SB2080 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 11341 LNS 21429 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
SB2080

Introduced 2/6/2025, by Sen. Andrew S. Chesney

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act
30 ILCS 805/8.49 new

Creates the Curriculum Transparency Act. Requires each school that is operated by a school district or as a public charter school to disclose, not more than 10 days after the first use, on a publicly accessible portion of the school website or the school district website: (1) the procedures or processes in effect for the school principal or other staff to document, review, or approve lesson plans or the learning materials and activities used for student instruction at the school; (2) a listing of the teacher and staff training materials and activities used at the school in the current school year; and (3) a listing of the learning materials and activities used for student instruction at the school in the current school year. Provides that neither the State Board of Education nor the governing board of a public school or public charter school, nor any staff employed thereby and acting in the course of his or her official duties, shall purchase or contract for copyrighted learning materials to be used for student instruction at a school, unless provision is made to allow parents and guardians of enrolled students to review the materials within 10 school days of the submission of a written request to the school. Sets forth ways a party may enforce the Act. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement.

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 Curriculum Transparency Act.

Section 5. Online transparency.

(a) Each school that is operated by a school district or as a public charter school shall disclose on a publicly accessible portion of the school website or, at the school district's discretion, the school district website, all of the following:

(1) The procedures or processes in effect for the school principal or other staff to document, review, or approve lesson plans or the learning materials and activities used for student instruction at the school.

(2) A listing of the teacher and staff training materials and activities used at the school in the current school year.

(3) A listing of the learning materials and activities used for student instruction at the school in the current school year, including at least the following, organized, at a minimum, by subject area, grade, and teacher:

(A) Textbooks, articles, and other required reading materials; videos and audio recordings; digital materials; websites; instructional handouts and worksheets; device-based applications, including, but not limited to, smartphone, laptop, or tablet-based applications; materials and topics presented at grade-level or schoolwide assemblies; guest lectures; action-oriented civics learning assignments or projects; and service-learning projects.

(B) The title, author, or organization, and if accessed online, the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) associated with the material or activity.

(b) Each school shall list the required materials and activities online not more than 10 school days after the first use of each material or activity. The list shall be accessible via the school website for at least 2 years and electronically searchable or sortable by grade, course or subject title, and teacher name. The listing of materials and activities pursuant to subsection (a) shall be created and displayed in searchable or sortable electronic formats. The school or district may use collaborative cloud-based document or spreadsheet software or an online learning management system that allows multiple authorized users to update or add to posted content on an ongoing basis, as long as the information is publicly accessible via a visible link posted in a conspicuous manner on the school website.

(c) This Section does not require:

(1) The digital reproduction of the learning materials or activities.

(2) The posting or distribution of any material or activity in a manner that would constitute an infringement of copyright under the copyright act (P.L. 94-553; 90 Stat. 2541 to 2598; 17 U.S.C. Sections 101 to 1332).

(3) The listing of materials and activities used (i) at a school site with fewer than 30 enrolled students or (ii) solely for individualized special education instruction as part of an individualized education program, as defined in 20 U.S.C. Sections 1401 and 1412, or materials and activities used solely for students with a disability under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794).

(d) For purposes of this Section:

"Action-oriented civics learning assignments or projects" includes assignments or projects that require students to contact elected officials or advocate for a political or social cause or to participate in political or social demonstrations.

"Guest lecture" includes a presentation or educational event conducted by an outside individual or organization, including those facilitated by the school's staff. "Guest lecture" does not include student presentations given by students enrolled at the school.

"Lesson plan" means the daily, weekly, or other routinely produced guide, description, or outline of the instruction to be provided by a teacher to students at the school.

"Materials or activities used for student instruction" includes, but is not limited to, learning materials or activities from which students are required to choose one or more from a selection of materials that is restricted to specific titles, such as titles of books in a teacher's classroom library.

"Service-learning projects" includes both of the following:

(1) any requirement to participate in internships or other forms of collaboration with outside organizations after regular school hours for course credit or as a class project or assignment; and

(2) the specific internships or organizations selected by students if the selection is made from a list of specific internships or organizations provided by the school or its staff.

"Used for student instruction" means assigned, distributed, or otherwise presented to students in any course for which students receive academic credit or in any educational capacity in which the school requires the student body to participate or in which a majority of students in a given grade level participate.

Section 10. Parental access.

(a) Neither the State Board of Education nor the governing board of a public school or public charter school, nor any staff employed thereby and acting in the course of his or her official duties, shall purchase or contract for copyrighted learning materials to be used for student instruction at a school, including the renewal of subscription-based materials for which students are provided individual login credentials or access via electronic personal devices, unless provision is made to allow parents and guardians of enrolled students to review the materials within 10 school days of the submission of a written request to the school. The means of provision shall include at least one the following:

(1) Providing access to the materials at the school site during the school's normal hours of operation within 10 school days of written request.

(2) Providing temporary remote access or login credentials to at least one copy of the material for review for at least a 24-hour period following each request, not to exceed one request per piece of material per household during each 30-day period.

(b) The parent or guardian reviewing copyrighted digital materials shall not be required as a condition of reviewing the materials to enter into terms of a nondisclosure agreement nor waive any rights beyond complying with federal copyright law. As used in this subsection, "nondisclosure agreement" means a confidentiality agreement or contract provision that prohibits the disclosure of information by a party to the contract.

Section 15. Enforcement. A party may not initiate legal action to enforce Section 5 or 10 unless the party adheres to the following process:

(1) The party, which shall be limited to the State Superintendent of Education, the Attorney General, the State's Attorney for the county in which an alleged violation occurs, or a student or the parent or guardian of a student enrolled in the school district or charter school in which an alleged violation of this Section occurs, shall submit a complaint in writing with the specific facts of the alleged violation to the school district board of education, the charter school governing board, or administrator designated by the board. The party may not submit more than one complaint of an alleged violation in any 30-day period. The complainant may identify multiple materials within a single course or across courses that have not been posted or provided in compliance with Section 5 or 10. The board or administrator shall investigate the complaint and respond in writing, including a description of any action taken to resolve the complaint, within 15 calendar days after receiving the written complaint.

(2) If the action taken by the school district board of education, charter school governing board, or designated administrator does not resolve the complaint in a manner that ensures compliance with this Act, the State Superintendent of Education, the Attorney General, the State's Attorney for the county in which an alleged violation occurs, or a student or the parent or guardian of a student enrolled in the school district or charter school in which an alleged violation of this Act occurs, may initiate a suit in the district court in the county in which the alleged violation occurs to bring action for injunctive relief or a writ of mandamus to compel the school district board of education or charter school governing board to comply with this Act. If a student or parent or guardian of a student prevails, the court shall award reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party.

(3) If the employment of an individual at the school has been discontinued or an Internet address that functioned at the time of the initial posting subsequently ceases to function, the board may not be held liable for not posting or updating the listing of materials required in Section 5 beyond what has previously been posted.

(4) An attorney acting on behalf of a school district or charter school may request a legal opinion of the Attorney General or the State's Attorney for the county in which an alleged violation of Section 5 or 10 occurs as to whether the actions taken by the school district or charter school comply.

Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding Section 8.49 as follows:

(30 ILCS 805/8.49 new)

Sec. 8.49. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly.