Posted by Michelle Manchir at 3:25 p.m.
SPRINGFIELD — Teachers at Chicago schools would be able to live outside the city limits under a measure the Illinois Senate approved today.
Sponsoring Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, said the legislation would expand the hiring pool, perhaps bringing in more quality instructors. Current rules require Chicago Public Schools teachers to live in the city.
"The quality of the teacher first and foremost really indicates how well that child is going to do," Steans said. "I think making sure that we can draw on the broadest employment pool for teachers in the city is good educational policy."
The measure passed 40-7, with nine voting present.
One dissenting senator, Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, said teachers are more sensitive to a district’s needs if they live within its borders.
"It should be more than a job, it should be an investment in the communities and in the children that come from the communities," he said.
The education measure now goes to the House for consideration.