Full Text of SB0624 97th General Assembly
SB0624 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012 SB0624 Introduced 2/8/2011, by Sen. John J. Cullerton 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. If the applicant is a school district, the
public hearing | 26 | | must be preceded
by at least one published notice occurring at |
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| 1 | | least 7 days prior to the hearing
in a newspaper of general | 2 | | circulation within the school district that sets
forth the | 3 | | time, date, place, and general subject matter of the hearing. | 4 | | If the applicant is a joint agreement or regional | 5 | | superintendent, the public hearing must be preceded by at least | 6 | | one published notice (setting forth the time, date, place, and | 7 | | general subject matter of the hearing) occurring at least 7 | 8 | | days prior to the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation | 9 | | in each school district that is a member of the joint agreement | 10 | | or that is served by the educational service region, provided | 11 | | that a notice appearing in a newspaper generally circulated in | 12 | | more than one school district shall be deemed to fulfill this | 13 | | requirement with respect to all of the affected districts. The
| 14 | | eligible applicant must notify in writing the affected | 15 | | exclusive collective
bargaining agent and those State | 16 | | legislators representing the eligible applicant's territory of
| 17 | | its
intent to seek approval of a
waiver or
modification and of | 18 | | the hearing to be held to take testimony from staff.
The | 19 | | affected exclusive collective bargaining agents shall be | 20 | | notified of such
public hearing at least 7 days prior to the | 21 | | date of the hearing and shall be
allowed to attend
such public | 22 | | hearing. The eligible applicant shall attest to compliance with | 23 | | all of
the notification and procedural requirements set forth | 24 | | in this Section. | 25 | | (d) A request for a waiver or modification of | 26 | | administrative rules and
regulations or for a modification of |
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| 1 | | mandates contained in this School Code
shall be submitted to | 2 | | the State Board of Education within 15 days after
approval by | 3 | | the board or regional superintendent of schools. The | 4 | | application as submitted to the
State Board of Education shall | 5 | | include a description of the public hearing.
Following receipt | 6 | | of the request, the
State Board shall have 45 days to review | 7 | | the application and request. If the
State Board fails to | 8 | | disapprove the application within that 45 day period, the
| 9 | | waiver or modification shall be deemed granted. The State Board
| 10 | | may disapprove
any request if it is not based upon sound | 11 | | educational practices, endangers the
health or safety of | 12 | | students or staff, compromises equal opportunities for
| 13 | | learning, or fails to demonstrate that the intent of the rule | 14 | | or mandate can be
addressed in a more effective, efficient, or | 15 | | economical manner or have improved
student performance as a | 16 | | primary goal. Any request disapproved by the State
Board may be | 17 | | appealed to the General Assembly by the eligible applicant
as | 18 | | outlined in this Section. | 19 | | A request for a waiver from mandates contained in this | 20 | | School Code shall be
submitted to the State Board within 15 | 21 | | days after approval by the board or regional superintendent of | 22 | | schools.
The application as submitted to the State Board of | 23 | | Education
shall include a description of the public hearing. | 24 | | The description shall
include, but need not be limited to, the | 25 | | means of notice, the number of people
in attendance, the number | 26 | | of people who spoke as proponents or opponents of the
waiver, a |
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| 1 | | brief description of their comments, and whether there were any
| 2 | | written statements submitted.
The State Board shall review the | 3 | | applications and requests for
completeness and shall compile | 4 | | the requests in reports to be filed with the
General Assembly.
| 5 | | The State Board shall file
reports outlining the waivers
| 6 | | requested by eligible applicants
and appeals by eligible | 7 | | applicants of requests
disapproved by the State Board with the | 8 | | Senate and the House of
Representatives before each March 1 and
| 9 | | October
1. The General Assembly may disapprove the report of | 10 | | the State Board in whole
or in part within 60 calendar days | 11 | | after each house of the General Assembly
next
convenes after | 12 | | the report is filed by adoption of a resolution by a record | 13 | | vote
of the majority of members elected in each house. If the | 14 | | General Assembly
fails to disapprove any waiver request or | 15 | | appealed request within such 60
day period, the waiver or | 16 | | modification shall be deemed granted. Any resolution
adopted by | 17 | | the General Assembly disapproving a report of the State Board | 18 | | in
whole or in part shall be binding on the State Board. | 19 | | (e) An approved waiver or modification (except a waiver | 20 | | from or modification to a physical education mandate) may | 21 | | remain in effect for a period not to
exceed 5 school years and | 22 | | may be renewed upon application by the
eligible applicant. | 23 | | However, such waiver or modification may be changed within that
| 24 | | 5-year period by a board or regional superintendent of schools | 25 | | applying on behalf of schools or programs operated by the | 26 | | regional office of education following the procedure as set
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| 1 | | forth in this Section for the initial waiver or modification | 2 | | request. If
neither the State Board of Education nor the | 3 | | General Assembly disapproves, the
change is deemed granted. | 4 | | An approved waiver from or modification to a physical | 5 | | education mandate may remain in effect for a period not to | 6 | | exceed 2 school years and may be renewed no more than 2 times | 7 | | upon application by the eligible applicant. An approved waiver | 8 | | from or modification to a physical education mandate may be | 9 | | changed within the 2-year period by the board or regional | 10 | | superintendent of schools, whichever is applicable, following | 11 | | the procedure set forth in this Section for the initial waiver | 12 | | or modification request. If neither the State Board of | 13 | | Education nor the General Assembly disapproves, the change is | 14 | | deemed granted.
| 15 | | (f) (Blank). | 16 | | (Source: P.A. 95-223, eff. 1-1-08; 96-861, eff. 1-15-10; | 17 | | 96-1423, eff. 8-3-10.) |
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