HILLSIDE, Ill. – A proposal sponsored by state Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, to increase the minimum salary for Illinois teachers was recently signed into law. 

“Teachers dedicate their lives to creating a brighter future for our children and they deserve fair compensation for their work,” Welch said. “The current salary structure makes it difficult for new teachers to make ends meet. Especially when they are facing large sums of student loan debt due to the increased cost of higher education.”

Welch sponsored House Bill 2078, which gradually increases the state’s minimum salary for teachers to $40,000 beginning in the 2023-24 school year. Increases afterwards would be based on the Consumer Price Index. The last Illinois law guiding universal teacher pay was passed in 1980.

According to a 2018 study by the Illinois State Board of Education, in over 500 of Illinois’ 898 school districts, new teachers with a bachelor’s degree received starting salaries less than $40,000. Low, uncompetitive salaries for teachers has led to rapid turnover, decreasing the quality of education, increasing class-sizes and creating the teacher shortage Illinois now faces.

“Because Illinois has gone nearly 40 years without increasing the starting salary for new teachers, we are seeing talented educators leave the state to teach elsewhere,” Welch said. “I’ve seen firsthand the impact that great teachers can have on the education of my kids and this new law will help ensure that we are attracting the best and brightest educators to Illinois.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Local teachers will be paid fairly under a new law from state Rep. Mike Halpin, D-Rock Island, raising the starting teacher salary in order to address the statewide teacher shortage.

“Paying teachers fairly is the first step toward building a stronger education system for Illinois’ middle-class families,” Halpin said. “Whether they are teaching our kids the skills they need to work high-wage jobs or guiding them through a critical stage in their lives, teachers play an invaluable part. This new law is a step towards ensuring they get a fair salary for their good work.”

Halpin passed House Bill 2078, which sets minimum teacher salaries at $32,076 for the 2020-2021 school year and gradually raises it by about $2,000 every year for four years. The last Illinois law guiding universal teacher pay was passed in 1980 and it set base salaries for teachers with a bachelor’s degree and 120 semester hours at just $10,000 a year. This legislation received strong bipartisan support and is now law.

Reports have found more than 1,400 unfilled teaching positions in Illinois, including many in the Quad-Cities. Halpin’s bill will help Illinois schools retain and recruit teachers to fill these positions. 

“Our community is dealing with a teacher shortage that is having very real and immediate consequences for our children,” Halpin said. “We need to do all we can to encourage more people to become teachers so kids are getting the high-quality education they deserve.”

NORTHLAKE, Ill. – A proposal sponsored by state Rep. Kathleen Willis, D-Northlake, which increases the minimum wage for Illinois teachers, was recently signed into law. 

“By increasing the starting wage for teachers we are giving a boost to our local schools in recruiting and retaining educators,” Willis said. “Quality schools start with quality teachers. This new law will help ensure that teachers in Illinois are compensated fairly for the work they do to help children in our community thrive.”

Willis sponsored House Bill 2078, which sets minimum teacher salaries at $32,076 for the 2020-2021 school year and gradually raises it by about $2,000 every year for four years. The last Illinois law guiding universal teacher pay was passed in 1980.

According to a 2018 study by the Illinois State Board of Education, in over 500 of Illinois’ 898 school districts, new teachers with a bachelor’s degree received starting salaries less than $40,000. Low, uncompetitive salaries for teachers has led to rapid turnover, decreasing the quality of education, increasing class-sizes and creating the teacher shortage Illinois now faces.

“Teachers in Illinois haven’t seen an increase in the minimum wage in over 40 years, they deserve a raise,” Willis said. “By attracting more educators to Illinois schools with higher wages we can address the teacher shortage and reduce class sizes.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, is helping combat Illinois’ teacher shortage by ensuring that educators in communities across the state are paid fairly for their important work.

