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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-6 and 27A-7 as follows:
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6 | (105 ILCS 5/27A-6)
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7 | Sec. 27A-6. Contract contents; applicability of laws and | ||||||
8 | regulations.
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9 | (a) A certified charter shall constitute a binding contract | ||||||
10 | and agreement
between
the charter school and a local school | ||||||
11 | board under the terms of which the local
school board | ||||||
12 | authorizes the governing body of the charter school to operate | ||||||
13 | the
charter
school on the terms specified in the contract.
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14 | (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, | ||||||
15 | the certified
charter
may
not waive or release the charter | ||||||
16 | school from the State goals, standards, and
assessments | ||||||
17 | established pursuant to Section 2-3.64.
Beginning with the | ||||||
18 | 2003-2004 school year, the certified charter for a charter
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19 | school operating in a city having a population exceeding | ||||||
20 | 500,000 shall
require the charter school to administer any | ||||||
21 | other nationally recognized
standardized tests to its students | ||||||
22 | that the chartering entity administers to
other
students, and | ||||||
23 | the results on such tests shall be included in the
chartering |
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1 | entity's assessment reports.
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2 | (c) Subject to the provisions of subsection (e), a material | ||||||
3 | revision to a
previously certified contract or a renewal shall | ||||||
4 | be made with
the approval of both the local school board and | ||||||
5 | the governing body of the
charter school.
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6 | (c-5) The proposed contract shall include a provision on | ||||||
7 | how both parties
will address minor violations of the contract.
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8 | (d) The proposed contract between the governing body of a | ||||||
9 | proposed charter
school and the local school board as described | ||||||
10 | in Section 27A-7 must be
submitted to and certified by the | ||||||
11 | State Board before it can take effect. If
the State Board | ||||||
12 | recommends that the proposed contract be modified for
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13 | consistency with this Article before it can be certified, the | ||||||
14 | modifications
must be consented to by both the governing body | ||||||
15 | of
the charter school and the local school board, and | ||||||
16 | resubmitted to the State
Board for its certification. If the | ||||||
17 | proposed contract is resubmitted in a form
that is not | ||||||
18 | consistent with this Article, the State
Board may refuse to | ||||||
19 | certify the charter.
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20 | The State Board shall assign a number to each submission or | ||||||
21 | resubmission in
chronological order of receipt, and shall | ||||||
22 | determine whether the proposed
contract is consistent with the | ||||||
23 | provisions of this Article. If the proposed
contract complies, | ||||||
24 | the State Board shall so certify.
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25 | (e) No renewal of a previously certified contract is | ||||||
26 | effective unless and until the State Board certifies that the |
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1 | renewal is consistent with the provisions of this Article. A | ||||||
2 | material revision to a previously certified contract may go | ||||||
3 | into effect immediately upon approval of both the local school | ||||||
4 | board and the governing body of the charter school, unless | ||||||
5 | either party requests in writing that the State Board certify | ||||||
6 | that the material revision is consistent with the provisions of | ||||||
7 | this Article. If such a request is made, the proposed material | ||||||
8 | revision is not effective unless and until the State Board so | ||||||
9 | certifies. No material revision to a previously certified | ||||||
10 | contract or a renewal
shall be effective unless and until the | ||||||
11 | State Board certifies that the revision
or renewal is | ||||||
12 | consistent with the provisions of this Article.
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13 | (Source: P.A. 93-3, eff. 4-16-03.)
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14 | (105 ILCS 5/27A-7)
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15 | Sec. 27A-7. Charter submission.
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16 | (a) A proposal to establish a charter school shall be | ||||||
17 | submitted to the
State Board and the local school board in the | ||||||
18 | form of a proposed contract
entered
into between the local | ||||||
19 | school board and the governing body of a proposed
charter | ||||||
20 | school. The
charter school proposal as submitted to the State | ||||||
21 | Board shall include:
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22 | (1) The name of the proposed charter school, which must | ||||||
23 | include the words
"Charter School".
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24 | (2) The age or grade range, areas of focus, minimum and | ||||||
25 | maximum numbers of
pupils to be enrolled in the charter |
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1 | school, and any other admission criteria
that would be | ||||||
2 | legal if used by a school district.
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3 | (3) A description of and address for the physical plant | ||||||
4 | in which the
charter school will be located; provided that | ||||||
5 | nothing in the Article shall be
deemed to justify delaying | ||||||
6 | or withholding favorable action on or approval of a
charter | ||||||
7 | school proposal because the building or buildings in which | ||||||
8 | the charter
school is to be located have not been acquired | ||||||
9 | or rented at the time a charter
school proposal is | ||||||
10 | submitted or approved or a charter school contract is
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11 | entered
into or submitted for certification or certified, | ||||||
12 | so long as the proposal or
submission identifies and names | ||||||
13 | at least 2 sites that are potentially available
as a | ||||||
14 | charter school facility by the time the charter school is | ||||||
15 | to open.
