Updating the database of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) is an ongoing process. Recent laws may not yet be included in the ILCS database, but they are found on this site as Public Acts soon after they become law. For information concerning the relationship between statutes and Public Acts, refer to the Guide.

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105 ILCS 5/34-2.4c

(105 ILCS 5/34-2.4c)

Sec. 34-2.4c.

Whistle Blower Protection.

(a) In any case involving the disclosure of information by an employee of
the board of education or a local school council member, which the employee or
member reasonably believes evidences (1) a violation of any law, rule,
regulation, or policy, or (2) waste, fraud, mismanagement, abuse of authority,
or a danger to the health or safety of students or the public, the identity of
the employee or members may not be disclosed without the written consent of the
employee or member during any investigation of the information or related
matters.

(b)  No disciplinary action may be taken against any employee or local
school council member for the disclosure of information by that employee or
local school council member that evidences (1) a violation of
any law, rule, regulation, or policy, or (2) waste, fraud, mismanagement, abuse
of authority, or a danger to the health or safety of a student or the public.
For the purposes of this Section, disciplinary action means any retaliatory
action taken against an employee or local school council member by the board of
education, employees of the board of education, local school councils, or
exclusive bargaining representatives of employees, including, but not limited
to, reprimand, suspension, discharge, demotion, involuntary transfer,
harassment, or denial of promotion or voluntary transfer.

(c) A violation of this Section shall be a Class A misdemeanor.

(Source: P.A. 89-15, eff. 5-30-95.)

105 ILCS 5/34-2.5

(105 ILCS 5/34-2.5) (from Ch. 122, par. 34-2.5)

Sec. 34-2.5.

(Repealed).

(Source: Repealed by P.A. 89-15, eff. 5-30-95.)

105 ILCS 5/34-3

    (105 ILCS 5/34-3) (from Ch. 122, par. 34-3)
    Sec. 34-3. Chicago School Reform Board of Trustees; new Chicago Board of Education; members; term; vacancies.

(a) Within 30 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1995, the terms of all members of the Chicago Board of Education holding office on that date are abolished and the Mayor shall appoint, without the consent or approval of the City Council, a 5 member Chicago School Reform Board of Trustees which shall take office upon the appointment of the fifth member. The Chicago School Reform Board of Trustees and its members shall serve until, and the terms of all members of the Chicago School Reform Board of Trustees shall expire on, June 30, 1999 or upon the appointment of a new Chicago Board of Education as provided in subsection (b), whichever is later. Any vacancy in the membership of the Trustees shall be filled through appointment by the Mayor, without the consent or approval of the City Council, for the unexpired term. One of the members appointed by the Mayor to the Trustees shall be designated by the Mayor to serve as President of the Trustees. The Mayor shall appoint a full-time, compensated chief executive officer, and his or her compensation as such chief executive officer shall be determined by the Mayor. The Mayor, at his or her discretion, may appoint the President to serve simultaneously as the chief executive officer.

(b) This subsection applies until January 15, 2025. Within 30 days before the expiration of the terms of the members of the Chicago Reform Board of Trustees as provided in subsection (a), a new Chicago Board of Education consisting of 7 members shall be appointed by the Mayor to take office on the later of July 1, 1999 or the appointment of the seventh member. Three of the members initially so appointed under this subsection shall serve for terms ending June 30, 2002, 4 of the members initially so appointed under this subsection shall serve for terms ending June 30, 2003, and each member initially so appointed shall continue to hold office until his or her successor is appointed and qualified.

(b-5) On January 15, 2025, the terms of all members of the Chicago Board of Education appointed under subsection (b) are abolished when the new board, consisting of 21 members, is appointed by the Mayor and elected by the electors of the school district as provided under subsections (b-10) and (b-15) and takes office.

(b-10) By December 16, 2024, the Mayor shall appoint a President of the Board for a 2-year term that begins January 15, 2025. The Board shall elect annually from its number a vice-president, in such manner and at such time as the Board determines by its rules. The President appointed by the Mayor and Vice-President elected by the Board shall each perform the duties imposed upon their respective office by the rules of the Board, provided that (i) the President shall preside at meetings of the board and shall only have voting rights to break a voting tie of the other Chicago Board of Education elected and appointed members and (ii) the Vice-President shall perform the duties of the President if that office is vacant or the President is absent or unable to act. Beginning with the 2026 general election, one member shall be elected at large and serve as the President of the Board for a 4-year term that begins January 15, 2027. On and after January 15, 2027, the President of the Board shall preside at meetings of the Board and vote as any other member but have no power of veto. The Secretary of the Board shall be selected by the Board and shall be an employee of the Board rather than a member of the Board, notwithstanding subsection (d) of Section 34-3.3. The duties of the Secretary shall be imposed by the rules of the Board.

