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91_HB2064eng HB2064 Engrossed LRB9103811NTtm 1 AN ACT to amend the School Code by changing Section 2 34-1.01. 3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 4 represented in the General Assembly: 5 Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing 6 Section 34-1.01 as follows: 7 (105 ILCS 5/34-1.01) (from Ch. 122, par. 34-1.01) 8 Sec. 34-1.01. Intent. The General Assembly has 9 previously established that the primary purpose of schooling 10 is the transmission of knowledge and culture through which 11 children learn in areas necessary to their continuing 12 development, and the General Assembly has defined these 13 areas as including language arts, mathematics, biological, 14 physical and social sciences, the fine arts, and physical 15 development and health. The General Assembly declares its 16 intent to achieve the primary purpose of schooling in 17 elementary and secondary schools subject to this Article, as 18 now or hereafter amended, in cities of over 500,000 19 inhabitants, through the provisions of this amendatory Act of 20 1991. 21 A. Goals. In the furtherance of this intent, the 22 General Assembly is committed to the belief that, whilesuch23 urban schools should foster improvement and student growth in 24 a number of areas, first priority should be given to 25 achieving the following goals: 26 1. assuring that students show significant progress 27 toward meeting and exceeding State performance standards 28 in State mandated learning areas, including the mastery 29 of higher order thinking skills in these and other 30 learning areas; 31 2. assuring that students attend school regularly HB2064 Engrossed -2- LRB9103811NTtm 1 and graduate from high school at rates that equal or 2 surpass national norms; 3 3. assuring that students are adequately prepared 4 for further education and aiding students in making a 5 successful transition to further education; 6 4. assuring that students are adequately prepared 7 for successful entry into employment and aiding students 8 in making a successful transition to employment; 9 5. assuring that students are, to the maximum 10 extent possible, provided with a common learning 11 experience that is of high academic quality and that 12 reflects high expectations for all students' capacities 13 to learn; 14 6. assuring that students are better prepared to 15 compete in the international market place by having 16 foreign language proficiency and stronger international 17 studies; 18 7. assuring that students are encouraged in 19 exploring potential interests in fields such as 20 journalism, drama, art and music; 21 8. assuring that individual teachers are granted 22 the professional authority to make decisions about 23 instruction and the method of teaching; 24 9. assuring that students are provided the means to 25 express themselves creatively and to respond to the 26 artistic expression of others through the visual arts, 27 music, drama and dance; and 28 10. assuring that students are provided adequate 29 athletic programs that encourage pride and positive 30 identification with the attendance center and that reduce 31 the number of dropouts and teenage delinquents. 32 B. Achieving goals. To achieve these priority goals, the 33 General Assembly intends to make the individual local school 34 the essential unit for educational governance and improvement HB2064 Engrossed -3- LRB9103811NTtm 1 and to establish a process for placing the primary 2 responsibility for school governance and improvement in 3 furtherance of such goals in the hands of parents, community 4 residents, teachers, and the school principal at the school 5 level. 6 Further, to achieve these priority goals, the General 7 Assembly intends to lodge with the board of education key 8 powers in limited areas related to district-wide policy, so 9 that the board of education supports school-level governance 10 and improvement and carries out functions that can be 11 performed more efficiently through centralized action. 12 The General Assembly does not intend to alter or amend 13 the provisions of the desegregation obligations of the board 14 of education, including but not limited to the Consent Decree 15 or the Desegregation Plan in United States v. Chicago Board 16 of Education, 80 C 5124, U.S. District Court for the Northern 17 District of Illinois. Accordingly, the implementation of this 18 amendatory Act of 1991, to the extent practicable, shall be 19 consistent with and, in all cases, shall be subject to the 20 desegregation obligations pursuant to such Consent Decree and 21 Desegregation Plan. 22 (Source: P.A. 87-455; 88-686, eff. 1-24-95.)