HB4241 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 16741 LNS 30148 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB4241

Introduced 1/14/2026, by Rep. Jed Davis

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act
105 ILCS 5/27A-5

Creates the School Book Rating and Transparency Act. Requires a publisher supplying books to a public or nonpublic school, including a charter school, or a school-sponsored book fair to assign a content rating to each book and provide that content rating. Provides that each school shall ensure that the content rating is displayed in at least one of the following locations: (1) the school library's online catalog entry; (2) the school library's website; (3) the classroom library's catalog or posted list; (4) printed or digital reading lists distributed to students; or (5) signage or catalogs displayed at a school-sponsored book fair. Requires the State Board of Education to develop and publish a one-page rating key, and requires a school to make the rating key available. Provides that no teacher, school librarian, school administrator, or school district employee is subject to liability, discipline, or adverse employment action for relying in good faith on publisher-provided content ratings. Requires the State Board to submit an annual report to the General Assembly containing an assessment of publisher compliance and any recommendations for system improvements. Authorizes the State Board to adopt any rules necessary to implement the Act. Amends the School Code to make a related change. Effective July 1, 2026.

STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning education.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the School Book Rating and Transparency Act.

Section 5. Purpose; construction.

(a) The purpose of this Act is to provide parents, guardians, and educators with clear, consistent, and age-appropriate information regarding the content of books available to students through school libraries, classroom libraries, curriculum lists, and school-sponsored book fairs.

(b) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to:

(1) remove, ban, restrict, limit access to, or prohibit the use of any book;

(2) authorize a publisher to restrict or condition the sale of any book;

(3) require a school to limit access to any book; or

(4) authorize censorship, removal, or suppression of any material.

Section 10. Applicability. This Act applies only to books acquired, purchased, or newly added to school collections after the effective date of this Act that are included in:

(1) school libraries;

(2) classroom libraries;

(3) required or suggested reading lists;

(4) digital or online reading platforms authorized by a school; and

(5) school-sponsored book fairs.

Section 15. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Age band" means one of the following recommended age categories:

(1) E (Everyone).

(2) 10+.

(3) 13+.

(4) 16+.

(5) 18+ or Mature.

"Book" means any print or bound material, graphic novel, illustrated work, or similar item offered to students through a school library, classroom library, required reading list, or school-sponsored book fair.

"Content flag" means one or more descriptors identifying specific categories of sensitive content, including any of the following:

(1) SC - sexual content.

(2) GC - graphic sexual content;

(3) SL - sexual language.

(4) V - violence.

(5) GV - graphic violence.

(6) D - drug or alcohol use.

(7) ST - sensitive or disturbing themes.

(8) L - strong or repeated profanity.

"Content rating" means the combined age band and content flags assigned to a book under this Act.

"Graphic sexual content" means explicit, detailed, or anatomically specific descriptions of sexual acts, sexualized touching, sexual manipulation, or sexualized anatomy, including sensory or physical details that depict sexual activity in a vivid, realistic, or emotionally evocative manner.

"Publisher" means any entity that produces, distributes, or supplies books for sale or use in schools, including book fair vendors.

"School" means any public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school in this State, including a charter school.

"School-sponsored book fair" means any book sale, literacy event, or similar activity held on school property or facilitated by a school in which books are offered for sale or displayed to students.

"Sexual content" means nongraphic references to or depictions of romantic or sexual themes, including nonexplicit descriptions of affection, relationships, dating, sexual orientation, or implied sexual activity that does not describe sexual acts or anatomy in detail.

Section 20. Publisher content rating requirement.

(a) A publisher supplying books to a school or a school-sponsored book fair shall assign a content rating to each book.

(b) A publisher under subsection (a) shall provide the content rating for a book to:

(1) the purchasing school or school district;

(2) the vendor operating the school-sponsored book fair; or

(3) the school receiving donated books.

(c) A publisher shall use objective, good-faith criteria consistent with the definitions in this Act in assigning a content rating under subsection (a).

Section 25. Display of ratings. Each school shall ensure that the content rating for a book under Section 20 is displayed in at least one of the following locations:

(1) the school library's online catalog entry;

(2) the school library's website;

(3) the classroom library's catalog or posted list;

(4) printed or digital reading lists distributed to students; or

(5) signage or catalogs displayed at a school-sponsored book fair.

