Full Text of SB0613 96th General Assembly
SB0613enr 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, | 3 |
| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 |
| Children's Low-cost Laptop Act. | 6 |
| Section 5. Policy and purpose. The General Assembly finds | 7 |
| that the decreasing cost of computer technology makes it | 8 |
| possible today to equip more children than ever before with | 9 |
| 21st century learning tools. The dramatic expansion of low-cost | 10 |
| computing options and the worldwide reliance on computer | 11 |
| technology for commerce, education, information, and social | 12 |
| interaction makes it ever more important to introduce computing | 13 |
| skills to students at an early age. Accordingly, the State | 14 |
| Board of Education shall establish a pilot project whereby | 15 |
| schools will provide a low-cost laptop computer to each | 16 |
| student, teacher, and relevant administrator in a | 17 |
| participating school and implement the use of educational | 18 |
| software and computer skills training in order to improve | 19 |
| academic achievement and the progress measures listed in | 20 |
| subsection (a) of Section 20 in this Act. | 21 |
| Section 10. Definitions. In this Act: | 22 |
| "Primary school" means any school with students in third, |
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| fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth grade. | 2 |
| "Low-cost laptop" means a portable personal computing | 3 |
| device suitable for use among primary school-aged children, | 4 |
| under $400 in initial cost or with a financed cost of under | 5 |
| $250 per year.
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| "State Board" means the State Board of Education.
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| Section 15. Pilot project; Children's Low-cost Laptop | 8 |
| Fund.
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| (a) Subject to an appropriation made specifically for this | 10 |
| purpose, the State Board shall provide for the administration | 11 |
| of a low-cost laptop pilot project. The pilot project shall be | 12 |
| for a period of at least 2 years. In administering the pilot | 13 |
| project, the State Board shall: | 14 |
| (1) select participating primary schools; | 15 |
| (2) coordinate a statewide grant program for selected | 16 |
| schools to purchase and distribute laptop computers and | 17 |
| other technologies; | 18 |
| (3) define the conditions for the distribution and use | 19 |
| of grant funding; | 20 |
| (4) monitor project implementation; and | 21 |
| (5) evaluate the project. | 22 |
| (b) The State Board may also use, for the purposes of the | 23 |
| pilot project, any public or private gift, grant, or donation | 24 |
| deposited into the State Board of Education Special Purpose | 25 |
| Trust Fund under Section 2-3.127a of the School Code. Pilot |
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| project funds must be used for the following: | 2 |
| (1) to purchase low-cost laptop computers; | 3 |
| (2) for network infrastructure to support wireless | 4 |
| access points, cables, and routers; | 5 |
| (3) for replacements for any of the following low-cost | 6 |
| laptop components: batteries, power cords, or other | 7 |
| software and hardware; | 8 |
| (4) for professional development and technical support | 9 |
| for participating teachers; for the purposes of this item | 10 |
| (4), "professional development" means the training of | 11 |
| certified teaching professionals in the integration of | 12 |
| low-cost laptop computers into the classroom curriculum;
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| (5) to support necessary staff positions at the State | 14 |
| Board; and | 15 |
| (6) to evaluate the pilot program's effectiveness. | 16 |
| The State Board may not allocate more than $100 million for | 17 |
| the pilot project. The pilot project must be implemented as | 18 |
| long as funds are available under this Section to support the | 19 |
| participation of at least 3 schools. | 20 |
| Section 20. Program participation requirements.
A school | 21 |
| may apply to the State Board to establish a low-cost laptop | 22 |
| pilot project grant for the entire school or for a particular | 23 |
| grade or classroom or classrooms. | 24 |
| The State Board shall select up to 300 schools to | 25 |
| participate in the pilot project. At least one-third of the |
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| participating students shall be located in the City of Chicago; | 2 |
| at least one-third shall be located in the area that makes up | 3 |
| the counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, and that | 4 |
| portion of Cook County that is
located outside of the City of | 5 |
| Chicago; and at least one-third shall be located in the | 6 |
| remainder of the State.
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| The State Board shall select the participating schools for | 8 |
| the pilot project based on need. In selecting participants, the | 9 |
| State Board shall consider each school's: | 10 |
| (1) free and reduced lunch eligible student | 11 |
| population; | 12 |
| (2) access to educational technology resources; and | 13 |
| (3) performance on standardized tests required by the | 14 |
| State Board. | 15 |
| Section 25. Reporting.
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| (a) The school board of each participating school shall | 17 |
| send an annual progress report to the State Board no later than | 18 |
| September 1 of each year that the school is participating in | 19 |
| the pilot project. The report must include the project's effect | 20 |
| on: | 21 |
| (1) performance on standardized tests required by the | 22 |
| State Board; | 23 |
| (2) school costs; | 24 |
| (3) attendance rates; | 25 |
| (4) teacher performance and retention; |
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| (5) parental involvement in education; | 2 |
| (6) community support for the school; and | 3 |
| (7) student technology proficiency. | 4 |
| (b) With guidance from the State Board, each participating | 5 |
| school shall determine how the low-cost laptops are purchased, | 6 |
| assigned, maintained, and retained. | 7 |
| Section 30. Repeal. This Act is repealed on August 31, | 8 |
| 2012.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 10 |
| becoming law.
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