Sen. Jacqueline Y. Collins

Filed: 4/2/2014

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 588

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 588 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections
527A-4, 27A-11, and 27A-12 and by adding Sections 27A-10.5 and
627A-11.10 as follows:
 
7    (105 ILCS 5/27A-4)
8    Sec. 27A-4. General Provisions.
9    (a) The General Assembly does not intend to alter or amend
10the provisions of any court-ordered desegregation plan in
11effect for any school district. A charter school shall be
12subject to all federal and State laws and constitutional
13provisions prohibiting discrimination on the basis of
14disability, race, creed, color, gender, national origin,
15religion, ancestry, marital status, or need for special
16education services.

 

 

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1    (b) The total number of charter schools operating under
2this Article at any one time shall not exceed 120. Not more
3than 70 charter schools shall operate at any one time in any
4city having a population exceeding 500,000, with at least 5
5charter schools devoted exclusively to students from
6low-performing or overcrowded schools operating at any one time
7in that city; and not more than 45 charter schools shall
8operate at any one time in the remainder of the State, with not
9more than one charter school that has been initiated by a board
10of education, or by an intergovernmental agreement between or
11among boards of education, operating at any one time in the
12school district where the charter school is located. In
13addition to these charter schools, up to but no more than 5
14charter schools devoted exclusively to re-enrolled high school
15dropouts and/or students 16 or 15 years old at risk of dropping
16out may operate at any one time in any city having a population
17exceeding 500,000. Notwithstanding any provision to the
18contrary in subsection (b) of Section 27A-5 of this Code, each
19such dropout charter may operate up to 15 campuses within the
20city. Any of these dropout charters may have a maximum of 1,875
21enrollment seats, any one of the campuses of the dropout
22charter may have a maximum of 165 enrollment seats, and each
23campus of the dropout charter must be operated, through a
24contract or payroll, by the same legal entity as that for which
25the charter is approved and certified.
26    For purposes of implementing this Section, the State Board

 

 

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1shall assign a number to each charter submission it receives
2under Section 27A-6 for its review and certification, based on
3the chronological order in which the submission is received by
4it. The State Board shall promptly notify local school boards
5when the maximum numbers of certified charter schools
6authorized to operate have been reached.
7    (c) No charter shall be granted under this Article that
8would convert any existing private, parochial, or non-public
9school to a charter school.
10    (d) Enrollment in a charter school shall be open to any
11pupil who resides within the geographic boundaries of the area
12served by the local school board, provided that the board of
13education in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may
14designate attendance boundaries for no more than one-third of
15the charter schools permitted in the city if the board of
16education determines that attendance boundaries are needed to
17relieve overcrowding or to better serve low-income and at-risk
18students. Students residing within an attendance boundary may
19be given priority for enrollment, but must not be required to
20attend the charter school.
21    (e) Nothing in this Article shall prevent 2 or more local
22school boards from jointly issuing a charter to a single shared
23charter school, provided that all of the provisions of this
24Article are met as to those local school boards.
25    (f) No local school board shall require any employee of the
26school district to be employed in a charter school.

 

 

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1    (g) No local school board shall require any pupil residing
2within the geographic boundary of its district to enroll in a
3charter school.
4    (h) If there are more eligible applicants for enrollment in
5a charter school than there are spaces available, successful
6applicants shall be selected by lottery, which lottery must be
7administered by the authorizer. However, priority shall be
8given to siblings of pupils enrolled in the charter school and
9to pupils who were enrolled in the charter school the previous
10school year, unless expelled for cause, and priority may be
11given to pupils residing within the charter school's attendance
12boundary, if a boundary has been designated by the board of
13education in a city having a population exceeding 500,000. A
14charter school waiting list must be centrally administered by
15the authorizer. A charter school may not create any admissions
16process subsequent to a lottery. In the event that a student
17transfers from a charter school, the authorizer shall inform
18the next parent or guardian on the waiting list. Dual
19enrollment at both a charter school and a public school or
20non-public school shall not be allowed. A pupil who is
21suspended or expelled from a charter school shall be deemed to
22be suspended or expelled from the public schools of the school
23district in which the pupil resides. Notwithstanding anything
24to the contrary in this subsection (h):
25        (1) any charter school with a mission exclusive to
26    educating high school dropouts may grant priority

