Public Act 103-0416
 
HB1120 EnrolledLRB103 04755 RJT 49764 b

    AN ACT concerning education.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections
27A-3, 27A-6, and 27A-7 as follows:
 
    (105 ILCS 5/27A-3)
    Sec. 27A-3. Definitions. For purposes of this Article:
    "At-risk pupil" means a pupil who, because of physical,
emotional, socioeconomic, or cultural factors, is less likely
to succeed in a conventional educational environment.
    "Authorizer" means an entity authorized under this Article
to review applications, decide whether to approve or reject
applications, enter into charter contracts with applicants,
oversee charter schools, and decide whether to renew, not
renew, or revoke a charter.
    "Commission" means the State Charter School Commission
established under Section 27A-7.5 of this Code.
    "Local school board" means the duly elected or appointed
school board or board of education of a public school
district, including special charter districts and school
districts located in cities having a population of more than
500,000, organized under the laws of this State.
    "State Board" means the State Board of Education.
    "Union neutrality clause" means a provision whereby a
charter school agrees: (1) to be neutral regarding the
unionization of any of its employees, such that the charter
school will not at any time express a position on the matter of
whether its employees will be unionized and such that the
charter school will not threaten, intimidate, discriminate
against, retaliate against, or take any adverse action against
any employees based on their decision to support or oppose
union representation; (2) to provide any bona fide labor
organization access at reasonable times to areas in which the
charter school's employees work for the purpose of meeting
with employees to discuss their right to representation,
employment rights under the law, and terms and conditions of
employment; and (3) that union recognition shall be through a
majority card check verified by a neutral third-party
arbitrator mutually selected by the charter school and the
bona fide labor organization through alternate striking from a
panel of arbitrators provided by the Federal Mediation and
Conciliation Service. As used in this definition, "bona fide
labor organization" means a labor organization recognized
under the National Labor Relations Act or the Illinois
Educational Labor Relations Act. As used in this definition,
"employees" means non-represented, non-management, and
non-confidential employees of a charter school.
(Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11.)
 
    (105 ILCS 5/27A-6)
    Sec. 27A-6. Contract contents; applicability of laws and
regulations.
    (a) A certified charter shall constitute a binding
contract and agreement between the charter school and a local
school board under the terms of which the local school board
authorizes the governing body of the charter school to operate
the charter school on the terms specified in the contract.
    (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article,
the certified charter may not waive or release the charter
school from the State goals, standards, and assessments
established pursuant to Section 2-3.64a-5 of this Code.
Beginning with the 2003-2004 school year, the certified
charter for a charter school operating in a city having a
population exceeding 500,000 shall require the charter school
to administer any other nationally recognized standardized
tests to its students that the chartering entity administers
to other students, and the results on such tests shall be
included in the chartering entity's assessment reports.
    (c) Subject to the provisions of subsection (e), a
material revision to a previously certified contract or a
renewal shall be made with the approval of both the local
school board and the governing body of the charter school.
    (c-5) The proposed contract shall include a provision on
how both parties will address minor violations of the
contract.
    (c-10) After the effective date of this amendatory Act of
the 103rd General Assembly, any renewal of a certified charter
must include a union neutrality clause.
    (d) The proposed contract between the governing body of a
proposed charter school and the local school board as
described in Section 27A-7 must be submitted to and certified
by the State Board before it can take effect. If the State
Board recommends that the proposed contract be modified for
consistency with this Article before it can be certified, the
modifications must be consented to by both the governing body
of the charter school and the local school board, and
resubmitted to the State Board for its certification. If the
proposed contract is resubmitted in a form that is not
consistent with this Article, the State Board may refuse to
certify the charter.
    The State Board shall assign a number to each submission
or resubmission in chronological order of receipt, and shall
determine whether the proposed contract is consistent with the
provisions of this Article. If the proposed contract complies,
the State Board shall so certify.
    (e) No renewal of a previously certified contract is
effective unless and until the State Board certifies that the
renewal is consistent with the provisions of this Article. A
material revision to a previously certified contract may go
into effect immediately upon approval of both the local school
board and the governing body of the charter school, unless
either party requests in writing that the State Board certify
that the material revision is consistent with the provisions
of this Article. If such a request is made, the proposed
material revision is not effective unless and until the State
Board so certifies.
(Source: P.A. 98-972, eff. 8-15-14; 98-1048, eff. 8-25-14;
99-78, eff. 7-20-15.)
 
