PAC closes case: Chicago Public Schools teacher evaluation records exempt from disclosure

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Dear

This determination letter is issued pursuant to section 9.5(c) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 ILCS 140/9.5(c) (West 2022), as amended by Public Act 103-069, effective January 1, 2024). For the reasons set forth below, the Public Access Bureau concludes that no further inquiry is warranted.

On April 4, 2024, you submitted a FOIA request to Chicago Public Schools ( CPS) seeking Recognizing Educators Advancing Chicago' s Students ( REACH) test results from school year 2019 through present. In your request, you described REACH as " the district' s enhanced, comprehensive system for teacher evaluating and support," and REACH Performance Tasks as performance- based, formative assessments." 1 You argued that "[ t]hese records should be released so the records provided will allow for the results of each student to be matched without revealing private personally identifiable information." 2 On April 19, 2024, CPS denied your request in its entirety pursuant to sections 7(1)(a), 7(1)(j)(ii), and 7.5(r) of FOIA. 3 In connection On June 18, 2024, you completed the submission of the above- referenced Request for Review. You contended that "[ t]his request does not ask for any records that could identify a student or a specific teacher if unidentified, and withholding such records is a violation of the Illinois FOIA." 7 Section 7(1)(a) of FOIA exempts from disclosure "[ i]nformation specifically prohibited from disclosure by federal or State law or rules and regulations implementing federal or State law." The School Code provision CPS cited is a State law that provides: " Except as otherwise provided under this Act, disclosure of public school teacher, principal, and superintendent performance evaluations is prohibited." Similarly, the Personnel Record Review Act provision CPS cited states: " This Act shall not be construed to diminish a right of access to records already otherwise provided by law, provided that disclosure of performance evaluations under the Freedom of Information Act shall be prohibited." ( Emphasis added.) 8 These provisions expressly exempt teacher performance evaluations from disclosure pursuant to FOIA.

You noted in your FOIA request to CPS that the test results you seek are generated for evaluating teachers' performance. CPS confirmed in its response to your request that the records are solely used to evaluate teachers' performance. Among other things, these evaluations can be used in personnel decisions, such as tenure attainment, identification of teacher leaders, or removal of persistently low-performing teachers who are not meeting district expectations." 9 Under these circumstances, the records you requested plainly constitute This file is closed. If you have any questions, please contact me at katherine. goldsmith@ilag. gov.

Very truly yours, KATIE GOLDSMITH Assistant Attorney General Public Access Bureau 81858 f no fi war sd cc: Via electronic mail Ms. Annie Righi Freedom of Information Act Officer Chicago Public Schools 42 West Madison Street, 3rd Floor Chicago, Illinois 60602 arighi@cpsd. edu