093_SB0381
LRB093 05990 NHT 06091 b
1 AN ACT concerning education.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing
5 Section 1D-1 and adding Section 2-3.51a as follows:
6 (105 ILCS 5/1D-1)
7 Sec. 1D-1. Block grant funding.
8 (a) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year
9 thereafter, the State Board of Education shall award to a
10 school district having a population exceeding 500,000
11 inhabitants a general education block grant and an
12 educational services block grant, determined as provided in
13 this Section, in lieu of distributing to the district
14 separate State funding for the programs described in
15 subsections (b) and (c). The provisions of this Section,
16 however, do not apply to any federal funds that the district
17 is entitled to receive. In accordance with Section 2-3.32,
18 all block grants are subject to an audit. Therefore, block
19 grant receipts and block grant expenditures shall be recorded
20 to the appropriate fund code for the designated block grant.
21 (b) The general education block grant shall include the
22 following programs: REI Initiative, Summer Bridges, Preschool
23 At Risk, K-6 Comprehensive Arts, School Improvement Support,
24 Urban Education, Scientific Literacy, Substance Abuse
25 Prevention, Second Language Planning, Staff Development,
26 Outcomes and Assessment, K-6 Reading Improvement, Truants'
27 Optional Education, Hispanic Programs, Agriculture Education,
28 Gifted Education, Parental Education, Prevention Initiative,
29 Report Cards, and Criminal Background Investigations.
30 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all amounts paid
31 under the general education block grant from State
-2- LRB093 05990 NHT 06091 b
1 appropriations to a school district in a city having a
2 population exceeding 500,000 inhabitants shall be
3 appropriated and expended by the board of that district for
4 any of the programs included in the block grant or any of the
5 board's lawful purposes.
6 (c) The educational services block grant shall include
7 the following programs: Bilingual, Regular and Vocational
8 Transportation, State Lunch and Free Breakfast Program,
9 Special Education (Personnel, Extraordinary, Transportation,
10 Orphanage, Private Tuition), Summer School, Educational
11 Service Centers, and Administrator's Academy. This
12 subsection (c) does not relieve the district of its
13 obligation to provide the services required under a program
14 that is included within the educational services block grant.
15 It is the intention of the General Assembly in enacting the
16 provisions of this subsection (c) to relieve the district of
17 the administrative burdens that impede efficiency and
18 accompany single-program funding. The General Assembly
19 encourages the board to pursue mandate waivers pursuant to
20 Section 2-3.25g.
21 (d) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year
22 thereafter, the amount of the district's block grants shall
23 be determined as follows: (i) with respect to each program
24 that is included within each block grant, the district shall
25 receive an amount equal to the same percentage of the current
26 fiscal year appropriation made for that program as the
27 percentage of the appropriation received by the district from
28 the 1995 fiscal year appropriation made for that program, and
29 (ii) the total amount that is due the district under the
30 block grant shall be the aggregate of the amounts that the
31 district is entitled to receive for the fiscal year with
32 respect to each program that is included within the block
33 grant that the State Board of Education shall award the
34 district under this Section for that fiscal year. In the
-3- LRB093 05990 NHT 06091 b
1 case of the Summer Bridges program, the amount of the
2 district's block grant shall be equal to 44% of the amount of
3 the current fiscal year appropriation made for that program.
4 (e) The district is not required to file any application
5 or other claim in order to receive the block grants to which
6 it is entitled under this Section. The State Board of
7 Education shall make payments to the district of amounts due
8 under the district's block grants on a schedule determined by
9 the State Board of Education.
10 (f) A school district to which this Section applies
11 shall report to the State Board of Education on its use of
12 the block grants in such form and detail as the State Board
13 of Education may specify.
14 (g) This paragraph provides for the treatment of block
15 grants under Article 1C for purposes of calculating the
16 amount of block grants for a district under this Section.
17 Those block grants under Article 1C are, for this purpose,
18 treated as included in the amount of appropriation for the
19 various programs set forth in paragraph (b) above. The
20 appropriation in each current fiscal year for each block
21 grant under Article 1C shall be treated for these purposes as
22 appropriations for the individual program included in that
23 block grant. The proportion of each block grant so allocated
24 to each such program included in it shall be the proportion
25 which the appropriation for that program was of all
26 appropriations for such purposes now in that block grant, in
27 fiscal 1995.
