Full Text of HB1861 98th General Assembly
HB1861 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014 HB1861 Introduced , by Rep. Tom Cross SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: | | 105 ILCS 5/2-3.25g | from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.25g |
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Amends the School Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning
waivers of School Code mandates.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning education.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | 5 | | 2-3.25g as follows: | 6 | | (105 ILCS 5/2-3.25g) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.25g) | 7 | | Sec. 2-3.25g. Waiver or modification of mandates within the | 8 | | School
Code and administrative rules and regulations. | 9 | | (a) In this Section: | 10 | | "Board" means a school board or the
the governing board | 11 | | or administrative district, as the case may be, for a joint | 12 | | agreement. | 13 | | "Eligible applicant" means a school district, joint | 14 | | agreement made up of school districts, or regional | 15 | | superintendent of schools on behalf of schools and programs | 16 | | operated by the regional office of education.
| 17 | | "Implementation date" has the meaning set forth in | 18 | | Section 24A-2.5 of this Code. | 19 | | "State Board" means the State Board of Education.
| 20 | | (b) Notwithstanding any other
provisions of this School | 21 | | Code or any other law of this State to the
contrary, eligible | 22 | | applicants may petition the State Board of Education for the
| 23 | | waiver or modification of the mandates of this School Code or |
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| 1 | | of the
administrative rules and regulations promulgated by the | 2 | | State Board of
Education. Waivers or modifications of | 3 | | administrative rules and regulations
and modifications of | 4 | | mandates of this School Code may be requested when an eligible | 5 | | applicant demonstrates that it can address the intent of the | 6 | | rule or
mandate in a more effective, efficient, or economical | 7 | | manner or when necessary
to stimulate innovation or improve | 8 | | student performance. Waivers of
mandates of
the School Code may | 9 | | be requested when the waivers are necessary to stimulate
| 10 | | innovation or improve student performance. Waivers may not be | 11 | | requested
from laws, rules, and regulations pertaining to | 12 | | special education, teacher
certification, teacher tenure and | 13 | | seniority, or Section 5-2.1 of this Code or from compliance | 14 | | with the No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110). | 15 | | On and after the applicable implementation date, eligible | 16 | | applicants may not seek a waiver or seek a modification of a | 17 | | mandate regarding the requirements for (i) student performance | 18 | | data to be a significant factor in teacher or principal | 19 | | evaluations or (ii) for teachers and principals to be rated | 20 | | using the 4 categories of "excellent", "proficient", "needs | 21 | | improvement", or "unsatisfactory". On the applicable | 22 | | implementation date, any previously authorized waiver or | 23 | | modification from such requirements shall terminate. | 24 | | (c) Eligible applicants, as a matter of inherent managerial | 25 | | policy, and any
Independent Authority established under | 26 | | Section 2-3.25f may submit an
application for a waiver or |
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| 1 | | modification authorized under this Section. Each
application | 2 | | must include a written request by the eligible applicant or
| 3 | | Independent Authority and must demonstrate that the intent of | 4 | | the mandate can
be addressed in a more effective, efficient, or | 5 | | economical manner
or be based
upon a specific plan for improved | 6 | | student performance and school improvement.
