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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, | |||||||||||||||||||
3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | 2-3.25g as follows: | |||||||||||||||||||
6 | (105 ILCS 5/2-3.25g) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.25g) | |||||||||||||||||||
7 | Sec. 2-3.25g. Waiver or modification of mandates within the | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | School
Code and administrative rules and regulations. | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | (a) In this Section: | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | "Board" means a school board or the
the governing board | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | or administrative district, as the case may be, for a joint | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | agreement. | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | "Eligible applicant" means a school district, joint | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | agreement made up of school districts, or regional | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | superintendent of schools on behalf of schools and programs | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | operated by the regional office of education.
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17 | "Implementation date" has the meaning set forth in | |||||||||||||||||||
18 | Section 24A-2.5 of this Code. | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | "State Board" means the State Board of Education.
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20 | (b) Notwithstanding any other
provisions of this School | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | Code or any other law of this State to the
contrary, eligible | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | applicants may petition the State Board of Education for the
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23 | waiver or modification of the mandates of this School Code or |
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1 | of the
administrative rules and regulations promulgated by the | ||||||
2 | State Board of
Education. Waivers or modifications of | ||||||
3 | administrative rules and regulations
and modifications of | ||||||
4 | mandates of this School Code may be requested when an eligible | ||||||
5 | applicant demonstrates that it can address the intent of the | ||||||
6 | rule or
mandate in a more effective, efficient, or economical | ||||||
7 | manner or when necessary
to stimulate innovation or improve | ||||||
8 | student performance. Waivers of
mandates of
the School Code may | ||||||
9 | be requested when the waivers are necessary to stimulate
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10 | innovation or improve student performance. Waivers may not be | ||||||
11 | requested
from laws, rules, and regulations pertaining to | ||||||
12 | special education, teacher
certification, teacher tenure and | ||||||
13 | seniority, or Section 5-2.1 of this Code or from compliance | ||||||
14 | with the No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110). | ||||||
15 | On and after the applicable implementation date, eligible | ||||||
16 | applicants may not seek a waiver or seek a modification of a | ||||||
17 | mandate regarding the requirements for (i) student performance | ||||||
18 | data to be a significant factor in teacher or principal | ||||||
19 | evaluations or (ii) for teachers and principals to be rated | ||||||
20 | using the 4 categories of "excellent", "proficient", "needs | ||||||
21 | improvement", or "unsatisfactory". On the applicable | ||||||
22 | implementation date, any previously authorized waiver or | ||||||
23 | modification from such requirements shall terminate. | ||||||
24 | (c) Eligible applicants, as a matter of inherent managerial | ||||||
25 | policy, and any
Independent Authority established under | ||||||
26 | Section 2-3.25f may submit an
application for a waiver or |
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1 | modification authorized under this Section. Each
application | ||||||
2 | must include a written request by the eligible applicant or
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3 | Independent Authority and must demonstrate that the intent of | ||||||
4 | the mandate can
be addressed in a more effective, efficient, or | ||||||
5 | economical manner
or be based
upon a specific plan for improved | ||||||
6 | student performance and school improvement.
Any eligible | ||||||
7 | applicant requesting a waiver or modification for the reason | ||||||
8 | that intent
of the mandate can be addressed in a more | ||||||
9 | economical manner shall include in
the application a fiscal | ||||||
10 | analysis showing current expenditures on the mandate
and | ||||||
11 | projected savings resulting from the waiver
or modification. | ||||||
12 | Applications
and plans developed by eligible applicants must be | ||||||
13 | approved by the board or regional superintendent of schools | ||||||
14 | applying on behalf of schools or programs operated by the | ||||||
15 | regional office of education following a public hearing on the | ||||||
16 | application and plan and the
opportunity for the board or | ||||||
17 | regional superintendent to hear testimony from staff
directly | ||||||
18 | involved in
its implementation, parents, and students. The time | ||||||
19 | period for such testimony shall be separate from the time | ||||||
20 | period established by the eligible applicant for public comment | ||||||
21 | on other matters. If the applicant is a school district or | ||||||
22 | joint agreement requesting a waiver or modification of Section | ||||||
23 | 27-6 of this Code, the public hearing shall be held on a day | ||||||
24 | other than the day on which a regular meeting of the board is | ||||||
25 | held. If the applicant is a school district, the
public hearing | ||||||
26 | must be preceded
by at least one published notice occurring at |
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1 | least 7 days prior to the hearing
in a newspaper of general | ||||||
2 | circulation within the school district that sets
forth the | ||||||
3 | time, date, place, and general subject matter of the hearing. | ||||||
4 | If the applicant is a joint agreement or regional | ||||||
5 | superintendent, the public hearing must be preceded by at least | ||||||
6 | one published notice (setting forth the time, date, place, and | ||||||
7 | general subject matter of the hearing) occurring at least 7 | ||||||
8 | days prior to the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation | ||||||
9 | in each school district that is a member of the joint agreement | ||||||
10 | or that is served by the educational service region, provided | ||||||
11 | that a notice appearing in a newspaper generally circulated in | ||||||
12 | more than one school district shall be deemed to fulfill this | ||||||
13 | requirement with respect to all of the affected districts. The
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14 | eligible applicant must notify in writing the affected | ||||||
15 | exclusive collective
bargaining agent and those State | ||||||
16 | legislators representing the eligible applicant's territory of
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17 | its
intent to seek approval of a
waiver or
modification and of | ||||||
18 | the hearing to be held to take testimony from staff.