 

 

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1    admission to students who are high school dropouts and/or
2    students 16 or 15 years old at risk of dropping out and any
3    charter school with a mission exclusive to educating
4    students from low-performing or overcrowded schools may
5    restrict admission to students who are from low-performing
6    or overcrowded schools; "priority admission" for charter
7    schools exclusively devoted to re-enrolled dropouts or
8    students at risk of dropping out means a minimum of 90% of
9    students enrolled shall be high school dropouts; and
10        (2) any charter school located in a school district
11    that contains all or part of a federal military base may
12    set aside up to 33% of its current charter enrollment to
13    students with parents assigned to the federal military
14    base, with the remaining 67% subject to the general
15    enrollment and lottery requirements of subsection (d) of
16    this Section and this subsection (h); if a student with a
17    parent assigned to the federal military base withdraws from
18    the charter school during the course of a school year for
19    reasons other than grade promotion, those students with
20    parents assigned to the federal military base shall have
21    preference in filling the vacancy.
22    (i) (Blank).
23    (j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
24contrary, a school district in a city having a population
25exceeding 500,000 shall not have a duty to collectively bargain
26with an exclusive representative of its employees over

 

 

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1decisions to grant or deny a charter school proposal under
2Section 27A-8 of this Code, decisions to renew or revoke a
3charter under Section 27A-9 of this Code, and the impact of
4these decisions, provided that nothing in this Section shall
5have the effect of negating, abrogating, replacing, reducing,
6diminishing, or limiting in any way employee rights,
7guarantees, or privileges granted in Sections 2, 3, 7, 8, 10,
814, and 15 of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.
9    (k) In this Section:
10    "Low-performing school" means a public school in a school
11district organized under Article 34 of this Code that enrolls
12students in any of grades kindergarten through 8 and that is
13ranked within the lowest 10% of schools in that district in
14terms of the percentage of students meeting or exceeding
15standards on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test.
16    "Overcrowded school" means a public school in a school
17district organized under Article 34 of this Code that (i)
18enrolls students in any of grades kindergarten through 8, (ii)
19has a percentage of low-income students of 70% or more, as
20identified in the most recently available School Report Card
21published by the State Board of Education, and (iii) is
22determined by the Chicago Board of Education to be in the most
23severely overcrowded 5% of schools in the district. On or
24before November 1 of each year, the Chicago Board of Education
25shall file a report with the State Board of Education on which
26schools in the district meet the definition of "overcrowded

 

 

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1school". "Students at risk of dropping out" means students 16
2or 15 years old in a public school in a district organized
3under Article 34 of this Code that enrolls students in any
4grades 9-12 who have been absent at least 90 school attendance
5days of the previous 180 school attendance days.
6(Source: P.A. 97-151, eff. 1-1-12; 97-624, eff. 11-28-11;
797-813, eff. 7-13-12; 98-474, eff. 8-16-13.)
 
8    (105 ILCS 5/27A-10.5 new)
9    Sec. 27A-10.5. Educational or charter management
10organization.
11    (a) In this Section:
12    "CMO" means a charter management organization.
13    "EMO" means an educational management organization.
14    (b) A charter school established on or after the effective
15date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly may
16not enter into a contract with a for-profit EMO or CMO.
17    (c) All equipment, furnishings, and physical plants that
18are purchased with public funds are the property of the charter
19school, not the EMO or CMO. In the event a charter school is
20dissolved, such property must be transferred to the authorizer.
21    (d) No charter school may employ a staff person who is
22simultaneously employed by an EMO or CMO.
 
23    (105 ILCS 5/27A-11)
24    Sec. 27A-11. Local financing.

