HB5077eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB5077 Engrossed LRB095 14963 NHT 40908 b

AN ACT concerning education.

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

Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section 10-17a as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/10-17a) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-17a)

Sec. 10-17a. Better schools accountability.

(1) Policy and Purpose. It shall be the policy of the State of Illinois that each school district in this State, including special charter districts and districts subject to the provisions of Article 34, shall submit to parents, taxpayers of such district, the Governor, the General Assembly, and the State Board of Education a school report card assessing the performance of its schools and students. The report card shall be an index of school performance measured against statewide and local standards and will provide information to make prior year comparisons and to set future year targets through the school improvement plan.

(2) Reporting Requirements. Each school district shall prepare a report card in accordance with the guidelines set forth in this Section which describes the performance of its students by school attendance centers and by district, its teachers, and the district's financial resources and use of financial resources. Such report card shall be presented at a regular school board meeting subject to applicable notice requirements, posted on the school district's Internet web site, if the district maintains an Internet web site, made available to a newspaper of general circulation serving the district, and, upon request, sent home to a parent (unless the district does not maintain an Internet web site, in which case the report card shall be sent home to parents without request). If the district posts the report card on its Internet web site, the district shall send a written notice home to parents stating (i) that the report card is available on the web site, (ii) the address of the web site, (iii) that a printed copy of the report card will be sent to parents upon request, and (iv) the telephone number that parents may call to request a printed copy of the report card. In addition, each school district shall submit the completed report card to the office of the district's Regional Superintendent which shall make copies available to any individuals requesting them.

The report card shall be completed and disseminated prior to October 31 in each school year. The report card shall contain, but not be limited to, actual local school attendance center, school district and statewide data indicating the present performance of the school, the State norms and the areas for planned improvement for the school and school district.

(3) (a) The report card shall include the following applicable indicators of attendance center, district, and statewide student performance: percent of students who exceed, meet, or do not meet standards established by the State Board of Education pursuant to Section 2-3.25a; composite and subtest means on nationally normed achievement tests for college bound students; student attendance rates; chronic truancy rate; dropout rate; graduation rate; and student mobility, turnover shown as a percent of transfers out and a percent of transfers in.

(b) The report card shall include the following descriptions for the school, district, and State: average class size; amount of time per day devoted to mathematics, science, English and social science at primary, middle and junior high school grade levels; number of students taking the Prairie State Achievement Examination under subsection (c) of Section 2-3.64, the number of those students who received a score of excellent, and the average score by school of students taking the examination; pupil-teacher ratio; pupil-administrator ratio; operating expenditure per pupil; district expenditure by fund; average administrator salary; and average teacher salary; and the number of teachers who hold a Master Certificate. The report card shall also specify the amount of money that the district receives from all sources, including without limitation subcategories specifying the amount from local property taxes, the amount from general State aid, the amount from other State funding, and the amount from other income.

(c) The report card shall include applicable indicators of parental involvement in each attendance center. The parental involvement component of the report card shall include the percentage of students whose parents or guardians have had one or more personal contacts with the students' teachers during the school year concerning the students' education, and such other information, commentary, and suggestions as the school district desires. For the purposes of this paragraph, "personal contact" includes, but is not limited to, parent-teacher conferences, parental visits to school, school visits to home, telephone conversations, and written correspondence. The parental involvement component shall not single out or identify individual students, parents, or guardians by name.

(d) The report card form shall be prepared by the State Board of Education and provided to school districts by the most efficient, economic, and appropriate means.

(Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January 1, 2009.