Illinois SB 2909 was signed by Governor Pritzker on 10 July 2026 as Public Act 104-0565 and takes effect on 1 January 2027. It amends the School Code so that an evaluator may not use an artificial intelligence tool to assign a numerical score or qualitative rating to any component of a teacher's evaluation, or to any evaluation task requiring professional judgment. AI may still support the evaluator with administrative work.
Illinois SB 2909 passed both chambers unanimously (Senate 55-0 on 16 April 2026, House 113-0 on 27 May 2026), was approved by Governor Pritzker on 10 July 2026 as Public Act 104-0565, and takes effect on 1 January 2027. It is enacted law but is not yet in force.
It amends the Evaluation of Certified Employees Article of the School Code, the provisions that govern how teachers in the state are formally assessed.
The line it draws is between judgment and administration. An evaluator may not use an artificial intelligence tool to assign a numerical score or a qualitative rating for any component of an evaluation, nor for any evaluation task that requires professional judgment. What remains permitted is AI used to support the evaluator in administrative tasks.
That distinction is narrower and more precise than a general ban on AI in schools, and it targets the specific mechanism by which an automated rating becomes consequential. A teacher evaluation score is not advisory: it feeds tenure, discipline and employment decisions. By reserving the scoring act to a human evaluator, the amendment keeps an identifiable person accountable for a judgment that carries employment consequences, while leaving schools free to use the same tools for scheduling, transcription and record-keeping.
The bill sits alongside Illinois HB 3773, which from 1 January 2026 makes AI with a discriminatory effect in employment decisions a violation of the Illinois Human Rights Act. Read together, the two show the state regulating automated assessment of workers from two directions — one by civil rights effect, the other by reserving specific professional judgments to people.
Illinois — what the law requires
The figures AI Law Tracker holds for Illinois — tracked jurisdiction-wide, not derived from this story. See every source on the Illinois law page →
Key requirement. Employers must notify employees when AI assists in hiring, reviews, promotions, or discipline, and may not use AI that discriminates against protected classes (including via ZIP-code proxies).
Jurisdiction record last verified Jul 11, 2026
Sources & citations
- The amendment to the Evaluation of Certified Employees Article of the School Code, the prohibition on using an AI tool to assign a numerical score or qualitative rating or to perform tasks requiring professional judgment, and the carve-out permitting AI support for administrative tasks. legiscan.com
- The companion Illinois Human Rights Act amendment effective 1 January 2026. natlawreview.com
- Signed by the Governor on 10 July 2026 as Public Act 104-0565; Senate passed 55-0, House passed 113-0; effective 1 January 2027. www.ilga.gov
See the full AI law picture for Illinois
Statuses, deadlines, penalties, and primary sources — kept current on AI Law Tracker.
How this was made. This story is drafted by an automated pipeline from the primary sources cited above, then checked against those sources before it is published. Nothing is published as raw machine output, and no claim here is stronger than the source it links to. Full methodology · our own data & AI practices.