Bill Text: IL HB4840 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Provides that an initial charter shall be granted for a period of no more than 3 school years (instead of for a period of 5 school years). Provides that a charter may be renewed in incremental periods not to exceed 3 (instead of 10) school years. Makes conforming changes. Amends the Chicago School District Article of the School Code. Specifies that nothing in the provisions concerning a moratorium on school closings, consolidations, and phase-outs affects the Chicago Board of Education's ability to not renew its authorization of a charter or contract school.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-05 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB4840 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2023-HB4840-Introduced.html
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1 | AN ACT concerning education.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | |||||||||||||||||||||
3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections | |||||||||||||||||||||
5 | 27A-9 and 34-18.69 as follows:
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6 | (105 ILCS 5/27A-9) | |||||||||||||||||||||
7 | Sec. 27A-9. Term of charter; renewal. | |||||||||||||||||||||
8 | (a) An initial charter granted before the effective date | |||||||||||||||||||||
9 | of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly shall be | |||||||||||||||||||||
10 | granted for a period of 5 school years. An initial charter | |||||||||||||||||||||
11 | granted on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act | |||||||||||||||||||||
12 | of the 103rd General Assembly shall be granted for a period of | |||||||||||||||||||||
13 | no more than 3 school years. A charter may be renewed before | |||||||||||||||||||||
14 | the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General | |||||||||||||||||||||
15 | Assembly in incremental periods not to exceed 10 school years. | |||||||||||||||||||||
16 | A charter may be renewed on or after the effective date of this | |||||||||||||||||||||
17 | amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly in incremental | |||||||||||||||||||||
18 | periods not to exceed 3 school years. Authorizers shall ensure | |||||||||||||||||||||
19 | that every charter granted on or after January 1, 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||
20 | includes standards and goals for academic, organizational, and | |||||||||||||||||||||
21 | financial performance. A charter must meet all standards and | |||||||||||||||||||||
22 | goals for academic, organizational, and financial performance | |||||||||||||||||||||
23 | set forth by the authorizer in order to be renewed for a term |
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1 | in excess of 5 years but not more than 10 years for a charter | ||||||
2 | renewed before the effective date of this amendatory Act of | ||||||
3 | the 103rd General Assembly or for a full 3-year term for a | ||||||
4 | charter renewed on or after the effective date of this | ||||||
5 | amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly . If an authorizer | ||||||
6 | fails to establish standards and goals, a charter shall not be | ||||||
7 | renewed for a term in excess of 5 years for a charter renewed | ||||||
8 | before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd | ||||||
9 | General Assembly or in excess of one year for a charter renewed | ||||||
10 | on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the | ||||||
11 | 103rd General Assembly . Nothing contained in this Section | ||||||
12 | shall require an authorizer to grant a full 10-year renewal | ||||||
13 | term to any particular charter school, but , for a charter | ||||||
14 | renewed before the effective date of this amendatory Act of | ||||||
15 | the 103rd General Assembly, an authorizer may award a full | ||||||
16 | 10-year renewal term to charter schools that have a | ||||||
17 | demonstrated track record of improving student performance. | ||||||
18 | (b) A charter school renewal proposal submitted to the | ||||||
19 | local school board or the State Board, as the chartering | ||||||
20 | entity, shall contain: | ||||||
21 | (1) a report on the progress of the charter school in | ||||||
22 | achieving the goals, objectives, pupil performance | ||||||
23 | standards, content standards, and other terms of the | ||||||
24 | initial approved charter proposal; and | ||||||
25 | (2) a financial statement that discloses the costs of | ||||||
26 | administration, instruction, and other spending categories |
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1 | for the charter school that is understandable to the | ||||||
2 | general public and that will allow comparison of those | ||||||
3 | costs to other schools or other comparable organizations, | ||||||
4 | in a format required by the State Board. | ||||||
5 | (c) A charter may be revoked or not renewed if the local | ||||||
6 | school board or the State Board, as the chartering entity, | ||||||
7 | clearly demonstrates that the charter school did any of the | ||||||
8 | following, or otherwise failed to comply with the requirements | ||||||
9 | of this law: | ||||||
10 | (1) Committed a material violation of any of the | ||||||
11 | conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the | ||||||
12 | charter. | ||||||
13 | (2) Failed to meet or make reasonable progress toward | ||||||
14 | achievement of the content standards or pupil performance | ||||||
15 | standards identified in the charter. | ||||||
16 | (3) Failed to meet generally accepted standards of | ||||||
17 | fiscal management. | ||||||
18 | (4) Violated any provision of law from which the | ||||||
19 | charter school was not exempted. | ||||||
20 | In the case of revocation, the local school board or the | ||||||
21 | State Board, as the chartering entity, shall notify the | ||||||
22 | charter school in writing of the reason why the charter is | ||||||
23 | subject to revocation. The charter school shall submit a | ||||||
24 | written plan to the local school board or the State Board, | ||||||
25 | whichever is applicable, to rectify the problem. The plan | ||||||
26 | shall include a timeline for implementation, which shall not |
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1 | exceed 2 years or the date of the charter's expiration, | ||||||