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16 | (4) The mission statement of the charter school, which | ||||||
17 | must be consistent
with the General Assembly's declared | ||||||
18 | purposes; provided that nothing in this
Article shall be | ||||||
19 | construed to require that, in order to receive favorable
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20 | consideration and approval, a charter school proposal | ||||||
21 | demonstrate unequivocally
that the charter school will be | ||||||
22 | able to meet each of those declared purposes,
it
being the | ||||||
23 | intention of the Charter Schools Law that those purposes be
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24 | recognized as goals that
charter schools must aspire to | ||||||
25 | attain.
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26 | (5) The goals, objectives, and pupil performance |
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1 | standards to be achieved
by the charter school.
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2 | (6) In the case of a proposal to establish a charter | ||||||
3 | school by
converting an existing public school or | ||||||
4 | attendance center to charter school
status, evidence that | ||||||
5 | the proposed formation of the charter school has received
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6 | the approval of certified teachers, parents
and
guardians, | ||||||
7 | and, if applicable, a local school council as provided in
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8 | subsection
(b) of Section 27A-8.
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9 | (7) A description of the charter school's educational | ||||||
10 | program, pupil
performance standards, curriculum, school | ||||||
11 | year, school days, and hours of
operation.
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12 | (8) A description of the charter school's plan for | ||||||
13 | evaluating pupil
performance, the types of assessments | ||||||
14 | that will be used to measure pupil
progress towards | ||||||
15 | achievement of the school's pupil performance standards, | ||||||
16 | the
timeline for achievement of those standards, and the | ||||||
17 | procedures for taking
corrective action in the event that | ||||||
18 | pupil performance at the charter school
falls below those | ||||||
19 | standards.
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20 | (9) Evidence that the terms of the charter as proposed | ||||||
21 | are economically
sound
for both the charter school and the | ||||||
22 | school district, a proposed budget for the
term of the | ||||||
23 | charter, a description of the manner in which an annual
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24 | audit of the financial and administrative operations of the | ||||||
25 | charter school,
including any services provided by the | ||||||
26 | school district, are to be conducted,
and
a plan for the |
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1 | displacement of pupils, teachers, and other employees who | ||||||
2 | will
not attend or be employed in the charter school.
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3 | (10) A description of the governance and operation of | ||||||
4 | the charter school,
including the nature and extent of | ||||||
5 | parental, professional educator, and
community involvement | ||||||
6 | in the governance and operation of the charter school.
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7 | (11) An explanation of the relationship that will exist | ||||||
8 | between the
charter school and its employees, including | ||||||
9 | evidence that the terms and
conditions of employment have | ||||||
10 | been addressed with affected employees and their
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11 | recognized representative, if any. However, a bargaining | ||||||
12 | unit of charter
school employees shall be separate and
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13 | distinct from any bargaining units formed from employees of | ||||||
14 | a school district
in
which the charter school is located.
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15 | (12) An agreement between the parties regarding their | ||||||
16 | respective
legal liability and applicable insurance | ||||||
17 | coverage.
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18 | (13) A description of how the charter school plans to | ||||||
19 | meet the
transportation needs of its pupils, and a plan for | ||||||
20 | addressing the
transportation needs
of low-income and | ||||||
21 | at-risk pupils.
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22 | (14) The proposed effective date and term of the | ||||||
23 | charter; provided that
the
first day of the first academic | ||||||
24 | year and the first day of the fiscal year
shall be no | ||||||
25 | earlier than August 15 and no later than September 15 of a
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26 | calendar year , and the first day of the fiscal year shall |
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1 | be July 1 .
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2 | (15) Any other information reasonably required by the | ||||||
3 | State Board of
Education.
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4 | (b) A proposal to establish a charter school may be | ||||||
5 | initiated by individuals
or organizations that will have
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6 | majority representation on the board of directors or other | ||||||
7 | governing body of
the corporation or other discrete legal | ||||||
8 | entity that is to be established to
operate the proposed | ||||||
9 | charter school, by a board of education or an
intergovernmental | ||||||
10 | agreement between or among boards of education, or by the
board | ||||||
11 | of directors or other
governing body of a discrete legal entity | ||||||
12 | already existing or established to
operate the proposed
charter | ||||||
13 | school. The individuals or organizations referred to in this
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14 | subsection may be school teachers, school administrators, | ||||||
15 | local school
councils, colleges or
universities or their | ||||||
16 | faculty
members, public community colleges or their | ||||||
17 | instructors or other
representatives, corporations, or other | ||||||
18 | entities or their
representatives. The proposal shall be
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19 | submitted to the local school board for consideration and, if
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20 | appropriate, for
development of a proposed contract to be | ||||||
21 | submitted to the State Board for
certification under
Section | ||||||
22 | 27A-6.
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23 | (c) The local school board may not without the consent of | ||||||
24 | the governing body
of the charter school condition its approval | ||||||
25 | of a charter school proposal on
acceptance of an agreement to | ||||||
26 | operate under State laws and regulations and
local school board |
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1 | policies from which the charter school is otherwise exempted
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2 | under this Article.
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3 | (Source: P.A. 90-548, eff. 1-1-98; 91-405, eff. 8-3-99.)
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4 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | ||||||
5 | 2014.
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