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1 | AN ACT concerning education.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | 27A-4 and 27A-6 as follows:
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6 | (105 ILCS 5/27A-4)
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7 | Sec. 27A-4. General provisions.
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8 | (a) The General Assembly does not intend to alter or amend | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | the provisions
of any court-ordered desegregation plan in | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | effect for any school district. A
charter school shall be | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | subject to all federal and State laws and
constitutional | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | provisions prohibiting discrimination on the basis of
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13 | disability, race, creed, color, gender, national origin, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | religion, ancestry,
marital status, or need for special | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | education services.
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16 | (b) At The total number of charter schools operating under | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | this Article at any
one time shall not exceed 120. Not more | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | than 70 charter
schools
shall operate at any one time in any | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | city having a population exceeding
500,000, with at least 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | charter schools devoted exclusively to students from | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | low-performing or overcrowded schools shall operate. At | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | operating at any one time in that city; and not more than 45
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23 | charter schools shall operate at any one time in the remainder |
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1 | of the State, with not
more than one charter school may be that
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2 | has been initiated by a board of education, or
by an | ||||||
3 | intergovernmental agreement between or among boards of | ||||||
4 | education,
operating at any one
time in the school district | ||||||
5 | where the charter school is located. In addition to these | ||||||
6 | charter schools, up to but no more than 5 charter schools | ||||||
7 | devoted exclusively to re-enrolled high school dropouts and/or | ||||||
8 | students 16 or 15 years old at risk of dropping out may operate | ||||||
9 | at any one time in any city having a population exceeding | ||||||
10 | 500,000. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in | ||||||
11 | subsection (b) of Section 27A-5 of this Code, each such dropout | ||||||
12 | charter may operate up to 15 campuses within the city. Any of | ||||||
13 | these dropout charters may have a maximum of 1,875 enrollment | ||||||
14 | seats, any one of the campuses of the dropout charter may have | ||||||
15 | a maximum of 165 enrollment seats, and each campus of the | ||||||
16 | dropout charter must be operated, through a contract or | ||||||
17 | payroll, by the same legal entity as that for which the charter | ||||||
18 | is approved and certified.
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19 | For purposes of implementing this Section, the State Board | ||||||
20 | shall assign a
number to each charter submission it receives | ||||||
21 | under Section 27A-6 for its
review and certification, based on | ||||||
22 | the chronological order in which the
submission is received by | ||||||
23 | it. The State Board shall promptly notify local
school boards | ||||||
24 | when the maximum numbers of certified charter schools | ||||||
25 | authorized
to operate have been reached.
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26 | (c) No charter shall be granted under this Article that |
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1 | would convert any
existing private, parochial, or non-public | ||||||
2 | school to a charter school.
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3 | (d) Enrollment in a charter school shall be open to any | ||||||
4 | pupil who resides
within the geographic boundaries of the area | ||||||
5 | served by the local school board, provided that the board of | ||||||
6 | education in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may | ||||||
7 | designate attendance boundaries for no more than one-third of | ||||||
8 | the charter schools permitted in the city if the board of | ||||||
9 | education determines that attendance boundaries are needed to | ||||||
10 | relieve overcrowding or to better serve low-income and at-risk | ||||||
11 | students. Students residing within an attendance boundary may | ||||||
12 | be given priority for enrollment, but must not be required to | ||||||
13 | attend the charter school.
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14 | (e) Nothing in this Article shall prevent 2 or more local | ||||||
15 | school boards from
jointly
issuing a charter to a single shared | ||||||
16 | charter school, provided that all of the
provisions of this | ||||||
17 | Article are met as to those local school boards.
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18 | (f) No local school board shall require any employee of the | ||||||
19 | school district
to be employed in a charter school.
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20 | (g) No local school board shall require any pupil residing | ||||||
21 | within the
geographic boundary of its district to enroll in a | ||||||
22 | charter school.