28 Payments to the school district under this Section with
29 respect to each program for which payments to school
30 districts generally, as of the date of this amendatory Act of
31 the 92nd General Assembly, are on a reimbursement basis shall
32 continue to be made to the district on a reimbursement basis,
33 pursuant to the provisions of this Code governing those
34 programs.
-4- LRB093 05990 NHT 06091 b
1 (h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
2 school district receiving a block grant under this Section
3 may classify all or a portion of the funds that it receives
4 in a particular fiscal year from any block grant authorized
5 under this Code or from general State aid pursuant to Section
6 18-8.05 of this Code (other than supplemental general State
7 aid) as funds received in connection with any funding program
8 for which it is entitled to receive funds from the State in
9 that fiscal year (including, without limitation, any funding
10 program referred to in subsection (c) of this Section),
11 regardless of the source or timing of the receipt. The
12 district may not classify more funds as funds received in
13 connection with the funding program than the district is
14 entitled to receive in that fiscal year for that program.
15 Any classification by a district must be made by a resolution
16 of its board of education. The resolution must identify the
17 amount of any block grant or general State aid to be
18 classified under this subsection (h) and must specify the
19 funding program to which the funds are to be treated as
20 received in connection therewith. This resolution is
21 controlling as to the classification of funds referenced
22 therein. A certified copy of the resolution must be sent to
23 the State Superintendent of Education. The resolution shall
24 still take effect even though a copy of the resolution has
25 not been sent to the State Superintendent of Education in a
26 timely manner. No classification under this subsection (h)
27 by a district shall affect the total amount or timing of
28 money the district is entitled to receive under this Code.
29 No classification under this subsection (h) by a district
30 shall in any way relieve the district from or affect any
31 requirements that otherwise would apply with respect to the
32 block grant as provided in this Section, including any
33 accounting of funds by source, reporting expenditures by
34 original source and purpose, reporting requirements, or
-5- LRB093 05990 NHT 06091 b
1 requirements of provision of services.
2 (Source: P.A. 91-711, eff. 7-1-00; 92-568, eff. 6-26-02;
3 92-651, eff. 7-11-02.)
4 (105 ILCS 5/2-3.51a new)
5 Sec. 2-3.51a. Reading improvement grants.
6 (a) Beginning with the 2003-2004 school year, the State
7 Board of Education, from a separate appropriation made for
8 the purposes of this Section, shall make reading improvement
9 grants to school districts in order to improve the reading
10 and study skills of students in kindergarten through twelfth
11 grade. The State Board may use up to 2% of the appropriation
12 for the purpose of providing teacher training and retraining
13 in the teaching of reading. The remaining funds shall be
14 distributed to school districts as follows:
15 (1) Up to the first $5,000,000 in new funds in the
16 2003-2004 school year shall be distributed to districts
17 serving grades 7 through 12. Of the funds allocated
18 under this paragraph (1), 70% shall be distributed on the
19 basis of each district's share of the prior year's best 3
20 months average daily attendance in those grades and 30%
21 shall be distributed on the basis of each district's
22 share of the prior year's number of economically
23 disadvantaged (ESEA Title I) pupils in those grades.
24 (2) The remainder of the appropriation shall be
25 distributed to districts serving kindergarten through
26 grade 6. Of the funds allocated under this paragraph
27 (2), 70% shall be distributed on the basis of each
28 district's share of the prior year's best 3 months
29 average daily attendance in those grades and 30% shall be
30 distributed on the basis of each district's share of the
31 prior year's number of economically disadvantaged (ESEA
32 Title I) pupils in those grades.
33 Grants shall be prorated as necessary for the 2003-2004
-6- LRB093 05990 NHT 06091 b
1 school year to ensure that the grant for each school district
2 shall be no less than the grant that the district received
3 during the 2002-2003 school year under the Reading
4 Improvement Block Grant Program.
5 Program funds shall be distributed to school districts in
6 2 semi-annual installments, one payment on or before October
7 30 and one payment on or before April 30, each year.
8 (b) A grant shall be awarded to each school district
9 submitting an approved application on a form provided by the
10 State Board of Education. The application shall include a
11 proposed assessment method for measuring the reading growth
12 of students who receive direct instruction as a result of the
13 funding and the impact of staff development activities on
14 student growth in reading. Such methods may include the
15 reading portion of the Illinois Standards Achievement Testing
16 Program. At the end of each school year, the district shall
17 report performance of progress results to the State Board.