A school is not required to affix a label to the physical book under this Section.

Section 30. Rating key.

(a) The State Board of Education shall develop and publish a one-page rating key explaining:

(1) each age band;

(2) each content flag;

(3) the definitions in this Act; and

(4) the informational nature of the system under this Act.

(b) A school shall:

(1) make the State Board's rating key available on the school district's or school's website;

(2) post the rating key in the school library;

(3) include the rating key in any digital library catalogs; and

(4) make the rating key available to parents upon request.

Section 35. Protections for educators. No teacher, school librarian, school administrator, or school district employee is subject to liability, discipline, or adverse employment action for relying in good faith on publisher-provided content ratings under this Act.

Section 40. Reporting. The State Board of Education shall submit an annual report not to exceed 3 pages to the General Assembly containing an assessment of publisher compliance and any recommendations for system improvements under this Act.

Section 90. Rulemaking. The State Board of Education may adopt any rules necessary to implement this Act.

Section 95. The School Code is amended by changing Section 27A-5 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/27A-5)

Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.

(a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian, nonreligious, non-home based, and non-profit school. A charter school shall be organized and operated as a nonprofit corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.

(b) A charter school may be established under this Article by creating a new school or by converting an existing public school or attendance center to charter school status. In all new applications to establish a charter school in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, operation of the charter school shall be limited to one campus. This limitation does not apply to charter schools existing or approved on or before April 16, 2003.

(b-5) (Blank).

(c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by its board of directors or other governing body in the manner provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter school shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act. A charter school's board of directors or other governing body must include at least one parent or guardian of a pupil currently enrolled in the charter school who may be selected through the charter school or a charter network election, appointment by the charter school's board of directors or other governing body, or by the charter school's Parent Teacher Organization or its equivalent.

(c-5) No later than January 1, 2021 or within the first year of his or her first term, every voting member of a charter school's board of directors or other governing body shall complete a minimum of 4 hours of professional development leadership training to ensure that each member has sufficient familiarity with the board's or governing body's role and responsibilities, including financial oversight and accountability of the school, evaluating the principal's and school's performance, adherence to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act, and compliance with education and labor law. In each subsequent year of his or her term, a voting member of a charter school's board of directors or other governing body shall complete a minimum of 2 hours of professional development training in these same areas. The training under this subsection may be provided or certified by a statewide charter school membership association or may be provided or certified by other qualified providers approved by the State Board.

(d) For purposes of this subsection (d), "non-curricular health and safety requirement" means any health and safety requirement created by statute or rule to provide, maintain, preserve, or safeguard safe or healthful conditions for students and school personnel or to eliminate, reduce, or prevent threats to the health and safety of students and school personnel. "Non-curricular health and safety requirement" does not include any course of study or specialized instructional requirement for which the State Board has established goals and learning standards or which is designed primarily to impart knowledge and skills for students to master and apply as an outcome of their education.

A charter school shall comply with all non-curricular health and safety requirements applicable to public schools under the laws of the State of Illinois. The State Board shall promulgate and post on its Internet website a list of non-curricular health and safety requirements that a charter school must meet. The list shall be updated annually no later than September 1. Any charter contract between a charter school and its authorizer must contain a provision that requires the charter school to follow the list of all non-curricular health and safety requirements promulgated by the State Board and any non-curricular health and safety requirements added by the State Board to such list during the term of the charter. Nothing in this subsection (d) precludes an authorizer from including non-curricular health and safety requirements in a charter school contract that are not contained in the list promulgated by the State Board, including non-curricular health and safety requirements of the authorizing local school board.

(e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a charter school shall not charge tuition; provided that a charter school may charge reasonable fees for textbooks, instructional materials, and student activities.

(f) A charter school shall be responsible for the management and operation of its fiscal affairs, including, but not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each charter school's finances shall be conducted annually by an outside, independent contractor retained by the charter school. The contractor shall not be an employee of the charter school or affiliated with the charter school or its authorizer in any way, other than to audit the charter school's finances. To ensure financial accountability for the use of public funds, on or before December 1 of every year of operation, each charter school shall submit to its authorizer and the State Board a copy of its audit and a copy of the Form 990 the charter school filed that year with the federal Internal Revenue Service. In addition, if deemed necessary for proper financial oversight of the charter school, an authorizer may require quarterly financial statements from each charter school.

