SB1505 EngrossedLRB099 08679 NHT 28845 b

1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
51A-4 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/1A-4)  (from Ch. 122, par. 1A-4)
7    Sec. 1A-4. Powers and duties of the Board.
8    A. (Blank).
9    B. The Board shall determine the qualifications of and
10appoint, with the advice and consent of the Senate, a chief
11education officer, to be known as the State Superintendent of
12Education, who may be proposed by the Governor and who shall
13serve at the pleasure of the Board and pursuant to a
14performance-based contract linked to statewide student
15performance and academic improvement within Illinois schools.
16Upon expiration or buyout of the contract of the State
17Superintendent of Education in office on the effective date of
18this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly, a State
19Superintendent of Education shall be appointed by a State Board
20of Education that includes the 7 new Board members who were
21appointed to fill seats of members whose terms were terminated
22on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd
23General Assembly. Thereafter, a State Superintendent of

 

 

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1Education must, at a minimum, be appointed at the beginning of
2each term of a Governor after that Governor has made
3appointments to the Board. A performance-based contract issued
4for the employment of a State Superintendent of Education
5entered into on or after the effective date of this amendatory
6Act of the 93rd General Assembly must expire no later than
7February 1, 2007, and subsequent contracts must expire no later
8than February 1 each 4 years thereafter. No contract shall be
9extended or renewed beyond February 1, 2007 and February 1 each
104 years thereafter, but a State Superintendent of Education
11shall serve until his or her successor is appointed. Each
12contract entered into on or before January 8, 2007 with a State
13Superintendent of Education must provide that the State Board
14of Education may terminate the contract for cause, and the
15State Board of Education shall not thereafter be liable for
16further payments under the contract. With regard to this
17amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly, it is the intent
18of the General Assembly that, beginning with the Governor who
19takes office on the second Monday of January, 2007, a State
20Superintendent of Education be appointed at the beginning of
21each term of a Governor after that Governor has made
22appointments to the Board. The State Superintendent of
23Education shall not serve as a member of the State Board of
24Education. The Board shall set the compensation of the State
25Superintendent of Education who shall serve as the Board's
26chief executive officer. The Board shall also establish the

 

 

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1duties, powers and responsibilities of the State
2Superintendent, which shall be included in the State
3Superintendent's performance-based contract along with the
4goals and indicators of student performance and academic
5improvement used to measure the performance and effectiveness
6of the State Superintendent. The State Board of Education may
7delegate to the State Superintendent of Education the authority
8to act on the Board's behalf, provided such delegation is made
9pursuant to adopted board policy or the powers delegated are
10ministerial in nature. The State Board may not delegate
11authority under this Section to the State Superintendent to (1)
12nonrecognize school districts, (2) withhold State payments as a
13penalty, or (3) make final decisions under the contested case
14provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act unless
15otherwise provided by law.
16    C. The powers and duties of the State Board of Education
17shall encompass all duties delegated to the Office of
18Superintendent of Public Instruction on January 12, 1975,
19except as the law providing for such powers and duties is
20thereafter amended, and such other powers and duties as the
21General Assembly shall designate. The Board shall be
22responsible for the educational policies and guidelines for
23public schools, pre-school through grade 12 and Vocational
24Education in the State of Illinois. The Board shall analyze the
25present and future aims, needs, and requirements of education
26in the State of Illinois and recommend to the General Assembly

 

 

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1the powers which should be exercised by the Board. The Board
2shall recommend the passage and the legislation necessary to
3determine the appropriate relationship between the Board and
4local boards of education and the various State agencies and
5shall recommend desirable modifications in the laws which
6affect schools.
7    D. Two members of the Board shall be appointed by the
8chairperson to serve on a standing joint Education Committee, 2
9others shall be appointed from the Board of Higher Education, 2
10others shall be appointed by the chairperson of the Illinois
11Community College Board, and 2 others shall be appointed by the
12chairperson of the Human Resource Investment Council. The
13Committee shall be responsible for making recommendations
14concerning the submission of any workforce development plan or
15workforce training program required by federal law or under any
16block grant authority. The Committee will be responsible for
17developing policy on matters of mutual concern to elementary,
18secondary and higher education such as Occupational and Career
19Education, Teacher Preparation and Certification, Educational
20Finance, Articulation between Elementary, Secondary and Higher
21Education and Research and Planning. The joint Education
22Committee shall meet at least quarterly and submit an annual
23report of its findings, conclusions, and recommendations to the
24State Board of Education, the Board of Higher Education, the
25Illinois Community College Board, the Human Resource
26Investment Council, the Governor, and the General Assembly. All

 

 

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1meetings of this Committee shall be official meetings for
2reimbursement under this Act. On the effective date of this
3amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, the Joint
4Education Committee is abolished.
5    E. Five members of the Board shall constitute a quorum. A
6majority vote of the members appointed, confirmed and serving
7on the Board is required to approve any action, except that the
87 new Board members who were appointed to fill seats of members
9whose terms were terminated on the effective date of this
10amendatory act of the 93rd General Assembly may vote to approve
11actions when appointed and serving.
12    Using the most recently available data, the Board shall
13prepare and submit to the General Assembly and the Governor on
14or before January 14, 1976 and annually thereafter a report or
15reports of its findings and recommendations. Such annual report
16shall contain a separate section which provides a critique and
17analysis of the status of education in Illinois and which
18identifies its specific problems and recommends express
19solutions therefor. Such annual report also shall contain the
20following information for the preceding year ending on June 30:
21each act or omission of a school district of which the State
22Board of Education has knowledge as a consequence of scheduled,
23approved visits and which constituted a failure by the district
24to comply with applicable State or federal laws or regulations
25relating to public education, the name of such district, the
26date or dates on which the State Board of Education notified

 

 

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1the school district of such act or omission, and what action,
2if any, the school district took with respect thereto after
3being notified thereof by the State Board of Education. The
4report shall also include the statewide high school dropout
5rate by grade level, sex and race and the annual student
6dropout rate of and the number of students who graduate from,
7transfer from or otherwise leave bilingual programs. The
8Auditor General shall annually perform a compliance audit of
9the State Board of Education's performance of the reporting
10duty imposed by this amendatory Act of 1986. A regular system
11of communication with other directly related State agencies
12shall be implemented.
13    The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly shall
14be satisfied by filing copies of the report with the Speaker,
15the Minority Leader and the Clerk of the House of
16Representatives and the President, the Minority Leader and the
17Secretary of the Senate and the Legislative Council, as
18required by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly Organization
19Act, and filing such additional copies with the State
20Government Report Distribution Center for the General Assembly
21as is required under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of the State
22Library Act.
23    F. Upon appointment of the 7 new Board members who were
24appointed to fill seats of members whose terms were terminated
25on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd
26General Assembly, the Board shall review all of its current

 

 

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1rules in an effort to streamline procedures, improve
2efficiency, and eliminate unnecessary forms and paperwork.
3(Source: P.A. 95-626, eff. 6-1-08; 95-793, eff. 1-1-09.)