 

 

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1    (a) For purposes of the School Code, pupils enrolled in a
2charter school shall be included in the pupil enrollment of the
3school district within which the pupil resides. Each charter
4school (i) shall determine the school district in which each
5pupil who is enrolled in the charter school resides, (ii) shall
6report the aggregate number of pupils resident of a school
7district who are enrolled in the charter school to the school
8district in which those pupils reside, and (iii) shall maintain
9accurate records of daily attendance that shall be deemed
10sufficient to file claims under Section 18-8 notwithstanding
11any other requirements of that Section regarding hours of
12instruction and teacher certification.
13    (b) Except for a charter school established by referendum
14under Section 27A-6.5, as part of a charter school contract,
15the charter school and the local school board shall agree on
16funding and any services to be provided by the school district
17to the charter school. Agreed funding that a charter school is
18to receive from the local school board for a school year shall
19be paid in equal quarterly installments with the payment of the
20installment for the first quarter being made not later than
21July 1, unless the charter establishes a different payment
22schedule.
23    All services centrally or otherwise provided by the school
24district including, but not limited to, rent, food services,
25custodial services, maintenance, curriculum, media services,
26libraries, transportation, and warehousing shall be subject to

 

 

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1negotiation between a charter school and the local school board
2and paid for out of the revenues negotiated pursuant to this
3subsection (b); provided that the local school board shall not
4attempt, by negotiation or otherwise, to obligate a charter
5school to provide pupil transportation for pupils for whom a
6district is not required to provide transportation under the
7criteria set forth in subsection (a)(13) of Section 27A-7.
8    In no event shall the funding be less than 75% or more than
9125% of the school district's per capita student tuition
10multiplied by the number of students residing in the district
11who are enrolled in the charter school.
12    It is the intent of the General Assembly that funding and
13service agreements under this subsection (b) shall be neither a
14financial incentive nor a financial disincentive to the
15establishment of a charter school.
16    The charter school may set and collect reasonable fees.
17Fees collected from students enrolled at a charter school shall
18be retained by the charter school.
19    (c) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this Section, the
20proportionate share of State and federal resources generated by
21students with disabilities or staff serving them shall be
22directed to charter schools enrolling those students by their
23school districts or administrative units. The proportionate
24share of moneys generated under other federal or State
25categorical aid programs shall be directed to charter schools
26serving students eligible for that aid.

 

 

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1    (d) The governing body of a charter school is authorized to
2accept gifts, donations, or grants of any kind made to the
3charter school and to expend or use gifts, donations, or grants
4in accordance with the conditions prescribed by the donor;
5however, a gift, donation, or grant may not be accepted by the
6governing body if it is subject to any condition contrary to
7applicable law or contrary to the terms of the contract between
8the charter school and the local school board. Charter schools
9shall be encouraged to solicit and utilize community volunteer
10speakers and other instructional resources when providing
11instruction on the Holocaust and other historical events.
12    (e) (Blank).
13    (f) The State Board shall provide technical assistance to
14persons and groups preparing or revising charter applications.
15    (g) At the non-renewal or revocation of its charter, each
16charter school shall refund to the local board of education all
17unspent funds.
18    If a charter school student transfers from the charter
19school to another school in the same school district or to a
20school in a different school district, the charter school shall
21pay to the school district where the charter school is located
22the prorated portion of public funding provided for the
23education of that student. The charter school shall make this
24payment on or before June 30.
25    (h) A charter school is authorized to incur temporary,
26short term debt to pay operating expenses in anticipation of

 

 

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1receipt of funds from the local school board.
2(Source: P.A. 90-548, eff. 1-1-98; 90-757, eff. 8-14-98;
391-407, eff. 8-3-99.)
 
