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91_HB2985ham002
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1 AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2985
2 AMENDMENT NO. . Amend House Bill 2985 by replacing
3 the title with the following:
4 "AN ACT to amend the School Code by changing Section 1D-1
5 and adding Section 2-3.51a."; and
6 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
7 following:
8 "Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing
9 Section 1D-1 and adding Section 2-3.51a as follows:
10 (105 ILCS 5/1D-1)
11 Sec. 1D-1. Block grant funding.
12 (a) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year
13 thereafter, the State Board of Education shall award to a
14 school district having a population exceeding 500,000
15 inhabitants a general education block grant and an
16 educational services block grant, determined as provided in
17 this Section, in lieu of distributing to the district
18 separate State funding for the programs described in
19 subsections (b) and (c). The provisions of this Section,
20 however, do not apply to any federal funds that the district
21 is entitled to receive. In accordance with Section 2-3.32,
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1 all block grants are subject to an audit. Therefore, block
2 grant receipts and block grant expenditures shall be recorded
3 to the appropriate fund code for the designated block grant.
4 (b) The general education block grant shall include the
5 following programs: REI Initiative, Preschool At Risk, K-6
6 Comprehensive Arts, School Improvement Support, Urban
7 Education, Scientific Literacy, Substance Abuse Prevention,
8 Second Language Planning, Staff Development, Outcomes and
9 Assessment, K-6 Reading Improvement, 7-12 Continued Reading
10 Improvement, Truants' Optional Education, Hispanic Programs,
11 Agriculture Education, Gifted Education, Parental Education,
12 Prevention Initiative, Report Cards, and Criminal Background
13 Investigations. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
14 all amounts paid under the general education block grant from
15 State appropriations to a school district in a city having a
16 population exceeding 500,000 inhabitants shall be
17 appropriated and expended by the board of that district for
18 any of the programs included in the block grant or any of the
19 board's lawful purposes.
20 (c) The educational services block grant shall include
21 the following programs: Bilingual, Regular and Vocational
22 Transportation, State Lunch and Free Breakfast Program,
23 Special Education (Personnel, Extraordinary, Transportation,
24 Orphanage, Private Tuition), Summer School, Educational
25 Service Centers, and Administrator's Academy. This
26 subsection (c) does not relieve the district of its
27 obligation to provide the services required under a program
28 that is included within the educational services block grant.
29 It is the intention of the General Assembly in enacting the
30 provisions of this subsection (c) to relieve the district of
31 the administrative burdens that impede efficiency and
32 accompany single-program funding. The General Assembly
33 encourages the board to pursue mandate waivers pursuant to
34 Section 2-3.25g.
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1 (d) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year
2 thereafter, the amount of the district's block grants shall
3 be determined as follows: (i) with respect to each program
4 that is included within each block grant, the district shall
5 receive an amount equal to the same percentage of the current
6 fiscal year appropriation made for that program as the
7 percentage of the appropriation received by the district from
8 the 1995 fiscal year appropriation made for that program, and
9 (ii) the total amount that is due the district under the
10 block grant shall be the aggregate of the amounts that the
11 district is entitled to receive for the fiscal year with
12 respect to each program that is included within the block
13 grant that the State Board of Education shall award the
14 district under this Section for that fiscal year.
15 (e) The district is not required to file any application
16 or other claim in order to receive the block grants to which
17 it is entitled under this Section. The State Board of
18 Education shall make payments to the district of amounts due
19 under the district's block grants on a schedule determined by
20 the State Board of Education.
21 (f) A school district to which this Section applies
22 shall report to the State Board of Education on its use of
23 the block grants in such form and detail as the State Board
24 of Education may specify.
25 (g) This paragraph provides for the treatment of block
26 grants under Article 1C for purposes of calculating the
27 amount of block grants for a district under this Section.
28 Those block grants under Article IC are, for this purpose,
29 treated as included in the amount of appropriation for the
30 various programs set forth in paragraph (b) above. The
31 appropriation in each current fiscal year for each block
32 grant under Article 1C shall be treated for these purposes as
33 appropriations for the individual program included in that
34 block grant. The proportion of each block grant so allocated
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1 to each such program included in it shall be the proportion
2 which the appropriation for that program was of all
3 appropriations for such purposes now in that block grant, in
4 fiscal 1995.
5 (Source: P.A. 89-15, eff. 5-30-95; 89-698, eff. 1-14-97;
6 90-566, eff. 1-2-98; 90-653, eff. 7-29-98.)
7 (105 ILCS 5/2-3.51a new)
8 Sec. 2-3.51a. Continued Reading Improvement Block Grant
9 Program. To improve the reading and study skills of children
10 from seventh through twelfth grade in school districts. The
11 State Board of Education is authorized to administer a
12 Continued Reading Improvement Block Grant Program. As used
13 in this Section, "school district" includes those schools
14 designated as laboratory schools.
15 (a) Funds for the Continued Reading Improvement Block
16 Grant Program shall be distributed to school districts on the
17 following basis: 70% of moneys shall be awarded on the prior
18 year's best 3 months average daily attendance and 30% shall
19 be distributed on the number of economically disadvantaged
20 (E.C.I.A. Chapter I) pupils in the district, provided that
21 the State Board may distribute an amount not to exceed 2% of
22 the moneys appropriated for the Continued Reading Improvement
23 Block Grant Program for the purpose of providing teacher
24 training and re-training in the teaching of reading. Program
25 funds shall be distributed to school districts in 2
26 semi-annual installments, one payment on or before October 30
27 and one payment prior to April 30, of each year. The State
28 Board shall promulgate rules necessary for the implementation
29 of this program.
30 (b) Continued Reading Improvement Block Grant Program
31 funds shall be used by school districts in the following
32 manner to support students in grades 7 through 12 who are
33 reading significantly below grade level:
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1 (1) to continue direct reading instruction for
2 grades 7 through 12, focusing on the application of
3 reading skills for understanding informational text;
4 (2) to focus on and to commit time and resources to
5 the reading of rich literature;
6 (3) to conduct intense vocabulary, spelling, and
7 related writing programs that promote better
8 understanding of language and words;
9 (4) to provide professional development based on
10 research and proper practices and delivered by providers
11 approved by the State Board of Education; and
12 (5) to increase the availability of reading
13 specialists and teacher aides trained in research-based
14 reading intervention or improvement practices or both.
15 (c) Continued Reading Improvement Block Grant Program
16 funds shall be made available to each eligible school
17 district submitting an approved application developed by the
18 State Board, beginning with the 2001-2002 school year.
19 Applications shall include a proposed assessment method or
20 methods for measuring student reading skills. Such methods
21 may include the reading portion of State tests. At the end
22 of each school year the district shall report assessment
23 results to the State Board. Districts not demonstrating
24 performance progress using an approved assessment method
25 shall not be eligible for funding in the third or subsequent
26 years until such progress is established.
27 (d) The State Superintendent of Education, in
28 cooperation with the school districts participating in the
29 program, shall annually report to the leadership of the
30 General Assembly on the results of the Continued Reading
31 Improvement Block Grant Program and the progress being made
32 on improving the reading skills of students in grades 7
33 through 12.
34 (e) Grants under the Continued Reading Improvement Block
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1 Grant Program shall be awarded provided there is an
2 appropriation for the program, and funding levels for each
3 district shall be prorated according to the amount of the
4 appropriation. Funding for the program established under
5 Section 2-3.51 of this Code shall not be reduced in order to
6 fund the Continued Reading Improvement Block Grant Program.
7 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on
8 July 1, 2001.".