HB4442 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB100 17751 AXK 32926 b

100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB4442

Introduced , by Rep. Robyn Gabel

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

105 ILCS 5/27-22	from Ch. 122, par. 27-22
105 ILCS 5/27-23.1	from Ch. 122, par. 27-23.1
105 ILCS 110/3

Amends the School Code and the Critical Health Problems and Comprehensive Health Education Act. Requires a school district to include in its curriculum a unit of instruction on parenting education for grades 9 through 12 that includes, but is not limited to, instruction on (i) family structure, function, and management, (ii) the prevention of child abuse, (iii) the physical, mental, emotional, social, economic, and psychological aspects of interpersonal and family relationships, and (iv) parenting education competency development that is aligned to the emotional and learning standards of the student's grade level. Provides that this instruction is a prerequisite to receiving a high school diploma and shall be included in the Comprehensive Health Education Program.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning education.

WHEREAS, Research-based prevention and wellness promotion efforts that strengthen positive parenting practices and enhance a child's resilience in the face of adversity have been shown to have a significant impact on a child's mental health, physical health, and educational outcomes; and

WHEREAS, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define positive parenting skills as good communication, appropriate discipline, and responding to a child's physical and emotional needs; and

WHEREAS, Studies in the last decade have shown that well-designed programs created to promote healthy cognitive, emotional, and social development can improve the prospects and quality of life of many children; and

WHEREAS, Parenting programs have been shown to provide critical information on child development and safety, promote positive parenting behaviors, teach effective discipline strategies, alter adverse family patterns, and reduce levels of child abuse and neglect; and

WHEREAS, Positive parenting practices are directly linked to adaptive behaviors in children and can buffer adverse outcomes, even amongst at-risk families; and

WHEREAS, While positive parenting strategies can promote adjustment and achievement, child abuse and neglect can interrupt healthy development in children and can lead to maladaptive functioning; and

WHEREAS, In the first major study of child abuse and neglect in 20 years, researchers with the National Academy of Sciences reported that the damaging consequences of abuse can reshape a child's brain (resulting in consequences that last throughout his or her life), influence the child's amygdala (the part of the brain that regulates emotions, particularly fear and anxiety), and change how the functioning prefrontal cortex works (the part of the brain responsible for thinking, planning, reasoning, and decision-making), which can lead to behavioral and academic problems; and

WHEREAS, Research shows an association between child maltreatment and a broad range of social problems, including substance abuse, violence, criminal behavior, teenage pregnancy, anxiety, sexually transmitted diseases, smoking, obesity, and diabetes; and

WHEREAS, Child abuse and neglect is a serious health problem that costs the United States $103 billion annually, which includes $33 billion in direct costs for foster care services, hospitalization, mental health treatment, and law enforcement and $70 billion in indirect costs, including productivity, chronic health problems, and special education; and

WHEREAS, Nobel prize-winning economist James J. Heckman and others have shown that for every dollar devoted to the nurturing of young children, the need for greater government spending on remedial education, teenage pregnancy, and prison incarceration may be eliminated; and

WHEREAS, Researchers have found that, left untreated, the effects of child abuse and neglect can profoundly influence a victim's physical and mental health, emotions and impulses, achievements in school, and relationships formed as a child and as an adult; and

WHEREAS, The American Academy of Pediatrics' Psychological Maltreatment Clinical Report posits that emotional abuse is linked with mental illness, delinquency, aggression, school troubles, and lifelong relationship problems in children. These effects of ill-treatment on a child's brain and behavioral development are not static and can be reversed with quick intervention and positive changes in a child's environment. The negative changes present in a child's brain can be countered by positive brain changes that take place when the abuse ends and when the child is given the support he or she requires; parenting education is an effective way to prevent abuse and mental illness before it starts; therefore

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 Sections 27-22 and 27-23.1 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/27-22) (from Ch. 122, par. 27-22)

Sec. 27-22. Required high school courses.

(a) (Blank).

(b) (Blank).

(c) (Blank).

(d) (Blank).

(e) As a prerequisite to receiving a high school diploma, each pupil entering the 9th grade in the 2008-2009 school year or a subsequent school year must, in addition to other course requirements, successfully complete all of the following courses:

(1) Four years of language arts.

(2) Two years of writing intensive courses, one of which must be English and the other of which may be English or any other subject. When applicable, writing-intensive courses may be counted towards the fulfillment of other graduation requirements.

