Is It Legal to Dismiss a Teacher Because He Had a Low Rating ?

In Board of Education of Community Consolidated School District No. 54 v. Spangler, 328 Ill. App. 3d 747, 767 N.E.2d 452, 263 Ill. Dec. 1 (2002), a tenured fifth-grade teacher received unsatisfactory ratings and was eventually dismissed by the Board because he failed to complete a remediation plan and raise his rating. A hearing officer reviewed the facts and decided that the teacher should not have been dismissed. The Board filed a complaint for administrative review, and the trial court confirmed the hearing officer's recommendation. The reviewing court on appeal affirmed, finding that, pursuant to statute, the hearing officer possessed the authority to decide all issues with respect to the dismissal decision, not the Board, and thus, the hearing officer's decision should stand. See Spangler, 328 Ill. App. 3d at 755.