Full Text of SB3768 102nd General Assembly
SB3768 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022 SB3768 Introduced 1/21/2022, by Sen. Cristina Castro SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Amends the School Code. Removes provisions preventing a charter from not being renewed for a term if an authorizer fails to establish standards and goals. Provides that prior to submitting a renewal proposal a charter school must submit its renewal proposal via certified mail or electronic mail to the local school board, which may, no later than 30 days following the receipt of the renewal proposal, choose to either: (i) take no action on the renewal, which can thereafter be submitted to the State Board as the chartering entity, or (ii) renew the charter school as the chartering entity. Removes provisions requiring that when a charter school is revoked or not renewed, a school board must place all enrolled students in schools that are higher performing than the charter school. Provides that when a State Board reverses a local board's decision to revoke or not renew a charter based on the State Board approving a lesser amount of funding, then the State Board must remand the appeal to allow the local school board to determine if they will renew the charter at the lesser amount. Provides that the State Board shall biannually (currently, no listed reporting timetable) report the number of charter school participants in a school district which shall be disaggregated by race and ethnicity, household income, students who are English learners, students who have an individualized education program, gender, and students who are homeless. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.
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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 | | 27A-9 as follows:
| 6 | | (105 ILCS 5/27A-9)
| 7 | | Sec. 27A-9. Term of charter; renewal.
| 8 | | (a) For charters granted before January 1, 2017 (the | 9 | | effective date of Public Act 99-840), a charter may be granted | 10 | | for a period not less than 5 and not
more than
10
school years. | 11 | | For charters granted on or after January 1, 2017 (the | 12 | | effective date of Public Act 99-840), a charter shall be | 13 | | granted for a period of 5
school years. For charters renewed | 14 | | before January 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act | 15 | | 99-840), a charter may be renewed in incremental periods not | 16 | | to exceed
5
school years. For charters renewed on or after | 17 | | January 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act 99-840), a | 18 | | charter may be renewed in incremental periods not to exceed 10 | 19 | | school years; however, the State Board or Commission may renew | 20 | | a charter only in incremental periods not to exceed 5 years. | 21 | | Authorizers shall ensure that every charter granted on or | 22 | | after January 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act | 23 | | 99-840) includes standards and goals for academic, |
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| 1 | | organizational, and financial performance. A charter must meet | 2 | | all standards and goals for academic, organizational, and | 3 | | financial performance set forth by the authorizer in order to | 4 | | be renewed for a term in excess of 5 years but not more than 10 | 5 | | years. If an authorizer fails to establish standards and | 6 | | goals, a charter shall not be renewed for a term in excess of 5 | 7 | | years. Nothing contained in this Section shall require an | 8 | | authorizer to grant a full 10-year renewal term to any | 9 | | particular charter school, but an authorizer may award a full | 10 | | 10-year renewal term to charter schools that have a | 11 | | demonstrated track record of improving student performance.
| 12 | | (b) Prior to submitting a renewal proposal to the State | 13 | | Board for any charter school established through judicial | 14 | | review under the Administrative Review Law, the charter school | 15 | | must submit its renewal proposal via certified mail or | 16 | | electronic mail to the local school board, which may, no later | 17 | | than 30 days following the receipt of the renewal proposal, | 18 | | choose to either: (i) take no action on the renewal, which can | 19 | | thereafter be submitted to the State Board as the chartering | 20 | | entity, or (ii) renew the charter school as the chartering | 21 | | entity. A charter school renewal proposal submitted to the
| 22 | | local school board or the State Board or Commission, as the | 23 | | chartering entity,
shall contain:
| 24 | | (1) a report on the progress of the charter school in | 25 | | achieving the goals,
objectives, pupil performance | 26 | | standards, content standards, and other terms of
the |
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| 1 | | initial approved charter proposal; and
| 2 | | (2) a financial statement that discloses the costs of | 3 | | administration,
instruction, and other spending categories | 4 | | for the charter school that is
understandable to the | 5 | | general public and that will allow comparison of those
| 6 | | costs to other schools or other comparable organizations, | 7 | | in a format required
by the State Board.
| 8 | | (c) A charter may be revoked
or not renewed if the local | 9 | | school board or the State Board or Commission, as the | 10 | | chartering
entity,
clearly demonstrates that the
charter | 11 | | school did any of the
following, or otherwise failed to comply | 12 | | with the requirements of this law:
| 13 | | (1) Committed a material violation of any of the | 14 | | conditions, standards, or
procedures set forth in the | 15 | | charter.
| 16 | | (2) Failed to meet or make reasonable progress toward | 17 | | achievement of the
content standards or pupil performance | 18 | | standards identified in the charter.
| 19 | | (3) Failed to meet generally accepted standards of | 20 | | fiscal management.
| 21 | | (4) Violated any provision of law from which the | 22 | | charter school was not
exempted.
