Full Text of HB3970 093rd General Assembly
HB3970 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004 HB3970
Introduced 12/19/2003, by Tom Cross SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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105 ILCS 5/2-3.25g |
from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.25g |
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Amends the School Code. In provisions concerning the waiver of mandates within the School Code and administrative rules, provides that an approved waiver from or modification to a physical education mandate may remain in effect for a period not to exceed 2 (instead of 5) school years, and must not be renewed.
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A BILL FOR
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HB3970 |
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LRB093 15046 NHT 40626 b |
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| AN ACT concerning education.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | 5 |
| 2-3.25g as follows:
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| (105 ILCS 5/2-3.25g) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.25g)
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| Sec. 2-3.25g. Waiver or modification of mandates within the | 8 |
| School
Code and administrative rules and regulations. | 9 |
| Notwithstanding any other
provisions of this School Code or any | 10 |
| other law of this State to the
contrary, school districts may | 11 |
| petition the State Board of Education for the
waiver or | 12 |
| modification of the mandates of this School Code or of the
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| administrative rules and regulations promulgated by the State | 14 |
| Board of
Education. Waivers or modifications of administrative | 15 |
| rules and regulations
and modifications of mandates of this | 16 |
| School Code may be requested when a
school district | 17 |
| demonstrates that it can address the intent of the rule or
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| mandate in a more effective, efficient, or economical manner or | 19 |
| when necessary
to stimulate innovation or improve student | 20 |
| performance. Waivers of
mandates of
the School Code may be | 21 |
| requested when the waivers are necessary to stimulate
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| innovation or improve student performance. Waivers may not be | 23 |
| requested
from laws, rules, and regulations pertaining to | 24 |
| special education, teacher
certification, or teacher tenure | 25 |
| and seniority or from compliance with the No
Child Left Behind | 26 |
| Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110).
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| School districts, as a matter of inherent managerial | 28 |
| policy, and any
Independent Authority established under | 29 |
| Section 2-3.25f may submit an
application for a waiver or | 30 |
| modification authorized under this Section. Each
application | 31 |
| must include a written request by the school district or
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| Independent Authority and must demonstrate that the intent of |
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HB3970 |
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LRB093 15046 NHT 40626 b |
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| the mandate can
be addressed in a more effective, efficient, or | 2 |
| economical manner
or be based
upon a specific plan for improved | 3 |
| student performance and school improvement.
Any district | 4 |
| requesting a waiver or modification for the reason that intent
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| of the mandate can be addressed in a more economical manner | 6 |
| shall include in
the application a fiscal analysis showing | 7 |
| current expenditures on the mandate
and projected savings | 8 |
| resulting from the waiver
or modification. Applications
and | 9 |
| plans developed by school districts must be approved by each | 10 |
| board of
education following a public hearing on the | 11 |
| application and plan and the
opportunity for the board to hear | 12 |
| testimony from educators directly involved in
its | 13 |
| implementation, parents, and students.
Such public hearing | 14 |
| shall be held on a day other than the day on which a
regular | 15 |
| meeting of the board is held. The
public hearing must be | 16 |
| preceded
by at least one published notice occurring at least 7 | 17 |
| days prior to the hearing
in a newspaper of general circulation | 18 |
| within the school district that sets
forth the time, date, | 19 |
| place, and general subject matter of the hearing. The
school | 20 |
| district must notify in writing the affected exclusive | 21 |
| collective
bargaining agent and those State legislators | 22 |
| representing the district
holding the public hearing of the | 23 |
| district's intent to seek approval of a
waiver or
modification | 24 |
| and of the hearing to be held to take testimony from educators.
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| The affected exclusive collective bargaining agents shall be | 26 |
| notified of such
public hearing at least 7 days prior to the | 27 |
| date of the hearing and shall be
allowed to attend
such public | 28 |
| hearing. The district shall attest to compliance with all of
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| the notification and procedural requirements set forth in this | 30 |
| Section.
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| A request for a waiver or modification of administrative | 32 |
| rules and
regulations or for a modification of mandates | 33 |
| contained in this School Code
shall be submitted to the State | 34 |
| Board of Education within 15 days after
approval by the board | 35 |
| of education. The application as submitted to the
State Board | 36 |
| of Education shall include a description of the public hearing.
