Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie

Filed: 11/29/2011

 

 


 

 


 
09700SB1311ham003LRB097 05102 PJG 60148 a

1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1311

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1311, AS AMENDED,
3with reference to page and line numbers of House Amendment No.
42, on page 93, immediately below line 8, by inserting the
5following:
 
6    "Section 25. The School Code is amended by changing Section
727A-7.5 as follows:
 
8    (105 ILCS 5/27A-7.5)
9    Sec. 27A-7.5. State Charter School Commission.
10    (a) A State Charter School Commission is established as an
11independent State agency with statewide chartering
12jurisdiction and authority.
13    (b) The Commission is responsible for authorizing
14high-quality charter schools throughout this State,
15particularly schools designed to expand opportunities for
16at-risk students, consistent with the purposes of this Article.

 

 

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1    (c) The Commission shall consist of 9 members, appointed by
2the State Board. The State Board shall make these appointments
3from a slate of candidates proposed by the Governor, within 60
4days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the
597th General Assembly with respect to the initial Commission
6members. In making the appointments, the State Board shall
7ensure statewide geographic diversity among Commission
8members. The Governor shall propose a slate of candidates to
9the State Board within 60 days after the effective date of this
10amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly and 60 days prior
11to the expiration of the term of a member thereafter. If the
12Governor fails to timely propose a slate of candidates
13according to the provisions of this subsection (c), then the
14State Board may appoint the member or members of the
15Commission.
16    (d) Members appointed to the Commission shall collectively
17possess strong experience and expertise in public and nonprofit
18governance, management and finance, public school leadership,
19higher education, assessments, curriculum and instruction, and
20public education law. All members of the Commission shall have
21demonstrated understanding of and a commitment to public
22education, including without limitation charter schooling. At
23least 3 members must have past experience with urban charter
24schools.
25    (e) To establish staggered terms of office, the initial
26term of office for 3 Commission members shall be 4 years and

 

 

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1thereafter shall be 4 years; the initial term of office for
2another 3 members shall be 3 years and thereafter shall be 4
3years; and the initial term of office for the remaining 3
4members shall be 2 years and thereafter shall be 4 years. The
5initial appointments must be made no later than October 1,
62011.
7    (f) Whenever a vacancy on the Commission exists, the State
8Board shall appoint a member for the remaining portion of the
9term.
10    (g) Subject to the State Officials and Employees Ethics
11Act, the Commission is authorized to receive and expend gifts,
12grants, and donations of any kind from any public or private
13entity to carry out the purposes of this Article, subject to
14the terms and conditions under which they are given, provided
15that all such terms and conditions are permissible under law.
16Funds received under this subsection (g) must be deposited into
17the State Charter School Commission Fund.
18    The State Charter School Commission Fund is created as a
19special fund in the State treasury. All money in the Fund shall
20be used, subject to appropriation, by the Commission for
21operational and administrative costs of the Commission.
22    Subject to appropriation, any funds appropriated for use by
23the State Charter School Commission may be used for the
24following purposes, without limitation: personal services,
25contractual services, and other operational and administrative
26costs. The State Charter School Commission is further

 

 

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1authorized to make expenditures with respect to any other
2amounts deposited in accordance with law into the State Charter
3School Commission Fund.
4    (h) The Commission shall operate with dedicated resources
5and staff qualified to execute the day-to-day responsibilities
6of charter school authorizing in accordance with this Article.
7    (i) Every 2 years, the Commission shall provide to the
8State Board and local school boards a report on best practices
9in charter school authorizing, including without limitation
10evaluating applications, oversight of charters, and renewal of
11charter schools.
12    (j) The Commission may charge a charter school that it
13authorizes a fee, not to exceed 3% of the revenue provided to
14the school, to cover the cost of undertaking the ongoing
15administrative responsibilities of the eligible chartering
16authority with respect to the school. This fee must be
17deposited into the State Charter School Commission Fund.
18    (k) Any charter school authorized by the State Board prior
19to this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly shall have
20its authorization transferred to the Commission upon a vote of
21the State Board, which shall then become the school's
22authorizer for all purposes under this Article. However, in no
23case shall such transfer take place later than July 1, 2012. At
24this time, all of the powers, duties, assets, liabilities,
25contracts, property, records, and pending business of the State
26Board as the school's authorizer must be transferred to the

