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90_SB0565
New Act
Creates the Educational Choice Act to authorize the State
Board of Education to establish a pilot educational choice
program in three school districts to enable parents to select
schools they believe will provide a quality education for
their children. Effective immediately. Sunset on July 1,
2002.
SRS90S0018KSch
SRS90S0018KSch
1 AN ACT to create the Educational Choice Act.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known and may
5 be cited as the Educational Choice Act.
6 Section 5. Findings and declaration of policy. The
7 General Assembly finds and declares that:
8 (1) The imposition on families of the compulsory
9 education law imposes grave responsibilities on the General
10 Assembly to safeguard the academic freedom of choice of
11 schools of taxpaying parents and students.
12 (2) There is a crisis in elementary and secondary
13 education in Illinois. Many school children are performing
14 significantly below relevant standards; others are dropping
15 out of school before completing the ordinary course of
16 secondary education. A substantial number of our young
17 people are leaving school without the basic skills and
18 knowledge that will enable them to find and hold a job or
19 otherwise function in our society. Businesses cite an
20 untrained workforce as a reason for locating elsewhere.
21 (3) Some schools in Illinois are providing a better
22 elementary and secondary education than others. Pupils in
23 those schools are performing near or above relevant standards
24 and generally remain in school until they complete the
25 ordinary course of their secondary education. Young people
26 leave these schools with the basic skills and knowledge that
27 will enable them to find and hold jobs and otherwise function
28 as productive members of society.
29 (4) Parents of school age children are frequently unable
30 to enroll their children in schools that will provide them a
31 quality education. Sometimes this inability is due to laws
32 and regulations that limit parents' freedom to select schools
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1 that they believe can provide their children with a quality
2 education. Sometimes this inability is due to the parents'
3 lack of standing to influence the educational policies and
4 procedures of schools their children attend or lack of funds
5 to pay for a quality education. Businesses cite the
6 unavailability of quality schools to which their employees
7 can send their children as a reason for locating elsewhere.
8 (5) Adopting a pilot educational choice program would
9 enable parents to select schools they believe will provide a
10 quality education for their children, empower them to
11 influence the educational policies and procedures of the
12 schools their children attend, and provide them with at least
13 a portion of the funds necessary to pay for a quality
14 education. Such a program would begin to help alleviate the
15 crisis in Illinois elementary and secondary education and
16 assist more Illinois children to become productive members of
17 our society. It would also encourage businesses to locate in
18 Illinois and promote employment.
19 (6) The provisions of this Act are in the public
20 interest, for the public benefit, and serve a secular public
21 purpose.
22 Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
23 (1) "Qualifying pupil" means an individual who:
24 (i)resides within the school districts selected by
25 the Council of Advisers as provided in Section 45 of this
26 Act;
27 (ii) is under age 21 at the close of the school
28 year for which the voucher is sought;
29 (iii) during the school year for which the voucher
30 is sought is a full-time pupil enrolled in a 1st through 12th
31 grade education program at any qualifying school as defined
32 in this Act; and
33 (iv) is a member of a family that has a total
34 family income that does not exceed an amount equal to 1.5
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1 times the family income level necessary to qualify for free
2 meals under the National School Lunch Act.
3 (2) "Qualified education expenses" means costs
4 reasonably incurred by a custodian on behalf of a qualifying
5 pupil for services at the qualifying school in which the
6 pupil is enrolled during the regular school year. Qualified
7 education expenses shall not include costs incurred for
8 supplies or extra-curricular activities.
9 (3) "Qualifying school" means any public or non-home
10 based, nonpublic elementary or secondary school located
11 within the three school districts selected by the Council of
12 Advisers that is in compliance with Title VI of the Civil
13 Rights Act of 1964 and attendance at which satisfies the
14 requirements of Section 26-1 of the School Code, except that
15 nothing in Section 26-1 shall be construed as to require a
16 child to attend any particular public or nonpublic school.
17 (4) "Custodian" means, with respect to a qualifying
18 pupil, an Illinois resident who is the parent, or parents, or
19 legal guardian of such qualifying pupil.
20 (5) "Voucher" means a written instrument with which a
21 custodian of a qualifying pupil may pay a qualifying school a
22 sum certain for qualified education expenses incurred on
23 behalf of such qualifying pupil at the school. The voucher
24 shall require the State Board of Education to reimburse the
25 qualifying school within a designated time period for a sum
26 which is the least of the following: a) the qualified
27 education expenses incurred by a qualifying pupil at the
28 school in which the pupil is enrolled, or b) $2,500.
29 Section 15. Educational choice program. Beginning with
30 the 1998-99 school year, a custodian of a qualifying pupil
31 shall be entitled, subject to Section 45(2), to a voucher for
32 payment of qualified education expenses incurred on behalf of
33 a qualifying pupil at any qualified school in which such
34 pupil is enrolled.
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1 Section 20. Request for a voucher. A custodian who
2 applies in accordance with procedures established by the
3 State Board of Education shall receive a voucher with the
4 dollar limits set out in this Act. Such procedures shall
5 require application for the voucher, with documentation as to
6 eligibility, no later than October 1 of the year of
7 attendance.
