Full Text of HB0363 96th General Assembly
HB0363eng 96TH 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,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section | 5 |
| 34-18.37 as follows: | 6 |
| (105 ILCS 5/34-18.37 new) | 7 |
| Sec. 34-18.37. Establishing an equitable and effective | 8 |
| school facility development process. | 9 |
| (a) The General Assembly recognizes all of the following: | 10 |
| (1) The Illinois Constitution indicates that "a | 11 |
| fundamental goal of the People of the State is the | 12 |
| educational development of all persons to the limits of | 13 |
| their capacities". | 14 |
| (2) Quality educational facilities are essential for | 15 |
| fostering the maximum educational development of all | 16 |
| persons through their educational experience from | 17 |
| prekindergarten through high school. | 18 |
| (3) The public school is a major institution in | 19 |
| communities that offers resources and opportunities for | 20 |
| many stakeholders, including not only families with | 21 |
| children who seek and deserve a quality education, but also | 22 |
| including the entire community that seeks educational | 23 |
| improvement. |
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| (4) The equitable and efficient use of available | 2 |
| facilities-related resources among different schools and | 3 |
| among racial, ethnic, income, and disability groups is | 4 |
| essential to maximize the development of quality | 5 |
| educational facilities for all children, youth, and | 6 |
| adults. These factors vary according to the needs of each | 7 |
| school community, are vitally impacted by | 8 |
| facilities-related decisions, and, therefore, should | 9 |
| include the school community's voice to the greatest extent | 10 |
| possible in all current and future uses of the school | 11 |
| building. | 12 |
| (5) School openings, school closings, school | 13 |
| consolidations, school turnarounds, school phase-outs, | 14 |
| school construction, school repairs, school | 15 |
| modernizations, school boundary changes, and other related | 16 |
| school facility decisions often have profound impacts on | 17 |
| education in a community. These decisions must be carried | 18 |
| out
only according to clear systemwide criteria and with | 19 |
| genuine involvement of local school councils, parents, | 20 |
| educators, and the community in decision-making. | 21 |
| (6) The General Assembly has previously stated that it | 22 |
| intended to make the individual school in the City of | 23 |
| Chicago the essential unit for educational governance and | 24 |
| improvement and to place the primary responsibility for | 25 |
| school governance and improvement in the hands of parents, | 26 |
| teachers, and community residents at each school. A school |
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| facility policy must be consistent with these principles. | 2 |
| (b) To ensure that the intent of the General Assembly is | 3 |
| carried out in a fair and equitable manner and to establish | 4 |
| educationally sound and fiscally responsible criteria for | 5 |
| related facilities planning, the following process shall apply | 6 |
| to the school district: | 7 |
| (1) A Special Joint Chicago Education Facilities | 8 |
| Committee shall be established within 30 days after the | 9 |
| effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General | 10 |
| Assembly and shall consist of 4 members of the House of | 11 |
| Representatives' Elementary & Secondary Education | 12 |
| Committee, 4 members of the Senate's Education Committee, | 13 |
| and 4 representatives of school community organizations | 14 |
| with past involvement in school facility issues. The | 15 |
| Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint the 4 | 16 |
| members of the House Elementary and Secondary Committee, 2 | 17 |
| of whom shall be Republicans and 2 of whom shall be | 18 |
| Democrats. The Speaker of the House shall appoint one of | 19 |
| the 4 appointed House members as Co-Chairperson of the | 20 |
| Committee. The Speaker of the House shall appoint one | 21 |
| representative of each of 2 school community organizations | 22 |
| with past involvement in Chicago school facility issues as | 23 |
| committee members. The President of the Senate shall | 24 |
| appoint the 4 members of the Senate Education Committee, 2 | 25 |
| of whom shall be Republicans and 2 of whom shall be | 26 |
| Democrats. The President of the Senate shall appoint one of |
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| the 4 appointed Senate members as a Co-Chairperson of the | 2 |
