HB5825 EnrolledLRB097 19935 RPM 65225 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-7.5 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/27A-7.5)
7    Sec. 27A-7.5. State Charter School Commission.
8    (a) A State Charter School Commission is established as an
9independent commission State agency with statewide chartering
10jurisdiction and authority. The Commission shall be under the
11State Board for administrative purposes only.
12    (a-5) The State Board shall provide administrative support
13to the Commission as needed.
14    (b) The Commission is responsible for authorizing
15high-quality charter schools throughout this State,
16particularly schools designed to expand opportunities for
17at-risk students, consistent with the purposes of this Article.
18    (c) The Commission shall consist of 9 members, appointed by
19the State Board. The State Board shall make these appointments
20from a slate of candidates proposed by the Governor, within 60
21days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the
2297th General Assembly with respect to the initial Commission
23members. In making the appointments, the State Board shall

 

 

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1ensure statewide geographic diversity among Commission
2members. The Governor shall propose a slate of candidates to
3the State Board within 60 days after the effective date of this
4amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly and 60 days prior
5to the expiration of the term of a member thereafter. If the
6Governor fails to timely propose a slate of candidates
7according to the provisions of this subsection (c), then the
8State Board may appoint the member or members of the
9Commission.
10    (d) Members appointed to the Commission shall collectively
11possess strong experience and expertise in public and nonprofit
12governance, management and finance, public school leadership,
13higher education, assessments, curriculum and instruction, and
14public education law. All members of the Commission shall have
15demonstrated understanding of and a commitment to public
16education, including without limitation charter schooling. At
17least 3 members must have past experience with urban charter
18schools.
19    (e) To establish staggered terms of office, the initial
20term of office for 3 Commission members shall be 4 years and
21thereafter shall be 4 years; the initial term of office for
22another 3 members shall be 3 years and thereafter shall be 4
23years; and the initial term of office for the remaining 3
24members shall be 2 years and thereafter shall be 4 years. The
25initial appointments must be made no later than October 1,
262011.

 

 

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1    (f) Whenever a vacancy on the Commission exists, the State
2Board shall appoint a member for the remaining portion of the
3term.
4    (g) Subject to the State Officials and Employees Ethics
5Act, the Commission is authorized to receive and expend gifts,
6grants, and donations of any kind from any public or private
7entity to carry out the purposes of this Article, subject to
8the terms and conditions under which they are given, provided
9that all such terms and conditions are permissible under law.
10Funds received under this subsection (g) must be deposited into
11the State Charter School Commission Fund.
12    The State Charter School Commission Fund is created as a
13special fund in the State treasury. All money in the Fund shall
14be used, subject to appropriation, by the State Board, acting
15on behalf and with the consent of the Commission, Commission
16for operational and administrative costs of the Commission.
17    Subject to appropriation, any funds appropriated for use by
18the State Board, acting on behalf and with the consent of the
19Charter School Commission, may be used for the following
20purposes, without limitation: personal services, contractual
21services, and other operational and administrative costs. The
22State Board Charter School Commission is further authorized to
23make expenditures with respect to any other amounts deposited
24in accordance with law into the State Charter School Commission
25Fund.
26    (g-5) Funds or spending authority for the operation and

 

 

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1administrative costs of the Commission shall be appropriated to
2the State Board in a separate line item. The State
3Superintendent of Education may not reduce or modify the budget
4of the Commission or use funds appropriated to the Commission
5without the approval of the Commission.
6    (h) The Commission shall operate with dedicated resources
7and staff qualified to execute the day-to-day responsibilities
8of charter school authorizing in accordance with this Article.
9The Commission may employ and fix the compensation of such
10employees and technical assistants as it deems necessary to
11carry out its powers and duties under this Article, without
12regard to the requirements of any civil service or personnel
13statute; and may establish and administer standards of
14classification of all such persons with respect to their
15compensation, duties, performance, and tenure and enter into
16contracts of employment with such persons for such periods and
17on such terms as the Commission deems desirable.
18    (i) Every 2 years, the Commission shall provide to the
19State Board and local school boards a report on best practices
20in charter school authorizing, including without limitation
21evaluating applications, oversight of charters, and renewal of
22charter schools.
23    (j) The Commission may charge a charter school that it
24authorizes a fee, not to exceed 3% of the revenue provided to
25the school, to cover the cost of undertaking the ongoing
26administrative responsibilities of the eligible chartering

 

 

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1authority with respect to the school. This fee must be
2deposited into the State Charter School Commission Fund.
3    (k) Any charter school authorized by the State Board prior
4to this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly shall have
5its authorization transferred to the Commission upon a vote of
6the State Board, which shall then become the school's
7authorizer for all purposes under this Article. However, in no
8case shall such transfer take place later than July 1, 2012. At
9this time, all of the powers, duties, assets, liabilities,
10contracts, property, records, and pending business of the State
11Board as the school's authorizer must be transferred to the
12Commission. Any charter school authorized by a local school
13board or boards may seek transfer of authorization to the
14Commission during its current term only with the approval of
15the local school board or boards. At the end of its charter
16term, a charter school authorized by a local school board or
17boards must reapply to the board or boards before it may apply
18for authorization to the Commission under the terms of this
19amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly.
20    On the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th
21General Assembly, all rules of the State Board applicable to
22matters falling within the responsibility of the Commission
23shall be applicable to the actions of the Commission. The
24Commission shall thereafter have the authority to propose to
25the State Board modifications to all rules applicable to
26matters falling within the responsibility of the Commission.

 

 

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1The State Board shall retain rulemaking authority for the
2Commission, but shall work jointly with the Commission on any
3proposed modifications. Upon recommendation of proposed rule
4modifications by the Commission and pursuant to the Illinois
5Administrative Procedure Act, the State Board shall consider
6such changes within the intent of this amendatory Act of the
797th General Assembly and grant any and all changes consistent
8with that intent.
9    (l) The Commission shall have the responsibility to
10consider appeals under this Article immediately upon
11appointment of the initial members of the Commission under
12subsection (c) of this Section. Appeals pending at the time of
13initial appointment shall be determined by the Commission; the
14Commission may extend the time for review as necessary for
15thorough review, but in no case shall the extension exceed the
16time that would have been available had the appeal been
17submitted to the Commission on the date of appointment of its
18initial members. In any appeal filed with the Commission under
19this Article, both the applicant and the school district in
20which the charter school plans to locate shall have the right
21to request a hearing before the Commission. If more than one
22entity requests a hearing, then the Commission may hold only
23one hearing, wherein the applicant and the school district
24shall have an equal opportunity to present their respective
25positions.
26(Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 97-641, eff. 12-19-11.)
 

 

 

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1    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
2becoming law.