    (105 ILCS 5/27A-7)
    Sec. 27A-7. Charter submission.
    (a) A proposal to establish a charter school shall be
submitted to the local school board and the State Board for
certification under Section 27A-6 of this Code in the form of a
proposed contract entered into between the local school board
and the governing body of a proposed charter school. The
charter school proposal shall include:
        (1) The name of the proposed charter school, which
    must include the words "Charter School".
        (2) The age or grade range, areas of focus, minimum
    and maximum numbers of pupils to be enrolled in the
    charter school, and any other admission criteria that
    would be legal if used by a school district.
        (3) A description of and address for the physical
    plant in which the charter school will be located;
    provided that nothing in the Article shall be deemed to
    justify delaying or withholding favorable action on or
    approval of a charter school proposal because the building
    or buildings in which the charter school is to be located
    have not been acquired or rented at the time a charter
    school proposal is submitted or approved or a charter
    school contract is entered into or submitted for
    certification or certified, so long as the proposal or
    submission identifies and names at least 2 sites that are
    potentially available as a charter school facility by the
    time the charter school is to open.
        (4) The mission statement of the charter school, which
    must be consistent with the General Assembly's declared
    purposes; provided that nothing in this Article shall be
    construed to require that, in order to receive favorable
    consideration and approval, a charter school proposal
    demonstrate unequivocally that the charter school will be
    able to meet each of those declared purposes, it being the
    intention of the Charter Schools Law that those purposes
    be recognized as goals that charter schools must aspire to
    attain.
        (5) The goals, objectives, and pupil performance
    standards to be achieved by the charter school.
        (6) In the case of a proposal to establish a charter
    school by converting an existing public school or
    attendance center to charter school status, evidence that
    the proposed formation of the charter school has received
    the approval of certified teachers, parents and guardians,
    and, if applicable, a local school council as provided in
    subsection (b) of Section 27A-8.
        (7) A description of the charter school's educational
    program, pupil performance standards, curriculum, school
    year, school days, and hours of operation.
        (8) A description of the charter school's plan for
    evaluating pupil performance, the types of assessments
    that will be used to measure pupil progress towards
    achievement of the school's pupil performance standards,
    the timeline for achievement of those standards, and the
    procedures for taking corrective action in the event that
    pupil performance at the charter school falls below those
    standards.
        (9) Evidence that the terms of the charter as proposed
    are economically sound for both the charter school and the
    school district, a proposed budget for the term of the
    charter, a description of the manner in which an annual
    audit of the financial and administrative operations of
    the charter school, including any services provided by the
    school district, are to be conducted, and a plan for the
    displacement of pupils, teachers, and other employees who
    will not attend or be employed in the charter school.
        (10) A description of the governance and operation of
    the charter school, including the nature and extent of
    parental, professional educator, and community involvement
    in the governance and operation of the charter school.
        (11) An explanation of the relationship that will
    exist between the charter school and its employees,
    including evidence that the terms and conditions of
    employment have been addressed with affected employees and
    their recognized representative, if any. However, a
    bargaining unit of charter school employees shall be
    separate and distinct from any bargaining units formed
    from employees of a school district in which the charter
    school is located.
        (12) An agreement between the parties regarding their
    respective legal liability and applicable insurance
    coverage.
        (13) A description of how the charter school plans to
    meet the transportation needs of its pupils, and a plan
    for addressing the transportation needs of low-income and
    at-risk pupils.
        (14) The proposed effective date and term of the
    charter; provided that the first day of the first academic
    year shall be no earlier than August 15 and no later than
    September 15 of a calendar year, and the first day of the
    fiscal year shall be July 1.
        (14.5) Disclosure of any known active civil or
    criminal investigation by a local, state, or federal law
    enforcement agency into an organization submitting the
    charter school proposal or a criminal investigation by a
    local, state, or federal law enforcement agency into any
    member of the governing body of that organization. For the
    purposes of this subdivision (14.5), a known investigation
    means a request for an interview by a law enforcement
    agency, a subpoena, an arrest, or an indictment. Such
    disclosure is required for a period from the initial
    application submission through 10 business days prior to
    the authorizer's scheduled decision date.
        (14.7) A union neutrality clause.
        (15) Any other information reasonably required by the
    State Board of Education.
    (b) A proposal to establish a charter school may be
initiated by individuals or organizations that will have
majority representation on the board of directors or other
governing body of the corporation or other discrete legal
entity that is to be established to operate the proposed
charter school, by a board of education or an
intergovernmental agreement between or among boards of
education, or by the board of directors or other governing
body of a discrete legal entity already existing or
established to operate the proposed charter school. The
individuals or organizations referred to in this subsection
may be school teachers, school administrators, local school
councils, colleges or universities or their faculty members,
public community colleges or their instructors or other
representatives, corporations, or other entities or their
representatives. The proposal shall be submitted to the local
school board for consideration and, if appropriate, for
development of a proposed contract to be submitted to the
State Board for certification under Section 27A-6.
    (c) The local school board may not without the consent of
the governing body of the charter school condition its
approval of a charter school proposal on acceptance of an
agreement to operate under State laws and regulations and
local school board policies from which the charter school is
otherwise exempted under this Article.
(Source: P.A. 98-739, eff. 7-16-14; 98-1048, eff. 8-25-14;
99-78, eff. 7-20-15; 99-334, eff. 8-10-15.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.