Public Act 1061 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
Public Act 096-1061 |
| SB3608 Enrolled | LRB096 18682 NHT 34066 b |
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AN ACT concerning education.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section |
27-12.1 as follows:
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(105 ILCS 5/27-12.1) (from Ch. 122, par. 27-12.1)
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Sec. 27-12.1. Consumer education. |
(a) Pupils Subject to the provisions of
subsection (b) of |
this Section, pupils in the public schools in
grades 9 through |
12 shall be taught and be required to study courses
which |
include instruction in the area of consumer education, |
including
but not necessarily limited to (i) understanding the |
basic concepts of financial literacy, including installment |
purchasing (including credit scoring, managing credit debt, |
and completing a loan application), budgeting, savings and |
investing, banking (including balancing a checkbook, opening a |
deposit account, and the use of interest rates), understanding |
simple contracts, State and federal income taxes, personal |
insurance policies, the
comparison of prices, and |
homeownership (including the basic process of obtaining a |
mortgage and the concepts of fixed and adjustable rate |
mortgages, subprime loans, and predatory lending), and (ii)
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understanding the roles of consumers
interacting with |
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agriculture, business, labor unions and government in
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formulating and achieving the goals of the mixed free |
enterprise system.
The State Board of Education shall devise or |
approve the
consumer education curriculum for grades 9 through |
12 and specify the
minimum amount of instruction to be devoted |
thereto.
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(b) (Blank). Prior to the commencement of the 1986-1987 |
school year and prior to
the commencement of each school year |
thereafter, the State Board of
Education shall devise, develop |
and furnish to each school district within the
State a uniform |
Annual Consumer Education Proficiency Test to be
administered |
by each school district to those pupils of the district in
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grades 9 through 12 who elect to take the same, provided that |
no pupil shall
be permitted to take the test more than once in |
any school year. Each year
the State Board of Education shall |
by rule prescribe the date or dates
during the school year on |
which school districts shall administer the test
devised and |
developed for that school year, together with the uniform
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standards which all districts shall apply in scoring that test. |
The test shall
be devised and developed by the State Board of |
Education each year in a
standardized manner to allow any pupil |
who takes the same and who achieves
a score thereon which is |
not less than the minimum score established by the
State Board |
of Education for the test so taken to thereby demonstrate
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sufficient proficiency in the area of consumer education as |
shall excuse
such pupil from the necessity of receiving, as a |
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prerequisite to graduation
from high school and receipt of a |
high school diploma, the minimum amount
of instruction in a |
consumer education curriculum otherwise required by
subsection |
(a) and the rules
or regulations promulgated thereunder. For |
purposes of this subsection,
"proficiency" is defined to mean |
that a pupil is competent in and has a
well advanced knowledge |
of consumer education so that study of the course
of |
instruction required by this Section would not be substantially
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educationally beneficial as determined by the State Board of |
Education when
developing the uniform standards and minimum |
score requirements of this
Section.
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(c) The Financial Literacy Fund is created as a special |
fund in the State treasury. State funds and private |
contributions for the promotion of financial literacy shall be |
deposited into the Financial Literacy Fund. All money in the |
Financial Literacy Fund shall be used, subject to |
appropriation, by the State Board of Education to award grants |
to school districts for the following: |
(1) Defraying the costs of financial literacy training |
for teachers. |
(2) Rewarding a school or teacher who wins or achieves |
results at a certain level of success in a financial |
literacy competition. |
(3) Rewarding a student who wins or achieves results at |
a certain level of success in a financial literacy |
competition. |
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(4) Funding activities, including books, games, field |
trips, computers, and other activities, related to |
financial literacy education. |
In awarding grants, every effort must be made to ensure |
that all geographic areas of the State are represented. |
(d) A school board may establish a special fund in which to |
receive public funds and private contributions for the |
promotion of financial literacy. Money in the fund shall be |
used for the following: |
(1) Defraying the costs of financial literacy training |
for teachers. |
(2) Rewarding a school or teacher who wins or achieves |
results at a certain level of success in a financial |
literacy competition. |
(3) Rewarding a student who wins or achieves results at |
a certain level of success in a financial literacy |
competition. |
(4) Funding activities, including books, games, field |
trips, computers, and other activities, related to |
financial literacy education. |
(e) The State Board of Education, upon the next |
comprehensive review of the Illinois Learning Standards, is |
urged to include the basic principles of personal insurance |
policies and understanding simple contracts. |
(Source: P.A. 94-929, eff. 6-26-06; 95-863, eff. 1-1-09.)
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Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, |