Chicago City Wire

Lilian Jiménez introduced HB1646 in the Illinois House on Jan. 23, 2025, during the general assembly session 104, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill's official text as follows: "Amends the Chicago School District Article of the School Code. In provisions concerning alternative procedures for teacher evaluation, remediation, and removal for cause after remediation, provides that if after the alternative evaluation procedures are determined by the State Board of Education, in a specified report of the State Board of Education, to have clear racial, ethnic, socio-economic, or geographic disparities for the educators evaluated under the alternative evaluation procedures, then the Chicago Board of Education and the exclusive representative of the district's teachers shall enter into negotiations to create a new evaluation system, to be implemented no later than August 15, 2026, that maintains the requirements for the alternative evaluation procedures and remedies the determined racial, ethnic, socio-economic, or geographic disparities. Effective immediately."

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends the Chicago School District Article of the School Code, addressing alternative procedures for teacher evaluation, remediation, and removal for cause. It allows the Chicago Board of Education and the teachers' exclusive representative to negotiate alternative evaluation procedures that include peer evaluation and consider student performance as a key factor. If these procedures, as reported by the State Board of Education, exhibit racial, ethnic, socio-economic, or geographic disparities by August 15, 2026, a new evaluation system must be negotiated to rectify these disparities. The bill, effective immediately, also addresses remediation plans impacted by public health emergencies, allowing modification of timelines and potential waivers for teacher evaluations under certain conditions.

Jiménez graduated from DePaul University in 2000 with a BA and again in 2011 from DePaul University School of Law with a JD.

Lilian Jiménez is currently serving in the Illinois State House, representing the state's 4th House District. She replaced previous state representative Delia Ramirez in 2023.

Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.

You can read more about bills and other measures here.

Bill Number	Date Introduced	Short Description
HB1646	01/23/2025	Amends the Chicago School District Article of the School Code. In provisions concerning alternative procedures for teacher evaluation, remediation, and removal for cause after remediation, provides that if after the alternative evaluation procedures are determined by the State Board of Education, in a specified report of the State Board of Education, to have clear racial, ethnic, socio-economic, or geographic disparities for the educators evaluated under the alternative evaluation procedures, then the Chicago Board of Education and the exclusive representative of the district's teachers shall enter into negotiations to create a new evaluation system, to be implemented no later than August 15, 2026, that maintains the requirements for the alternative evaluation procedures and remedies the determined racial, ethnic, socio-economic, or geographic disparities. Effective immediately.