(g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of this Article, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, all federal and State laws and rules applicable to public schools that pertain to special education and the instruction of English learners, and its charter. A charter school is exempt from all other State laws and regulations in this Code governing public schools and local school board policies; however, a charter school is not exempt from the following:

(1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of this Code regarding criminal history records checks and checks of the Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Database of applicants for employment;

(2) Sections 10-20.14, 10-22.6, 22-100, 24-24, 34-19, and 34-84a of this Code regarding discipline of students;

(3) the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act;

(4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986 regarding indemnification of officers, directors, employees, and agents;

(5) the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;

(5.5) subsection (b) of Section 10-23.12 and subsection (b) of Section 34-18.6 of this Code;

(6) the Illinois School Student Records Act;

(7) Section 10-17a of this Code regarding school report cards;

(8) the P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act;

(9) Section 22-110 of this Code regarding bullying prevention;

(10) Section 2-3.162 of this Code regarding student discipline reporting;

(11) Sections 22-80 and 22-105 of this Code;

(12) Sections 10-20.60 and 34-18.53 of this Code;

(13) Sections 10-20.63 and 34-18.56 of this Code;

(14) Sections 22-90 and 26-18 of this Code;

(15) Section 22-30 of this Code;

(16) Sections 24-12 and 34-85 of this Code;

(17) the Seizure Smart School Act;

(18) Section 2-3.64a-10 of this Code;

(19) Sections 10-20.73 and 34-21.9 of this Code;

(20) Section 10-22.25b of this Code;

(21) Section 27-1015 of this Code;

(22) Section 27-1010 of this Code;

(23) Section 34-18.8 of this Code;

(24) Article 26A of this Code;

(25) Section 2-3.188 of this Code;

(26) Section 22-85.5 of this Code;

(27) subsections (d-10), (d-15), and (d-20) of Section 10-20.56 of this Code;

(28) Sections 10-20.83 and 34-18.78 of this Code;

(29) Section 10-20.13 of this Code;

(30) (blank);

(31) Section 34-21.6 of this Code;

(32) Section 22-85.10 of this Code;

(33) Section 2-3.196 of this Code;

(34) Section 22-95 of this Code;

(35) Section 34-18.62 of this Code;

(36) the Illinois Human Rights Act;

(37) Section 2-3.204 of this Code; and

(38) Section 22-106 22-105 of this Code; and .

(39) the School Book Rating and Transparency Act.

The change made by Public Act 96-104 to this subsection (g) is declaratory of existing law.

(h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a school district, the governing body of a State college or university or public community college, or any other public or for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use of a school building and grounds or any other real property or facilities that the charter school desires to use or convert for use as a charter school site, (ii) the operation and maintenance thereof, and (iii) the provision of any service, activity, or undertaking that the charter school is required to perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter. Except as provided in subsection (i) of this Section, a school district may charge a charter school reasonable rent for the use of the district's buildings, grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a charter school contracts with a school district shall be provided by the district at cost. Any services for which a charter school contracts with a local school board or with the governing body of a State college or university or public community college shall be provided by the public entity at cost.

(i) In no event shall a charter school that is established by converting an existing school or attendance center to charter school status be required to pay rent for space that is deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter agreement, in school district facilities. However, all other costs for the operation and maintenance of school district facilities that are used by the charter school shall be subject to negotiation between the charter school and the local school board and shall be set forth in the charter.

(j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or grade level.

(k) If the charter school is authorized by the State Board, then the charter school is its own local education agency.

(Source: P.A. 103-154, eff. 6-30-23; 103-175, eff. 6-30-23; 103-472, eff. 8-1-24; 103-605, eff. 7-1-24; 103-641, eff. 7-1-24; 103-806, eff. 1-1-25; 104-288, eff. 1-1-26; 104-391, eff. 8-15-25; 104-417, eff. 8-15-25; revised 9-12-25.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2026.