“We need to recognize that teachers fill a vital role in our society and pay them what they deserve,” Jones said. “There are teachers who still have to live with roommates after years of shaping the next generation of Illinois’ kids, and that has to change. A well-funded education system filled with well-payed educators is the foundation for a thriving economy, a brighter future for our children and a stronger Illinois.”

Jones passed House Bill 2078, which sets minimum teacher salaries at $32,076 for the 2020-2021 school year and gradually raises it by about $2,000 every year for four years. The last Illinois law guiding universal teacher pay was passed in 1980 and it set base salaries for teachers with a bachelor’s degree and 120 semester hours at just $10,000 a year. This legislation received strong bipartisan support and is now law.

Illinois is currently tenth in the country in average statewide teacher pay; however, that figure is skewed by extremely high salaries in Chicago suburbs. A 2018 study by the Illinois State Board of Education found that over 500 of Illinois’ 898 school districts statewide started teachers with a bachelor’s degree at salaries less than $40,000, and 167 started them below $35,000. Low starting salaries for teachers has led to rapid turnover, decreasing the quality of education and creating the teacher shortage Illinois now faces.

“If teachers are paid what they’re worth, more new teachers will stick with their careers after the first few years,” Jones said. “Ensuring our children have access to the best education is not only critical to helping tomorrow’s leaders succeed, but an important step toward strengthening our economy and growing our state.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Diane Pappas, D-Itasca, is combatting the statewide teacher shortage by ensuring Illinois’ educators are paid fairly for their work.

“Teachers contribute so much to our society and to our kids’ lives; they deserve fair compensation for all the good work they do,” Pappas said. “They have devoted their careers to nurturing and guiding the next generation of Illinoisans through critical parts of their lives, and they shouldn’t be living paycheck to paycheck. This law will give many teachers the much-needed financial relief they have more than earned.”

Pappas helped pass House Bill 2078, which sets minimum teacher salaries at $32,076 for the 2020-2021 school year and gradually raises it by about $2,000 every year for four years. The last Illinois law guiding universal teacher pay was passed in 1980, and it set base salaries for teachers with a bachelor’s degree and 120 semester hours at just $10,000 a year. Pappas’s legislation received strong bipartisan support and is now law.

Illinois is currently tenth in the country in average statewide teacher pay; however, that figure is skewed by inconsistent salaries throughout the state. A 2018 study by the Illinois State Board of Education found that over 500 of Illinois’ 898 school districts statewide started teachers with a bachelor’s degree at salaries less than $40,000, and 167 started them below $35,000. Low-starting salaries for teachers has led to rapid turnover, decreasing the quality of education and creating the teacher shortage Illinois now faces.

“An investment in teachers is an investment in the next generation as well,” Pappas said. “Putting money towards giving our children a quality education that prepares them for high-skilled, high-wage jobs will not just help Illinois kids now, it will bolster our economy for long-term growth and build a stronger Illinois.”

CHICAGO – Local schools will get a boost in recruiting and retaining the best teachers under a new law backed by state Rep. Yehiel “Mark” Kalish, D-Chicago, which increases the minimum starting salary for Illinois teachers.

“The foundation of every great school is built with great teachers,” Kalish said. “Illinois has gone over 40 years without raising the minimum wage for our teachers. The women and men who dedicate their lives to the future of our children deserve a raise.”

Kalish sponsored House Bill 2078, which gradually increases the state’s minimum starting salary for teachers to $40,000 beginning in the 2023-24 school year. Future increases would be automatically tied to the Consumer Price Index. The last Illinois law guiding universal teacher pay was passed in 1980.

According to a 2018 study by the Illinois State Board of Education, in over 500 of Illinois’ 898 school districts, new teachers with a bachelor’s degree received starting salaries less than $40,000. Low, uncompetitive salaries for teachers has led to rapid turnover, decreasing the quality of education, increasing class-sizes and creating the teacher shortage Illinois now faces.

“One great teacher can have a huge impact on a student’s future success,” Kalish said. “That’s why it’s so important that Illinois is paying competitive wages and attracting the best and brightest educators to our local schools.”

