Full Text of HB0363 96th General Assembly
HB0363sam002 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Sen. William Delgado
Filed: 5/17/2009
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| AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 363
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 363 by replacing | 3 |
| everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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| "Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section | 5 |
| 34-18.37 as follows: | 6 |
| (105 ILCS 5/34-18.37 new) | 7 |
| Sec. 34-18.37. Establishing an equitable and effective | 8 |
| school facility development process. | 9 |
| (a) The General Assembly finds all of the following: | 10 |
| (1) The Illinois Constitution recognizes that a | 11 |
| "fundamental goal of the People of the State is the | 12 |
| educational development of all persons to the limits of | 13 |
| their capacities". | 14 |
| (2) Quality educational facilities are essential for | 15 |
| fostering the maximum educational development of all | 16 |
| persons through their educational experience from |
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| pre-kindergarten through high school. | 2 |
| (3) The public school is a major institution in our | 3 |
| communities. Public schools offer resources and | 4 |
| opportunities for the children of this State who seek and | 5 |
| deserve quality education, but also benefit the entire | 6 |
| community that seeks improvement through access to | 7 |
| education. | 8 |
| (4) The equitable and efficient use of available | 9 |
| facilities-related resources among different schools and | 10 |
| among racial, ethnic, income, and disability groups is | 11 |
| essential to maximize the development of quality public | 12 |
| educational facilities for all children, youth, and | 13 |
| adults. The factors that impact the equitable and efficient | 14 |
| use of facility-related resources vary according to the | 15 |
| needs of each school community. Therefore, decisions that | 16 |
| impact school facilities should include the input of the | 17 |
| school community to the greatest extent possible. | 18 |
| (5) School openings, school closings, school | 19 |
| consolidations, school turnarounds, school phase-outs, | 20 |
| school construction, school repairs, school | 21 |
| modernizations, school boundary changes, and other related | 22 |
| school facility decisions often have a profound impact on | 23 |
| education in a community. In order to minimize the negative | 24 |
| impact of school facility decisions on the community, these | 25 |
| decisions should be implemented according to a clear | 26 |
| system-wide criteria and with the significant involvement |
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| of local school councils, parents, educators, and the | 2 |
| community in decision-making. | 3 |
| (6) The General Assembly has previously stated that it | 4 |
| intended to make the individual school in the City of | 5 |
| Chicago the essential unit for educational governance and | 6 |
| improvement and to place the primary responsibility for | 7 |
| school governance and improvement in the hands of parents, | 8 |
| teachers, and community residents at each school. A school | 9 |
| facility policy must be consistent with these principles. | 10 |
| (b) In order to ensure that school facility-related | 11 |
| decisions are made with the input of the community and reflect | 12 |
| educationally sound and fiscally responsible criteria, a | 13 |
| Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force shall be established | 14 |
| within 15 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act | 15 |
| of the 96th General Assembly. | 16 |
| (c) The Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force shall | 17 |
| consist of all of the following members: | 18 |
| (1) Two members of the House of Representatives | 19 |
| appointed by the Speaker of the House, at least one of whom | 20 |
| shall be a member of the Elementary & Secondary Education | 21 |
| Committee. | 22 |
| (2) Two members of the House of Representatives | 23 |
| appointed by the Minority Leader of the House, at least one | 24 |
| of whom shall be a member of the Elementary & Secondary | 25 |
| Education Committee. | 26 |
| (3) Two members of the Senate appointed by the |
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| President of the Senate, at least one of whom shall be a | 2 |
| member of the Education Committee. | 3 |
| (4) Two members of the Senate appointed by the Minority | 4 |
| Leader of the Senate, at least one of whom shall be a | 5 |
| member of the
Education Committee. | 6 |
| (5) Two representatives of school community | 7 |
| organizations with past involvement in school facility | 8 |
| issues appointed by the Speaker of the House. | 9 |
| (6) Two representatives of school community | 10 |
| organizations with past involvement in school facility | 11 |
| issues appointed by the President of the Senate. | 12 |
| (7) The chief executive officer of the school district | 13 |
| or his or her designee. | 14 |
| (8) The president of the union representing teachers in | 15 |
| the schools of the district or his or her designee. | 16 |
| (9) The president of the association representing | 17 |
| principals in the schools of the district or his or her | 18 |
| designee. | 19 |
| (d) The Speaker of the House shall appoint one of the | 20 |
| appointed House members as a co-chairperson of the Chicago | 21 |