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HB3970 |
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LRB093 15046 NHT 40626 b |
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| Following receipt of the request, the
State Board shall have 45 | 2 |
| days to review the application and request. If the
State Board | 3 |
| fails to disapprove the application within that 45 day period, | 4 |
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waiver or modification shall be deemed granted. The State | 5 |
| Board
may disapprove
any request if it is not based upon sound | 6 |
| educational practices, endangers the
health or safety of | 7 |
| students or staff, compromises equal opportunities for
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| learning, or fails to demonstrate that the intent of the rule | 9 |
| or mandate can be
addressed in a more effective, efficient, or | 10 |
| economical manner or have improved
student performance as a | 11 |
| primary goal. Any request disapproved by the State
Board may be | 12 |
| appealed to the General Assembly by the requesting school | 13 |
| district
as outlined in this Section.
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| A request for a waiver from mandates contained in this | 15 |
| School Code shall be
submitted to the State Board within 15 | 16 |
| days after approval by the board of
education.
The application | 17 |
| as submitted to the State Board of Education
shall include a | 18 |
| description of the public hearing. The description shall
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| include, but need not be limited to, the means of notice, the | 20 |
| number of people
in attendance, the number of people who spoke | 21 |
| as proponents or opponents of the
waiver, a brief description | 22 |
| of their comments, and whether there were any
written | 23 |
| statements submitted.
The State Board shall review the | 24 |
| applications and requests for
completeness and shall compile | 25 |
| the requests in reports to be filed with the
General Assembly.
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| The State Board shall file
reports outlining the waivers
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| requested by school districts and appeals by school districts | 28 |
| of requests
disapproved by the State Board with the Senate and | 29 |
| the House of
Representatives before each May 1 and
October
1. | 30 |
| The General Assembly may disapprove the report of the State | 31 |
| Board in whole
or in part within 30 calendar days after each | 32 |
| house of the General Assembly
next
convenes after the report is | 33 |
| filed by adoption of a resolution by a record vote
of the | 34 |
| majority of members elected in each house. If the General | 35 |
| Assembly
fails to disapprove any waiver request or appealed | 36 |
| request within such 30
day period, the waiver or modification |
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LRB093 15046 NHT 40626 b |
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| shall be deemed granted. Any resolution
adopted by the General | 2 |
| Assembly disapproving a report of the State Board in
whole or | 3 |
| in part shall be binding on the State Board.
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| An approved waiver or modification (except a waiver from or | 5 |
| modification to a physical education mandate) may remain in | 6 |
| effect for a period not to
exceed 5 school years and may be | 7 |
| renewed upon application by the
school
district. However, such | 8 |
| waiver or modification may be changed within that
5-year period | 9 |
| by a local school district board following the procedure as set
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| forth in this Section for the initial waiver or modification | 11 |
| request. If
neither the State Board of Education nor the | 12 |
| General Assembly disapproves, the
change is deemed granted.
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| An approved waiver from or modification to a physical | 14 |
| education mandate may remain in effect for a period not to | 15 |
| exceed 2 school years and must not be renewed. However, the | 16 |
| waiver or modification may be changed within that 2-year period | 17 |
| by the school board following the procedure set forth in this | 18 |
| Section for the initial waiver or modification request. If | 19 |
| neither the State Board of Education nor the General Assembly | 20 |
| disapproves, the change is deemed granted.
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| On or before February 1, 1998, and each year thereafter, | 22 |
| the State Board of
Education shall submit a cumulative report | 23 |
| summarizing all types of waiver
mandates and modifications of | 24 |
| mandates granted by the State Board or the
General Assembly. | 25 |
| The report shall identify the topic of the waiver along with
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| the number and percentage of school districts for which the | 27 |
| waiver has been
granted. The report shall also include any | 28 |
| recommendations from the State
Board regarding the repeal or | 29 |
| modification of waived mandates.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-470, eff. 8-8-03; 93-557, eff. 8-20-03; | 31 |
| revised 9-11-03.)
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