The | ||||||
19 | affected exclusive collective bargaining agents shall be | ||||||
20 | notified of such
public hearing at least 7 days prior to the | ||||||
21 | date of the hearing and shall be
allowed to attend
such public | ||||||
22 | hearing. The eligible applicant shall attest to compliance with | ||||||
23 | all of
the notification and procedural requirements set forth | ||||||
24 | in this Section. | ||||||
25 | (d) A request for a waiver or modification of | ||||||
26 | administrative rules and
regulations or for a modification of |
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1 | mandates contained in this School Code
shall be submitted to | ||||||
2 | the State Board of Education within 15 days after
approval by | ||||||
3 | the board or regional superintendent of schools. The | ||||||
4 | application as submitted to the
State Board of Education shall | ||||||
5 | include a description of the public hearing.
Following receipt | ||||||
6 | of the request, the
State Board shall have 45 days to review | ||||||
7 | the application and request. If the
State Board fails to | ||||||
8 | disapprove the application within that 45 day period, the
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9 | waiver or modification shall be deemed granted. The State Board
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10 | may disapprove
any request if it is not based upon sound | ||||||
11 | educational practices, endangers the
health or safety of | ||||||
12 | students or staff, compromises equal opportunities for
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13 | learning, or fails to demonstrate that the intent of the rule | ||||||
14 | or mandate can be
addressed in a more effective, efficient, or | ||||||
15 | economical manner or have improved
student performance as a | ||||||
16 | primary goal. Any request disapproved by the State
Board may be | ||||||
17 | appealed to the General Assembly by the eligible applicant
as | ||||||
18 | outlined in this Section. | ||||||
19 | A request for a waiver from mandates contained in this | ||||||
20 | School Code shall be
submitted to the State Board within 15 | ||||||
21 | days after approval by the board or regional superintendent of | ||||||
22 | schools.
The application as submitted to the State Board of | ||||||
23 | Education
shall include a description of the public hearing. | ||||||
24 | The description shall
include, but need not be limited to, the | ||||||
25 | means of notice, the number of people
in attendance, the number | ||||||
26 | of people who spoke as proponents or opponents of the
waiver, a |
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1 | brief description of their comments, and whether there were any
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2 | written statements submitted.
The State Board shall review the | ||||||
3 | applications and requests for
completeness and shall compile | ||||||
4 | the requests in reports to be filed with the
General Assembly.
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5 | The State Board shall file
reports outlining the waivers
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6 | requested by eligible applicants
and appeals by eligible | ||||||
7 | applicants of requests
disapproved by the State Board with the | ||||||
8 | Senate and the House of
Representatives before each March 1 and
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9 | October
1. The General Assembly may disapprove the report of | ||||||
10 | the State Board in whole
or in part within 60 calendar days | ||||||
11 | after each house of the General Assembly
next
convenes after | ||||||
12 | the report is filed by adoption of a resolution by a record | ||||||
13 | vote
of the majority of members elected in each house. If the | ||||||
14 | General Assembly
fails to disapprove any waiver request or | ||||||
15 | appealed request within such 60
day period, the waiver or | ||||||
16 | modification shall be deemed granted. Any resolution
adopted by | ||||||
17 | the General Assembly disapproving a report of the State Board | ||||||
18 | in
whole or in part shall be binding on the State Board. | ||||||
19 | (e) An approved waiver or modification (except a waiver | ||||||
20 | from or modification to a physical education mandate) may | ||||||
21 | remain in effect for a period not to
exceed 5 school years and | ||||||
22 | may be renewed upon application by the
eligible applicant. | ||||||
23 | However, such waiver or modification may be changed within that
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24 | 5-year period by a board or regional superintendent of schools | ||||||
25 | applying on behalf of schools or programs operated by the | ||||||
26 | regional office of education following the procedure as set
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1 | forth in this Section for the initial waiver or modification | ||||||
2 | request. If
neither the State Board of Education nor the | ||||||
3 | General Assembly disapproves, the
change is deemed granted. | ||||||
4 | An approved waiver from or modification to a physical | ||||||
5 | education mandate may remain in effect for a period not to | ||||||
6 | exceed 2 school years and may be renewed no more than 2 times | ||||||
7 | upon application by the eligible applicant. An approved waiver | ||||||
8 | from or modification to a physical education mandate may be | ||||||
9 | changed within the 2-year period by the board or regional | ||||||
10 | superintendent of schools, whichever is applicable, following | ||||||
11 | the procedure set forth in this Section for the initial waiver | ||||||
12 | or modification request. If neither the State Board of | ||||||
13 | Education nor the General Assembly disapproves, the change is | ||||||
14 | deemed granted.
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15 | (f) (Blank). | ||||||
16 | (Source: P.A. 95-223, eff. 1-1-08; 96-861, eff. 1-15-10; | ||||||
17 | 96-1423, eff. 8-3-10.) |