HB5918ham004 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Jack D. Franks

Filed: 4/19/2016

09900HB5918ham004 LRB099 15850 NHT 47792 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 5918

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 5918 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections 27A-6 and 27A-9 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/27A-6)

Sec. 27A-6. Contract contents; applicability of laws and regulations.

(a) A certified charter shall constitute a binding contract and agreement between the charter school and a local school board under the terms of which the local school board authorizes the governing body of the charter school to operate the charter school on the terms specified in the contract.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, the certified charter may not waive or release the charter school from the State goals, standards, and assessments established pursuant to Section 2-3.64a-5 of this Code. Beginning with the 2003-2004 school year, the certified charter for a charter school operating in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 shall require the charter school to administer any other nationally recognized standardized tests to its students that the chartering entity administers to other students, and the results on such tests shall be included in the chartering entity's assessment reports.

(c) Subject to the provisions of subsection (e), a material revision to a previously certified contract or a renewal shall be made with the approval of both the local school board and the governing body of the charter school.

(c-5) The proposed contract shall include a provision on how both parties will address minor violations of the contract.

(d) The proposed contract between the governing body of a proposed charter school and the local school board as described in Section 27A-7 must be submitted to and certified by the State Board before it can take effect. The State Board's review of the proposed contract shall include a review of incorporated performance frameworks. If the State Board determines that the performance frameworks are not sufficiently rigorous or that they establish unreasonable expectations for the charter school, then the State Board must send the proposed contract back to the governing body and local school board. The governing body and local school board must resubmit appropriate performance frameworks before the contract may be certified. If the State Board recommends that the proposed contract be modified for consistency with this Article before it can be certified, the modifications must be consented to by both the governing body of the charter school and the local school board, and resubmitted to the State Board for its certification. If the proposed contract is resubmitted in a form that is not consistent with this Article, the State Board may refuse to certify the charter.

The State Board shall assign a number to each submission or resubmission in chronological order of receipt, and shall determine whether the proposed contract is consistent with the provisions of this Article. If the proposed contract complies, the State Board shall so certify.

(e) No renewal of a previously certified contract is effective unless and until the State Board certifies that the renewal is consistent with the provisions of this Article. A material revision to a previously certified contract may go into effect immediately upon approval of both the local school board and the governing body of the charter school, unless either party requests in writing that the State Board certify that the material revision is consistent with the provisions of this Article. If such a request is made, the proposed material revision is not effective unless and until the State Board so certifies.

(Source: P.A. 98-972, eff. 8-15-14; 98-1048, eff. 8-25-14; 99-78, eff. 7-20-15.)

(105 ILCS 5/27A-9)

Sec. 27A-9. Term of charter; renewal.

(a) For charters granted before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, a A charter may be granted for a period not less than 5 and not more than 10 school years. For charters granted on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, a charter may be granted for a period of 5 school years. A charter may be renewed in incremental periods not to exceed 5 school years, except that the charters of charter schools deemed high-quality must be renewed for a period of not less than 5 and not more than 10 school years. Each authorizer shall create criteria for determining which charter schools meet the high-quality definition. In the absence of such criteria, a high-quality charter school means a charter school that, in the last available ranking, either (i) has been recognized by the State Board as a reward school, as defined in this State's approved waiver of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, has received the State Board's honor roll designation as a spotlight school, or is an academic excellence award recipient or academic improvement recipient or (ii) has received a rating in the top 40% of schools in a school district under a rating system developed by the charter school's district that is based on multiple indicators of success and used by that district to rate schools in the district.

(a-5) Before January 1, 2017, authorizers shall develop performance frameworks that allow authorizers to measure the performance of the charter school they authorize and that allow authorizers of multiple charter schools to compare performance across similarly situated schools using common measures. These performance frameworks shall use comprehensive academic, financial, and operational performance data to make merit-based renewal decisions. The performance frameworks may vary depending on the type of charter school authorized and the mission of the charter school. To guide authorizers in ensuring their performance frameworks are designed to measure charter school quality across similarly situated schools using common measures, on or before June 30, 2017, the State Board shall develop model performance frameworks that authorizers may elect to use instead of developing their own performance frameworks.

