99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016
HB6142

 

Introduced 2/11/2016, by Rep. Barbara Wheeler

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/27A-4
105 ILCS 5/27A-6

    Amends the Charter Schools Article of the School Code. Removes provisions providing that the total number of charter schools operating under this Article at any one time shall not exceed 120. Removes a provision limiting the number of charter schools to 70 in any city having a population exceeding 500,000. Removes a provision limiting the number of charter schools to 45 in the remainder of the State. Removes a provision providing that the State Board of Education shall assign a number to each charter submission it receives for its review and certification, based on the chronological order in which the submission is received by it.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT 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-4 and 27A-6 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/27A-4)
7    Sec. 27A-4. General provisions.
8    (a) The General Assembly does not intend to alter or amend
9the provisions of any court-ordered desegregation plan in
10effect for any school district. A charter school shall be
11subject to all federal and State laws and constitutional
12provisions prohibiting discrimination on the basis of
13disability, race, creed, color, gender, national origin,
14religion, ancestry, marital status, or need for special
15education services.
16    (b) At The total number of charter schools operating under
17this Article at any one time shall not exceed 120. Not more
18than 70 charter schools shall operate at any one time in any
19city having a population exceeding 500,000, with at least 5
20charter schools devoted exclusively to students from
21low-performing or overcrowded schools shall operate. At
22operating at any one time in that city; and not more than 45
23charter schools shall operate at any one time in the remainder

 

 

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1of the State, with not more than one charter school may be that
2has been initiated by a board of education, or by an
3intergovernmental agreement between or among boards of
4education, operating at any one time in the school district
5where the charter school is located. In addition to these
6charter schools, up to but no more than 5 charter schools
7devoted exclusively to re-enrolled high school dropouts and/or
8students 16 or 15 years old at risk of dropping out may operate
9at any one time in any city having a population exceeding
10500,000. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in
11subsection (b) of Section 27A-5 of this Code, each such dropout
12charter may operate up to 15 campuses within the city. Any of
13these dropout charters may have a maximum of 1,875 enrollment
14seats, any one of the campuses of the dropout charter may have
15a maximum of 165 enrollment seats, and each campus of the
16dropout charter must be operated, through a contract or
17payroll, by the same legal entity as that for which the charter
18is approved and certified.
19    For purposes of implementing this Section, the State Board
20shall assign a number to each charter submission it receives
21under Section 27A-6 for its review and certification, based on
22the chronological order in which the submission is received by
23it. The State Board shall promptly notify local school boards
24when the maximum numbers of certified charter schools
25authorized to operate have been reached.
26    (c) No charter shall be granted under this Article that

 

 

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1would convert any existing private, parochial, or non-public
2school to a charter school.
3    (d) Enrollment in a charter school shall be open to any
4pupil who resides within the geographic boundaries of the area
5served by the local school board, provided that the board of
6education in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may
7designate attendance boundaries for no more than one-third of
8the charter schools permitted in the city if the board of
9education determines that attendance boundaries are needed to
10relieve overcrowding or to better serve low-income and at-risk
11students. Students residing within an attendance boundary may
12be given priority for enrollment, but must not be required to
13attend the charter school.
14    (e) Nothing in this Article shall prevent 2 or more local
15school boards from jointly issuing a charter to a single shared
16charter school, provided that all of the provisions of this
17Article are met as to those local school boards.
18    (f) No local school board shall require any employee of the
19school district to be employed in a charter school.
20    (g) No local school board shall require any pupil residing
21within the geographic boundary of its district to enroll in a
22charter school.
23    (h) If there are more eligible applicants for enrollment in
24a charter school than there are spaces available, successful
25applicants shall be selected by lottery. However, priority
26shall be given to siblings of pupils enrolled in the charter

 

 

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1school and to pupils who were enrolled in the charter school
2the previous school year, unless expelled for cause, and
3priority may be given to pupils residing within the charter
4school's attendance boundary, if a boundary has been designated
5by the board of education in a city having a population
6exceeding 500,000.
7    Beginning with student enrollment for the 2015-2016 school
8year, any lottery required under this subsection (h) must be
9administered and videotaped by the charter school. The
10authorizer or its designee must be allowed to be present or
11view the lottery in real time. The charter school must maintain
12a videotaped record of the lottery, including a time/date
13stamp. The charter school shall transmit copies of the
14videotape and all records relating to the lottery to the
15authorizer on or before September 1 of each year.
16    Subject to the requirements for priority applicant groups
17set forth in paragraph (1) of this subsection (h), any lottery
18required under this subsection (h) must be administered in a
19way that provides each student an equal chance at admission. If
20an authorizer makes a determination that a charter school's
21lottery is in violation of this subsection (h), it may
22administer the lottery directly. After a lottery, each student
23randomly selected for admission to the charter school must be
24notified. Charter schools may not create an admissions process
25subsequent to a lottery that may operate as a barrier to
26registration or enrollment.