(3) Three years of mathematics, one of which must be Algebra I, one of which must include geometry content, and one of which may be an Advanced Placement computer science course if the pupil successfully completes Algebra II or an integrated mathematics course with Algebra II content.

(4) Two years of science.

(5) Two years of social studies, of which at least one year must be history of the United States or a combination of history of the United States and American government and, beginning with pupils entering the 9th grade in the 2016-2017 school year and each school year thereafter, at least one semester must be civics, which shall help young people acquire and learn to use the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that will prepare them to be competent and responsible citizens throughout their lives. Civics course content shall focus on government institutions, the discussion of current and controversial issues, service learning, and simulations of the democratic process. School districts may utilize private funding available for the purposes of offering civics education.

(6) One year chosen from (A) music, (B) art, (C) foreign language, which shall be deemed to include American Sign Language, or (D) vocational education.

(7) Beginning with pupils entering the 9th grade in the 2019-2020 school year, parenting education, as provided under subsection (b) of Section 27-23.1 of this Code.

(f) The State Board of Education shall develop and inform school districts of standards for writing-intensive coursework.

(f-5) If a school district offers an Advanced Placement computer science course to high school students, then the school board must designate that course as equivalent to a high school mathematics course and must denote on the student's transcript that the Advanced Placement computer science course qualifies as a mathematics-based, quantitative course for students in accordance with subdivision (3) of subsection (e) of this Section.

(g) This amendatory Act of 1983 does not apply to pupils entering the 9th grade in 1983-1984 school year and prior school years or to students with disabilities whose course of study is determined by an individualized education program.

This amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly does not apply to pupils entering the 9th grade in the 2004-2005 school year or a prior school year or to students with disabilities whose course of study is determined by an individualized education program.

This amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly does not apply to pupils entering the 9th grade in the 2018-2019 school year or a prior school year or to students with disabilities whose course of study is determined by an individualized education program.

(h) The provisions of this Section are subject to the provisions of Section 27-22.05 of this Code and the Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act.

(Source: P.A. 99-434, eff. 7-1-16 (see P.A. 99-485 for the effective date of changes made by P.A. 99-434); 99-485, eff. 11-20-15; 99-674, eff. 7-29-16; 100-443, eff. 8-25-17.)

(105 ILCS 5/27-23.1) (from Ch. 122, par. 27-23.1)

Sec. 27-23.1. Parenting education.

(a) School districts may provide instruction in parenting education for grades 6 through 12 and include such instruction in the courses of study regularly taught therein. School districts may give regular school credit for satisfactory completion by the student of such courses.

As used in this subsection (a) section, "parenting education" means and includes instruction in the following:

(1) Child growth and development, including prenatal development.

(2) Childbirth and child care.

(3) Family structure, function and management.

(4) Prenatal and postnatal care for mothers and infants.

(5) Prevention of child abuse.

(6) The physical, mental, emotional, social, economic and psychological aspects of interpersonal and family relationships.

(7) Parenting skill development.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section to the contrary, beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, a school district that maintains grades 9 through 12 shall include in its curriculum a unit of instruction on parenting education for grades 9 through 12 that includes, but is not limited to, instruction on (i) family structure, function, and management, (ii) the prevention of child abuse, (iii) the physical, mental, emotional, social, economic, and psychological aspects of interpersonal and family relationships, and (iv) parenting education competency development that is aligned to the emotional and learning standards of the student's grade level. Instruction under this subsection (b) shall be included in the Comprehensive Health Education Program as provided under Section 3 of the Critical Health Problems and Comprehensive Health Education Act.

(c) The State Board of Education shall assist those districts offering parenting education instruction, upon request, in developing instructional materials, training teachers, and establishing appropriate time allotments for each of the areas included in such instruction.

(d) School districts may offer parenting education courses during that period of the day which is not part of the regular school day. Residents of the school district may enroll in such courses. The school board may establish fees and collect such charges as may be necessary for attendance at such courses in an amount not to exceed the per capita cost of the operation thereof, except that the board may waive all or part of such charges if it determines that the individual is indigent or that the educational needs of the individual requires his or her attendance at such courses.

(Source: P.A. 84-534.)

