SB1679eng 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB1679 Engrossed LRB099 08002 SXM 28142 b

AN ACT concerning education.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Course Access Act.

Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:

"Course provider" means an entity authorized by the State Board to offer individual courses in person, online, or a combination of the 2, including, but not limited to, online education providers, public or private elementary and secondary education institutions, education service agencies, not-for-profit providers, postsecondary education institutions, and vocational or technical course providers.

"Eligible funded student" means any eligible participating student who is currently enrolled in a public school or charter school.

"Eligible participating student" means any student in kindergarten through grade 12 who resides in this State.

"Public school" means a public school or charter school.

"State Board" means the State Board of Education.

"State Course Access Catalog" means the website developed for the State Board of Education that provides a listing of all courses authorized and available to students in this State, detailed information about the courses to inform student enrollment decisions, and the ability for students to submit their course enrollments. The data in this Catalog shall be published online in an open format that may be retrieved, downloaded, indexed, and searched by commonly used web search applications. An open format shall be platform-independent, machine-readable, and made available to the public without restrictions that may impede the reuse of that information. The data in the Catalog shall be owned by the State Board.

"State Course Access Program" means the Program created under this Act.

Section 10. Enrollment. An eligible participating student may enroll in State Course Access Program courses.

An eligible funded student may enroll in State Course Access Program courses only if the courses the eligible funded student wants to enroll in are not offered at the eligible funded student's school.

An eligible funded student may enroll in State Course Access Program courses that are funded by the Program up to the following levels, unless additional courses are approved by the school where they are enrolled:

(1) 2016-2017 school year: Students attending a public school who choose to participate in the State Course Access Program and entering the school year with credits equal to the junior or senior level of high school may take up to 2 courses per semester.

(2) 2017-2018 school year: Students attending a public school who choose to participate in the State Course Access Program and entering the school year with credits equal to the sophomore, junior, or senior level of high school may take up to 2 courses per semester.

(3) 2018-2019 school year and all school years thereafter: Students attending a public school who choose to participate in the State Course Access Program and entering grades 9 through 12 may take up to 2 courses per semester.

The families of eligible funded students and other eligible participating students may pay to enroll in State Course Access Program courses above the levels specified under Section 50 of this Act.

Public and charter schools where eligible funded students are enrolled full time may review enrollment requests to ensure courses are academically appropriate, logistically feasible, keep the student on track for an on-time graduation, and do not extend a student beyond a full-time course load. The public and charter schools may only reject enrollment requests for not doing so.

The public and charter schools must complete the review and denial process within 5 days of the student enrolling in the course.

Public and charter schools shall inform students and families at the time of denial of their right to appeal any enrollment denials in State Course Access Program courses to the school board, which shall provide a final enrollment decision within 7 calendar days.

Section 15. Provider authorization process. The State Board shall:

(1) Establish an authorization process for course providers that may include multiple opportunities for submission each year.

(2) Not later than 90 calendar days from the initial submission date, authorize course providers that:

(A) meet the criteria established under Section 20 of this Act; and

(B) provide courses that offer the instructional rigor and scope required under Section 25 of this Act.

(3) Not later than 90 calendar days from the initial submission date, provide a written explanation to any course providers that are denied. If a course provider is denied authorization, the provider may apply again in the future. If a course provider is denied authorization 3 times, the provider will no longer be able to apply.

(4) Publish the process established under Section 20 of this Act, including any deadlines and any guidelines applicable to the submission and authorization process for providers.

If the State Board determines that there are insufficient funds available for evaluating and authorizing course providers, it may charge applicant providers a fee up to, but no greater than, the amount of the costs in order to ensure that evaluation occurs. The State Board shall establish and publish a fee schedule for purposes of this Section.

Section 20. Course provider criteria. To be authorized to offer a course through the State Course Access Program, a provider must:

(1) Comply with all applicable anti-discrimination provisions and applicable State and federal student data privacy provisions, including, but not limited to, the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

(2) Provide an assurance that all online information and resources for online or blended courses are fully accessible for students of all abilities, including that:

(A) all of the courses submitted for approval are reviewed to ensure they meet legal accessibility standards;

(B) the provider has created and promulgated an Accessibility Online Public and Charter Schools Policy;

(C) the provider has designated a Section 504 Coordinator and a Grievance Policy, and issued annual notifications;

(D) the provider has policies and activities to ensure their organizational and course websites meet accessibility requirements; and

(E) the provider has no gateway exam or test where a specific score is required to participate in the Program courses beyond completion of prerequisite coursework or demonstrated mastery of prerequisite material.