Authorizers shall incorporate into charter contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2018 either the applicable performance frameworks developed by the State Board or those they have developed. Authorizers may work with charter schools to incorporate the performance frameworks into contracts entered into before January 1, 2018, provided that the authorizer and charter school mutually agree to the contract amendment. All renewal decisions after September 1, 2018 must be based on the charter contract and, to the extent applicable, the performance frameworks. The performance frameworks must be made available for public viewing on the authorizer's Internet website. Using the renewal criteria set forth in the performance frameworks, the authorizer shall report annually to the charter school on the progress and performance of that charter school.

(b) A charter school renewal proposal submitted to the local school board or the Commission, as the chartering entity, shall contain:

(1) A report on the progress of the charter school in achieving the goals, objectives, pupil performance standards, content standards, and other terms of the initial approved charter proposal; and

(2) A financial statement that discloses the costs of administration, instruction, and other spending categories for the charter school that is understandable to the general public and that will allow comparison of those costs to other schools or other comparable organizations, in a format required by the State Board.

(c) A charter may be revoked or not renewed if the local school board or the Commission, as the chartering entity, clearly demonstrates that the charter school did any of the following, or otherwise failed to comply with the requirements of this law:

(1) Committed a material violation of any of the conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the charter.

(2) Failed to meet or make reasonable progress toward achievement of the content standards or pupil performance standards identified in the charter.

(3) Failed to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management.

(4) Violated any provision of law from which the charter school was not exempted.

In the case of revocation, the local school board or the Commission, as the chartering entity, shall notify the charter school in writing of the reason why the charter is subject to revocation. The charter school shall submit a written plan to the local school board or the Commission, whichever is applicable, to rectify the problem. The plan shall include a timeline for implementation, which shall not exceed 2 years or the date of the charter's expiration, whichever is earlier. If the local school board or the Commission, as the chartering entity, finds that the charter school has failed to implement the plan of remediation and adhere to the timeline, then the chartering entity shall revoke the charter. Except in situations of an emergency where the health, safety, or education of the charter school's students is at risk, the revocation shall take place at the end of a school year. Nothing in this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly shall be construed to prohibit an implementation timetable that is less than 2 years in duration.

(d) (Blank).

(e) Notice of a local school board's decision to deny, revoke or not to renew a charter shall be provided to the Commission and the State Board. The Commission may reverse a local board's decision if the Commission finds that the charter school or charter school proposal (i) is in compliance with this Article, and (ii) is in the best interests of the students it is designed to serve. The Commission may condition the granting of an appeal on the acceptance by the charter school of funding in an amount less than that requested in the proposal submitted to the local school board. Final decisions of the Commission shall be subject to judicial review under the Administrative Review Law.

(f) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Article, if the Commission on appeal reverses a local board's decision or if a charter school is approved by referendum, the Commission shall act as the authorized chartering entity for the charter school. The Commission shall approve the charter and shall perform all functions under this Article otherwise performed by the local school board. The State Board shall determine whether the charter proposal approved by the Commission is consistent with the provisions of this Article and, if the approved proposal complies, certify the proposal pursuant to this Article. The State Board shall report the aggregate number of charter school pupils resident in a school district to that district and shall notify the district of the amount of funding to be paid by the State Board to the charter school enrolling such students. The Commission shall require the charter school to maintain accurate records of daily attendance that shall be deemed sufficient to file claims under Section 18-8.05 notwithstanding any other requirements of that Section regarding hours of instruction and teacher certification. The State Board shall withhold from funds otherwise due the district the funds authorized by this Article to be paid to the charter school and shall pay such amounts to the charter school.

(g) For charter schools authorized by the Commission, the Commission shall quarterly certify to the State Board the student enrollment for each of its charter schools.

(h) For charter schools authorized by the Commission, the State Board shall pay directly to a charter school any federal or State aid attributable to a student with a disability attending the school.

(Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 98-739, eff. 7-16-14.)

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