bill to bring as many coalition partners on board as possible.  This is the first of (what could be) several changes.  This change will:

Require school districts to keep service logs for all related service providers.

Rationale:  Many of our state's most impacted children receive related services.  To the extent that parents/guardians are not able to identify and receive information about the services their children have or have not received, IAASE believes this needs to be addressed.  While aligning the service log requirement to the Medicaid data collection rules was easier for us, it might have created a challenge for parents/guardians.  That was never our intent.

Given the speed at which we needed to move this legislation, we also have a NEW bill number:  SB 460.  It will be published on ilga.gov later.

At this point, we need your support in making two calls:

Please contact your State Senator!
This bill will originate in the Illinois State Senate and will be heard in committee this week and will likely be voted on by the full Senate shortly thereafter. Please click here to find the phone number for your State Senator. Then call them in their Springfield office and ask them to vote YES on SB 460. A sample script:

Hi there – my name is Dave Director. I live in Suzy Senator’s district and I wanted to ask her to vote YES on SB 460. We need to make sure that the bill is passed when it comes to the floor for a vote next week during veto session.

Please contact your State Representative!
If we are able to get this bill through the Senate, then it will move to the House of Representatives.  We need to make sure that we begin contacting our State Representatives as soon as possible so that they understand how our members feel about this issue.

Please click here to find the phone number for your State Representative. Then call them in their Springfield office and ask them to vote YES on SB 460.

A few final thoughts:

• Once this bill is posted on the Illinois General Assembly website, we will update this post.
• You can share this post with others (teachers are definitely heavily impacted and should be aware of this.  General education administrators should be making calls as well).
• Please be sure to contact your own State Senator (not the bill sponsors). 
• If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to a member of the IAASE Leadership Team.

(Originally Posted on 10/23/2019)

IAASE leadership has been working with members of other coalition groups to draft revisions to HB 3586 (now Public Act 101-0515) which has wreaked havoc on school personnel since it was signed at the start of the school year.  We have worked to draft SB 2283 (sponsored by State Senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant) which will be introduced next week in the Illinois Senate.

SB 2283 SB460 will:

Require that paperwork be sent home in advance of special education meetings ONLY when requested by parents/ guardians. 

Rationale:  HB 3586 created the mandated that paperwork be sent home at least three days in advance of ALL special education meetings.  This has created challenges with school districts who are attempting to be in compliance with the new law while avoiding findings of pre-determination.

Require school districts to keep service logs for related service providers that align with Medicaid reimbursement rules (i.e. school social work, school psychologists, school nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists).   

Rationale:  HB 3586 was not specific in the related service providers and many attorneys were interpreting this provision to include related services including transportation that has only added to the paperwork burden in our state.

Allow parents to request these service logs consistent with other student records. 

Rationale:  HB 3586 was open ended and could currently allow for parents to request service logs as much as every day.  Further, it requires school IEP teams to give the service logs to parents/guardians at every IEP meeting.  This removes that requirement.

Removes burdensome language regarding compensatory education to prevent districts with staff shortages from being penalized. 

Rationale:  Parents/guardians already have rights under federal law which allows a hearing officer or a school based IEP team to provide compensatory education when a child's services have not been provided.  When HB 3586 went into effect, we heard from several people across the state about challenges with staffing that might impact the delivery of services.  This should not be a reason to provide notice and then to provide compensatory education.  SB 2283 removes this language and requires the IEP team to develop a plan for making up missed services.

Clarify that the RTI provisions of the bill are not new and do not create additional instructional mandates. 

Rationale:  RTI plans have been required for more than ten school years in Illinois.  We clarify that nothing changes with the addition of this language in this law.

Restrict language regarding hotline complaints and computer programs to the Chicago Public Schools. 

Rationale: These two items were specific to the inquiry into special education services at Chicago Public Schools.  While HB 3586 expanded them into the rest of the state unnecessarily, SB 2283 460 puts them back with Chicago Public Schools where they were intended.

NOW WE NEED YOUR HELP! 

Please contact your State Senator! This bill will originate in the Illinois State Senate and will be heard in committee next week and will likely be voted on by the full Senate shortly thereafter. Please click here to find the phone number for your State Senator. Then call them in their Springfield office and ask them to vote YES on SB 2283 460. A sample script:

Hi there – my name is Dave Director. I live in Suzy Senator’s district and I wanted to ask her to vote YES on SB 2283 460. We need to make sure that the bill is passed when it comes to the floor for a vote next week during veto session.

Together, we can get this bill passed!  It is imperative that we share this message with others in the education community who might be able to help us out.  State Senators need to be hearing from us now so that they can take action on this bill next week!

A few final thoughts:

• Once this bill is posted on the Illinois General Assembly website, we will update this post.
• You can share this post with others.
• Please be sure to contact your own State Senator (not the bill sponsors). 
• If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to a member of the IAASE Leadership Team.