(3) Demonstrate either:

(A) prior evidence of delivering quality outcomes for students, as demonstrated by completion rates, student level growth, proficiency, or other quantifiable outcomes; or

(B) for course providers applying to offer a subject or grade level for the first time, provide a detailed justification, in a manner determined by the State Board, of how their organization's subject matter, instructional, and technical expertise will allow public and charter schools to produce successful outcomes for students.

(4) Ensure instructional and curricular quality through a detailed curriculum and student performance accountability plan that aligns with and measures student attainment of relevant State academic standards or other relevant standards in courses without State academic standards.

(5) Provide assurances that the course provider shall provide electronically, in a manner and format determined by the State Board, a detailed student record of enrollment, performance, completion, and grading information with the school systems where eligible participating students are enrolled full time.

Additional criteria developed by the State Board shall be used to evaluate providers, and may include International Association for K-12 Online Learning, National Standards for Quality Online Teaching, National Standards for Quality Online Courses, Southern Regional Education Board, AdvancED, or other nationally recognized third party quality standards.

Section 25. Course quality reviews. The State Board shall establish a course review and approval process. The process may be implemented by the State Board or by an entity designated by the State Board.

In order to be approved and added to the State Course Access Catalog, a course must:

(1) Be one of the following types:

(A) a course that satisfies high school graduation requirements;

(B) a course identified by the State Board as necessary for college-readiness;

(C) an Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate course;

(D) a music or arts course;

(E) a STEM course;

(F) a foreign language course;

(G) a dual credit course that allows students to earn college credit or other advanced credit; or

(H) a vocational or technical course, including apprenticeships and High School Career Exploration and Readiness courses.

(2) Be, at a minimum, the equivalent in instructional rigor and scope to a course that is provided in a traditional classroom setting.

(3) Be aligned to relevant State academic standards or industry standards.

(4) Possess an assessment component for determining student proficiency and student growth where applicable.

(5) Be designed and implemented consistently with criteria established by the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (INACOL) National Standards for Quality Online Teaching and INACOL National Standards for Quality Online Courses, the Southern Regional Education Board, or AdvancED or with other nationally or industry-recognized third party quality standards.

(6) Be taught by a teacher who holds a professional educator license under Article 21B of the School Code.

A course provider other than the Illinois Virtual School may offer an online course only if the Illinois Virtual School decides to not offer the course via the State Course Access Catalog.

Section 30. Provider and course monitoring and reauthorization. The initial authorization of the course provider and approved courses shall be for a period of 3 years. Providers must annually report, in such a manner as directed by the State Board:

(1) student enrollment data;

(2) student outcomes, growth measures when available, proficiency rates, and completion rates for each subject area and grade level; and

(3) student and parental feedback on overall satisfaction and quality.

After the second year of the initial authorization period, the State Board shall conduct a thorough review of the course provider's activities and the academic performance of the students enrolled in courses offered by the course provider.

If the performance of the students enrolled in courses offered by the course provider does not meet agreed-upon performance standards at any time, the course provider shall be placed on probation and shall be required to submit a plan for improvement. The State Board shall determine the terms of probation, including, but not limited to, the results the course provider must achieve to return to good standing. Course providers shall have a minimum of 60 days to achieve the results indicated in their terms of probation. The State Board shall, at its sole discretion, determine if the course provider has met the specified results required for the course provider to return to good standing. If a course provider fails to return to good standing within the timeframe cited in its terms of probation, the State Board may terminate its status as a course provider. Course providers terminated as a result of being put on probation may not reapply to become a course provider for 2 years from the time the State Board revoked its status.

After the initial 3-year authorization period, the State Board may reauthorize the course provider for additional periods of up to 5 years after thorough review of the course provider's activities and the achievement of students enrolled in courses offered by the course provider.

The State Board may exclude a course provided by an authorized provider at any time if the State Board determines that:

(A) the course is no longer adequately aligned with the State academic standards;

(B) the course no longer provides a detailed and quality curriculum and accountability plan; or

(C) the course fails to deliver outcomes as measured by course completion, proficiency, or student academic growth on State or nationally accepted assessments.

Section 35. Interstate course reciprocity. The State Board may enter into a reciprocity agreement with other states for the purpose of authorizing and approving high quality providers and courses for the State Course Access Program and the operation of the State Course Access Catalog.

Section 40. Responsibilities of the State Board.

(a) The State Board shall:

(1) Publish the criteria required under Section 20 of this Act for courses that may be offered through the State Course Access Program.

(2) Be responsible for creating the State Course Access Catalog.

