Analysis of the policymaking process regarding the rules and regulations for teacher re-certification in Illinois

This study looked at the policymaking process surrounding the rules and regulations for teacher re-certification in Illinois. In the midst of school funding reform, the issue of teacher quality became part of the controversial 1997 HB452. This study presented the events that took place as the major stakeholders, the business community, the teachers' unions, the Illinois State Board of Education, and the Illinois legislature, who worked out the details that would define the path for veteran teachers to demonstrate quality through continuing professional development. The events were analyzed by the language that was used to describe the process and also analyzed using three policymaking frameworks in order to more clearly understand what happened during this phase of education reform in Illinois in terms of other policymaking processes that caused the implementation of the law to be delayed three times.;Data for this study were collected by interviewing the major stakeholders in person. The interviews were tape recorded, transcribed, and sent back to the person interviewed for review. Also, at the time of the interviews, documents were collected that provided evidence of the various teacher quality positions taken by the stakeholders. Newspaper articles, newsletters, minutes from the State Board of Education meetings, and notes from hearings attended by the researcher provided another set of documents that were used in this study.;The result of the study verified that this policymaking process was quite contentious. Analysis, using the three policymaking frameworks, provided insight into the volatile nature of this process and possible explanations of why the implementation delays took place. Analysis revealed the struggle between the community process of policymaking (Peters, 1999; Stone, 1997) and the systems policymaking process (Easton, 1965). Further, through delay of the policy implementation, the teachers' unions were able to overcome what they considered the "punitive" teacher accountability aspects of HB452 that were endorsed by the business community. In the future, it seems that the community framework may be more effective in moving education reform forward in Illinois.