100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB3567

 

Introduced , by Rep. Will Guzzardi

 

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

    Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Provides that no charter shall be granted that would locate a charter school or charter school campus in a zip code in which a public school was closed within 10 school years prior to the effective date of the amendatory Act or that would locate a charter school or charter school campus in a zip code that is contiguous to a zip code in which a public school was closed within 10 school years prior to the effective date of the amendatory Act. Provides that no charter shall be granted unless the General Assembly has appropriated transition impact aid for the school district where the charter school is to be located. Provides that, for charter schools established on or after the effective date of the amendatory Act, the board of education in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 shall designate attendance boundaries for those charter schools. Effective immediately.


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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 Section
527A-4 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) 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 operating at any one time
22in that city; and not more than 45 charter schools shall
23operate at any one time in the remainder of the State, with not

 

 

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1more than one charter school that has been initiated by a board
2of education, or by an intergovernmental agreement between or
3among boards of education, operating at any one time in the
4school district where the charter school is located. In
5addition to these charter schools, up to but no more than 5
6charter schools devoted exclusively to re-enrolled high school
7dropouts and/or students 16 or 15 years old at risk of dropping
8out may operate at any one time in any city having a population
9exceeding 500,000. Notwithstanding any provision to the
10contrary in subsection (b) of Section 27A-5 of this Code, each
11such dropout charter may operate up to 15 campuses within the
12city. Any of these dropout charters may have a maximum of 1,875
13enrollment seats, any one of the campuses of the dropout
14charter may have a maximum of 165 enrollment seats, and each
15campus of the dropout charter must be operated, through a
16contract or payroll, by the same legal entity as that for which
17the charter is approved and certified.
18    For purposes of implementing this Section, the State Board
19shall assign a number to each charter submission it receives
20under Section 27A-6 for its review and certification, based on
21the chronological order in which the submission is received by
22it. The State Board shall promptly notify local school boards
23when the maximum numbers of certified charter schools
24authorized to operate have been reached.
25    (c) No charter shall be granted under this Article that
26would convert any existing private, parochial, or non-public

 

 

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1school to a charter school.
2    No charter shall be granted under this Article that would
3locate a charter school or charter school campus in a zip code
4in which a public school was closed within 10 school years
5prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th
6General Assembly or that would locate a charter school or
7charter school campus in a zip code that is contiguous to a zip
8code in which a public school was closed within 10 school years
9prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th
10General Assembly.
11    No charter shall be granted under this Article unless the
12General Assembly has appropriated transition impact aid under
13Section 27A-11.5 of this Code for the school district where the
14charter school is to be located.
15    (d) Enrollment in a charter school shall be open to any
16pupil who resides within the geographic boundaries of the area
17served by the local school board, provided that (i) for charter
18schools established before the effective date of this
19amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly, the board of
20education in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may
21designate attendance boundaries for no more than one-third of
22the charter schools permitted in the city if the board of
23education determines that attendance boundaries are needed to
24relieve overcrowding or to better serve low-income and at-risk
25students and (ii) for charter schools established on or after
26the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th General

 

 

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1Assembly, the board of education in a city having a population
2exceeding 500,000 shall designate attendance boundaries for
3those charter schools. Students residing within an attendance
4boundary may be given priority for enrollment, but must not be
5required to attend the charter school.
6    (e) Nothing in this Article shall prevent 2 or more local
7school boards from jointly issuing a charter to a single shared
8charter school, provided that all of the provisions of this
9Article are met as to those local school boards.
10    (f) No local school board shall require any employee of the
11school district to be employed in a charter school.
12    (g) No local school board shall require any pupil residing
13within the geographic boundary of its district to enroll in a
14charter school.
15    (h) If there are more eligible applicants for enrollment in
16a charter school than there are spaces available, successful
17applicants shall be selected by lottery. However, priority
18shall be given to siblings of pupils enrolled in the charter
19school and to pupils who were enrolled in the charter school
20the previous school year, unless expelled for cause, and
21priority may be given to pupils residing within the charter
22school's attendance boundary, if a boundary has been designated
23by the board of education in a city having a population
24exceeding 500,000.
25    Beginning with student enrollment for the 2015-2016 school
26year, any lottery required under this subsection (h) must be

 

 