| Committee. The President of the Senate shall appoint one | 3 |
| representative of each of 2 school community organizations | 4 |
| with past involvement in Chicago school facility issues as | 5 |
| committee members. Additionally, the chief executive | 6 |
| officer of the school district or his or her designee, a | 7 |
| representative from the Chicago Teachers Union, and a | 8 |
| representative from the Chicago Principals Association | 9 |
| shall serve on the Committee. | 10 |
| (2) The Committee shall call on independent experts, as | 11 |
| needed, to gather and analyze pertinent information on a | 12 |
| pro bono basis, provided that such experts shall have no | 13 |
| previous or on-going financial interest in school facility | 14 |
| issues related to the school district. The Committee shall | 15 |
| secure pro bono expert assistance within 30 days after the | 16 |
| establishment of the Committee. | 17 |
| (3) The Committee shall be empowered to gather further | 18 |
| evidence in the form of testimony or documents or other | 19 |
| materials. | 20 |
| (4) The Committee, with the help of the independent | 21 |
| experts, shall analyze past Chicago experiences and data | 22 |
| with respect to school openings, school closings, school | 23 |
| consolidations, school turnarounds, school phase-outs, | 24 |
| school construction, school repairs, school | 25 |
| modernizations, school boundary changes, and other related | 26 |
| school facility decisions on their students. The Committee |
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| shall consult widely with stakeholders, including public | 2 |
| officials, about these facility issues and their related | 3 |
| costs and shall examine relevant best practices from other | 4 |
| school systems for dealing with these issues | 5 |
| systematically and equitably. These initial investigations | 6 |
| shall include opportunities for input from local | 7 |
| stakeholders through hearings, focus groups, and | 8 |
| interviews. | 9 |
| (5) The Committee shall prepare a draft policy by | 10 |
| September 30, 2009 describing how these issues can be | 11 |
| addressed effectively based upon educationally sound and | 12 |
| fiscally responsible practices. | 13 |
| (6) The Committee shall hold hearings in separate | 14 |
| relevant areas of the school district at times that shall | 15 |
| maximize school community participation to obtain comments | 16 |
| on the draft policy. The final hearing shall take place no | 17 |
| later than 30 days prior to the completion of the final | 18 |
| draft to be presented to the General Assembly for approval. | 19 |
| The final proposed policy shall be made available to the | 20 |
| public in the school district at least 7 days before formal | 21 |
| introduction in the General Assembly. | 22 |
| (7) The Committee shall prepare a final proposed | 23 |
| policy, which may be introduced in the form of legislation | 24 |
| by a member of the General Assembly and may address the | 25 |
| issues, standards, and procedures set forth in this | 26 |
| Section. The legislation may address issues of system-wide |
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| criteria for ensuring clear priorities, equity, and | 2 |
| efficiency. | 3 |
| (8) Without limitation, the legislation may establish | 4 |
| significant decision-making roles for key stakeholders, | 5 |
| including the individual school and community; require | 6 |
| clear criteria or processes for establishing criteria for | 7 |
| making school facility decisions; and include clear | 8 |
| criteria for setting priorities with respect to school | 9 |
| openings, school closings, school consolidations, school | 10 |
| turnarounds, school phase-outs, school construction, | 11 |
| school repairs, school modernizations, school boundary | 12 |
| changes, and other related school facility decisions, | 13 |
| including the encouragement of multiple community uses for | 14 |
| school space. | 15 |
| (9) Without limitation, the legislation may seek to | 16 |
| establish criteria for student mobility; the transferring | 17 |
| of students to lower performing schools; teacher mobility; | 18 |
| insufficient notice to and the lack of inclusion in | 19 |
| decision-making of local school councils, parents, and | 20 |
| community members about school facility decisions; and | 21 |
| costly facilities-related expenditures due to poor | 22 |
| educational and facilities planning. | 23 |
| (c) The Board of Education shall provide administrative | 24 |
| support to the Committee.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 26 |
| becoming law.
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