18 Districts not demonstrating performance progress using an
19 approved assessment method shall not be eligible for funding
20 in the third or subsequent years until such progress is
21 established.
22 (c) Grants shall be used to hire reading specialists,
23 reading teachers, and reading aides in order to provide early
24 reading intervention in kindergarten through grade 2 and
25 programs of continued reading support for students in grades
26 3 through 12 who need continued assistance in learning to
27 read or in maintaining reading achievement. Programs
28 provided with grant funds shall not replace quality classroom
29 reading instruction, but shall instead supplement such
30 instruction. Therefore, funds may be used for professional
31 development for classroom teachers, administrators, and other
32 appropriate staff members on the teaching of reading. Funds
33 used for instruction and staff development must be based on
34 scientifically based reading research and best practices that
-7- LRB093 05990 NHT 06091 b
1 demonstrate student growth in reading achievement. In this
2 Section, the term "scientifically based reading research"
3 means the application of rigorous, systematic, and objective
4 procedures to obtain valid knowledge relevant to reading
5 development, reading instruction, and reading difficulties.
6 The term includes research that employs systematic, empirical
7 methods that draw on observation or experiment, involves
8 rigorous data analysis that is adequate to test the stated
9 hypotheses and to justify the general conclusions drawn,
10 relies on measurements or observational methods that provide
11 valid data across evaluators and observers and across
12 multiple measurements and observations, and has been accepted
13 by peer-reviewed journal or approved by a panel of
14 independent experts through a comparably rigorous, objective
15 and scientific review.
16 Grants shall be used as follows:
17 (1) In kindergarten through second grade, funds
18 shall be used to establish short-term tutorial early
19 reading intervention programs for children who are at
20 risk of failing to learn to read. The programs shall (i)
21 focus on scientifically based research and best practices
22 with proven long-term results, (ii) identify students in
23 need of help no later than the middle of first grade,
24 (iii) provide ongoing training for teachers in the
25 program, (iv) focus instruction on strengthening a
26 student's phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and
27 comprehension skills, (v) provide a means to document and
28 evaluate student growth, and (vi) provide properly
29 trained staff.
30 (2) In grades 3 through 6, funds shall be used to
31 establish programs of support for students who
32 demonstrate a need for continued assistance in learning
33 to read and in maintaining reading achievement. These
34 programs shall (i) focus on scientifically based research
-8- LRB093 05990 NHT 06091 b
1 and best practices with proven long-term results, (ii)
2 provide ongoing training for teachers and other staff
3 members in the program, (iii) focus instruction on
4 strengthening a student's phonics, fluency, and
5 comprehension skills in grades 3 through 6, (iv) provide
6 a means to evaluate and document student growth, and (v)
7 provide properly trained staff.
8 (3) In grades K through 6, funds shall be used to
9 provide classroom reading materials for students. Each
10 district shall allocate up to 10% of the funds for this
11 purpose if the appropriation exceeds $92,000,000.
12 (4) In grades 7 through 12, funds shall be used to
13 establish programs of support for students who need
14 continued assistance in learning to read and in
15 maintaining reading achievement. These programs shall
16 (i) focus on best scientifically based research and
17 practice with proven long-term results, (ii) provide
18 ongoing training for teachers and other staff members in
19 the program, (iii) focus instruction on strengthening a
20 student's comprehension of informational and technical
21 text and study skills, (iv) provide a means to evaluate
22 and document student progress, and (v) provide properly
23 trained staff.
24 (5) Funds shall be used to provide a long-term
25 professional development program for classroom teachers,
26 administrators, and other appropriate staff. The program
27 shall (i) focus on scientifically based research and best
28 practices with proven long-term results, (ii) provide a
29 means to evaluate student progress in reading as a result
30 of the training, (iii) and be provided by approved staff
31 development providers.
32 (d) The State Superintendent of Education, in
33 cooperation with the school districts participating in this
34 reading grant program, shall annually report to the
-9- LRB093 05990 NHT 06091 b
1 leadership of the General Assembly on the results of the
2 reading grant program and the progress being made on
3 improving the reading skills of students in kindergarten
4 through twelfth grade.
5 (e) The State Board of Education may promulgate any
6 rules necessary for implementation of this Section.
7 (105 ILCS 5/2-3.51 rep.)
8 Section 10. The School Code is amended by repealing
9 Section 2-3.51.
10 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on
11 July 1, 2003.