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1administered and videotaped by the charter school. The
2authorizer or its designee must be allowed to be present or
3view the lottery in real time. The charter school must maintain
4a videotaped record of the lottery, including a time/date
5stamp. The charter school shall transmit copies of the
6videotape and all records relating to the lottery to the
7authorizer on or before September 1 of each year.
8    Subject to the requirements for priority applicant groups
9set forth in paragraph (1) of this subsection (h), any lottery
10required under this subsection (h) must be administered in a
11way that provides each student an equal chance at admission. If
12an authorizer makes a determination that a charter school's
13lottery is in violation of this subsection (h), it may
14administer the lottery directly. After a lottery, each student
15randomly selected for admission to the charter school must be
16notified. Charter schools may not create an admissions process
17subsequent to a lottery that may operate as a barrier to
18registration or enrollment.
19    Charter schools may undertake additional intake
20activities, including without limitation student essays,
21school-parent compacts, or open houses, but in no event may a
22charter school require participation in these activities as a
23condition of enrollment. A charter school must submit an
24updated waitlist to the authorizer on a quarterly basis. A
25waitlist must be submitted to the authorizer at the same time
26as quarterly financial statements, if quarterly financial

 

 

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1statements are required by the authorizer.
2    Dual enrollment at both a charter school and a public
3school or non-public school shall not be allowed. A pupil who
4is suspended or expelled from a charter school shall be deemed
5to be suspended or expelled from the public schools of the
6school district in which the pupil resides. Notwithstanding
7anything to the contrary in this subsection (h):
8        (1) any charter school with a mission exclusive to
9    educating high school dropouts may grant priority
10    admission to students who are high school dropouts and/or
11    students 16 or 15 years old at risk of dropping out and any
12    charter school with a mission exclusive to educating
13    students from low-performing or overcrowded schools may
14    restrict admission to students who are from low-performing
15    or overcrowded schools; "priority admission" for charter
16    schools exclusively devoted to re-enrolled dropouts or
17    students at risk of dropping out means a minimum of 90% of
18    students enrolled shall be high school dropouts; and
19        (2) any charter school located in a school district
20    that contains all or part of a federal military base may
21    set aside up to 33% of its current charter enrollment to
22    students with parents assigned to the federal military
23    base, with the remaining 67% subject to the general
24    enrollment and lottery requirements of subsection (d) of
25    this Section and this subsection (h); if a student with a
26    parent assigned to the federal military base withdraws from

 

 

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1    the charter school during the course of a school year for
2    reasons other than grade promotion, those students with
3    parents assigned to the federal military base shall have
4    preference in filling the vacancy.
5    (i) (Blank).
6    (j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
7contrary, a school district in a city having a population
8exceeding 500,000 shall not have a duty to collectively bargain
9with an exclusive representative of its employees over
10decisions to grant or deny a charter school proposal under
11Section 27A-8 of this Code, decisions to renew or revoke a
12charter under Section 27A-9 of this Code, and the impact of
13these decisions, provided that nothing in this Section shall
14have the effect of negating, abrogating, replacing, reducing,
15diminishing, or limiting in any way employee rights,
16guarantees, or privileges granted in Sections 2, 3, 7, 8, 10,
1714, and 15 of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.
18    (k) In this Section:
19    "Low-performing school" means a public school in a school
20district organized under Article 34 of this Code that enrolls
21students in any of grades kindergarten through 8 and that is
22ranked within the lowest 10% of schools in that district in
23terms of the percentage of students meeting or exceeding
24standards on the assessments required under Section 2-3.64a-5
25of this Code.
26    "Overcrowded school" means a public school in a school

 

 

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1district organized under Article 34 of this Code that (i)
2enrolls students in any of grades kindergarten through 8, (ii)
3has a percentage of low-income students of 70% or more, as
4identified in the most recently available School Report Card
5published by the State Board of Education, and (iii) is
6determined by the Chicago Board of Education to be in the most
7severely overcrowded 5% of schools in the district. On or
8before November 1 of each year, the Chicago Board of Education
9shall file a report with the State Board of Education on which
10schools in the district meet the definition of "overcrowded
11school". "Students at risk of dropping out" means students 16
12or 15 years old in a public school in a district organized
13under Article 34 of this Code that enrolls students in any
14grades 9-12 who have been absent at least 90 school attendance
15days of the previous 180 school attendance days.
16    (l) For advertisements created after January 1, 2015 (the
17effective date of Public Act 98-783), any advertisement,
18including a radio, television, print, Internet, social media,
19or billboard advertisement, purchased by a school district or
20public school, including a charter school, with public funds
21must include a disclaimer stating that the advertisement was
22paid for using public funds.
23    This disclaimer requirement does not extend to materials
24created by the charter school, including, but not limited to, a
25school website, informational pamphlets or leaflets, or
26clothing with affixed school logos.

 

 

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1(Source: P.A. 98-474, eff. 8-16-13; 98-783, eff. 1-1-15;
298-972, eff. 8-15-14; 99-78, eff. 7-20-15.)
 
3    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
4becoming law.