SB1311ham003 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie

Filed: 11/29/2011

09700SB1311ham003 LRB097 05102 PJG 60148 a

AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1311

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1311, AS AMENDED, with reference to page and line numbers of House Amendment No. 2, on page 93, immediately below line 8, by inserting the following:

"Section 25. The School Code is amended by changing Section 27A-7.5 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/27A-7.5)

Sec. 27A-7.5. State Charter School Commission.

(a) A State Charter School Commission is established as an independent State agency with statewide chartering jurisdiction and authority.

(b) The Commission is responsible for authorizing high-quality charter schools throughout this State, particularly schools designed to expand opportunities for at-risk students, consistent with the purposes of this Article.

(c) The Commission shall consist of 9 members, appointed by the State Board. The State Board shall make these appointments from a slate of candidates proposed by the Governor, within 60 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly with respect to the initial Commission members. In making the appointments, the State Board shall ensure statewide geographic diversity among Commission members. The Governor shall propose a slate of candidates to the State Board within 60 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly and 60 days prior to the expiration of the term of a member thereafter. If the Governor fails to timely propose a slate of candidates according to the provisions of this subsection (c), then the State Board may appoint the member or members of the Commission.

(d) Members appointed to the Commission shall collectively possess strong experience and expertise in public and nonprofit governance, management and finance, public school leadership, higher education, assessments, curriculum and instruction, and public education law. All members of the Commission shall have demonstrated understanding of and a commitment to public education, including without limitation charter schooling. At least 3 members must have past experience with urban charter schools.

(e) To establish staggered terms of office, the initial term of office for 3 Commission members shall be 4 years and thereafter shall be 4 years; the initial term of office for another 3 members shall be 3 years and thereafter shall be 4 years; and the initial term of office for the remaining 3 members shall be 2 years and thereafter shall be 4 years. The initial appointments must be made no later than October 1, 2011.

(f) Whenever a vacancy on the Commission exists, the State Board shall appoint a member for the remaining portion of the term.

(g) Subject to the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, the Commission is authorized to receive and expend gifts, grants, and donations of any kind from any public or private entity to carry out the purposes of this Article, subject to the terms and conditions under which they are given, provided that all such terms and conditions are permissible under law. Funds received under this subsection (g) must be deposited into the State Charter School Commission Fund.

The State Charter School Commission Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. All money in the Fund shall be used, subject to appropriation, by the Commission for operational and administrative costs of the Commission.

Subject to appropriation, any funds appropriated for use by the State Charter School Commission may be used for the following purposes, without limitation: personal services, contractual services, and other operational and administrative costs. The State Charter School Commission is further authorized to make expenditures with respect to any other amounts deposited in accordance with law into the State Charter School Commission Fund.

(h) The Commission shall operate with dedicated resources and staff qualified to execute the day-to-day responsibilities of charter school authorizing in accordance with this Article.

(i) Every 2 years, the Commission shall provide to the State Board and local school boards a report on best practices in charter school authorizing, including without limitation evaluating applications, oversight of charters, and renewal of charter schools.

(j) The Commission may charge a charter school that it authorizes a fee, not to exceed 3% of the revenue provided to the school, to cover the cost of undertaking the ongoing administrative responsibilities of the eligible chartering authority with respect to the school. This fee must be deposited into the State Charter School Commission Fund.

(k) Any charter school authorized by the State Board prior to this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly shall have its authorization transferred to the Commission upon a vote of the State Board, which shall then become the school's authorizer for all purposes under this Article. However, in no case shall such transfer take place later than July 1, 2012. At this time, all of the powers, duties, assets, liabilities, contracts, property, records, and pending business of the State Board as the school's authorizer must be transferred to the Commission. Any charter school authorized by a local school board or boards may seek transfer of authorization to the Commission during its current term only with the approval of the local school board or boards. At the end of its charter term, a charter school authorized by a local school board or boards must reapply to the board or boards before it may apply for authorization to the Commission under the terms of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly.

On the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly, all rules of the State Board applicable to matters falling within the responsibility of the Commission shall be applicable to the actions of the Commission. The Commission shall thereafter have the authority to propose to the State Board modifications to all rules applicable to matters falling within the responsibility of the Commission. The State Board shall retain rulemaking authority for the Commission, but shall work jointly with the Commission on any proposed modifications. Upon recommendation of proposed rule modifications by the Commission and pursuant to the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, the State Board shall consider such changes within the intent of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly and grant any and all changes consistent with that intent.

(l) The Commission shall have the responsibility to consider appeals under this Article immediately upon appointment of the initial members of the Commission under subsection (c) of this Section. Appeals pending at the time of initial appointment shall be determined by the Commission; the Commission may extend the time for review as necessary for thorough review, but in no case shall the extension exceed the time that would have been available had the appeal been submitted to the Commission on the date of appointment of its initial members. In any appeal filed with the Commission under this Article, both the applicant and the school district in which the charter school plans to locate shall have the right to request a hearing before the Commission. If more than one entity requests a hearing, then the Commission may hold only one hearing, wherein the applicant and the school district shall have an equal opportunity to present their respective positions.

(Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11.)

Section 30. The State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor's Act is amended by changing Section 4.10 as follows:

(725 ILCS 210/4.10) (from Ch. 14, par. 204.10)

Sec. 4.10. The Office may conduct and charge tuition for training programs for State's Attorneys, Assistant State's Attorneys and other law enforcement officers. The Office shall conduct training programs and provide technical trial assistance for Illinois State's Attorneys, Assistant State's Attorneys, state's attorneys, assistant state's attorneys and law enforcement officers on: (1) constitutional, statutory, and case law issues; (2) forensic evidence; (3) prosecutorial ethics and professional responsibility; and (4) a continuum of trial advocacy techniques and methods, including an emphasis on the elimination of or reduction in of eliminating or reducing the trauma of testifying in criminal proceedings for vulnerable populations including seniors, disabled persons, and children who serve as witnesses in such proceedings. The Office may make grants for these purposes. In addition, the Office may publish, disseminate and sell publications and newsletters which digest current Appellate and Supreme Court cases and legislative developments of importance to prosecutors and law enforcement officials. The moneys collected by the Office from the programs and publications provided for in this Section shall be deposited in the Continuing Legal Education Trust Fund, which special fund is hereby created in the State Treasury. In addition, such appropriations, gifts or grants of money as the Office may secure from any public or private source for the purposes described in this Section shall be deposited in the Continuing Legal Education Trust Fund. The General Assembly shall make appropriations from the Continuing Legal Education Trust Fund for the expenses of the Office incident to conducting the programs and publishing the materials provided for in this Section.

(Source: P.A. 84-1340.)".