103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB5609

 

Introduced 2/9/2024, by Rep. Kam Buckner

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/27A-6
105 ILCS 5/27A-9

    Amends the Charter Schools Article of the School Code. In provisions concerning contract contents, provides that for a charter granted or renewed on or after the effective date of the amendatory Act by a local school board, administrative fees withheld from a charter school under the charter for the purpose of conducting administrative duties shall be capped at 3% or less of the total annual public dollars allocated to the charter school. Provides that the 3% total administrative fee collected from a charter school shall include a 2% or less administrative fee collected by a local school board for the purpose of conducting administrative duties related to the administration of charter school contracts, oversight, and authorizing services, and a 1% fee to be either (i) given to a statewide charter school membership association for the purpose of administering State-mandated board governance training, and compliance and technical assistance to charter schools for the purpose of meeting academic, financial, and operational reporting requirements, or (ii) sub-granted by a statewide charter school membership association to charter schools for the purpose of meeting academic, financial, and operational requirements as agreed upon with the authorizer in the charter school's contract. In provisions concerning the term of a charter, provides that an authorizer shall grant renewal for a term of no fewer than 5 years if the charter's average annual summative designation over the term of the charter is in the top 3 summative designations on the State report card prepared by the State Board of Education.


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STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT
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 Sections
527A-6 and 27A-9 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/27A-6)
7    Sec. 27A-6. Contract contents; applicability of laws and
8regulations.
9    (a) A certified charter shall constitute a binding
10contract and agreement between the charter school and a local
11school board under the terms of which the local school board
12authorizes the governing body of the charter school to operate
13the charter school on the terms specified in the contract.
14    (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article,
15the certified charter may not waive or release the charter
16school from the State goals, standards, and assessments
17established pursuant to Section 2-3.64a-5 of this Code. The
18certified charter for a charter school operating in a city
19having a population exceeding 500,000 shall require the
20charter school to administer any other nationally recognized
21standardized tests to its students that the chartering entity
22administers to other students, and the results on such tests
23shall be included in the chartering entity's assessment

 

 

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1reports.
2    (c) Subject to the provisions of subsection (e), a
3material revision to a previously certified contract or a
4renewal shall be made with the approval of both the local
5school board and the governing body of the charter school.
6    (c-5) The proposed contract shall include a provision on
7how both parties will address minor violations of the
8contract.
9    (c-10) After August 4, 2023 (the effective date of Public
10Act 103-416) this amendatory Act of the 103rd General
11Assembly, any renewal of a certified charter must include a
12union neutrality clause.
13    (d) The proposed contract between the governing body of a
14proposed charter school and the local school board as
15described in Section 27A-7 must be submitted to and certified
16by the State Board before it can take effect. If the State
17Board recommends that the proposed contract be modified for
18consistency with this Article before it can be certified, the
19modifications must be consented to by both the governing body
20of the charter school and the local school board, and
21resubmitted to the State Board for its certification. If the
22proposed contract is resubmitted in a form that is not
23consistent with this Article, the State Board may refuse to
24certify the charter.
25    The State Board shall assign a number to each submission
26or resubmission in chronological order of receipt, and shall

 

 

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1determine whether the proposed contract is consistent with the
2provisions of this Article. If the proposed contract complies,
3the State Board shall so certify.
4    (e) No renewal of a previously certified contract is
5effective unless and until the State Board certifies that the
6renewal is consistent with the provisions of this Article. A
7material revision to a previously certified contract may go
8into effect immediately upon approval of both the local school
9board and the governing body of the charter school, unless
10either party requests in writing that the State Board certify
11that the material revision is consistent with the provisions
12of this Article. If such a request is made, the proposed
13material revision is not effective unless and until the State
14Board so certifies.
15    (f) For a charter granted or renewed on or after the
16effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General
17Assembly by a local school board, administrative fees withheld
18from a charter school under the charter for the purpose of
19conducting administrative duties shall be capped at 3% or less
20of the total annual public dollars allocated to the charter
21school. The 3% total administrative fee collected from a
22charter school shall include a 2% or less administrative fee
23collected by a local school board for the purpose of
24conducting administrative duties related to the administration
25of charter school contracts, oversight, and authorizing
26services, and a 1% fee to be either (i) given to a statewide

 

 

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1charter school membership association for the purpose of
2administering State-mandated board governance training under
3Section 27A-5, and compliance and technical assistance to
4charter schools for the purpose of meeting academic,
5financial, and operational reporting requirements, or (ii)
6sub-granted by a statewide charter school membership
7association to charter schools for the purpose of meeting
8academic, financial, and operational requirements as agreed
9upon with the authorizer in the charter school's contract.
10(Source: P.A. 103-175, eff. 6-30-23; 103-416, eff. 8-4-23;
11revised 9-5-23.)
 
12    (105 ILCS 5/27A-9)
13    Sec. 27A-9. Term of charter; renewal.
14    (a) An initial charter shall be granted for a period of 5
15school years. A charter may be renewed in incremental periods
16not to exceed 10 school years. Authorizers shall ensure that
17every charter granted on or after January 1, 2017 includes
18standards and goals for academic, organizational, and
19financial performance. A charter must meet all standards and
20goals for academic, organizational, and financial performance
21set forth by the authorizer in order to be renewed for a term
22in excess of 5 years but not more than 10 years. If an
23authorizer fails to establish standards and goals, a charter
24shall not be renewed for a term in excess of 5 years. Nothing
25contained in this Section shall require an authorizer to grant

 

 

