Teachers Unions and Education Lobbyists Attack New FOIA Law
Senate Bill 315 by the Numbers:

• Days that teacher, principal and superintendent performance evaluations were publicly available in Illinois:  15
• Days it took the General Assembly and Governor to make them secret once again:  4
• Amount of money education lobbyists and unions put in jeopardy if they didn't get their way:  $500,000,000
• Total hours that House Amendment 1 (which became the bill) was made publicly available before being voted out of committee:  0
  

The General Assembly took virtually no time last week to exempt teacher, principal and superintendent performance evaluations from the newly revised Freedom of Information Act.  It took Governor Quinn even less time to sign the bill - approximately 24 hours.

Even more appalling is how this legislation eventually came to pass.  On the afternoon of Monday, January 11 an amendment to SB 315 suddenly surfaced in the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee.  That amendment was designed to net Illinois more than $500 million in federal funding through the new "Race to the Top" program for the state's neediest schools -  but it also exempted teacher and principal performance evaluations from public disclosure. 

The amendment was presented to the committee even before it appeared on the public record and was approved by a 15-4 vote.
 
The legislation was then moved to the House floor, but not before superintendent performance evaluations could be exempted from disclosure as well.  They got there own special amendment, which never even saw committee, that was simply approved by a non-recorded voice vote on the House floor.
 
This legislation would go onto pass both the House and Senate in a matter of days, despite vigorous opposition from the IPA.  It is now law, effective immediately, after Governor Quinn signed the bill the same day he received it - January, 15.

This now means that the evaluations of janitors, secretaries, teacher aides, bus drivers, cafeteria workers or any other type of school employee, remain open.  Yet, the evaluations of those actually charged with teaching students are now closed from public view.

The message to lawmakers from teachers unions and education lobbyists was clear; either accept this new exemption or put hundreds of millions of education dollars at risk.  Lawmakers unfortunately sided with government secrecy, underhanded tactics and campaign contributions instead of doing what was right for Illinois taxpayers.

Section 7 of the FOIA states, "the disclosure of information that bears on the public duties of public employees and officials shall not be considered an invasion of personal privacy."  The IPA continues to stand by that statement as sound public policy and will oppose any further attempts to negate positive changes to the FOIA.