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23 | (h) If there are more eligible applicants for enrollment in | ||||||
24 | a charter school
than there are spaces available, successful | ||||||
25 | applicants shall be selected by
lottery. However, priority | ||||||
26 | shall be given to siblings of pupils enrolled in
the charter |
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1 | school and to pupils who were enrolled in the charter school | ||||||
2 | the
previous school year, unless expelled for cause, and | ||||||
3 | priority may be given to pupils residing within the charter | ||||||
4 | school's attendance boundary, if a boundary has been designated | ||||||
5 | by the board of education in a city having a population | ||||||
6 | exceeding 500,000. | ||||||
7 | Beginning with student enrollment for the 2015-2016 school | ||||||
8 | year, any lottery required under this subsection (h) must be | ||||||
9 | administered and videotaped by the charter school. The | ||||||
10 | authorizer or its designee must be allowed to be present or | ||||||
11 | view the lottery in real time. The charter school must maintain | ||||||
12 | a videotaped record of the lottery, including a time/date | ||||||
13 | stamp. The charter school shall transmit copies of the | ||||||
14 | videotape and all records relating to the lottery to the | ||||||
15 | authorizer on or before September 1 of each year. | ||||||
16 | Subject to the requirements for priority applicant groups | ||||||
17 | set forth in paragraph (1) of this subsection (h), any lottery | ||||||
18 | required under this subsection (h) must be administered in a | ||||||
19 | way that provides each student an equal chance at admission. If | ||||||
20 | an authorizer makes a determination that a charter school's | ||||||
21 | lottery is in violation of this subsection (h), it may | ||||||
22 | administer the lottery directly. After a lottery, each student | ||||||
23 | randomly selected for admission to the charter school must be | ||||||
24 | notified. Charter schools may not create an admissions process | ||||||
25 | subsequent to a lottery that may operate as a barrier to | ||||||
26 | registration or enrollment. |
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1 | Charter schools may undertake additional intake | ||||||
2 | activities, including without limitation student essays, | ||||||
3 | school-parent compacts, or open houses, but in no event may a | ||||||
4 | charter school require participation in these activities as a | ||||||
5 | condition of enrollment. A charter school must submit an | ||||||
6 | updated waitlist to the authorizer on a quarterly basis. A | ||||||
7 | waitlist must be submitted to the authorizer at the same time | ||||||
8 | as quarterly financial statements, if quarterly financial | ||||||
9 | statements are required by the authorizer. | ||||||
10 | Dual enrollment at both a
charter school and a public | ||||||
11 | school or non-public school shall not be allowed.
A pupil who | ||||||
12 | is suspended or expelled from a charter school shall be deemed | ||||||
13 | to
be suspended or expelled from the public schools of the | ||||||
14 | school district in
which the pupil resides. Notwithstanding | ||||||
15 | anything to the contrary in this subsection (h): | ||||||
16 | (1) any charter school with a mission exclusive to | ||||||
17 | educating high school dropouts may grant priority | ||||||
18 | admission to students who are high school dropouts and/or | ||||||
19 | students 16 or 15 years old at risk of dropping out and any | ||||||
20 | charter school with a mission exclusive to educating | ||||||
21 | students from low-performing or overcrowded schools may | ||||||
22 | restrict admission to students who are from low-performing | ||||||
23 | or overcrowded schools; "priority admission" for charter | ||||||
24 | schools exclusively devoted to re-enrolled dropouts or | ||||||
25 | students at risk of dropping out means a minimum of 90% of | ||||||
26 | students enrolled shall be high school dropouts; and
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1 | (2) any charter school located in a school district | ||||||
2 | that contains all or part of a federal military base may | ||||||
3 | set aside up to 33% of its current charter enrollment to | ||||||
4 | students with parents assigned to the federal military | ||||||
5 | base, with the remaining 67% subject to the general | ||||||
6 | enrollment and lottery requirements of subsection (d) of | ||||||
7 | this Section and this subsection (h); if a student with a | ||||||
8 | parent assigned to the federal military base withdraws from | ||||||
9 | the charter school during the course of a school year for | ||||||
10 | reasons other than grade promotion, those students with | ||||||
11 | parents assigned to the federal military base shall have | ||||||
12 | preference in filling the vacancy. | ||||||
13 | (i) (Blank).
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14 | (j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the | ||||||
15 | contrary, a
school district in a city having a population | ||||||
16 | exceeding 500,000 shall not
have a duty to collectively bargain | ||||||
17 | with an exclusive representative of its
employees over | ||||||
18 | decisions to grant or deny a charter school proposal
under | ||||||
19 | Section 27A-8 of this Code, decisions to renew or revoke a | ||||||
20 | charter
under Section 27A-9 of this Code, and the impact of | ||||||
21 | these decisions,
provided that nothing in this Section shall | ||||||
22 | have the effect of negating,
abrogating, replacing, reducing, | ||||||
23 | diminishing, or limiting in any way
employee rights, | ||||||
24 | guarantees, or privileges granted in Sections 2, 3, 7, 8,
10, | ||||||
25 | 14, and 15 of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.
