The Senate Education Committee unanimously endorsed two bills that would allow retired teachers to work as substitutes more days in a school year without losing any of their pension benefits.

https://www.capitolnewsillinois.com/NEWS/bills-to-address-teacher-shortages-advance

Today this does make sense. However, with retirement rates out pacing any ability to fill vacancies, this will not be a permanent solution. It is a bandaid, but a small bandage is better than no bandage: if only to buy time to develop a better, more wholistic one.

The strange thing is: CPS is behind the downstate districts that have already adopted this process.

Martwick said the bill is identical to one that passed last year that applied only to downstate teachers.

“This extends the same provisions to the Chicago Public Schools,” Martwick said. “It would allow them to hire back retired teachers, but they would have to go through a whole process that would declare them as an area suffering a shortage.”