Bills Pending in the Illinois General Assembly Pertaining to Education 2026
Prepared by Bev Johns, 2/18/26
House Bill 4068— Crawford. Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code. Provides that within 14 school days after receiving a written request for a federal Section 504. plan from a child’s parent or guardian, a school district shall determine whether the clinical information provided by the parent or guardian is sufficient to support the need for a Section 504 plan, whether further evaluation is warranted to make that determination, or whether there is no basis for an evaluation or plan based on available information. Provides that if the district decides not to confer eligibility based on existing information or to conduct an evaluation, the district shall provide written notice to the parent or guardian explaining the rationale for the decision. Provides that if the district agrees to an evaluation, a meeting with the parent or guardian hall be held no later than 14 school days after receiving the written request. Requires the district to convene a team that shall identify the assessments necessary to complete the evaluation. Provides that for a student with documentation from a licensed health care provider indicating the need for an individualized health care plan to address a likely medical threat to the student’s health or safety, the school’s Section 504 plan team shall meet with the parent or guardian to consider creation of an interim Section 504 plan consistent with the health care provider’s recommendations within 5 school days after receipt of the documentation, and if the Section 504 plan team agrees with the health care provider’s recommendation, implementation of the requisite accommodations shall commence no later than 5 school days after the planning meeting. Effective Immediately. House rules.
House Bill 4139— Ortiz. Amends the School Code. Provides that, beginning with the 2026-27 school year, every public elementary school and high school shall include the study of Latinx communities in the curriculum across all content areas, including the contributions made by individual Latinx communities in government and the arts, humanities, mathematics, and sciences, as well as the contributions of Latinx to the economic, cultural, social, and political development of the United States. Allows the State Superintendent of Education to prepare and make available to all school boards instructional materials that may be used as guidelines for development of the unit of instruction. Requires a regional superintendent of schools to monitor a school district’s compliance with the curricular requirements. Provides that each school board shall itself determine the minimum amount of instructional time that qualifies as a unit of instruction satisfying these requirements. Allows a school to meet the requirements through an online program or course. House Rules.
House Bill 4284— Cochran. Amends the Statute on Statutes and other various Acts. Changes all occurrences of “disabled person” to ” person with a disability”, changes all occurrences of “physically or mentally handicapped” to “visually impaired”. Replaces an outdated reference to the “Disabled Person Identification Card” with ” the Illinois Person with a Disability Identification Card”. Amends the Aid to the Aged, Blind or Disabled Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Changes “Aid to the Aged, Blind or Disabled program” to Aid to the Aged, Blind or Persons with Disabilities program”. Makes corresponding references in various Acts. Effective Immediately. House Rules.
House Bill 5488—Dias. Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code. Allows the Parent or guardian of a student or a student if the student is at least 18 years of age or emancipated to request an impartial, federal Section 504 due-process hearing. Within 3 business days after receipt of the request, requires a school district, special education joint agreement, or other educational entity to appoint a qualified, impartial hearing officer and to notify the hearing officer of the appointment. Requires a hearing officer to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest to the parties. Sets forth requirements for the request, the notification of a hearing officer appointment, the response to complaints, and amendments to hearing requests. Sets forth the responsibilities of the hearing officer and the hearing procedures. Sets forth the qualification requirements to a hearing officer. Requires the State Board of Education to create a training module for hearing officers, conduct the training, and determine whether an individual is appropriately qualified. Provides that the provisions apply to all Section 504 impartial due-process hearings requested after January 1, 2027 in cases regarding the identification, evaluation, eligibility, accommodations, or educational placement of a student who, because of a disability, is in need of or is believed to be in need of accommodations or services from a school district, special education joint agreement, or other educational entity. Provides that nothing in the provisions may be construed to require a party in a Section 504 complaint to exhaust administrative remedies prior to commencing a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction. House Rules.
House Bill 5510—Syed. Amends the Student Online Personal Protection Act. Provides that a student, school, or parent that has been injured or aggrieved by a violation of the Act may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction against the person or entity that violated the Act. Specifies that the provisions establishing a private right of action do not limit the Attorney General’s enforcement authority under the Act. House Rules.
Senate Bills
Senate Bill 2676— Preston. Amends the school Code. Provides that beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, the cursive writing instruction offered by public elementary school must be offered to students in grades 3 through 5 ( rather than requiring school districts to determine at what grade level or levels students are to be offered cursive writing, provided that such instruction must be offered before students complete grade 5). Senate Assignments.
Senate Bill 2905—Villa. Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code. Creates the Special Education Workload Task Force to develop guidance on the calculation of workload limits for special educators. Sets forth the members. Provides for meetings and administrative support. Requires the Task Force to submit its guidance to the State Board of Education and the General Assembly on or before June 30, 2027. Dissolves the Task Force upon submission of the guidance. Repeals these provisions on June 30, 2028. Senate Assignments.
Senate Bill 3112— Johnson. Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code. Provides that, with respect to any State statute or administrative rule that defines a general education classroom to be composed of a certain percentage of students with individualized education programs, such percentage shall exclude students with individualized education programs receiving only speech-language pathology services outside of the general education classroom for a mild speech disorder, provided that the instruction the students receive in the general education classroom does not require modification or accommodation (rather than providing that students with individualized education programs shall exclude students receiving only speech services outside of the general education classroom, provided that the instruction the students receive in the general education classroom does not require modification). Provides that such percentage shall include student with individualized education programs receiving only speech-language pathology services outside of the general education classroom for a moderate to severe speech disorder. Senate Assignments.
Senate Bill 3806— Allen. Amends the Transitional Bilingual Education Article of the School Code. Subject to appropriation, requires the State Board of Education to establish and implement an English Learner Grant Program to support school districts’ English learner programs. Effective Immediately. Senate Assignments.
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