Any eligible | 7 | | applicant requesting a waiver or modification for the reason | 8 | | that intent
of the mandate can be addressed in a more | 9 | | economical manner shall include in
the application a fiscal | 10 | | analysis showing current expenditures on the mandate
and | 11 | | projected savings resulting from the waiver
or modification. | 12 | | Applications
and plans developed by eligible applicants must be | 13 | | approved by the board or regional superintendent of schools | 14 | | applying on behalf of schools or programs operated by the | 15 | | regional office of education following a public hearing on the | 16 | | application and plan and the
opportunity for the board or | 17 | | regional superintendent to hear testimony from staff
directly | 18 | | involved in
its implementation, parents, and students. The time | 19 | | period for such testimony shall be separate from the time | 20 | | period established by the eligible applicant for public comment | 21 | | on other matters. If the applicant is a school district or | 22 | | joint agreement requesting a waiver or modification of Section | 23 | | 27-6 of this Code, the public hearing shall be held on a day | 24 | | other than the day on which a regular meeting of the board is | 25 | | held. | 26 | | (c-5) If the applicant is a school district, then the |
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| 1 | | district shall post information that sets forth the time, date, | 2 | | place, and general subject matter of the public hearing on its | 3 | | Internet website at least 14 days prior to the hearing. If the | 4 | | district is requesting to increase the fee charged for driver | 5 | | education authorized pursuant to Section 27-24.2 of this Code, | 6 | | the website information shall include the proposed amount of | 7 | | the fee the district will request. All school districts must | 8 | | publish a notice of the public hearing at least 7 days prior to | 9 | | the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation within the | 10 | | school district that sets forth the time, date, place, and | 11 | | general subject matter of the hearing. Districts requesting to | 12 | | increase the fee charged for driver education shall include in | 13 | | the published notice the proposed amount of the fee the | 14 | | district will request. If the applicant is a joint agreement or | 15 | | regional superintendent, then the joint agreement or regional | 16 | | superintendent shall post information that sets forth the time, | 17 | | date, place, and general subject matter of the public hearing | 18 | | on its Internet website at least 14 days prior to the hearing. | 19 | | If the joint agreement or regional superintendent is requesting | 20 | | to increase the fee charged for driver education authorized | 21 | | pursuant to Section 27-24.2 of this Code, the website | 22 | | information shall include the proposed amount of the fee the | 23 | | applicant will request. All joint agreements and regional | 24 | | superintendents must publish a notice of the public hearing at | 25 | | least 7 days prior to the hearing in a newspaper of general | 26 | | circulation in each school district that is a member of the |
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| 1 | | joint agreement or that is served by the educational service | 2 | | region that sets forth the time, date, place, and general | 3 | | subject matter of the hearing, provided that a notice appearing | 4 | | in a newspaper generally circulated in more than one school | 5 | | district shall be deemed to fulfill this requirement with | 6 | | respect to all of the affected districts. Joint agreements or | 7 | | regional superintendents requesting to increase the fee | 8 | | charged for driver education shall include in the published | 9 | | notice the proposed amount of the fee the applicant will | 10 | | request. The
eligible applicant must notify in writing the | 11 | | affected exclusive collective
bargaining agent and those State | 12 | | legislators representing the eligible applicant's territory of
| 13 | | its
intent to seek approval of a
waiver or
modification and of | 14 | | the hearing to be held to take testimony from staff.
The | 15 | | affected exclusive collective bargaining agents shall be | 16 | | notified of such
public hearing at least 7 days prior to the | 17 | | date of the hearing and shall be
allowed to attend
such public | 18 | | hearing. The eligible applicant shall attest to compliance with | 19 | | all of
the notification and procedural requirements set forth | 20 | | in this Section. | 21 | | (d) A request for a waiver or modification of | 22 | | administrative rules and
regulations or for a modification of | 23 | | mandates contained in this School Code
shall be submitted to | 24 | | the State Board of Education within 15 days after
approval by | 25 | | the board or regional superintendent of schools. The | 26 | | application as submitted to the
State Board of Education shall |
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| 1 | | include a description of the public hearing. Except with | 2 | | respect to contracting for adaptive driver education, an | 3 | | eligible applicant wishing to request a modification or waiver | 4 | | of administrative rules of the State Board of Education | 5 | | regarding contracting with a commercial driver training school | 6 | | to provide the course of study authorized under Section 27-24.2 | 7 | | of this Code must provide evidence with its application that | 8 | | the commercial driver training school with which it will | 9 | | contract holds a license issued by the Secretary of State under | 10 | | Article IV of Chapter 6 of the Illinois Vehicle Code and that | 11 | | each instructor employed by the commercial driver training | 12 | | school to provide instruction to students served by the school | 13 | | district holds a valid teaching certificate or teaching | 14 | | license, as applicable, issued under the requirements of this | 15 | | Code and rules of the State Board of Education. Such evidence | 16 | | must include, but need not be limited to, a list of each | 17 | | instructor assigned to teach students served by the school | 18 | | district, which list shall include the instructor's name, | 19 | | personal identification number as required by the State Board | 20 | | of Education, birth date, and driver's license number. If the | 21 | | modification or waiver is granted, then the eligible applicant | 22 | | shall notify the State Board of Education of any changes in the | 23 | | personnel providing instruction within 15 calendar days after | 24 | | an instructor leaves the program or a new instructor is hired. | 25 | | Such notification shall include the instructor's name, | 26 | | personal identification number as required by the State Board |
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| 1 | | of Education, birth date, and driver's license number. If a | 2 | | school district maintains an Internet website, then the | 3 | | district shall post a copy of the final contract between the | 4 | | district and the commercial driver training school on the | 5 | | district's Internet website. If no Internet website exists, | 6 | | then the district shall make available the contract upon | 7 | | request. A record of all materials in relation to the | 8 | | application for contracting must be maintained by the school | 9 | | district and made available to parents and guardians upon | 10 | | request. The instructor's date of birth and driver's license | 11 | | number and any other personally identifying information as | 12 | | deemed by the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994 | 13 | | must be redacted from any public materials.