(b-15) For purposes of selection of members of the Chicago Board of Education, the City of Chicago shall be divided into 10 districts, and each of those 10 districts shall be subdivided into 2 subdistricts as provided in subsection (a) of Section 34-21.10.

Until January 15, 2027, each district shall be represented by one member who is elected at the 2024 general election to a 2-year term that begins January 15, 2025 and one member who is appointed by the Mayor by no later than December 16, 2024 to a 2-year term that begins January 15, 2025. Each elected member shall reside within the district that the member represents, and each appointed member shall reside both within the district that the member represents and outside of the subdistrict within which the elected member of the district resides.

Beginning January 15, 2027, each subdistrict shall be represented by one member who is elected at the 2026 general election. If a member is elected at the 2026 general election to fill the expired term of an appointed member, then the elected member shall serve a 2-year term that begins January 15, 2027. If a member is elected at the 2026 general election to fill the expired term of an elected member, then the member shall serve a 4-year term that begins January 15, 2027.

If a member is elected at the 2026 general election to serve a 2-year term, then the member elected at the 2028 general election shall serve a 4-year term that begins January 15, 2029. If a member is elected at the 2026 general election to serve a 4-year term, then the member elected in that subdistrict at the 2030 general election shall serve a 2-year term that begins January 15, 2031.

Beginning with the members elected at the 2032 general election, the members of each subdistrict shall serve two 4-year terms and one 2-year term for each 10-year period thereafter. As determined by lot, the terms of the members representing the subdistricts shall be the following:

(1) the members representing 7 subdistricts shall be

elected for one 2-year term, followed by two 4-year terms;

(2) the members representing 7 subdistricts shall be

elected for one 4-year term, followed by one 2-year term, and then one 4-year term; and

(3) the members representing 6 subdistricts shall be

elected for two 4-year terms, followed by one 2-year term.

    Each elected member shall reside within the subdistrict that the member represents.
    (b-20) All elected and appointed members shall serve until a successor is appointed or elected and qualified.

Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of an appointed member of the Board, the Mayor shall appoint a successor who has the same qualifications as the member's predecessor to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term.

Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of an elected member of the Board, the President of the Board shall notify the Mayor of the vacancy within 7 days after its occurrence and shall, within 30 days, fill the vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term by majority vote of the remaining members of the Board. The successor to the elected member shall have the same qualifications as the member's predecessor.

(b-30) The provisions of Section 10-9 of this Code apply to members of the Chicago Board of Education when the Board is considering any contract, work, or business of the district, and the provisions of the Public Officer Prohibited Activities Act that apply to persons holding elected or appointed public office also apply to members of the Board, notwithstanding any other provision of this Code or any law to the contrary.

(c) The Board may appoint a student to the board to serve in an advisory capacity. The student member shall serve for a term as determined by the Board. The Board may not grant the student member any voting privileges, but shall consider the student member as an advisor. The student member may not participate in or attend any executive session of the Board.

(Source: P.A. 102-177, eff. 6-1-22; 102-691, eff. 12-17-21; 103-584, eff. 3-18-24.)

105 ILCS 5/34-3.1

(105 ILCS 5/34-3.1) (from Ch. 122, par. 34-3.1)

Sec. 34-3.1.

(Repealed).

(Source: Repealed by P.A. 89-15, eff. 5-30-95.)

105 ILCS 5/34-3.2

(105 ILCS 5/34-3.2) (from Ch. 122, par. 34-3.2)

Sec. 34-3.2.

Board training.

After January 1, 1990 all board members
shall participate in training provided by board employees or
not-for-profit organizations, including without limitation the following:

1. budget and revenue review;

2. education theory and governance;

3. governmental relations;

4. school-based management; and

5. State and federal education law and regulations.

(Source: P.A. 85-1418; 86-1477.)

105 ILCS 5/34-3.3

(105 ILCS 5/34-3.3)

Sec. 34-3.3.