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – Expressing appreciation for the value that teachers bring to the classroom, state Rep. LaToya Greenwood, D-East St. Louis, is highlighting the signing of legislation to increase the state’s minimum salary for teachers.

“Teachers play an instrumental role in the lives of every resident, and often their contributions are overlooked,” Greenwood said. “It was time to raise our state’s minimum teacher salary requirements to reflect the needs of today, and I am hopeful that it will work to address our teacher shortage while also giving our newest teachers a better standard of living that they deserve.”

Greenwood served as a chief sponsor of House Bill 2078, which gradually increases the state’s minimum salary for teachers to $40,000 beginning in the 2023-24 school year. Increases afterwards would be based on the Consumer Price Index. This year’s legislation is the first update in decades to the state’s minimum teacher salary, and is designed in part to attract more teachers to Illinois schools. According to data this past year from the Illinois State Board of Education, there were over 1,400 unfilled teacher positions in the state.

“We need to prioritize investment in our education system to secure the best possible future for our children,” Greenwood said. “This starts with us investing in the best possible instructors and ensuring that their pay reflects the value we see in them.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Diane Pappas, D-Itasca, helped secure fair salaries for teachers and address the Illinois teacher shortage by passing legislation increasing their wages over the coming years.

“Teachers fill some of the most important roles in our communities, and they should be paid well,” Pappas said. “Building a stronger Illinois starts with preparing a new generation of kids for higher education and the workforce. Illinois needs trained professionals to fill the gap of skilled workers in our state, and to do that, we need people committed to being lifelong educators.”

Pappas passed House Bill 2078, which sets minimum teacher salaries at $32,076 for the 2020-2021 school year and gradually raises it by about $2,000 every year for four years. The last Illinois law guiding universal teacher pay was passed in 1980, and it set base salaries for teachers with a bachelor’s degree and 120 semester hours at just $10,000 a year.

A 2018 study by the Illinois State Board of Education found that over 500 of Illinois’ 898 school districts statewide started teachers with a bachelor’s degree at salaries less than $40,000, and 167 started them below $35,000. Low-starting salaries for teachers has led to rapid turnover, decreasing the quality of education and creating the teacher shortage Illinois now faces.

“Fair salaries don’t just draw more people towards a job; they keep them there,” Pappas said. “Teachers who have been doing their job for a long time build relationships with their communities and develop more effective lesson plans. These wage increases are just the first of many steps I plan to take to bolster Illinois’ education system.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Local teachers would be able to receive fair pay raises under legislation introduced by state Rep. Kathleen Willis, D-Addison, repealing an unfair Rauner-era law that inadvertently capped many teachers’ salary.

 “Bruce Rauner’s policies reflected his wrongly held belief that teachers are the cause of Illinois’ problems, when in reality they are the solution,” said Willis. “To truly move Illinois forward, we need to provide our children with a world-class education, and that requires teachers who are fairly compensated for their hard work.”

A provision tucked in a 2018 budget implementation law attempted to limit end-of-career salary hikes paid to retiring teachers in order to increase their pension, but the law effectively capped many more teachers’ annual raises, including some teachers who are years away from retirement.       

Working with teachers’ groups like the Illinois Education Association, Willis introduced House Bill 350 this week, which rewrites the law to allow teachers to again receive raises of up to six percent.

“This measure had unintended consequences that not only had a negative impact on our members, but also will negatively impact our students. Districts now will be limited in the selection of the best educators to work with students on extra-curricular activities or on writing curriculum since that selection will be based on whether the district has the resources to pay the penalty they will incur. This harms our state’s ability to attract and retain educators in Illinois, encouraging them to teach in another state,” said Kathi Griffin, president of the Illinois Education Association. 

For more information, please contact Rep. Willis’ full-time constituent service office by calling 708-562-6970 or by emailing RepWillis77@gmail.com.