Full Text of HJR0005 96th General Assembly
HJ0005eng 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 5
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| WHEREAS, While the School Code authorizes school boards to | 3 |
| suspend and expel students if they are found guilty of gross | 4 |
| disobedience or misconduct, there are no statewide policies and | 5 |
| procedures for school boards to follow in order to carry out | 6 |
| their duties; and
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| WHEREAS, There is a correlation between the number of | 8 |
| students suspended, expelled, and truant and high school | 9 |
| dropout rates; numerous studies have shown that the main | 10 |
| reasons students dropped out of school often focused on being | 11 |
| bullied at school, a lack of interest in school, behavioral | 12 |
| problems, family problems, and financial problems; and
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| WHEREAS, The increasing number of students who are | 14 |
| suspended, expelled, and truant is of great concern in the | 15 |
| African-American and Hispanic communities; according to the | 16 |
| State Board of Education, a total of 3,451 students were | 17 |
| expelled during the 2006-2007 school year; of this number, 39% | 18 |
| (1,359) were Caucasian, 43% (1,467) were African-American, and | 19 |
| 12% (511) were Hispanic; and
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| WHEREAS, During the same school year, Chicago Public | 21 |
| Schools had a total of 549 students expelled, with 79% (436) of | 22 |
| them African-American, 15% (81) Hispanic, and 1.6% (9) |
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| Caucasian; and
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| WHEREAS, For public school districts in selected townships | 3 |
| (Bloom, Rich, Bremen, and Thornton) of south suburban Cook | 4 |
| County (referred to as "the Townships"), the numbers were just | 5 |
| as alarming; both Caucasian and Hispanic students made up 10.4% | 6 |
| (14) of students expelled, while African-American students | 7 |
| made up 79.2% (107) of expelled students; and
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| WHEREAS, This issue is not restricted to the Chicago area; | 9 |
| the total numbers of students expelled during the 2006-2007 | 10 |
| school year for selected downstate counties were as follows: | 11 |
| Champaign County had a total number of 18 students expelled for | 12 |
| the 2006-2007 school year, with 13 of them being | 13 |
| African-American; in Peoria County, 231 students were | 14 |
| expelled, of which 68% (156) were African-American, 0.1% (3) | 15 |
| were Hispanic, and 29% (68) were Caucasian; a total of 74 | 16 |
| students were expelled in Sangamon County, with 65% (47) being | 17 |
| African-American and 32% (24) Caucasian; and in Winnebago | 18 |
| County, 186 students were suspended, of which 55% (103) were | 19 |
| African-American, 25% (47) were Caucasian, and 14% (26) were | 20 |
| Hispanic; and
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| WHEREAS, The total number of students suspended statewide | 22 |
| during the 2006-2007 school year was 174,930; of this number, | 23 |
| 31% (54,550) were Caucasian, 49% (84,995) were |
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| African-American, and 17% (30,306) were Hispanic; and
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| WHEREAS, Chicago Public Schools had a total of 45,288 | 3 |
| students suspended (1,721); 4% of the students suspended were | 4 |
| Caucasian, 72% (32,715) were African-American, and 20% (9,131) | 5 |
| were Hispanic; and
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| WHEREAS, Within the Townships, 7,437 students were
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| suspended; of this number, 83% (6,199) were African-American, | 8 |
| 8% (610) were Caucasian, and 7% (544) were Hispanic; and
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| WHEREAS, Totals for selected downstate counties were as | 10 |
| follows: Champaign County suspended 1,993 students during the | 11 |
| 2006-2007 school year; 36% (717) were Caucasian, over half, 57% | 12 |
| (1,143), were African-American, and 2.8% (56) were Hispanic; in | 13 |
| Sangamon County, a total of 2,981 students were suspended; 45% | 14 |
| (1,344) were Caucasian, 50% (1,508) were African-American, and | 15 |
| 0.7% (22) were Hispanic; in Winnebago County, 6,848 students | 16 |
| were suspended; of this number, 36% (2,476) were Caucasian, 47% | 17 |
| (3,210) were African-American, and 13% (873) were Hispanic; and | 18 |
| 4,274 students were suspended in Peoria County; within Peoria | 19 |
| County, Caucasian students made up 25% (1,059) of
those | 20 |
| suspended, while African-American students made up 71% (3,056) | 21 |
| of those suspended and Hispanic students made up 2% (101) of | 22 |
| those suspended; and
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| WHEREAS, The total number of truant students statewide for | 2 |
| the 2006-2007 school year was 392,058; the number of truant | 3 |
| students in the Chicago Public Schools was 71,789; the total | 4 |
| number of truancies within the Townships was 13,270; in | 5 |
| downstate Illinois, Champaign County had 6,595 truant | 6 |
| students, Peoria County had 8,918 truant students, Winnebago | 7 |
| County had 25,032 truant students, and Sangamon County had | 8 |
| 7,356 truant students; and
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| WHEREAS, According to the American Civil Liberties Union's | 10 |
| (ACLU's) report on "Best Practices for Dismantling the School | 11 |
| to Prison Pipeline", students who are suspended or expelled are | 12 |
| far more likely than other students to drop out of school, and | 13 |
| these students are 3 times more likely to be incarcerated than | 14 |
| their peers; and
