By: Mark Glennon and Ted Dabrowski
Update 10/28/21: The House today passed the bill discussed below by a vote of 92 to 23, sending it to Gov. JB Pritzker for signature.
If you work for an Illinois school district or as a contractor for one and feel like skipping out of work for any excuse remotely related to COVID, feel free. You’ll still get paid and you won’t be charged for a sick day.
And if you and your school district already came to an agreement or understanding earlier about days you couldn’t work when schools were closed or remote because of COVID, never mind that. You will retroactively get full pay.
That’s a pretty fair summary of what would be the latest unfunded mandate Springfield imposes on school districts at the behest of public unions. It has already passed in the Senate. It was put in Amendment 2 to HB 2778. The amendment was introduced less than a week ago and has already passed the Senate. The current version of the bill is Amendment 3.
One law firm’s summary of the bill describes it as “fast-tracked and union-backed legislation with significant fiscal and labor implications.” Here is their summary:
Full Pay for School Closure. Requires school districts to make full payment to all educational support staff employees, and contractors that provide educational support services, on any day that the school is closed or on an e-learning day if the closure precludes them from performing their regularly scheduled duties and the employee would have reported to work but for the closure.
Unlimited COVID-19 Paid Administrative Leave for Fully Vaccinated Employees or Unvaccinated Employees That Submit to Weekly Testing.
Requires school districts to provide paid administrative leave to all employees during any period that the employee is restricted from being on school district property for a COVID-19 reason.
Requires school districts to provide paid administrative leave to any employee to care for a child who is unable to attend their elementary or secondary school because the child is a confirmed COVID-19 case, a probable COVID-19 case or been in close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case.
Retroactive Restoration of Sick Leave Days. Provides that school districts shall return to all employees any sick leave days used during the 2021-2022 school year for any absence related to COVID-19
Similar provisions would apply to community colleges.
One obvious problem is that the law would be wide open to abuse because it contains no reasonable guardrails or limitations. A worker could easily claim, for example, that they have a child who was exposed to another with COVID, and if a school is subject to guidance that suggests quarantine, the parent can skip out on work but get full pay. Another example would be workers who opt to get routine testing instead of vaccination, and taking time off for testing.
Second, the law would override what has already been mutually agreed between schools and workers. It would disrupt what has been a local process for e-learning and hybrid operations. Many of those plans were complicated and had to be negotiated to reach agreement. Many school districts ended up with memorandums of understanding with their workers. Now, despite those agreements, workers will be handed the new benefits.
Third, most Illinois school districts already face acute shortages of temporary teachers, which will now be worsened.
All this should be local school districts’ business, not Springfield’s. But what public unions in Illinois want, they get, and Springfield is fine with shoving the cost to local school districts through yet another unfunded mandate.
The bill is being pushed, as you would expect, by the Chicago Teachers Union and the Illinois Education Association. CTU members undoubtedly will be among the worst abusers if the bill becomes law.
The law would apply not just to teachers but all school employees – food workers, maintenance people, everybody. Contractors, too. The complications of applying this to contractors seems like an impossible mess.
Unbelievably, the bill passed the Senate with only one vote against it. Salute to Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville), who cast the sole ‘no’ vote. To all the others, in both parties, what are you thinking?
Property taxes are the primary funding source for Illinois schools, so count on higher property taxes if this bill becomes law.
For more on Illinois education by Wirepoints:
- Tallying up the perks in Illinois teacher contracts.
- Illinoisans would pay 40% less in property taxes if the state spent at levels where students perform better: Florida
- How can 84% of Chicago Public Schools students graduate when only 26% of students are proficient in reading, math?
- Compulsory political ideology for Illinois K-12 Teachers and classrooms moves closer to finalization
- New US Census data: Illinois education spending soars while outcomes flatline
- Families continue to flee Chicago Public Schools as it loses 14,000 students in 2022, more than 100,000 since 2000
Audio and summary 
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
I’m not being allowed to share this on fb. Notice how “post”!in the upper right is grayed out.
I copied the link and was able to get it out there!
Delete your fakebook and tricker.
So, if your comrad Sharkey and his crew, since covid –your now highest paid teachers of any big city, you won unlimited 24/7 strike rights, you won an elected school board to stuff w ctu members, teacher evaluations are canceled, student testing is no longer required, you got the city to commit to hiring 1000s of new ctu members even as student population crashes, the lib news media loves you, and on and on.. And now if this ctu spearheaded bill passes it basically makes up to work optional–WOW!! All the other public sect unions must be asking what all… Read more »
Botton line–the public sect unions know there’s billions of fed $ out there for the taking. I’m sure the rationale for this bill is it would be paid for initially w fed covid $. And this bill is just one of many attempts im sure you’ll see in coming months to come up with some convoluted excuse, hustle, to land some of those fed covid $bucks$ (hazard pay)..and if your unions not out hustling like sharkey than your a chump. If your a tax payer your always the chump
It’s also a major incentive to any teachers that aren’t vaccinated yet.
Exactly. Bill pass and is now up to public sect unions best friend jb to sign or veto… Or maybe another solution would be for dem machine to pass some kind of pubic sect covid hero’s act–where all are heros from teachers to cops to work remotely ides afscme heros get unlimited time off just for mentioning the word covid or vaccine (Catanzaras crew could drop all the taxpayers funded lawsuits). And the rest of us schmuck loosers can pay for it all. That would seem reasonable?..after all they’re all super human heros that deserve MORE than us mere mortals!!!
Educators! Hero’s of the pandemic! Time for public schools to become extinct!