(3) Publish a link to the Catalog in a prominent location on the State Board's website, which includes a listing of courses offered by authorized providers available through the Program, a detailed description of the courses, and any available student completion and outcome data.

(4) Establish and publish a timeframe or specific dates by which students are able to withdraw from a course provided through the Program without the student, public and charter schools, or course provider incurring a penalty.

(5) Maintain on its official website in a prominent location an informed choice report. Each report under this Section must:

(A) be updated within 30 calendar days of additional provider authorizations;

(B) describe each course offered through the Program and include information such as course requirements and the school year calendar for the course, including any options for continued participation outside of the standard school year calendar;

(C) include student and parental comments and feedback as detailed under Section 35 of this Act; and

(D) be published online in an open format that can be retrieved, downloaded, indexed, and searched by commonly used web search applications. An open format is one that is platform-independent, machine-readable, and made available to the public without restrictions that would impede the reuse of that information.

(b) The State Board shall submit an annual report on the Program and the participation of entities to the Governor, the Chairperson and Minority Spokesperson of the Education Committee of the Senate, and the Chairperson and Minority Spokesperson of the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee of the House of Representatives. The report shall at a minimum include the following information:

(1) The annual number of students participating in courses authorized under this Act and the total number of courses students are enrolled in.

(2) The number of authorized providers.

(3) The number of authorized courses and the number of students enrolled in each course.

(4) The number of courses available by subject.

(5) The number of students enrolled in courses by subject.

(6) Student outcome data, including completion rates, student learning gains, student performance on State or nationally accepted assessments, by subject and grade level by provider. This outcome data should be published in a manner that protects student privacy.

The State Board shall note any data that are not yet available at the time of publication and when these data will become available and include these data in future reports.

The report and underlying data shall be published online in an open format that can be retrieved, downloaded, indexed, and searched by commonly used web search applications. An open format is one that is platform-independent, machine-readable, and made available to the public without restrictions that would impede the reuse of that information.

Section 45. Responsibilities of the local school district.

(a) A public school shall:

(1) State, in writing to the State Board, whether it wants to participate in the State Course Access Program during the 2016-2017 school year.

(2) Provide information by letter or email to students and parents at home and by at least 2 other means, such as community flyers, newspaper postings, student report cards, or other methods.

(3) Publish information and eligibility guidelines on the school and school district's web sites.

(b) Each local school system shall establish policies and procedures whereby, for each eligible participating student, credits earned through the course provider shall appear on each student's official transcript and count fully toward the requirements of any approved Illinois diploma.

(c) The State Board shall adopt rules necessary to implement this Section, including, but not limited to, the requirements of school governing authorities or local school systems whose students enroll in courses offered by authorized course providers.

(d) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent a school entity from establishing its own online course or program in accordance with this Act.

Section 50. Funding.

(a) Per-course tuition shall be determined as follows:

(1) The course provider shall receive per-course tuition for each eligible funded student at a fair and reasonable rate negotiated by the State Board and the course provider that is inclusive of all required course materials and transportation expenses. Course providers are only responsible for providing transportation for students who are enrolled in a free or reduced-price lunch program. Transfers of course payments shall be made by the State Board on behalf of the responsible school district in which the student resides to the authorized course provider.

(2) The course provider shall receive payment from the State Board only for the courses in which an eligible funded student is enrolled. The remaining funds for each student shall remain with the local school system in which the student is enrolled full time.

(3) The course provider shall accept the amount specified in this Section as total tuition and fees for the eligible funded student.

(4) The course provider may charge tuition to any other eligible participating student up to an amount determined by the course provider and State Board.

(b) Payment of tuition to course providers shall be based upon student success and made as follows:

(1) Fifty percent of the amount of tuition to be paid or transferred to the course provider shall be transferred upon student enrollment in a course, and 50% shall be dependent upon student success in the course.

(2) Student success may, in the 2016-2017 school year, be measured based on course completion, but the State Board may create new measures of student success by the 2017-2018 school year for use in courses where externally validated measures are available. These measures of student outcomes, based on either proficiency or growth, shall include results from independent end-of-course exams, Advanced Placement exams, International Baccalaureate exams, receipt of industry-recognized credentials, receipt of credit from institutions of higher education, or other externally validated measures.

(3) Partial payments for delayed completions shall be determined as follows: If a student does not successfully complete a course according to the published course length in which the course provider has received the first payment pursuant to this Section, the provider shall receive 75% of the tuition that is dependent upon student success, as defined in Section 30 of this Act, only if the student completes and receives credit for the course within one additional semester.

Section 900. The School Code is amended by changing Section 27A-5 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/27A-5)

Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.