Chicago School Reform Board of Trustees; powers and duties;
chief operating, fiscal, educational, and purchasing officers.  The General
Assembly finds that an education crisis exists in the Chicago Public Schools
and that a 5-member Chicago School Reform Board of Trustees shall be
established for a 4 year period to bring educational and financial
stability to the system.  The Trustees and their chief executive officer are
empowered and directed to:
(i) increase the quality of educational services in the Chicago Public Schools;
(ii) reduce the cost of non-educational services and implement cost-saving
measures including the privatization of services where deemed appropriate;
(iii) develop a long-term
financial plan that to the maximum extent possible reflects a balanced budget
for each year; (iv) streamline and strengthen the management of the system,
including a responsible school-based budgeting process, in order to refocus
resources on student achievement; (v) ensure ongoing academic improvement in
schools through the establishment of an Academic Accountability Council and a
strong school improvement and recognition process; (vi) enact policies and
procedures that ensure the system runs in an ethical as well as efficient
manner; (vii) establish within 60 days after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of 1995, develop, and implement a process for the selection of a
local school council advisory board for the Trustees in which those individuals
active on Local School Councils serve an advisory role to the Trustees; (viii)
establish any organizational structures, including regional offices, that it
deems necessary to ensure the efficient and effective operation of the system;
and (ix) provide for such other local school council advisory bodies as the
Trustees deem appropriate to function in an advisory capacity to any other
organizations or offices established by the Trustees under clause (viii) of
this Section.

(a) Unless otherwise provided in this Article, the Trustees shall have all
powers and duties exercised and performed by the Chicago Board
of Education at the time the terms of its members are abolished as provided in
subsection (a) of Section 34-3.

(b) The Mayor shall appoint a chief executive officer who shall be a person
of recognized administrative ability
and management experience, who shall be responsible for the management of
the system, and who shall have all
other powers and duties of the general superintendent as set forth in this
Article 34.  The chief executive officer shall make recommendations to the
Trustees with respect to contracts, policies, and procedures.

(c) The chief executive officer shall appoint, with the approval of the
Trustees, a chief operating officer, a chief fiscal officer, a chief
educational officer, and a chief purchasing officer to serve until June
30, 1999.  These officers shall be assigned duties and responsibilities
 by the chief executive officer.  The chief operating officer, the chief fiscal
officer, the chief educational officer, and the chief purchasing officer may be
granted authority to hire a specific number of employees to assist in meeting
immediate responsibilities.  The chief executive officer may remove any
officer, subject to the approval of the Trustees. Conditions of employment for
such personnel shall not be subject to the provisions of Section 34-85.

(d) Upon the expiration on June 30, 1999 of the terms of office of the
chief executive, operating, fiscal, educational, and purchasing officers
appointed under this Section and the appointment of a new Chicago Board of
Education under subsection (b) of Section 34-3, the board may retain,
reorganize, or abolish any or all of those offices and appoint qualified
successors to fill any of those offices that it does not abolish.

(e) The Trustees shall report to the State Superintendent of Education
with respect to its performance, the nature of the reforms which it has
instituted, the effect those reforms have had in the operation of the central
administrative office and in the performance of pupils, staff, and members of
the
local school councils at the several attendance centers within the district,
and such other matters as the Trustees deem necessary to help assure
continuing improvement in the public school system of the district.  The
reports shall be public documents and shall be made annually, beginning with
the school year that commences in 1995 and concluding in the school year
beginning in 1999.

(Source: P.A. 89-15, eff. 5-30-95.)

105 ILCS 5/34-3.4

(105 ILCS 5/34-3.4)

Sec. 34-3.4.

(Repealed).

(Source: P.A. 91-622, eff. 8-19-99. Repealed internally, eff. 6-30-04.)

105 ILCS 5/34-3.5

(105 ILCS 5/34-3.5)

Sec. 34-3.5. (Repealed).

(Source: P.A. 93-3, eff. 4-16-03. Repealed by P.A. 100-1046, eff. 8-23-18.)

105 ILCS 5/34-4

(105 ILCS 5/34-4) (from Ch. 122, par. 34-4)
Sec. 34-4. Eligibility.

To be eligible for election or appointment to the Board, a person shall be a citizen of the United States, shall be a registered voter as provided in the Election Code, shall have been, for a period of one year immediately before election or appointment, a resident of the city, district, and subdistrict that the member represents, and shall not be a child sex offender as defined in Section 11-9.3 of the Criminal Code of 2012. A person is ineligible for election or appointment to the Board if that person is not in compliance with the provisions of Section 10-9 as referenced in Section 34-3. For the 2024 general election, all persons eligible for election to the Board shall be nominated by a petition signed by at least 1,000 but not more than 3,000 of the voters residing within the electoral district on a petition in order to be placed on the ballot. For the 2026 general election and general elections thereafter, persons eligible for election to the Board shall be nominated by a petition signed by at least 500 but no more than 1,500 voters residing within the subdistrict on a petition in order to be placed on the ballot, except that persons eligible for election to the Board at large shall be nominated by a petition signed by no less than 2,500 voters residing within the city. Any registered voter may sign a nominating petition, irrespective of any partisan petition the voter signs or may sign. For the 2024 general election only, the petition circulation period shall begin on March 26, 2024, and the filing period shall be from June 17, 2024 to June 24, 2024. Permanent removal from the city by any member of the Board during the member's term of office constitutes a resignation therefrom and creates a vacancy in the Board. Board members shall serve without any compensation; however, members of the Board shall be reimbursed for expenses incurred while in the performance of their duties upon submission of proper receipts or upon submission of a signed voucher in the case of an expense allowance evidencing the amount of such reimbursement or allowance to the President of the Board for verification and approval. Board members shall not hold other public office under the Federal, State or any local government other than that of Director of the Regional Transportation Authority, member of the economic development commission of a city having a population exceeding 500,000, notary public or member of the National Guard, and by accepting any such office while members of the Board, or by not resigning any such office held at the time of being elected or appointed to the Board within 30 days after such election or appointment, shall be deemed to have vacated their membership in the Board.