Following receipt | 14 | | of the waiver or modification request, the
State Board shall | 15 | | have 45 days to review the application and request. If the
| 16 | | State Board fails to disapprove the application within that 45 | 17 | | day period, the
waiver or modification shall be deemed granted. | 18 | | The State Board
may disapprove
any request if it is not based | 19 | | upon sound educational practices, endangers the
health or | 20 | | safety of students or staff, compromises equal opportunities | 21 | | for
learning, or fails to demonstrate that the intent of the | 22 | | rule or mandate can be
addressed in a more effective, | 23 | | efficient, or economical manner or have improved
student | 24 | | performance as a primary goal. Any request disapproved by the | 25 | | State
Board may be appealed to the General Assembly by the | 26 | | eligible applicant
as outlined in this Section. |
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| 1 | | A request for a waiver from mandates contained in this | 2 | | School Code shall be
submitted to the State Board within 15 | 3 | | days after approval by the board or regional superintendent of | 4 | | schools.
The application as submitted to the State Board of | 5 | | Education
shall include a description of the public hearing. | 6 | | The description shall
include, but need not be limited to, the | 7 | | means of notice, the number of people
in attendance, the number | 8 | | of people who spoke as proponents or opponents of the
waiver, a | 9 | | brief description of their comments, and whether there were any
| 10 | | written statements submitted.
The State Board shall review the | 11 | | applications and requests for
completeness and shall compile | 12 | | the requests in reports to be filed with the
General Assembly.
| 13 | | The State Board shall file
reports outlining the waivers
| 14 | | requested by eligible applicants
and appeals by eligible | 15 | | applicants of requests
disapproved by the State Board with the | 16 | | Senate and the House of
Representatives before each March 1 and
| 17 | | October
1. The General Assembly may disapprove the report of | 18 | | the State Board in whole
or in part within 60 calendar days | 19 | | after each house of the General Assembly
next
convenes after | 20 | | the report is filed by adoption of a resolution by a record | 21 | | vote
of the majority of members elected in each house. If the | 22 | | General Assembly
fails to disapprove any waiver request or | 23 | | appealed request within such 60
day period, the waiver or | 24 | | modification shall be deemed granted. Any resolution
adopted by | 25 | | the General Assembly disapproving a report of the State Board | 26 | | in
whole or in part shall be binding on the State Board. |
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| 1 | | (e) An approved waiver or modification (except a waiver | 2 | | from or modification to a physical education mandate) may | 3 | | remain in effect for a period not to
exceed 5 school years and | 4 | | may be renewed upon application by the
eligible applicant. | 5 | | However, such waiver or modification may be changed within that
| 6 | | 5-year period by a board or regional superintendent of schools | 7 | | applying on behalf of schools or programs operated by the | 8 | | regional office of education following the procedure as set
| 9 | | forth in this Section for the initial waiver or modification | 10 | | request. If
neither the State Board of Education nor the | 11 | | General Assembly disapproves, the
change is deemed granted. | 12 | | An approved waiver from or modification to a physical | 13 | | education mandate may remain in effect for a period not to | 14 | | exceed 2 school years and may be renewed no more than 2 times | 15 | | upon application by the eligible applicant. An approved waiver | 16 | | from or modification to a physical education mandate may be | 17 | | changed within the 2-year period by the board or regional | 18 | | superintendent of schools, whichever is applicable, following | 19 | | the procedure set forth in this Section for the initial waiver | 20 | | or modification request. If neither the State Board of | 21 | | Education nor the General Assembly disapproves, the change is | 22 | | deemed granted.
| 23 | | (f) (Blank). | 24 | | (Source: P.A. 96-861, eff. 1-15-10; 96-1423, eff. 8-3-10; | 25 | | 97-1025, eff. 1-1-13.) |
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