(a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian, nonreligious, non-home based, and non-profit school. A charter school shall be organized and operated as a nonprofit corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.

(b) A charter school may be established under this Article by creating a new school or by converting an existing public school or attendance center to charter school status. Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly, in all new applications to establish a charter school in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, operation of the charter school shall be limited to one campus. The changes made to this Section by this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly do not apply to charter schools existing or approved on or before the effective date of this amendatory Act.

(b-5) In this subsection (b-5), "virtual-schooling" means a cyber school where students engage in online curriculum and instruction via the Internet and electronic communication with their teachers at remote locations and with students participating at different times.

From April 1, 2013 through December 31, 2016, there is a moratorium on the establishment of charter schools with virtual-schooling components in school districts other than a school district organized under Article 34 of this Code. This moratorium does not apply to a charter school with virtual-schooling components existing or approved prior to April 1, 2013 or to the renewal of the charter of a charter school with virtual-schooling components already approved prior to April 1, 2013.

On or before March 1, 2014, the Commission shall submit to the General Assembly a report on the effect of virtual-schooling, including without limitation the effect on student performance, the costs associated with virtual-schooling, and issues with oversight. The report shall include policy recommendations for virtual-schooling.

(c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by its board of directors or other governing body in the manner provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter school shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act.

(d) A charter school shall comply with all applicable health and safety requirements applicable to public schools under the laws of the State of Illinois.

(e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a charter school shall not charge tuition; provided that a charter school may charge reasonable fees for textbooks, instructional materials, and student activities.

(f) A charter school shall be responsible for the management and operation of its fiscal affairs including, but not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each charter school's finances shall be conducted annually by an outside, independent contractor retained by the charter school. To ensure financial accountability for the use of public funds, on or before December 1 of every year of operation, each charter school shall submit to its authorizer and the State Board a copy of its audit and a copy of the Form 990 the charter school filed that year with the federal Internal Revenue Service. In addition, if deemed necessary for proper financial oversight of the charter school, an authorizer may require quarterly financial statements from each charter school.

(g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of this Article; the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act; all federal and State laws and rules applicable to public schools that pertain to special education and the instruction of English language learners, referred to in this Code as "children of limited English-speaking ability"; and its charter. A charter school is exempt from all other State laws and regulations in this Code governing public schools and local school board policies; however a charter school is not exempt from , except the following:

(1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of this Code regarding criminal history records checks and checks of the Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Database of applicants for employment;

(2) Sections 24-24 and 34-84A of this Code regarding discipline of students;

(3) the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act;

(4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986 regarding indemnification of officers, directors, employees, and agents;

(5) the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;

(6) the Illinois School Student Records Act;

(7) Section 10-17a of this Code regarding school report cards;

(8) the P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act; and

(9) Section 27-23.7 of this Code regarding bullying prevention; .

(10) (9) Section 2-3.162 2-3.160 of this the School Code regarding student discipline reporting; and .

(11) The Course Access Act.

The change made by Public Act 96-104 to this subsection (g) is declaratory of existing law.

(h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a school district, the governing body of a State college or university or public community college, or any other public or for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use of a school building and grounds or any other real property or facilities that the charter school desires to use or convert for use as a charter school site, (ii) the operation and maintenance thereof, and (iii) the provision of any service, activity, or undertaking that the charter school is required to perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter. However, a charter school that is established on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly and that operates in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may not contract with a for-profit entity to manage or operate the school during the period that commences on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly and concludes at the end of the 2004-2005 school year. Except as provided in subsection (i) of this Section, a school district may charge a charter school reasonable rent for the use of the district's buildings, grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a charter school contracts with a school district shall be provided by the district at cost. Any services for which a charter school contracts with a local school board or with the governing body of a State college or university or public community college shall be provided by the public entity at cost.

(i) In no event shall a charter school that is established by converting an existing school or attendance center to charter school status be required to pay rent for space that is deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter agreement, in school district facilities. However, all other costs for the operation and maintenance of school district facilities that are used by the charter school shall be subject to negotiation between the charter school and the local school board and shall be set forth in the charter.

(j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or grade level.

(k) If the charter school is approved by the Commission, then the Commission charter school is its own local education agency.

(Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 97-154, eff. 1-1-12; 97-813, eff. 7-13-12; 98-16, eff. 5-24-13; 98-639, eff. 6-9-14; 98-669, eff. 6-26-14; 98-739, eff. 7-16-14; 98-783, eff. 1-1-15; 98-1059, eff. 8-26-14; 98-1102, eff. 8-26-14; revised 10-14-14.)

Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect January 1, 2016.