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| Public Act 103-0416
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| HB1120 Enrolled | LRB103 04755 RJT 49764 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 Sections |
27A-3, 27A-6, and 27A-7 as follows:
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(105 ILCS 5/27A-3)
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Sec. 27A-3. Definitions. For purposes of this Article:
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"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.
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"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.
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"State Board" means the State Board of Education.
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"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.)
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(105 ILCS 5/27A-6)
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Sec. 27A-6. Contract contents; applicability of laws and |
regulations.
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(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.
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(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.
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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.
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(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.
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(c-5) The proposed contract shall include a provision on |
how both parties
will address minor violations of the |
contract.
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(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
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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.
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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.
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(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 |
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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.
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(Source: P.A. 98-972, eff. 8-15-14; 98-1048, eff. 8-25-14; |
99-78, eff. 7-20-15.)
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(105 ILCS 5/27A-7)
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Sec. 27A-7. Charter submission.
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(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
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charter school proposal shall include:
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(1) The name of the proposed charter school, which |
must include the words
"Charter School".
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(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.
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(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 |
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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
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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
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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.
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(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
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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.
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(5) The goals, objectives, and pupil performance |
standards to be achieved
by the charter school.
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(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
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the approval of certified teachers, parents
and
guardians, |
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and, if applicable, a local school council as provided in
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subsection
(b) of Section 27A-8.
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(7) A description of the charter school's educational |
program, pupil
performance standards, curriculum, school |
year, school days, and hours of
operation.
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(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.
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(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
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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.
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(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.
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(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.
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(12) An agreement between the parties regarding their |
respective
legal liability and applicable insurance |
coverage.
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(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.
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(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.
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(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 |
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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.
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(b) A proposal to establish a charter school may be |
initiated by individuals
or organizations that will have
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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
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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
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councils, colleges or
universities or their faculty
members, |
public community colleges or their instructors or other
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representatives, corporations, or other entities or their
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representatives. The proposal shall be
submitted to the local |
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school board for consideration and, if
appropriate, for
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development of a proposed contract to be submitted to the |
State Board for
certification under
Section 27A-6.
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(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
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local school board policies from which the charter school is |
otherwise exempted
under this Article.
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(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.)
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Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
becoming law.
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