SPRINGFIELD (Apr. 6, 2018) — Governor Bruce Rauner today signed legislation that makes it easier for teachers with out-of-state credentials to get licensed in Illinois. SB 863 is effective immediately.
“Our state needs to have ready access to qualified teachers,” Rauner said. “This law will help our schools meet shortages and fill other academic needs.”
The law also alleviates an immediate problem for a significant number of schools who hired out-of-state Speech Language Pathologists (SLP), only to find that the state’s licensing process was prohibitively burdensome. As a result, many of the SLPs could not begin work.
The new law combines provisions in the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) out-of-state teacher licensing process.
The two provisions allow for out-of-state teachers to become licensed in-state by [1] providing evidence of completing a comparable state-approved educator prep program, or [2] holding a comparable and valid license with similar grade and subject credentials from another state.
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