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93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004 HB6140
Introduced 2/6/2004, by Tom Cross SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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105 ILCS 5/2-3.25g |
from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.25g |
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Amends the School Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning
waivers of School Code mandates.
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A BILL FOR
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HB6140 |
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LRB093 14908 NHT 40474 b |
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| AN ACT relating to schools.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, |
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing
Section |
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| 2-3.25g as follows:
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| (105 ILCS 5/2-3.25g) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.25g)
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| Sec. 2-3.25g. Waiver or modification of mandates within the |
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| School
Code and administrative rules and regulations. |
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| Notwithstanding any other
provisions of this School Code or any |
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| other law of this State to the
contrary, school districts may |
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| petition the State Board of Education for the
waiver or |
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| modification of the mandates of this School Code or of the
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| administrative rules and regulations promulgated by the State |
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| Board of
Education. Waivers or modifications of administrative |
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| rules and regulations
and modifications of mandates of this |
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| School Code may be requested when a
school district |
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| demonstrates that it can address the intent of the rule or
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| mandate in a more effective, efficient, or economical manner or |
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| when necessary
to stimulate innovation or improve student |
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| performance. Waivers of
mandates of
the School Code may be |
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| requested when the waivers are necessary to stimulate
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| innovation or improve student performance. Waivers may not be |
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| requested
from laws, rules, and regulations pertaining to |
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| special education, teacher
certification, or teacher tenure |
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| and seniority or from compliance with the No
Child Left Behind |
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| Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110).
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| School districts, as a matter of inherent managerial |
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| policy, and any
Independent Authority established under |
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| Section 2-3.25f may submit an
application for a waiver or |
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| modification authorized under this Section. Each
application |
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| must include a written request by the school district or
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| Independent Authority and must demonstrate that the intent of |
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HB6140 |
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LRB093 14908 NHT 40474 b |
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| the mandate can
be addressed in a more effective, efficient, or |
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| economical manner
or be based
upon a specific plan for improved |
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| student performance and school improvement.
Any district |
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| requesting a waiver or modification for the reason that intent
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| of the mandate can be addressed in a more economical manner |
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| shall include in
the application a fiscal analysis showing |
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| current expenditures on the mandate
and projected savings |
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| resulting from the waiver
or modification. Applications
and |
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| plans developed by school districts must be approved by each |
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| board of
education following a public hearing on the |
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| application and plan and the
opportunity for the board to hear |
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| testimony from educators directly involved in
its |
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| implementation, parents, and students.
Such public hearing |
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| shall be held on a day other than the day on which a
regular |
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| meeting of the board is held. The
public hearing must be |
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| preceded
by at least one published notice occurring at least 7 |
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| days prior to the hearing
in a newspaper of general circulation |
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| within the school district that sets
forth the time, date, |
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| place, and general subject matter of the hearing. The
school |
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| district must notify in writing the affected exclusive |
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| collective
bargaining agent and those State legislators |
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| representing the district
holding the public hearing of the |
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| district's intent to seek approval of a
waiver or
modification |
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| and of the hearing to be held to take testimony from educators.
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| The affected exclusive collective bargaining agents shall be |
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| notified of such
public hearing at least 7 days prior to the |
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| date of the hearing and shall be
allowed to attend
such public |
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| hearing. The district shall attest to compliance with all of
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| the notification and procedural requirements set forth in this |
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| Section.
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| A request for a waiver or modification of administrative |
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| rules and
regulations or for a modification of mandates |
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| contained in this School Code
shall be submitted to the State |
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| Board of Education within 15 days after
approval by the board |
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| of education. The application as submitted to the
State Board |
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| of Education shall include a description of the public hearing.
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HB6140 |
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LRB093 14908 NHT 40474 b |
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| Following receipt of the request, the
State Board shall have 45 |
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| days to review the application and request. If the
State Board |
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| fails to disapprove the application within that 45 day period, |
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| the
waiver or modification shall be deemed granted. The State |
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| Board
may disapprove
any request if it is not based upon sound |
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| educational practices, endangers the
health or safety of |
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| students or staff, compromises equal opportunities for
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| learning, or fails to demonstrate that the intent of the rule |
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| or mandate can be
addressed in a more effective, efficient, or |
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| economical manner or have improved
student performance as a |
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| primary goal. Any request disapproved by the State
Board may be |
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| appealed to the General Assembly by the requesting school |
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| district
as outlined in this Section.
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| A request for a waiver from mandates contained in this |
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| School Code shall be
submitted to the State Board within 15 |
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| days after approval by the board of
education.
The application |
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| as submitted to the State Board of Education
shall include a |
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| description of the public hearing. The description shall
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| include, but need not be limited to, the means of notice, the |
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| number of people
in attendance, the number of people who spoke |
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| as proponents or opponents of the
waiver, a brief description |
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| of their comments, and whether there were any
written |
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| statements submitted.
The State Board shall review the |
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| applications and requests for
completeness and shall compile |
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| the requests in reports to be filed with the
General Assembly.
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| The State Board shall file
reports outlining the waivers
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| requested by school districts and appeals by school districts |
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| of requests
disapproved by the State Board with the Senate and |
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| the House of
Representatives before each May 1 and
October
1. |
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| The General Assembly may disapprove the report of the State |
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| Board in whole
or in part within 30 calendar days after each |
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| house of the General Assembly
next
convenes after the report is |
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| filed by adoption of a resolution by a record vote
of the |
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| majority of members elected in each house. If the General |
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| Assembly
fails to disapprove any waiver request or appealed |
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| request within such 30
day period, the waiver or modification |
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HB6140 |
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LRB093 14908 NHT 40474 b |
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| shall be deemed granted. Any resolution
adopted by the General |
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| Assembly disapproving a report of the State Board in
whole or |
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| in part shall be binding on the State Board.
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| An approved waiver or modification may remain in effect for |
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| a period not to
exceed 5 school years and may be renewed upon |
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| application by the
school
district. However, such waiver or |
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| modification may be changed within that
5-year period by a |
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| local school district board following the procedure as set
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| forth in this Section for the initial waiver or modification |
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| request. If
neither the State Board of Education nor the |
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| General Assembly disapproves, the
change is deemed granted.
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| On or before February 1, 1998, and each year thereafter, |
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| the State Board of
Education shall submit a cumulative report |
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| summarizing all types of waiver
mandates and modifications of |
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| mandates granted by the State Board or the
General Assembly. |
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| The report shall identify the topic of the waiver along with
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| the number and percentage of school districts for which the |
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| waiver has been
granted. The report shall also include any |
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| recommendations from the State
Board regarding the repeal or |
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| modification of waived mandates.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-470, eff. 8-8-03; 93-557, eff. 8-20-03; |
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| revised 9-11-03.)
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