(Source: P.A. 102-177, eff. 6-1-22; 102-691, eff. 12-17-21; 103-584, eff. 3-18-24.)

105 ILCS 5/34-4.1

(105 ILCS 5/34-4.1)
Sec. 34-4.1. Nomination petitions.

In addition to the requirements of the general election law, the form of petitions under Section 34-4 of this Code shall be substantially as follows:

NOMINATING PETITIONS (LEAVE OUT THE INAPPLICABLE PART.) To the Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago:

We the undersigned, being (.... or more) of the voters residing within said district, hereby petition that .... who resides at .... in the City of Chicago shall be a candidate for the office of .... of the Chicago Board of Education (full term) (vacancy) to be voted for at the election to be held on (insert date).

Name: .................. Address: ...................

In the designation of the name of a candidate on a petition for nomination, the candidate's given name or names, initial or initials, a nickname by which the candidate is commonly known, or a combination thereof may be used in addition to the candidate's surname. If a candidate has changed his or her name, whether by a statutory or common law procedure in Illinois or any other jurisdiction, within 3 years before the last day for filing the petition, then (i) the candidate's name on the petition must be followed by "formerly known as (list all prior names during the 3-year period) until name changed on (list date of each such name change)" and (ii) the petition must be accompanied by the candidate's affidavit stating the candidate's previous names during the period specified in clause (i) and the date or dates each of those names was changed; failure to meet these requirements shall be grounds for denying certification of the candidate's name for the ballot, but these requirements do not apply to name changes to conform a candidate's name to the candidate's identity or name changes resulting from adoption to assume an adoptive parent's or parents' surname, marriage or civil union to assume a spouse's surname, or dissolution of marriage or civil union or declaration of invalidity of marriage to assume a former surname. No other designation, such as a political slogan, as defined by Section 7-17 of the Election Code, title or degree, or nickname suggesting or implying possession of a title, degree or professional status, or similar information may be used in connection with the candidate's surname.

All petitions for the nomination of members of the Chicago Board of Education shall be filed with the board of election commissioners of the jurisdiction in which the principal office of the school district is located within the time provided for by Article 7 of the Election Code, except that petitions for the nomination of members of the Chicago Board of Education for the 2024 general election shall be prepared and certified as outlined in Article 10 of the Election Code. The board of election commissioners shall receive and file only those petitions that include a statement of candidacy, the required number of voter signatures, the notarized signature of the petition circulator, and a receipt from the county clerk showing that the candidate has filed a statement of economic interest on or before the last day to file as required by the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act. The board of election commissioners may have petition forms available for issuance to potential candidates and may give notice of the petition filing period by publication in a newspaper of general circulation within the school district not less than 10 days prior to the first day of filing. The board of election commissioners shall make certification to the proper election authorities in accordance with the general election law.

The board of election commissioners of the jurisdiction in which the principal office of the school district is located shall notify the candidates for whom a petition for nomination is filed or the appropriate committee of the obligations under the Campaign Financing Act as provided in the general election law. Such notice shall be given on a form prescribed by the State Board of Elections and in accordance with the requirements of the general election law. The board of election commissioners shall within 7 days of filing or on the last day for filing, whichever is earlier, acknowledge to the petitioner in writing the office's acceptance of the petition.

A candidate for membership on the Chicago Board of Education who has petitioned for nomination to fill a full term and to fill a vacant term to be voted upon at the same election must withdraw his or her petition for nomination from either the full term or the vacant term by written declaration.

Nomination petitions are not valid unless the candidate named therein files with the board of election commissioners a receipt from the county clerk showing that the candidate has filed a statement of economic interests as required by the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act. Such receipt shall be so filed either previously during the calendar year in which his or her nomination papers were filed or within the period for the filing of nomination papers in accordance with the general election law.

(Source: P.A. 102-177, eff. 6-1-22; 102-691, eff. 12-17-21; 103-467, eff. 8-4-23; 103-584, eff. 3-18-24.)