HB0190 EngrossedLRB097 02933 NHT 42957 b

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 120. Not more
18than 70 charter schools shall operate at any one time in any
19city having a population exceeding 500,000, with not more than
205 charter schools devoted exclusively to students from
21low-performing or overcrowded schools operating at any one time
22in that city; and not more than 45 charter schools shall
23operate at any one time in the remainder of the State, with not

 

 

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1more than one charter school that has been initiated by a board
2of education, or by an intergovernmental agreement between or
3among boards of education, operating at any one time in the
4school district where the charter school is located. In
5addition to these charter schools, up to but no more than 5
6charter schools devoted exclusively to re-enrolled high school
7dropouts may operate at any one time in any city having a
8population exceeding 500,000. Notwithstanding any provision to
9the contrary in subsection (b) of Section 27A-5 of this Code,
10each such dropout charter may operate up to 15 campuses within
11the city. Any of these dropout charters may have a maximum of
121,875 enrollment seats, any one of the campuses of the dropout
13charter may have a maximum of 165 enrollment seats, and each
14campus of the dropout charter must be operated by the same
15legal entity as that for which the charter is approved and
16certified.
17    For purposes of implementing this Section, the State Board
18shall assign a number to each charter submission it receives
19under Section 27A-6 for its review and certification, based on
20the chronological order in which the submission is received by
21it. The State Board shall promptly notify local school boards
22when the maximum numbers of certified charter schools
23authorized to operate have been reached.
24    (c) No charter shall be granted under this Article that
25would convert any existing private, parochial, or non-public
26school to a charter school.

 

 

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

 

 

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1priority may be given to pupils residing within the charter
2school's attendance boundary, if a boundary has been designated
3by the board of education in a city having a population
4exceeding 500,000. Dual enrollment at both a charter school and
5a public school or non-public school shall not be allowed. A
6pupil who is suspended or expelled from a charter school shall
7be deemed to be suspended or expelled from the public schools
8of the school district in which the pupil resides.
9Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this subsection
10(h), any charter school with a mission exclusive to educating
11high school dropouts may restrict admission to students who are
12high school dropouts and any charter school with a mission
13exclusive to educating students from low-performing or
14overcrowded schools may restrict admission to students who are
15from low-performing or overcrowded schools.
16    (i) (Blank).
17    (j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
18contrary, a school district in a city having a population
19exceeding 500,000 shall not have a duty to collectively bargain
20with an exclusive representative of its employees over
21decisions to grant or deny a charter school proposal under
22Section 27A-8 of this Code, decisions to renew or revoke a
23charter under Section 27A-9 of this Code, and the impact of
24these decisions, provided that nothing in this Section shall
25have the effect of negating, abrogating, replacing, reducing,
26diminishing, or limiting in any way employee rights,

 

 

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1guarantees, or privileges granted in Sections 2, 3, 7, 8, 10,
214, and 15 of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.
3    (k) In this Section:
4    "Low-performing school" means a public school in a school
5district organized under Article 34 of this Code that enrolls
6students in any of grades kindergarten through 8 and that is
7ranked within the lowest 10% of schools in that district in
8terms of the percentage of students meeting or exceeding
9standards on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test.
10    "Overcrowded school" means a public school in a school
11district organized under Article 34 of this Code that (i)
12enrolls students in any of grades kindergarten through 8, (ii)
13has a percentage of low-income students of 70% or more, as
14identified in the most recently available School Report Card
15published by the State Board of Education, and (iii) is
16determined by the Chicago Board of Education to be in the most
17severely overcrowded 5% of schools in the district. On or
18before November 1 of each year, the Chicago Board of Education
19shall file a report with the State Board of Education on which
20schools in the district meet the definition of "overcrowded
21school".
22(Source: P.A. 96-105, eff. 7-30-09.)
 
23    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
24becoming law.