| Educational Facilities Task Force. The President of the Senate | 22 |
| shall appoint one of the appointed Senate members as a | 23 |
| co-chairperson of the Chicago Educational Facilities Task | 24 |
| Force. Members appointed by the legislative leaders shall be | 25 |
| appointed for the duration of the Chicago Educational | 26 |
| Facilities Task Force; in the event of a vacancy, the |
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| appointment to fill the vacancy shall be made by the | 2 |
| legislative leader of the same chamber and party as the leader | 3 |
| who made the original appointment. | 4 |
| (e) The Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force shall | 5 |
| call on independent experts, as needed, to gather and analyze | 6 |
| pertinent information on a pro bono basis, provided that these | 7 |
| experts have no previous or on-going financial interest in | 8 |
| school facility issues related to the school district. The | 9 |
| Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force shall secure pro bono | 10 |
| expert assistance within 15 days after the establishment of the | 11 |
| Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force. | 12 |
| (f) The Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force shall be | 13 |
| empowered to gather further evidence in the form of testimony | 14 |
| or documents or other materials. | 15 |
| (g) The Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force, with the | 16 |
| help of the independent experts, shall analyze past Chicago | 17 |
| experiences and data with respect to school openings, school | 18 |
| closings, school consolidations, school turnarounds, school | 19 |
| phase-outs, school construction, school repairs, school | 20 |
| modernizations, school boundary changes, and other related | 21 |
| school facility decisions on students. The Chicago Educational | 22 |
| Facilities Task Force shall consult widely with stakeholders, | 23 |
| including public officials, about these facility issues and | 24 |
| their related costs and shall examine relevant best practices | 25 |
| from other school systems for dealing with these issues | 26 |
| systematically and equitably. These initial investigations |
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| shall include opportunities for input from local stakeholders | 2 |
| through hearings, focus groups, and interviews. | 3 |
| (h) The Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force shall | 4 |
| prepare final recommendations on or before October 30, 2009 | 5 |
| describing how the issues set forth in subsection (g) of this | 6 |
| Section can be addressed effectively based upon educationally | 7 |
| sound and fiscally responsible practices. | 8 |
| (i) The Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force shall | 9 |
| hold hearings in separate areas of the school district at times | 10 |
| that shall maximize school community participation to obtain | 11 |
| comments on draft recommendations. The final hearing shall take | 12 |
| place no later than 15 days prior to the completion of the | 13 |
| final recommendations. | 14 |
| (j) The Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force shall | 15 |
| prepare final proposed policy and legislative recommendations | 16 |
| for the General Assembly, the Governor, and the school | 17 |
| district. The recommendations may address issues, standards, | 18 |
| and procedures set forth in this Section. The final | 19 |
| recommendations shall be made available to the public through | 20 |
| posting on the school district's Internet website and other | 21 |
| forms of publication and distribution in the school district at | 22 |
| least 7 days before the final recommendations are submitted to | 23 |
| the General Assembly, the Governor, and the school district. | 24 |
| (k) The final recommendations may address issues of | 25 |
| system-wide criteria for ensuring clear priorities, equity, | 26 |
| and efficiency. |
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| Without limitation, the final recommendations may propose | 2 |
| significant decision-making roles for key stakeholders, | 3 |
| including the individual school and community; recommend clear | 4 |
| criteria or processes for establishing criteria for making | 5 |
| school facility decisions; and include clear criteria for | 6 |
| setting priorities with respect to school openings, school | 7 |
| closings, school consolidations, school turnarounds, school | 8 |
| phase-outs, school construction, school repairs, school | 9 |
| modernizations, school boundary changes, and other related | 10 |
| school facility decisions, including the encouragement of | 11 |
| multiple community uses for school space. | 12 |
| Without limitation, the final recommendations may propose | 13 |
| criteria for student mobility; the transferring of students to | 14 |
| lower performing schools; teacher mobility; insufficient | 15 |
| notice to and the lack of inclusion in decision-making of local | 16 |
| school councils, parents, and community members about school | 17 |
| facility decisions; and costly facilities-related expenditures | 18 |
| due to poor educational and facilities planning. | 19 |
| (l) The State Board of Education and the school district | 20 |
| shall provide administrative support to the Chicago | 21 |
| Educational Facilities Task Force.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 23 |
| becoming law.".
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