Opinion ID: 2248122
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: FACTS: LeROY

Text: The facts of the LeRoy case were laid out fully in the appellate opinion ( LeRoy, 199 Ill.App.3d at 351-56, 145 Ill.Dec. 239, 556 N.E.2d 857). They may be summarized as follows. The LEA, which represents the certified personnel in District 2, entered into two successive collective-bargaining agreements with District 2, covering the years 1985 through 1989. The first agreement, which expired on June 30, 1988, contained a provision dealing with employee evaluations. Following the passage of article 24A of the School Code (Ill.Rev.Stat.1985, ch. 122, par. 24A-1 et seq.), which required that school districts, in cooperation with the teachers' bargaining representative, develop an evaluation plan complying with specific requirements set out in section 24A-5 of the School Code (Ill.Rev.Stat. 1985, ch. 122, par. 24A-5), the LEA formed a committee to discuss negotiation of an evaluation plan. On May 29, 1986, the LEA sent a formal request to District 2 to bargain the decisions and effects of teacher evaluation plans in response to article 24A. Subsequently, the LEA received District 2's first proposed evaluation plan. LEA members were under the impression that the ensuing discussions between the LEA and District 2 were negotiating sessions. District 2, on the other hand, maintains that it sought only input, not counterproposals, from the LEA. In September 1987, District 2 presented its evaluation plan to the LEA. The LEA responded with its own plan, which differed in several essential points from the plan drawn up by District 2. In March 1987, District 2's committee gave the LEA committee a second evaluation proposal, and the two committees set up a joint meeting schedule. As a result, several LEA proposals were accepted by the District 2 committee. However, District 2 insists that the LEA committee operated only in an advisory capacity. The joint meetings of both committees continued, and on July 27, 1987, District 2 gave the LEA a draft proposal which was essentially the composite proposal to which both committees had previously agreed. However, on September 11, 1987, District 2 sent the LEA a revised plan which included items which had never been discussed by the joint committee, as well as others which had been deleted by the joint committee from earlier projected plans. The LEA sent a letter of protest to the school board. Nevertheless, on September 14, 1987, District 2 formally adopted the September 11, 1987, revised plan. While meetings of the evaluation committees continued, District 2 and the LEA had begun collective-bargaining discussions concerning the 1987 through 1989 contract. On April 10, 1987, the LEA presented District 2 with a contract proposal which would incorporate, as article V, the plan developed by the evaluation committee. During contract negotiations, District 2 repeatedly rejected the incorporation of article V. Both District 2's and the LEA's negotiators recognized that the proposed article V failed to comply completely with section 24A-1 of the School Code. However, the LEA negotiator stated that he knew the LEA committee was still working on what it considered to be a proper plan. In December 1987, the LEA filed unfair labor practice charges with the IELRB, alleging that District 2 had unlawfully adopted and implemented a teacher evaluation plan. Subsequently, the IELRB filed a complaint charging District 2 with violating sections 14(a)(1) and (a)(5) of the Act (Ill. Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 48, pars. 1714(a)(1), (a)(5)) by unilaterally adopting a teacher evaluation plan. The IELRB hearing officer determined that District 2 violated the Act by failing to bargain with the LEA concerning the development and implementation of a teacher evaluation plan, and by failing to bargain over the impact of the decision to implement the plan. District 2 then filed exceptions to the hearing officer's recommended decision with the IELRB. Following the submission of briefs and oral argument, the IELRB issued an opinion adopting the hearing officer's findings of fact and affirming the hearing officer's determination that District 2 had violated sections 14(a)(1) and (a)(5) of the Act. The IELRB then ordered that District 2: (1) cease and desist from refusing to bargain with the LEA over the development and implementation of a teacher evaluation plan in conformance with article 24A of the School Code (Ill. Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 122, par. 24A-1 et seq. ) and over the decision to implement the plan; (2) immediately rescind the evaluation plan previously adopted by the school board; (3) make whole those certified employees who received an unfavorable performance rating or other unfavorable personnel action as a direct result of the evaluation plan; and (4) meet and bargain with the LEA over the development of a teacher evaluation plan conforming to the requirements of article 24A of the School Code. LeRoy Community Unit School District 2, 5 Pub. Employee Rep. (Ill.) par. 1131, No. 88-CA-0031-S (IELRB June 23, 1989). District 2 then filed for direct review of the IELRB's order in the appellate court. The IELRB filed a cross-petition for enforcement. The appellate court affirmed the IELRB in part, reversed in part, and remanded the cause to the IELRB. ( LeRoy, 199 Ill.App.3d 347, 145 Ill.Dec. 239, 556 N.E.2d 857.) The court held that: substantive criteria of a teacher evaluation plan are not a subject of mandatory collective bargaining; mechanical procedures involved in the evaluation process and the remediation plan are subject to mandatory bargaining; the LEA's unfair labor practice complaint was timely filed; the LEA had not waived midterm bargaining under the 1985-87 agreement; the zipper clause in the 1987-89 agreement did not constitute a clear and unmistakable waiver of the right to bargain with respect to the teacher evaluation plan; the LEA had made a viable bargaining demand; and section 16(c) of the Act, as amended to permit the filing of the enforcement actions in the appellate court, was unconstitutional. LeRoy, 199 Ill.App.3d 347, 145 Ill.Dec. 239, 556 N.E.2d 857. The LEA and the IELRB filed petitions for leave to appeal (134 Ill.2d R. 315), raising two issues: whether the substantive criteria of an evaluation plan can be bargained; and whether enforcement actions in the appellate court are constitutional. This court then consolidated this cause with Central City. Various amici were permitted to file briefs in both causes, supporting either the school districts' or the teachers associations' points of view.