8 Section 25. Issuance and payment of voucher. The State
9 Board of Education shall establish procedures for the
10 issuance of the voucher to a custodian who has made proper
11 application, the presentation of the voucher by the custodian
12 to the qualifying school, and the presentation of the voucher
13 for payment by the qualifying school. Such procedures shall
14 require that:
15 (1) the voucher be issued to the custodian no later than
16 November 15 of the school year of attendance;
17 (2) the custodian present the voucher to the qualifying
18 school no later than November 30 of the year of attendance;
19 (3) the qualifying school present the voucher to the
20 State Board of Education for payment no later than December
21 15 of the school year of attendance; and
22 (4) the State Board of Education pay the voucher no
23 later than February 1 of the school year of attendance.
24 Section 30. Funding. The cost of the Educational Choice
25 Program established by this Act shall be paid from a separate
26 appropriation made by the General Assembly for the purposes
27 of this Act. In no year may the total amount of the
28 appropriation exceed $15,000,000. The State Board shall
29 insure that the state aid payable to all other school
30 districts is neither reduced or increased as a result of the
31 appropriations made for this program.
32 Section 35. Not gross income. The amount of any voucher
33 redeemed under this Act shall not be considered gross income
34 and shall not be taxable for Illinois income tax purposes.
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1 Section 40. Penalties. It shall be a Class 3 felony to
2 use or attempt to use a voucher for any purpose other than
3 those permitted by this Act. It shall be a Class 3 felony
4 to, with intent to defraud, knowingly forge, alter, or
5 misrepresent information on a voucher or on any documents
6 submitted in application for a voucher, to issue or deliver
7 any such document knowing it to have been thus forged,
8 altered, or based on misrepresentation, or to possess, with
9 intent to issue or deliver, any such document knowing it to
10 have been forged, altered, or based on misrepresentation.
11 Section 45. Council of Advisers. There is created a
12 Council of Advisers to consist of 15 members appointed as
13 follows: the Governor, the President of the Senate, the
14 Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, and
15 the Minority Leader of the House shall each appoint one
16 representative of public schools, one representative of
17 nonpublic schools, and one representative of the general
18 public. The term of each member shall commence upon
19 appointment and shall expire on July 1, 2002. Vacancies on
20 the Council shall be filled by the respective appointing
21 authority. If a legislative leader fails to make his or her
22 appointment to the Council, within 60 days after the
23 effective date of this Act or 30 days of a vacancy on the
24 Council, the appointment shall be made by the Governor.
25 Members of the Council shall select a chairman and such other
26 officers as it deems necessary.
27 The Council shall advise the State Board of Education on
28 the operation of this Act and shall have such other powers
29 and duties as follows:
30 (1) The Council shall, following public hearings and
31 input from educators, parents, and students, select three
32 school districts that shall serve as the geographical areas
33 for the operation of the pilot program created by this Act.
34 To the extent possible, the Council shall select school
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1 districts that have a broad selection of public and nonpublic
2 schools, adequate transportation resources available for
3 pupils, and demonstrated parental and community support for
4 the program. One school district shall have a population
5 exceeding 500,000, one school district shall be selected from
6 the counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, and that
7 portion of Cook that is located outside a city having a
8 population exceeding 500,000, and one school district shall
9 be selected from the remainder of the State. The Council may
10 restrict the operation of the pilot program to specific
11 geographical areas within any of the three districts. The
12 school districts selected by the Council shall not be changed
13 prior to July 1, 2002.
14 (2) If the amount needed to fund vouchers for all
15 qualifying pupils exceeds the amount appropriated in any
16 year, the Council shall determine an equitable way to
17 allocate the appropriated amount among the qualifying pupils
18 consistent with the stated purpose and policy of this Act.
19 (3) The Council shall arrange to have conducted an
20 independent evaluation of the effectiveness of this program.
21 The evaluation shall be updated annually and a comprehensive
22 review and evaluation shall be completed after the end of the
23 2001-2002 school year.
24 Section 50. Rules and regulations. The State Board of
25 Education shall, upon recommendation of the Council of
26 Advisers, promulgate the rules and regulations necessary to
27 implement the Act. The State Board shall promulgate such
28 rules and regulations only to the extent necessary to
29 facilitate the operation of this program and shall not use
30 this Act to create further substantive educational
31 requirements on any school; provided, however, that rules may
32 be promulgated to safeguard against qualifying schools
33 increasing qualified educational expenses for the sole
34 purpose of gaining access to increased voucher amounts.
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1 Section 55. Notification. Beginning with the 1996-97
2 school year, at the start of each school year, the chief
3 administrative officer of each school within the selected
4 school districts shall notify custodians of qualifying pupils
5 that vouchers are available.
6 Section 60. Repeal. This Act is repealed on July 1, 2002.
7 Section 99. Effective Date. This Act takes effect upon
8 becoming law.