 

 

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1Commission. Any charter school authorized by a local school
2board or boards may seek transfer of authorization to the
3Commission during its current term only with the approval of
4the local school board or boards. At the end of its charter
5term, a charter school authorized by a local school board or
6boards must reapply to the board or boards before it may apply
7for authorization to the Commission under the terms of this
8amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly.
9    On the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th
10General Assembly, all rules of the State Board applicable to
11matters falling within the responsibility of the Commission
12shall be applicable to the actions of the Commission. The
13Commission shall thereafter have the authority to propose to
14the State Board modifications to all rules applicable to
15matters falling within the responsibility of the Commission.
16The State Board shall retain rulemaking authority for the
17Commission, but shall work jointly with the Commission on any
18proposed modifications. Upon recommendation of proposed rule
19modifications by the Commission and pursuant to the Illinois
20Administrative Procedure Act, the State Board shall consider
21such changes within the intent of this amendatory Act of the
2297th General Assembly and grant any and all changes consistent
23with that intent.
24    (l) The Commission shall have the responsibility to
25consider appeals under this Article immediately upon
26appointment of the initial members of the Commission under

 

 

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1subsection (c) of this Section. Appeals pending at the time of
2initial appointment shall be determined by the Commission; the
3Commission may extend the time for review as necessary for
4thorough review, but in no case shall the extension exceed the
5time that would have been available had the appeal been
6submitted to the Commission on the date of appointment of its
7initial members. In any appeal filed with the Commission under
8this Article, both the applicant and the school district in
9which the charter school plans to locate shall have the right
10to request a hearing before the Commission. If more than one
11entity requests a hearing, then the Commission may hold only
12one hearing, wherein the applicant and the school district
13shall have an equal opportunity to present their respective
14positions.
15(Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11.)
 
16    Section 30. The State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor's
17Act is amended by changing Section 4.10 as follows:
 
18    (725 ILCS 210/4.10)  (from Ch. 14, par. 204.10)
19    Sec. 4.10. The Office may conduct and charge tuition for
20training programs for State's Attorneys, Assistant State's
21Attorneys and other law enforcement officers. The Office shall
22conduct training programs and provide technical trial
23assistance for Illinois State's Attorneys, Assistant State's
24Attorneys, state's attorneys, assistant state's attorneys and

 

 

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1law enforcement officers on: (1) constitutional, statutory,
2and case law issues; (2) forensic evidence; (3) prosecutorial
3ethics and professional responsibility; and (4) a continuum of
4trial advocacy techniques and methods, including an emphasis on
5the elimination of or reduction in of eliminating or reducing
6the trauma of testifying in criminal proceedings for vulnerable
7populations including seniors, disabled persons, and children
8who serve as witnesses in such proceedings. The Office may make
9grants for these purposes. In addition, the Office may publish,
10disseminate and sell publications and newsletters which digest
11current Appellate and Supreme Court cases and legislative
12developments of importance to prosecutors and law enforcement
13officials. The moneys collected by the Office from the programs
14and publications provided for in this Section shall be
15deposited in the Continuing Legal Education Trust Fund, which
16special fund is hereby created in the State Treasury. In
17addition, such appropriations, gifts or grants of money as the
18Office may secure from any public or private source for the
19purposes described in this Section shall be deposited in the
20Continuing Legal Education Trust Fund. The General Assembly
21shall make appropriations from the Continuing Legal Education
22Trust Fund for the expenses of the Office incident to
23conducting the programs and publishing the materials provided
24for in this Section.
25(Source: P.A. 84-1340.)".