97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB0190

 

Introduced 1/18/2011, by Rep. Roger L. Eddy

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/27A-4

    Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Allows an additional 5 charter schools devoted exclusively to students from low-performing or overcrowded schools to operate at any one time in Chicago. Defines "low-performing school" and "overcrowded school". Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
527A-4 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/27A-4)
7    Sec. 27A-4. General Provisions.
8    (a) The General Assembly does not intend to alter or amend
9the provisions of any court-ordered desegregation plan in
10effect for any school district. A charter school shall be
11subject to all federal and State laws and constitutional
12provisions prohibiting discrimination on the basis of
13disability, race, creed, color, gender, national origin,
14religion, ancestry, marital status, or need for special
15education services.
16    (b) The total number of charter schools operating under
17this Article at any one time shall not exceed 125 120. Not more
18than 70 charter schools shall operate at any one time in any
19city having a population exceeding 500,000 and not more than 45
20charter schools shall operate at any one time in the remainder
21of the State, with not more than one charter school that has
22been initiated by a board of education, or by an
23intergovernmental agreement between or among boards of

 

 

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1education, operating at any one time in the school district
2where the charter school is located. In addition to these
3charter schools, the following charter schools may operate in
4any city having a population exceeding 500,000:
5        (1) Up up to but no more than 5 charter schools devoted
6    exclusively to re-enrolled high school dropouts may
7    operate at any one time in any city having a population
8    exceeding 500,000. Notwithstanding any provision to the
9    contrary in subsection (b) of Section 27A-5 of this Code,
10    each such dropout charter may operate up to 15 campuses
11    within the city. Any of these dropout charters may have a
12    maximum of 1,875 enrollment seats, any one of the campuses
13    of the dropout charter may have a maximum of 165 enrollment
14    seats, and each campus of the dropout charter must be
15    operated by the same legal entity as that for which the
16    charter is approved and certified.
17        (2) Up to but no more than 5 charter schools devoted
18    exclusively to students from low-performing or overcrowded
19    schools may operate at any one time in any city having a
20    population exceeding 500,000.
21    For purposes of implementing this Section, the State Board
22shall assign a number to each charter submission it receives
23under Section 27A-6 for its review and certification, based on
24the chronological order in which the submission is received by
25it. The State Board shall promptly notify local school boards
26when the maximum numbers of certified charter schools

 

 

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1authorized to operate have been reached.
2    (c) No charter shall be granted under this Article that
3would convert any existing private, parochial, or non-public
4school to a charter school.
5    (d) Enrollment in a charter school shall be open to any
6pupil who resides within the geographic boundaries of the area
7served by the local school board, provided that the board of
8education in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may
9designate attendance boundaries for no more than one-third of
10the charter schools permitted in the city if the board of
11education determines that attendance boundaries are needed to
12relieve overcrowding or to better serve low-income and at-risk
13students. Students residing within an attendance boundary may
14be given priority for enrollment, but must not be required to
15attend the charter school.
16    (e) Nothing in this Article shall prevent 2 or more local
17school boards from jointly issuing a charter to a single shared
18charter school, provided that all of the provisions of this
19Article are met as to those local school boards.
20    (f) No local school board shall require any employee of the
21school district to be employed in a charter school.
22    (g) No local school board shall require any pupil residing
23within the geographic boundary of its district to enroll in a
24charter school.
25    (h) If there are more eligible applicants for enrollment in
26a charter school than there are spaces available, successful

 

 

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1applicants shall be selected by lottery. However, priority
2shall be given to siblings of pupils enrolled in the charter
3school and to pupils who were enrolled in the charter school
4the previous school year, unless expelled for cause, and
5priority may be given to pupils residing within the charter
6school's attendance boundary, if a boundary has been designated
7by the board of education in a city having a population
8exceeding 500,000. Dual enrollment at both a charter school and
9a public school or non-public school shall not be allowed. A
10pupil who is suspended or expelled from a charter school shall
11be deemed to be suspended or expelled from the public schools
12of the school district in which the pupil resides.
13Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this subsection
14(h), any charter school with a mission exclusive to educating
15high school dropouts may restrict admission to students who are
16high school dropouts and any charter school with a mission
17exclusive to educating students from low-performing or
18overcrowded schools may restrict admission to students who are
19from low-performing or overcrowded schools.
20    (i) (Blank).
21    (j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
22contrary, a school district in a city having a population
23exceeding 500,000 shall not have a duty to collectively bargain
24with an exclusive representative of its employees over
25decisions to grant or deny a charter school proposal under
26Section 27A-8 of this Code, decisions to renew or revoke a

 

 

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1charter under Section 27A-9 of this Code, and the impact of
2these decisions, provided that nothing in this Section shall
3have the effect of negating, abrogating, replacing, reducing,
4diminishing, or limiting in any way employee rights,
5guarantees, or privileges granted in Sections 2, 3, 7, 8, 10,
614, and 15 of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.
7    (k) In this Section:
8    "Low-performing school" means a public school in a school
9district organized under Article 34 of this Code that enrolls
10students in any of grades kindergarten through 8 and that is
11ranked within the lowest 10% of schools in that district in
12terms of the percentage of students meeting or exceeding
13standards on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test.
14    "Overcrowded school" means a public school in a school
15district organized under Article 34 of this Code that (i)
16enrolls students in any of grades kindergarten through 8, (ii)
17has a percentage of low-income students of 70% or more, as
18identified in the most recently available School Report Card
19published by the State Board of Education, and (iii) is
20determined by the Chicago Board of Education to be in the most
21severely overcrowded 5% of schools in the district. On or
22before November 1 of each year, the Chicago Board of Education
23shall file a report with the State Board of Education on which
24schools in the district meet the definition of "overcrowded
25school".
26(Source: P.A. 96-105, eff. 7-30-09.)
 

 

 

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1    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
2becoming law.