| 23 | | In the case of revocation, the local school board or the | 24 | | State Board or Commission, as the chartering entity, shall | 25 | | notify the charter school in writing of the reason why the | 26 | | charter is subject to revocation. The charter school shall |
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| 1 | | submit a written plan of remediation to the local school | 2 | | board, the State Board, or the Commission, whichever is | 3 | | applicable, to rectify the problem. The plan shall include a | 4 | | timeline for implementation, which shall not exceed 2 years or | 5 | | the date of the charter's expiration, whichever is earlier. If | 6 | | the local school board or the State Board or Commission, as the | 7 | | chartering entity, finds that the charter school has failed to | 8 | | implement the plan of remediation or and adhere to the | 9 | | timeline, then the chartering entity shall revoke the charter. | 10 | | Except in situations of an emergency where the health, safety, | 11 | | or education of the charter school's students is at risk, the | 12 | | revocation shall take place at the end of a school year. | 13 | | Nothing in Public Act 96-105 shall be construed to prohibit an | 14 | | implementation timetable that is less than 2 years in | 15 | | duration. No local school board may arbitrarily or | 16 | | capriciously revoke or not renew a charter. Except for | 17 | | extenuating circumstances outlined in this Section, if a local | 18 | | school board revokes or does not renew a charter, it must | 19 | | ensure that all students currently enrolled in the charter | 20 | | school are placed in schools that are higher performing than | 21 | | that charter school, as defined in the State's federal Every | 22 | | Student Succeeds Act accountability plan. In determining | 23 | | whether extenuating circumstances exist, a local school board | 24 | | must detail, by clear and convincing evidence, that factors | 25 | | unrelated to the charter school's accountability designation | 26 | | outweigh the charter school's academic performance. |
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| 1 | | (d) (Blank).
| 2 | | (e) Notice of a local school board's decision to
deny, | 3 | | revoke, or not
renew a charter shall be provided to the | 4 | | Commission and the State Board.
Until July 1, 2020, the | 5 | | Commission may reverse a local board's
decision
to not renew a | 6 | | charter if the Commission finds
that the charter school or | 7 | | charter school proposal (i) is in compliance with
this | 8 | | Article, and (ii) is in the best interests of the students it | 9 | | is designed
to serve.
The Commission may condition the | 10 | | granting of an appeal on the acceptance by
the charter school | 11 | | of funding in an amount less than that requested in the
| 12 | | proposal submitted to the local school board , however in this | 13 | | instance the State Board must first remand the appeal to the | 14 | | local school board to determine if the local school board will | 15 | | renew the charter at the lesser amount .
Final decisions of the | 16 | | Commission shall be subject
to judicial review under the | 17 | | Administrative Review Law. | 18 | | The State Board may reverse a local board's decision to | 19 | | revoke or, beginning on July 1, 2020, not renew a charter if | 20 | | the State Board finds
that the charter school or charter | 21 | | school proposal (i) is in compliance with
this Article and | 22 | | (ii) is in the best interests of the students it is designed
to | 23 | | serve.
The State Board may condition the granting of an appeal | 24 | | on the acceptance by
the charter school of funding in an amount | 25 | | less than that requested in the
proposal submitted to the | 26 | | local school board.
The State Board must appoint and utilize a |
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| 1 | | hearing officer for any appeals conducted under this | 2 | | subsection. Final decisions of the State Board are subject
to | 3 | | judicial review under the Administrative Review Law.
| 4 | | (f) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Article, if | 5 | | the Commission
on appeal reverses a local board's decision
or | 6 | | if a charter school is
approved by referendum,
the Commission
| 7 | | shall act as the
authorized chartering entity for the charter | 8 | | school.
The Commission shall
approve the charter and shall | 9 | | perform all functions
under this
Article otherwise performed | 10 | | by the local school
board. The State Board shall determine | 11 | | whether the charter proposal approved by the Commission is | 12 | | consistent with the provisions of this Article and, if the | 13 | | approved proposal complies, certify the proposal pursuant to | 14 | | this Article. The State Board shall bi-annually
report the | 15 | | aggregate number of charter school pupils resident in a school
| 16 | | district to that district
and shall notify the district
of the | 17 | | amount of
funding to be paid by the State Board to the charter | 18 | | school enrolling such
students , which shall be disaggregated | 19 | | by race and ethnicity, household income, students who are | 20 | | English learners, students who have an individualized | 21 | | education program, gender, and students who are homeless .
The | 22 | | Commission shall require the
charter school to maintain | 23 | | accurate records of daily attendance for all children residing | 24 | | within the local school district, and those records that shall | 25 | | be made available to the local school board quarterly, and | 26 | | shall be
deemed sufficient to file claims under Section |
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| 1 | | 18-8.15 notwithstanding any
other requirements of that | 2 | | Section.
The State Board shall withhold from funds otherwise | 3 | | due the district
the funds authorized by this Article to be | 4 | | paid to the charter school and shall
pay such amounts to the | 5 | | charter school.
| 6 | | (g) For charter schools authorized by the Commission, the | 7 | | Commission shall quarterly certify to the State Board the | 8 | | student enrollment for each of its charter schools. | 9 | | (h) For charter schools authorized by the Commission, the | 10 | | State Board shall pay directly to a charter school any federal | 11 | | or State aid attributable to a student with a disability | 12 | | attending the school. | 13 | | (Source: P.A. 100-201, eff. 8-18-17; 100-465, eff. 8-31-17; | 14 | | 101-543, eff. 8-23-19.)
| 15 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 16 | | becoming law.
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