Section 10. The Critical Health Problems and Comprehensive Health Education Act is amended by changing Section 3 as follows:

(105 ILCS 110/3)

Sec. 3. Comprehensive Health Education Program. The program established under this Act shall include, but not be limited to, the following major educational areas as a basis for curricula in all elementary and secondary schools in this State: human ecology and health, human growth and development, the emotional, psychological, physiological, hygienic and social responsibilities of family life, including sexual abstinence until marriage, prevention and control of disease, including instruction in grades 6 through 12 on the prevention, transmission and spread of AIDS, age-appropriate sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention education in grades pre-kindergarten through 12, public and environmental health, consumer health, safety education and disaster survival, mental health and illness, personal health habits, alcohol, drug use, and abuse including the medical and legal ramifications of alcohol, drug, and tobacco use, abuse during pregnancy, evidence-based and medically accurate information regarding sexual abstinence, tobacco, nutrition, and dental health. The program shall also provide course material and instruction to advise pupils of the Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act. The program shall include information about cancer, including without limitation types of cancer, signs and symptoms, risk factors, the importance of early prevention and detection, and information on where to go for help. In grades 9 through 12, the program shall include parenting education, as provided under subsection (b) of Section 27-23.1 of the School Code, beginning with the 2019-2020 school year. Notwithstanding the above educational areas, the following areas may also be included as a basis for curricula in all elementary and secondary schools in this State: basic first aid (including, but not limited to, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the Heimlich maneuver), heart disease, diabetes, stroke, the prevention of child abuse, neglect, and suicide, and teen dating violence in grades 7 through 12. Beginning with the 2014-2015 school year, training on how to properly administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (which training must be in accordance with standards of the American Red Cross, the American Heart Association, or another nationally recognized certifying organization) and how to use an automated external defibrillator shall be included as a basis for curricula in all secondary schools in this State.

The school board of each public elementary and secondary school in the State shall encourage all teachers and other school personnel to acquire, develop, and maintain the knowledge and skills necessary to properly administer life-saving techniques, including without limitation the Heimlich maneuver and rescue breathing. The training shall be in accordance with standards of the American Red Cross, the American Heart Association, or another nationally recognized certifying organization. A school board may use the services of non-governmental entities whose personnel have expertise in life-saving techniques to instruct teachers and other school personnel in these techniques. Each school board is encouraged to have in its employ, or on its volunteer staff, at least one person who is certified, by the American Red Cross or by another qualified certifying agency, as qualified to administer first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. In addition, each school board is authorized to allocate appropriate portions of its institute or inservice days to conduct training programs for teachers and other school personnel who have expressed an interest in becoming qualified to administer emergency first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation. School boards are urged to encourage their teachers and other school personnel who coach school athletic programs and other extracurricular school activities to acquire, develop, and maintain the knowledge and skills necessary to properly administer first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation in accordance with standards and requirements established by the American Red Cross or another qualified certifying agency. Subject to appropriation, the State Board of Education shall establish and administer a matching grant program to pay for half of the cost that a school district incurs in training those teachers and other school personnel who express an interest in becoming qualified to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (which training must be in accordance with standards of the American Red Cross, the American Heart Association, or another nationally recognized certifying organization) or in learning how to use an automated external defibrillator. A school district that applies for a grant must demonstrate that it has funds to pay half of the cost of the training for which matching grant money is sought. The State Board of Education shall award the grants on a first-come, first-serve basis.

No pupil shall be required to take or participate in any class or course on AIDS or family life instruction or to receive training on how to properly administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation or how to use an automated external defibrillator if his or her parent or guardian submits written objection thereto, and refusal to take or participate in the course or program or the training shall not be reason for suspension or expulsion of the pupil.

Curricula developed under programs established in accordance with this Act in the major educational area of alcohol and drug use and abuse shall include classroom instruction in grades 5 through 12. The instruction, which shall include matters relating to both the physical and legal effects and ramifications of drug and substance abuse, shall be integrated into existing curricula; and the State Board of Education shall develop and make available to all elementary and secondary schools in this State instructional materials and guidelines which will assist the schools in incorporating the instruction into their existing curricula. In addition, school districts may offer, as part of existing curricula during the school day or as part of an after school program, support services and instruction for pupils or pupils whose parent, parents, or guardians are chemically dependent.

(Source: P.A. 97-1147, eff. 1-24-13; 98-190, eff. 8-6-13; 98-441, eff. 1-1-14; 98-632, eff. 7-1-14; 98-756, eff. 7-16-14.)