(105 ILCS 5/34-8.7)
Sec. 34-8.7.
Findings.
The General Assembly observes that the Chicago
Learning Zone Advisory Committee has issued its report and recommendations.
The General Assembly finds, after due consideration of the Committee's report
and
recommendations, that establishment of a Chicago Learning Zone designation, as
the educational version of enterprise zones, will create an opportunity to
accelerate the process of Chicago school reform. The General Assembly further
finds that the Chicago Learning Zone will offer a fundamental change in
operations from a mode of following regulations to an outcome mode, that this
change will be one which concentrates on improving academic achievement in ways
that can be utilized to reform the system, and that this change will be
predicated on the overriding philosophy that attendance centers should be
empowered to develop models most appropriate to their situations.
The General Assembly further observes that the value of a learning experience
is determined by the outcomes achieved, not by the time or place of attendance;
and, it finds that Learning Zone schools should have the ability to operate
without State laws and regulations, board rules, and policies, and the ability
to operate with contractual waivable conditions by a vote of the school staff
governed by the contracts. Accordingly, the General Assembly finds that the
educational needs of the schoolchildren of Chicago
will be served by establishing a Chicago Learning Zone.
(Source: P.A. 89-3, eff. 2-27-95; 89-15, eff. 5-30-95.)
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