Scherer Measure Brings Reforms to Teacher Content Tests, Addresses Teacher Shortage

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, is working to put more teachers in schools with a new law tailoring licensing exams to the topics addressed in elementary
classrooms.

“As someone who has taught people of all ages—from kindergarten to graduate school—I am intimately familiar with the needs of our students, teachers and communities,” said Scherer. “Our
number of teachers has still not recovered since dwindling to record lows during the pandemic. I think that one of the best things we can do is to remove the hurdles facing prospective teachers and get them into the teacher pipeline as quickly and responsibly as we can.”

In addition to the reworking of certain exams, Scherer’s bill also allows prospective teachers to submit super scores and begin student teaching without first passing the corresponding content test. These components of the new law lessen the financial burden on our future teachers by reducing the need for multiple testing sessions, each of which can easily cost over $200.

House Bill 5057 was signed into law on Friday, and is effective immediately.

“No elementary school teacher should be essentially blocked from filling a much-needed role in one of our classrooms because of a failure to do calculus, but that’s just what our state was doing
amidst a historic teacher shortage,” said Scherer. “I am proud of this measure that will finally restore common sense to our content area tests, diversify our classrooms by removing hurdles to
entering the profession and address the teacher shortage.”