Full Text of HB4707 95th General Assembly
HB4707eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning education.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 |
| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | 5 |
| 2-3.71 as follows:
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| (105 ILCS 5/2-3.71) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.71)
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| Sec. 2-3.71. Grants for preschool educational programs.
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| (a) Preschool program.
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| (1) The State Board of Education shall implement and | 10 |
| administer
a grant program under the provisions of this | 11 |
| subsection which shall
consist of grants to public school | 12 |
| districts and other eligible entities, as defined by the | 13 |
| State Board of Education, to conduct voluntary
preschool
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| educational programs for children ages 3 to 5 which include | 15 |
| a parent
education component. A public school district | 16 |
| which receives grants under
this subsection may | 17 |
| subcontract with other entities that are eligible to | 18 |
| conduct a preschool educational
program. These grants must | 19 |
| be used to supplement, not supplant, funds received from | 20 |
| any other source.
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| (2) (Blank).
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| (3) Any teacher of preschool children in the program | 23 |
| authorized by this
subsection shall hold an early childhood |
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| teaching certificate.
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| (4) This paragraph (4) applies before July 1, 2006 and | 3 |
| after June 30, 2008. The State Board of Education shall | 4 |
| provide the primary source of
funding through | 5 |
| appropriations for the program.
Such funds shall be | 6 |
| distributed for the benefit
of children who because of | 7 |
| their home and community environment are subject
to such | 8 |
| language, cultural, economic and like disadvantages that | 9 |
| they have
been determined as a result of screening | 10 |
| procedures to be at risk of
academic failure. Such | 11 |
| screening procedures shall be based on criteria
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| established by the State Board of Education.
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| (4.5) This paragraph (4.5) applies from July 1, 2006 | 14 |
| through June 30, 2008. The State Board of Education shall | 15 |
| provide the primary source of
funding through | 16 |
| appropriations for the program.
Such funds shall be | 17 |
| distributed to achieve a goal of "Preschool for All | 18 |
| Children" for the benefit
of all children whose families | 19 |
| choose to participate in the program. Based on available | 20 |
| appropriations, newly funded programs shall be selected | 21 |
| through a process giving first priority to qualified | 22 |
| programs serving primarily at-risk children and second | 23 |
| priority to qualified programs serving primarily children | 24 |
| with a family income of less than 4 times the poverty | 25 |
| guidelines updated periodically in the Federal Register by | 26 |
| the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the |
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| authority of 42 U.S.C. 9902(2). For purposes of this | 2 |
| paragraph (4.5), at-risk children are those who because of | 3 |
| their home and community environment are subject
to such | 4 |
| language, cultural, economic and like disadvantages to | 5 |
| cause them to have
been determined as a result of screening | 6 |
| procedures to be at risk of
academic failure. Such | 7 |
| screening procedures shall be based on criteria
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| established by the State Board of Education. | 9 |
| On or before November 1 of each fiscal year in which | 10 |
| the General Assembly provides funding for new programs | 11 |
| under this paragraph (4.5), the State Board of Education | 12 |
| shall report to the General Assembly on what percentage of | 13 |
| new funding was provided to programs serving primarily | 14 |
| at-risk children, what percentage of new funding was | 15 |
| provided to programs serving primarily children with a | 16 |
| family income of less than 4 times the federal poverty | 17 |
| level, and what percentage of new funding was provided to | 18 |
| other programs.
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| Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph (4.5), | 20 |
| grantees under the program must enter into a memorandum of | 21 |
| understanding with the appropriate local Head Start | 22 |
| agency. This memorandum must be entered into no later than | 23 |
| 3 months after the award of a grantee's grant under the | 24 |
| program, except that, in the case of the 2008-2009 program | 25 |
| year, the memorandum must be entered into no later than the | 26 |
| deadline set by the State Board of Education for |
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| applications to participate in the program in fiscal year | 2 |
| 2010, and must address collaboration between the grantee's | 3 |
| program and the local Head Start agency on certain issues, | 4 |
| which shall include without limitation the following: | 5 |
| (A) educational activities, curricular objectives, | 6 |
| and instruction; | 7 |
| (B) public information dissemination and access to | 8 |
| programs for families contacting programs; | 9 |
| (C) service areas; | 10 |
| (D) selection priorities for eligible children to | 11 |
| be served by programs; | 12 |
| (E) maximizing the impact of federal and State | 13 |
| funding to benefit young children; | 14 |
| (F) staff training, including opportunities for | 15 |
| joint staff training; | 16 |
| (G) technical assistance; | 17 |
| (H) communication and parent outreach for smooth | 18 |
| transitions to kindergarten; | 19 |
| (I) provision and use of facilities, | 20 |
| transportation, and other program elements; | 21 |
| (J) facilitating each program's fulfillment of its | 22 |
| statutory and regulatory requirements; | 23 |
| (K) improving local planning and collaboration; | 24 |
| and | 25 |
| (L) providing comprehensive services for the | 26 |
| neediest Illinois children and families. |
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| If the appropriate local Head Start agency is unable or | 2 |
| unwilling to enter into a memorandum of understanding as | 3 |
| required under this paragraph (4.5), the memorandum of | 4 |
| understanding requirement shall not apply and the grantee | 5 |
| under the program must notify the State Board of Education | 6 |
| in writing of the Head Start agency's inability or | 7 |
| unwillingness. The State Board of Education shall compile | 8 |
| all such written notices and make them available to the | 9 |
| public.
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| (5) The State Board of Education shall develop and | 11 |
| provide
evaluation tools, including tests, that school | 12 |
| districts and other eligible entities may use to
evaluate | 13 |
| children for school readiness prior to age 5. The State | 14 |
| Board of
Education shall require school districts and other | 15 |
| eligible entities
to obtain consent from the parents
or | 16 |
| guardians of children before any evaluations are | 17 |
| conducted. The State
Board of Education shall encourage | 18 |
| local school districts and other eligible entities to | 19 |
| evaluate the
population of preschool children in their | 20 |
| communities and provide preschool
programs, pursuant to | 21 |
| this subsection, where appropriate.
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| (6) The State Board of Education shall report to the | 23 |
| General Assembly by
July 1, 2007 and every
3 years | 24 |
| thereafter on the results and progress of
students who were | 25 |
| enrolled in preschool educational programs, including an
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| assessment of which programs have been most successful in |
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| promoting
academic excellence and alleviating academic | 2 |
| failure. The State Board of
Education shall assess the | 3 |
| academic progress of all students who have been
enrolled in | 4 |
| preschool educational programs.
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| (b) (Blank).
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| (Source: P.A. 94-506, eff. 8-8-05; 94-1054, eff. 7-25-06.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 8 |
| becoming law.
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