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| WHEREAS, In May 2003, The Illinois African-American Family | 16 |
| Commission interviewed 119 detainees at Cook County Jail; of | 17 |
| the detainees, 61% were male, 39% were female, 82% were between | 18 |
| the ages of 17 and 29, 14% were between the ages of 30 and 39, | 19 |
| 4% were between the ages of 40 and 49, 78% were Black, 12% were | 20 |
| Hispanic, 7% were White, and 3% were Other; the results from | 21 |
| that study showed that most of those interviewed had low levels | 22 |
| of education; indeed, 10% reported that they had dropped out of | 23 |
| elementary school, 69% reported that they had dropped out of | 24 |
| high school, 20% had received a high school diploma, and 1% had |
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| graduated from college; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 3 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 4 |
| SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that there is created the School | 5 |
| Success Task Force, consisting of the following members: | 6 |
| (1) one member appointed by the President of the | 7 |
| Senate; | 8 |
| (2) one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the | 9 |
| Senate; | 10 |
| (3) one member appointed by the Speaker of the House of | 11 |
| Representatives; | 12 |
| (4) one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the | 13 |
| House of Representatives; | 14 |
| (5) one member of the Governor's staff, appointed by | 15 |
| the Governor; | 16 |
| (6) one member appointed by the Joint Chair of the | 17 |
| Illinois Legislative Black Caucus; | 18 |
| (7) one member appointed by the Joint Chair of the | 19 |
| Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus; | 20 |
| (8) one member from each of the following State | 21 |
| agencies and commissions appointed by their respective | 22 |
| director or secretary: | 23 |
| (A) the Department of Children and Family | 24 |
| Services; | 25 |
| (B) the Department of Human Services; |
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| (C) the State Board of Education; | 2 |
| (D) the Department of Corrections; | 3 |
| (E) the Department of Juvenile Justice; | 4 |
| (F) the Department of Commerce and Economic | 5 |
| Opportunity; | 6 |
| (G) the Board of Higher Education; and | 7 |
| (H) an organization in this State representing | 8 |
| African-American families;
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| (9) 4 public members, including a representative of a | 10 |
| community-based organization serving school-age children | 11 |
| appointed by the Governor and 3 public members appointed by | 12 |
| the Governor and representing the interests of child | 13 |
| welfare advocates, education personnel, community-based | 14 |
| organizations, faith-based institutions, criminal justice | 15 |
| advocates, parents, and students; and | 16 |
| (10) one member appointed by the head of a statewide | 17 |
| organization representing either school board members or | 18 |
| school administrators; and be it further | 19 |
| RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall meet initially at the | 20 |
| call of the Speaker and the President and that members of the | 21 |
| Task Force shall select a chairperson at that initial meeting; | 22 |
| and be it further | 23 |
| RESOLVED, That the State Board of Education shall provide | 24 |
| staff and administrative support to the Task Force; and be it |
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| further | 2 |
| RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall examine issues and make | 3 |
| recommendations related to current State Board of Education | 4 |
| policies regarding suspensions, expulsions, and truancies, | 5 |
| including without limitation the following: | 6 |
| (1) studying how current State Board policies impact | 7 |
| student's statewide; | 8 |
| (2) studying how school districts create, interpret, | 9 |
| and administer their own disciplinary policies; | 10 |
| (3) hearing testimony from school officials, parents, | 11 |
| students, and community-based providers on the effects of | 12 |
| suspension and expulsion policies; and | 13 |
| (4) studying annual reports on the number of children | 14 |
| who reenroll in school after being suspended and expelled, | 15 |
| by age, race, and education level; and be it further | 16 |
| RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall identify different | 17 |
| strategies and approaches to help educators work effectively | 18 |
| with the families of students of color, promote professional | 19 |
| development and other learning opportunities that will equip | 20 |
| school personnel with the skills and knowledge necessary to | 21 |
| reduce factors that often contribute to suspensions, | 22 |
| expulsions, and truancies, and support
community-based | 23 |
| organizations and parents in their ongoing efforts to encourage | 24 |
| youths to adopt and practice positive social behaviors that |
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| will allow them to be successful in school and in their | 2 |
| communities; and be it further | 3 |
| RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall hold public hearings in | 4 |
| every legislative district it deems necessary and shall report | 5 |
| its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly before | 6 |
| December 31, 2010; and be it further | 7 |
| RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 8 |
| delivered to the Governor, the Department of Children and | 9 |
| Family Services, the Department of Human Services, the State | 10 |
| Board of Education, the Department of Corrections, the | 11 |
| Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Commerce and | 12 |
| Economic Opportunity, the Board of Higher Education, the | 13 |
| Illinois African-American Family Commission, and Link & Option | 14 |
| Center, Inc.
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