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1a full 10-year renewal term to any particular charter school,
2but an authorizer may award a full 10-year renewal term to
3charter schools that have a demonstrated track record of
4improving student performance. An authorizer shall grant
5renewal for a term of no fewer than 5 years if the charter's
6average annual summative designation over the term of the
7charter is in the top 3 summative designations on the State
8report card prepared by the State Board of Education for a
9charter renewed on or after the effective date of this
10amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly.
11    (b) A charter school renewal proposal submitted to the
12local school board or the State Board, as the chartering
13entity, shall contain:
14        (1) a report on the progress of the charter school in
15    achieving the goals, objectives, pupil performance
16    standards, content standards, and other terms of the
17    initial approved charter proposal; and
18        (2) a financial statement that discloses the costs of
19    administration, instruction, and other spending categories
20    for the charter school that is understandable to the
21    general public and that will allow comparison of those
22    costs to other schools or other comparable organizations,
23    in a format required by the State Board.
24    (c) A charter may be revoked or not renewed if the local
25school board or the State Board, as the chartering entity,
26clearly demonstrates that the charter school did any of the

 

 

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1following, or otherwise failed to comply with the requirements
2of this law:
3        (1) Committed a material violation of any of the
4    conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the
5    charter.
6        (2) Failed to meet or make reasonable progress toward
7    achievement of the content standards or pupil performance
8    standards identified in the charter.
9        (3) Failed to meet generally accepted standards of
10    fiscal management.
11        (4) Violated any provision of law from which the
12    charter school was not exempted.
13    In the case of revocation, the local school board or the
14State Board, as the chartering entity, shall notify the
15charter school in writing of the reason why the charter is
16subject to revocation. The charter school shall submit a
17written plan to the local school board or the State Board,
18whichever is applicable, to rectify the problem. The plan
19shall include a timeline for implementation, which shall not
20exceed 2 years or the date of the charter's expiration,
21whichever is earlier. If the local school board or the State
22Board, as the chartering entity, finds that the charter school
23has failed to implement the plan of remediation and adhere to
24the timeline, then the chartering entity shall revoke the
25charter. Except in situations of an emergency where the
26health, safety, or education of the charter school's students

 

 

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1is at risk, the revocation shall take place at the end of a
2school year. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to
3prohibit an implementation timetable that is less than 2 years
4in duration. No local school board may arbitrarily or
5capriciously revoke or not renew a charter. Except for
6extenuating circumstances outlined in this Section, if a local
7school board revokes or does not renew a charter, it must
8ensure that all students currently enrolled in the charter
9school are placed in schools that are higher performing than
10that charter school, as defined in the State's federal Every
11Student Succeeds Act accountability plan. In determining
12whether extenuating circumstances exist, a local school board
13must detail, by clear and convincing evidence, that factors
14unrelated to the charter school's accountability designation
15outweigh the charter school's academic performance.
16    (d) (Blank).
17    (e) Notice of a local school board's decision to deny,
18revoke, or not renew a charter shall be provided to the State
19Board.
20    The State Board may reverse a local board's decision to
21revoke or not renew a charter if the State Board finds that the
22charter school or charter school proposal (i) is in compliance
23with this Article and (ii) is in the best interests of the
24students it is designed to serve. The State Board may
25condition the granting of an appeal on the acceptance by the
26charter school of funding in an amount less than that

 

 

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1requested in the proposal submitted to the local school board.
2The State Board must appoint and utilize a hearing officer for
3any appeals conducted under this subsection. Final decisions
4of the State Board are subject to judicial review under the
5Administrative Review Law.
6    (f) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Article, if
7the State Board on appeal reverses a local board's decision or
8if a charter school is approved by referendum, the State Board
9shall act as the authorized chartering entity for the charter
10school and shall perform all functions under this Article
11otherwise performed by the local school board. The State Board
12shall report the aggregate number of charter school pupils
13resident in a school district to that district and shall
14notify the district of the amount of funding to be paid by the
15State Board to the charter school enrolling such students. The
16charter school shall maintain accurate records of daily
17attendance and student enrollment and shall enter data on the
18students served, their characteristics, their particular
19needs, the programs in which they participate, and their
20academic achievement into the statewide student information
21system established by the State Board. The State Board shall
22withhold from funds otherwise due the district the funds
23authorized by this Article to be paid to the charter school and
24shall pay such amounts to the charter school in quarterly
25installments, calculated as follows:
26        (1) The amount of the first quarterly payment shall be

 

 

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1    based on the projected number of students who will be
2    enrolled in the charter school in the upcoming school
3    year, multiplied by one-fourth of the resident district's
4    per capita tuition amount. Each charter school shall
5    submit its projected enrollment by no later than August 1
6    of each year on a form provided by the State Board for this
7    purpose.
8        (2) The amount of the second quarterly payment shall
9    be calculated such that the aggregate amount of the first
10    and second quarterly installments is equal to the number
11    of students reported as enrolled at the charter school on
12    October 1 in the State Board's student information system,
13    multiplied by one-half of the resident district's per
14    capita tuition amount.
15        (3) The amount of the third quarterly payment shall be
16    based on the number of students enrolled in the charter
17    school on January 1, multiplied by one-fourth of the
18    resident district's per capita tuition amount. Each
19    charter school shall submit its January 1 enrollment by no
20    later than January 5 of each year on a form provided by the
21    State Board for this purpose.
22        (4) The amount of the fourth quarterly payment shall
23    be calculated such that the aggregate amount of the third
24    and fourth installments is equal to the number of students
25    reported as enrolled at the charter school on March 1 in
26    the State Board's student information system, multiplied

 

 

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1    by one-half of the resident district's per capita tuition
2    amount.
3    (g) (Blank).
4    (h) The State Board shall pay directly to a charter school
5it authorizes any federal or State funding attributable to a
6student with a disability attending the school.
7(Source: P.A. 103-175, eff. 6-30-23.)