Delivered via email: April 17, 2026

This Week at the Capitol

Friday, April 17, was the third reading deadline for both the Senate and House. This week was incredibly busy and marked by numerous committee hearings and lengthy floor action as legislators worked to get bills through their respective chambers to move forward in the legislative process.

SB2427 (Mussman), an initiative of the Governor that would require districts to adopt a cell phone policy beginning in the 2027-2028 school year, did pass out of the House with overwhelming bipartisan support. This bill previously passed through the Senate. Because this bill was amended, it will need to return to the Senate for concurrence.

IASB was able to reach agreement with sponsors and remove our opposition on several key bills, including: 

• HB4582 (Mussman) – The agreed bill removed the mandate but codifies recommended best practices for addressing the educational needs of twice-exceptional children, as well as any student with a disability who is eligible for advanced coursework. 
• HB4068 (Crawford) – The bill puts timelines and notice requirements in place if a Section 504 plan is requested. However, the agreed bill clarifies the process and allows for additional flexibility to extend the timeline in limited circumstances.
• HB4379 (Briel) – The agreed language limits the installation of adult changing stations to school buildings designed for over 1,500 students that are constructed after January 1, 2029. No retrofitting of existing school buildings is required. The sponsor agreed to additional flexibility for schools related to the installation.

While the Senate adjourned on April 16, the House was still in session when this legislative update was sent. Any late floor or committee action will be shared in next week’s legislative update. While a significant number of bills will not proceed after today’s deadline, important pieces of legislation can still move forward through extensions, being amended onto another bill that has met the deadline, or incorporated into an omnibus bill. IASB will continue to monitor, meet with legislators, and inform members if that occurs with education-related bills. 

Notice to Remedy

One bill IASB was not able to reach agreement on is SB2914 (Cappel). On Tuesday, IASB sent a Call to Action regarding this bill and appreciates everyone who submitted a witness slip to oppose it. Over 500 witness slips were filed in opposition in less than two hours. IASB has been negotiating this issue for over a year. IASB and other school management groups previously offered language that would strengthen the Notice to Remedy process for employees. Some of that language includes: 1) Ensuring employees had the opportunity to be heard by the board or provide written testimony before action is taken on the Notice to Remedy, which is included is the amendment; and 2) Allowing the employee to request the Notice to Remedy be removed after a reasonable period of time, which was not included in the amendment that passed.

The key outstanding issue that gave rise to IASB’s opposition is that SB2914 now makes a local district’s issuance of a Notice to Remedy subject to binding arbitration. This fundamentally changes how school districts manage teacher discipline and creates significant challenges for school districts managing teacher misconduct. A Notice to Remedy is a supportive and corrective measure afforded only to tenured teachers. It specifies expectations and provides the tenured teacher with a final opportunity to correct behavior and avoid dismissal proceedings. SB2914 shifts this decision away from locally elected school board members and would allow an outside arbitrator to make a binding decision on a corrective employment matter issued by a local school board.

Despite the opposition, SB2914 passed out of the Senate Education committee with only one Senator voting against it and was later called and passed by the Senate on the floor. It is now moving on to the House. Please contact your Representatives to share concerns about the bill and its impacts on your district.

ISBE Redesign of Accountability System

At the ISBE Board Meeting on April 15, the board approved the Amendment to the ESSA State Plan to Redesign the Accountability System. IASB has been actively engaged in the redesign, submitting comments throughout the process to ensure that the Accountability System continues to provide school board members with the data they need to drive student achievement. The redesign was one of Dr. Tony Sanders’ priorities as state superintendent, and he conveyed his gratitude to everyone who supported this work, his commitment to the next steps in communicating the plan, and the importance of using the data for continuous improvement. The plan will now be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education and implemented as a part of the October 2026 Illinois Report Card.  

Bills that Passed out of Committee

The following bills impact K-12 education and were passed out of legislative committees this week.

Senate Education Committee

• Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (SB3669, Johnson)

House Elementary & Secondary Education: Administration, Licensing & Charter Schools Committee

• Food Contract Transparency Clarification (HB0476, Guerro-Cuellar)

Advocacy Ambassadors

The Advocacy Ambassadors met on April 17 for their monthly meeting. During the meeting, there was an update on federal and state legislation, along with an overview of updates to the IASB Advocacy section of the website and upcoming new tools and resources. If you are not a part of this group, sign up on the IASB website. The next meeting will be on May 15, just two weeks before the scheduled end of the session in Springfield.

COSSBA Federal Advocacy Conference

Registration for the COSSBA Federal Advocacy Conference began April 2. With the President’s recently proposed budget reducing K-12 education funding by 13%, join IASB and other Illinois school board members in Washington, D.C., September 21-23, to advocate for students in your school district. Key topics board members will advocate for include increased federal funding for Illinois school districts and support for student achievement data and research. Federal Advocacy Conference attendees will have the opportunity to build relationships with federal legislators, attend comprehensive training related to federal education issues, learn how to tell your district’s story, and develop a network of board members across the nation who are working to share the importance of public schools. IASB will host a dinner exclusively for Association members. Join us to make this year’s conference the best one yet!