 

 

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1    Charter schools may undertake additional intake
2activities, including without limitation student essays,
3school-parent compacts, or open houses, but in no event may a
4charter school require participation in these activities as a
5condition of enrollment. A charter school must submit an
6updated waitlist to the authorizer on a quarterly basis. A
7waitlist must be submitted to the authorizer at the same time
8as quarterly financial statements, if quarterly financial
9statements are required by the authorizer.
10    Dual enrollment at both a charter school and a public
11school or non-public school shall not be allowed. A pupil who
12is suspended or expelled from a charter school shall be deemed
13to be suspended or expelled from the public schools of the
14school district in which the pupil resides. Notwithstanding
15anything to the contrary in this subsection (h):
16        (1) any charter school with a mission exclusive to
17    educating high school dropouts may grant priority
18    admission to students who are high school dropouts and/or
19    students 16 or 15 years old at risk of dropping out and any
20    charter school with a mission exclusive to educating
21    students from low-performing or overcrowded schools may
22    restrict admission to students who are from low-performing
23    or overcrowded schools; "priority admission" for charter
24    schools exclusively devoted to re-enrolled dropouts or
25    students at risk of dropping out means a minimum of 90% of
26    students enrolled shall be high school dropouts; and

 

 

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1        (2) any charter school located in a school district
2    that contains all or part of a federal military base may
3    set aside up to 33% of its current charter enrollment to
4    students with parents assigned to the federal military
5    base, with the remaining 67% subject to the general
6    enrollment and lottery requirements of subsection (d) of
7    this Section and this subsection (h); if a student with a
8    parent assigned to the federal military base withdraws from
9    the charter school during the course of a school year for
10    reasons other than grade promotion, those students with
11    parents assigned to the federal military base shall have
12    preference in filling the vacancy.
13    (i) (Blank).
14    (j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
15contrary, a school district in a city having a population
16exceeding 500,000 shall not have a duty to collectively bargain
17with an exclusive representative of its employees over
18decisions to grant or deny a charter school proposal under
19Section 27A-8 of this Code, decisions to renew or revoke a
20charter under Section 27A-9 of this Code, and the impact of
21these decisions, provided that nothing in this Section shall
22have the effect of negating, abrogating, replacing, reducing,
23diminishing, or limiting in any way employee rights,
24guarantees, or privileges granted in Sections 2, 3, 7, 8, 10,
2514, and 15 of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.
26    (k) In this Section:

 

 

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1    "Low-performing school" means a public school in a school
2district organized under Article 34 of this Code that enrolls
3students in any of grades kindergarten through 8 and that is
4ranked within the lowest 10% of schools in that district in
5terms of the percentage of students meeting or exceeding
6standards on the assessments required under Section 2-3.64a-5
7of this Code.
8    "Overcrowded school" means a public school in a school
9district organized under Article 34 of this Code that (i)
10enrolls students in any of grades kindergarten through 8, (ii)
11has a percentage of low-income students of 70% or more, as
12identified in the most recently available School Report Card
13published by the State Board of Education, and (iii) is
14determined by the Chicago Board of Education to be in the most
15severely overcrowded 5% of schools in the district. On or
16before November 1 of each year, the Chicago Board of Education
17shall file a report with the State Board of Education on which
18schools in the district meet the definition of "overcrowded
19school". "Students at risk of dropping out" means students 16
20or 15 years old in a public school in a district organized
21under Article 34 of this Code that enrolls students in any
22grades 9-12 who have been absent at least 90 school attendance
23days of the previous 180 school attendance days.
24    (l) For advertisements created after January 1, 2015 (the
25effective date of Public Act 98-783), any advertisement,
26including a radio, television, print, Internet, social media,

 

 

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1or billboard advertisement, purchased by a school district or
2public school, including a charter school, with public funds
3must include a disclaimer stating that the advertisement was
4paid for using public funds.
5    This disclaimer requirement does not extend to materials
6created by the charter school, including, but not limited to, a
7school website, informational pamphlets or leaflets, or
8clothing with affixed school logos.
9(Source: P.A. 98-474, eff. 8-16-13; 98-783, eff. 1-1-15;
1098-972, eff. 8-15-14; 99-78, eff. 7-20-15.)
 
11    (105 ILCS 5/27A-6)
12    Sec. 27A-6. Contract contents; applicability of laws and
13regulations.
14    (a) A certified charter shall constitute a binding contract
15and agreement between the charter school and a local school
16board under the terms of which the local school board
17authorizes the governing body of the charter school to operate
18the charter school on the terms specified in the contract.
19    (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article,
20the certified charter may not waive or release the charter
21school from the State goals, standards, and assessments
22established pursuant to Section 2-3.64a-5 of this Code.
23Beginning with the 2003-2004 school year, the certified charter
24for a charter school operating in a city having a population
25exceeding 500,000 shall require the charter school to

 

 

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1administer any other nationally recognized standardized tests
2to its students that the chartering entity administers to other
3students, and the results on such tests shall be included in
4the chartering entity's assessment reports.
5    (c) Subject to the provisions of subsection (e), a material
6revision to a previously certified contract or a renewal shall
7be made with the approval of both the local school board and
8the governing body of the charter school.
9    (c-5) The proposed contract shall include a provision on
10how both parties will address minor violations of the contract.
11    (d) The proposed contract between the governing body of a
12proposed charter school and the local school board as described
13in Section 27A-7 must be submitted to and certified by the
14State Board before it can take effect. If the State Board
15recommends that the proposed contract be modified for
16consistency with this Article before it can be certified, the
17modifications must be consented to by both the governing body
18of the charter school and the local school board, and
19resubmitted to the State Board for its certification. If the
20proposed contract is resubmitted in a form that is not
21consistent with this Article, the State Board may refuse to
22certify the charter.
23    With respect The State Board shall assign a number to each
24submission or resubmission, the State Board in chronological
25order of receipt, and shall determine whether the proposed
26contract is consistent with the provisions of this Article. If

 

 

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1the proposed contract complies, the State Board shall so
2certify.
3    (e) No renewal of a previously certified contract is
4effective unless and until the State Board certifies that the
5renewal is consistent with the provisions of this Article. A
6material revision to a previously certified contract may go
7into effect immediately upon approval of both the local school
8board and the governing body of the charter school, unless
9either party requests in writing that the State Board certify
10that the material revision is consistent with the provisions of
11this Article. If such a request is made, the proposed material
12revision is not effective unless and until the State Board so
13certifies.
14(Source: P.A. 98-972, eff. 8-15-14; 98-1048, eff. 8-25-14;
1599-78, eff. 7-20-15.)