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26 | (k) In this Section: |
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1 | "Low-performing school" means a public school in a school | ||||||
2 | district organized under Article 34 of this Code that enrolls | ||||||
3 | students in any of grades kindergarten through 8 and that is | ||||||
4 | ranked within the lowest 10% of schools in that district in | ||||||
5 | terms of the percentage of students meeting or exceeding | ||||||
6 | standards on the assessments required under Section 2-3.64a-5 | ||||||
7 | of this Code. | ||||||
8 | "Overcrowded school" means a public school in a school | ||||||
9 | district organized under Article 34 of this Code that (i) | ||||||
10 | enrolls students in any of grades kindergarten through 8, (ii) | ||||||
11 | has a percentage of low-income students of 70% or more, as | ||||||
12 | identified in the most recently available School Report Card | ||||||
13 | published by the State Board of Education, and (iii) is | ||||||
14 | determined by the Chicago Board of Education to be in the most | ||||||
15 | severely overcrowded 5% of schools in the district. On or | ||||||
16 | before November 1 of each year, the Chicago Board of Education | ||||||
17 | shall file a report with the State Board of Education on which | ||||||
18 | schools in the district meet the definition of "overcrowded | ||||||
19 | school". "Students at risk of dropping out" means students 16 | ||||||
20 | or 15 years old in a public school in a district organized | ||||||
21 | under Article 34 of this Code that enrolls students in any | ||||||
22 | grades 9-12 who have been absent at least 90 school attendance | ||||||
23 | days of the previous 180 school attendance days. | ||||||
24 | (l) For advertisements created after January 1, 2015 (the | ||||||
25 | effective date of Public Act 98-783), any advertisement, | ||||||
26 | including a radio, television, print, Internet, social media, |
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1 | or billboard advertisement, purchased by a school district or | ||||||
2 | public school, including a charter school, with public funds | ||||||
3 | must include a disclaimer stating that the advertisement was | ||||||
4 | paid for using public funds. | ||||||
5 | This disclaimer requirement does not extend to materials | ||||||
6 | created by the charter school, including, but not limited to, a | ||||||
7 | school website, informational pamphlets or leaflets, or | ||||||
8 | clothing with affixed school logos. | ||||||
9 | (Source: P.A. 98-474, eff. 8-16-13; 98-783, eff. 1-1-15; | ||||||
10 | 98-972, eff. 8-15-14; 99-78, eff. 7-20-15.)
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11 | (105 ILCS 5/27A-6)
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12 | Sec. 27A-6. Contract contents; applicability of laws and | ||||||
13 | regulations.
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14 | (a) A certified charter shall constitute a binding contract | ||||||
15 | and agreement
between
the charter school and a local school | ||||||
16 | board under the terms of which the local
school board | ||||||
17 | authorizes the governing body of the charter school to operate | ||||||
18 | the
charter
school on the terms specified in the contract.
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19 | (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, | ||||||
20 | the certified
charter
may
not waive or release the charter | ||||||
21 | school from the State goals, standards, and
assessments | ||||||
22 | established pursuant to Section 2-3.64a-5 of this Code.
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23 | Beginning with the 2003-2004 school year, the certified charter | ||||||
24 | for a charter
school operating in a city having a population | ||||||
25 | exceeding 500,000 shall
require the charter school to |
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1 | administer any other nationally recognized
standardized tests | ||||||
2 | to its students that the chartering entity administers to
other
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3 | students, and the results on such tests shall be included in | ||||||
4 | the
chartering entity's assessment reports.
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5 | (c) Subject to the provisions of subsection (e), a material | ||||||
6 | revision to a
previously certified contract or a renewal shall | ||||||
7 | be made with
the approval of both the local school board and | ||||||
8 | the governing body of the
charter school.
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9 | (c-5) The proposed contract shall include a provision on | ||||||
10 | how both parties
will address minor violations of the contract.
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11 | (d) The proposed contract between the governing body of a | ||||||
12 | proposed charter
school and the local school board as described | ||||||
13 | in Section 27A-7 must be
submitted to and certified by the | ||||||
14 | State Board before it can take effect. If
the State Board | ||||||
15 | recommends that the proposed contract be modified for
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16 | consistency with this Article before it can be certified, the | ||||||
17 | modifications
must be consented to by both the governing body | ||||||
18 | of
the charter school and the local school board, and | ||||||
19 | resubmitted to the State
Board for its certification. If the | ||||||
20 | proposed contract is resubmitted in a form
that is not | ||||||
21 | consistent with this Article, the State
Board may refuse to | ||||||
22 | certify the charter.
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23 | With respect The State Board shall assign a number to each | ||||||
24 | submission or resubmission , the State Board in
chronological | ||||||
25 | order of receipt, and shall determine whether the proposed
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26 | contract is consistent with the provisions of this Article. If |
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1 | the proposed
contract complies, the State Board shall so | ||||||
2 | certify.
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3 | (e) No renewal of a previously certified contract is | ||||||
4 | effective unless and until the State Board certifies that the | ||||||
5 | renewal is consistent with the provisions of this Article. A | ||||||
6 | material revision to a previously certified contract may go | ||||||
7 | into effect immediately upon approval of both the local school | ||||||
8 | board and the governing body of the charter school, unless | ||||||
9 | either party requests in writing that the State Board certify | ||||||
10 | that the material revision is consistent with the provisions of | ||||||
11 | this Article. If such a request is made, the proposed material | ||||||
12 | revision is not effective unless and until the State Board so | ||||||
13 | certifies.
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14 | (Source: P.A. 98-972, eff. 8-15-14; 98-1048, eff. 8-25-14; | ||||||
15 | 99-78, eff. 7-20-15.)
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