4    (105 ILCS 5/27A-11.10 new)
5    Sec. 27A-11.10. Proper use of funds.
6    (a) Any and all marketing and advertising to the public for
7charter school enrollment and recruitment made by a charter
8school or school district is prohibited. Any third party
9conducting such advertising may not use funds from any public
10entity of this State, including a charter school, to do so.
11    (b) No school district may promote one set of schools over
12other sets of schools, and information about public school
13choice options provided by the school district shall include
14information on all public schools.
15    (c) No chief executive officer of a charter school shall
16receive compensation greater than 80% of the compensation of
17the superintendent of schools of the school district where the
18charter school is located. No charter school principal may
19receive compensation greater than 10% more than the average
20compensation for principals in the school district where the
21charter school is located. A charter school shall include these
22prohibitions in any contract with an educational or charter
23management organization.
24    (d) Charters schools that have a one-fifth greater share of
25their spending on administration than the share that the school

 

 

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1district where the charter school is located devotes to central
2and school administration are subject to audit by the Auditor
3General. Such an audit shall examine without limitation
4contracts with educational or charter management
5organizations, vendor contracts, and the use of shared
6administration with school districts. The audit report shall
7make recommendations lowering the share of spending going
8toward administration.
 
9    (105 ILCS 5/27A-12)
10    Sec. 27A-12. Evaluation and assessment; reporting report.
11    (a) On or before September 30 of every odd-numbered year,
12all local school boards with at least one charter school, as
13well as the Commission, shall submit to the State Board any
14information required by the State Board pursuant to applicable
15rule. On or before the second Wednesday in January of every
16even-numbered year, the State Board shall issue a report to the
17General Assembly and the Governor on its findings for the
18previous 2 school years. The State Board's report shall
19summarize all of the following:
20        (1) The authorizer's strategic vision for chartering
21    and progress toward achieving that vision.
22        (2) The academic and financial performance of all
23    operating charter schools overseen by the authorizer,
24    according to the performance expectations for charter
25    schools set forth in this Article.

 

 

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1        (3) The status of the authorizer's charter school
2    portfolio, identifying all charter schools in each of the
3    following categories: approved (but not yet open),
4    operating, renewed, transferred, revoked, not renewed,
5    voluntarily closed, or never opened.
6        (4) The authorizing functions provided by the
7    authorizer to the charter schools under its purview,
8    including the authorizer's operating costs and expenses
9    detailed in annual audited financial statements, which
10    must conform with generally accepted accounting
11    principles.
12    Further, in the report required by this Section, the State
13Board (i) shall compare the performance of charter school
14pupils with the performance of ethnically and economically
15comparable groups of pupils in other public schools who are
16enrolled in academically comparable courses, (ii) shall review
17information regarding the regulations and policies from which
18charter schools were released to determine if the exemptions
19assisted or impeded the charter schools in meeting their stated
20goals and objectives, and (iii) shall include suggested changes
21in State law necessary to strengthen charter schools.
22    (b) In addition, the State Board shall undertake and report
23on periodic evaluations of charter schools that include
24evaluations of student academic achievement, the extent to
25which charter schools are accomplishing their missions and
26goals, the sufficiency of funding for charter schools, and the

 

 

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1need for changes in the approval process for charter schools.
2    The State Board, at 5-year intervals, shall complete an
3assessment of the impact of charter schools on the school
4system, including the flow of funding between sectors, student
5enrollment impacts, charter graduation rates, and student
6attrition rates, and an assessment of whether different
7categories of students are being equitably and fully served.
8    (c) Based on the information that the State Board receives
9from authorizers and the State Board's ongoing monitoring of
10both charter schools and authorizers, the State Board has the
11power to remove the power to authorize from any authorizer in
12this State if the authorizer does not demonstrate a commitment
13to high-quality authorization practices and, if necessary,
14revoke the chronically low-performing charters authorized by
15the authorizer at the time of the removal. The State Board
16shall adopt rules as needed to carry out this power, including
17provisions to determine the status of schools authorized by an
18authorizer whose authorizing power is revoked.
19    (d) Charter schools found out of compliance with any
20reporting required under this Article shall have their share of
21general State aid under Section 18-8.05 of this Code withheld
22and prorated until the reporting is completed.
23(Source: P.A. 96-105, eff. 7-30-09; 97-152, eff. 7-20-11.)".