UPDATE: The Illinois House passed the bill 112 to 1. Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel, in a statement, called the passage a "historic victory for students in Chicago and across the state."
Today may be a huge day for Illinois education reform -- if the Illinois House says yest to changes that the Senate has already approved.
A reform package that makes changes to teacher tenure and how teachers are hired, fired or reassignged moved to the floor on Wednesday. All three unions -- the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Illinois Education Association and the Chicago Teachers Union oppose the bill.
The bill aslso makes it harder for teachers to strike because they will need 75 percent of members to agree. It will also mean that school districts can hire and assign teachers based on who best served the district, not seniority.
Teachers can also be dismissed more quickly for bad conduct or performance.
It's believed the stumbling blocks are how the changes impact Chicago Public Schools, not downstate.