Time to face the fact that most inner-city children (and maybe elsewhere) in the lower grades are not, ready, willing and able to learn, something that clearly causes continuing problems later when dealing with subjects requiring decent readiness levels for everything which follows in a logical progression. Such “students” need a different aproach than the current system. Maybe we need more Park District-like employees at lower pay grades than teachers where the outcomes are so easily predictable even in the early years. It need not necessarily be a caste system from one year to the next. What we have now… Read more »
Not ready or willing to learn I agree with but not able to learn is wrong. After over a decade working in CPS, I quit in the late 70’s after the birth of my first child because I realized how rapidly children will learn with a little attention. Caring parent(s) are the key to better public schools. But of course caring parents have abandoned CPS.
The majority of taxpayers who fund the schools and the government make less than those who work for the government. The system is upside down. Our state legislators get lifetime Blue across paid by the state if they “serve” 8 years. Especially in Southern Cook and downstate, homeowners are getting squeezed. Taxes keep going up, yet the value of their homes keep going down. Government doesn’t care, because as Trump once commented when asked about deficits, “I won’t be here”. In IL, it’s a Democrat mess, but nationally, Your beloved “conservative” pols have blood on their hands for our financial… Read more »
Illinois is uniquely perverted by Democrat corruption which is ongoing and worsening with supermajority rule. Even the ‘Republicans’ here in Illinois behave like Leftists. You have to accept that, or leave.
Some states are better than others when it comes to taxation and how government is run, that is certain. But if you have money, you can live well anywhere. We need a party for reasonable people who disavow the lunatics who have hijacked both of the political parties. Also, it’s apparent that government needs to be reimagined. They do many things, but few very well. No matter how noble a department or program’s mission may be, if it’s just wasting money, it should be cut. Federally, I think the Department of education should be abolished. Homeland Security as well should… Read more »
The lunatics have only hijacked one party
Fake news, distorted news, alternative facts live on both sides of the aisle. Fox, Newsmax, and the “conservative” publication shovel as much garbage as CNN does. They just want to enrich them selves, it’s just different oligarchs getting paid. MAGA is a cult, just as much as the liberal woke ideology is. Both are weaponized by monied interest to keep us fighting and rob us blind. Wake up
if i wake up will that make me” woke”?
There are very real differences between the right and the left. We are living through it right now. MAGA is a movement, not a cult. Woke is a religion, an actual religion with saints and sacraments.
Fox, Newsmax and some conservative sights don’t have nearly the reach or combined influence of NYT, Washington Post, AP, NPR, CNN, MSNBC and many others, who outright lie frequently. Fox, in my opinion, exaggerates facts on its evening opinion shows, but rarely lies like those on the left. And the Fox early evening news shows play things quite straight.
But…but…I have a Masters!
In gender studies
Who exactly are “contractors that provide educational support services” and why would the labor unions care about whether or not contractors got paid for not working? Seriously, are these positions occupied by retired teachers or something? Someone give me an example.
I’m guessing food service would be a big one. And probably also unionized.
Food service workers are typically employed by the school district and members of SEIU. Maybe substitute teachers are considered contractors?
ESP’s are aides.
Education support personnel.
Not substitute teachers.
Children with certain disabilities require an aide, for instance.
All of these dummies graduating high school with a 3rd grade level of reading and math skills will be the people getting jobs in Chicago schools and other Illinois government jobs
The ESP contract workers are not union employees.
Unions want union employees to receive better benefits than non-union contractors.
So the unions would probably not be in favor of the contractor provision.
So the unions got a lot of what they wanted, but not everything they wanted, would be my guess.
Here is text from HAM 3 in HB 2778. (d-10) A school district shall pay to its employees who provide educational support services to the district, including, but not limited to, custodial, transportation, food service providers, classroom assistants, or administrative staff, their daily, regular rate of pay and benefits rendered for any school closure or e-learning day if the closure precludes them from performing their regularly scheduled duties and the employee would have reported for work but for the closure. The bill has not yet been sent to the Governor. Here is the current status of the bill. Motion Filed to Reconsider Vote by Rep. Janet… Read more »
More text from HAM 3 in HB 2778. The following and the preceding text are from pages 6 and 7 of the bill. There is plenty more text in the bill. (d-15) A school district shall make full payment that would have otherwise been paid to its contractors who provide educational support services to the district, including, but not limited to, custodial, transportation, food service providers, classroom assistants, or administrative staff, their daily, regular rate of pay and benefits rendered for any school closure or e-learning day if any closure precludes them from performing their regularly scheduled duties and employees would have reported for… Read more »
The way IL is going 14-15%(2020 BLS.gov) of the employed population will be will be controlling who can work, how we can work…no right to work for you…and when & where we can work. They will continue to demand more outrageous benefits forever impacting our property & income taxes. And like the petulant children they are, will threaten to strike if they don’t get their way. #unionsownus
The Democrats want to make pay for no work official for public employee unions. Buried lead: The pandemic will never be over with Democrats.
Unbalievable. So, if the teachers unions land this $HAZARD PAY$ bonanza gold mine deal then im sure, like flies on sh_t, in 5 seconds flat afscme, seiu, cops unions, etc will demanding similar deals
We allow teachers to accrue two years of sick days then find ways to carve out exceptions to them using those sick days when they’re sick. Unreal.
A reasonable implementation of this plan would be to set a cap. For example, apply this rule only to employees with less than 40 sick days accrued (2 months). Still plenty generous and protects a large chunk of banked sick days in case of long illness.
Any Senate Republican who voted for this bill needs to be primaried. My gut tell me they may be taking educator union money and just looking the other way, and thereby driving up property taxes on their constituents. We have had enough.
Does it really even matter?