2 | whichever is earlier. If the local school board or the State | ||||||
3 | Board, as the chartering entity, finds that the charter school | ||||||
4 | has failed to implement the plan of remediation and adhere to | ||||||
5 | the timeline, then the chartering entity shall revoke the | ||||||
6 | charter. Except in situations of an emergency where the | ||||||
7 | health, safety, or education of the charter school's students | ||||||
8 | is at risk, the revocation shall take place at the end of a | ||||||
9 | school year. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to | ||||||
10 | prohibit an implementation timetable that is less than 2 years | ||||||
11 | in duration. No local school board may arbitrarily or | ||||||
12 | capriciously revoke or not renew a charter. Except for | ||||||
13 | extenuating circumstances outlined in this Section, if a local | ||||||
14 | school board revokes or does not renew a charter, it must | ||||||
15 | ensure that all students currently enrolled in the charter | ||||||
16 | school are placed in schools that are higher performing than | ||||||
17 | that charter school, as defined in the State's federal Every | ||||||
18 | Student Succeeds Act accountability plan. In determining | ||||||
19 | whether extenuating circumstances exist, a local school board | ||||||
20 | must detail, by clear and convincing evidence, that factors | ||||||
21 | unrelated to the charter school's accountability designation | ||||||
22 | outweigh the charter school's academic performance. | ||||||
23 | (d) (Blank). | ||||||
24 | (e) Notice of a local school board's decision to deny, | ||||||
25 | revoke, or not renew a charter shall be provided to the State | ||||||
26 | Board. |
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1 | The State Board may reverse a local board's decision to | ||||||
2 | revoke or not renew a charter if the State Board finds that the | ||||||
3 | charter school or charter school proposal (i) is in compliance | ||||||
4 | with this Article and (ii) is in the best interests of the | ||||||
5 | students it is designed to serve. The State Board may | ||||||
6 | condition the granting of an appeal on the acceptance by the | ||||||
7 | charter school of funding in an amount less than that | ||||||
8 | requested in the proposal submitted to the local school board. | ||||||
9 | The State Board must appoint and utilize a hearing officer for | ||||||
10 | any appeals conducted under this subsection. Final decisions | ||||||
11 | of the State Board are subject to judicial review under the | ||||||
12 | Administrative Review Law. | ||||||
13 | (f) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Article, if | ||||||
14 | the State Board on appeal reverses a local board's decision or | ||||||
15 | if a charter school is approved by referendum, the State Board | ||||||
16 | shall act as the authorized chartering entity for the charter | ||||||
17 | school and shall perform all functions under this Article | ||||||
18 | otherwise performed by the local school board. The State Board | ||||||
19 | shall report the aggregate number of charter school pupils | ||||||
20 | resident in a school district to that district and shall | ||||||
21 | notify the district of the amount of funding to be paid by the | ||||||
22 | State Board to the charter school enrolling such students. The | ||||||
23 | charter school shall maintain accurate records of daily | ||||||
24 | attendance and student enrollment and shall enter data on the | ||||||
25 | students served, their characteristics, their particular | ||||||
26 | needs, the programs in which they participate, and their |
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1 | academic achievement into the statewide student information | ||||||
2 | system established by the State Board. The State Board shall | ||||||
3 | withhold from funds otherwise due the district the funds | ||||||
4 | authorized by this Article to be paid to the charter school and | ||||||
5 | shall pay such amounts to the charter school in quarterly | ||||||
6 | installments, calculated as follows: | ||||||
7 | (1) The amount of the first quarterly payment shall be | ||||||
8 | based on the projected number of students who will be | ||||||
9 | enrolled in the charter school in the upcoming school | ||||||
10 | year, multiplied by one-fourth of the resident district's | ||||||
11 | per capita tuition amount. Each charter school shall | ||||||
12 | submit its projected enrollment by no later than August 1 | ||||||
13 | of each year on a form provided by the State Board for this | ||||||
14 | purpose. | ||||||
15 | (2) The amount of the second quarterly payment shall | ||||||
16 | be calculated such that the aggregate amount of the first | ||||||
17 | and second quarterly installments is equal to the number | ||||||
18 | of students reported as enrolled at the charter school on | ||||||
19 | October 1 in the State Board's student information system, | ||||||
20 | multiplied by one-half of the resident district's per | ||||||
21 | capita tuition amount. | ||||||
22 | (3) The amount of the third quarterly payment shall be | ||||||
23 | based on the number of students enrolled in the charter | ||||||
24 | school on January 1, multiplied by one-fourth of the | ||||||
25 | resident district's per capita tuition amount. Each | ||||||
26 | charter school shall submit its January 1 enrollment by no |
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1 | later than January 5 of each year on a form provided by the | ||||||
2 | State Board for this purpose. | ||||||
3 | (4) The amount of the fourth quarterly payment shall | ||||||
4 | be calculated such that the aggregate amount of the third | ||||||
5 | and fourth installments is equal to the number of students | ||||||
6 | reported as enrolled at the charter school on March 1 in | ||||||
7 | the State Board's student information system, multiplied | ||||||
8 | by one-half of the resident district's per capita tuition | ||||||
9 | amount. | ||||||
10 | (g) (Blank). | ||||||
11 | (h) The State Board shall pay directly to a charter school | ||||||
12 | it authorizes any federal or State funding attributable to a | ||||||
13 | student with a disability attending the school. | ||||||
14 | (Source: P.A. 103-175, eff. 6-30-23.)
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