HB5720eng 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB5720 Engrossed LRB099 18543 NHT 42922 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 adding Section 2-3.167 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/2-3.167 new)

Sec. 2-3.167. Task Force on Computer Science Education.

(a) The State Board of Education shall establish a Task Force on Computer Science Education, to be comprised of all of the following members, with an emphasis on bipartisan legislative representation and diverse non-legislative stakeholder representation:

(1) One member appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(2) One member appointed by the President of the Senate.

(3) One member appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.

(4) One member appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate.

(5) One member appointed by the head of a statewide association representing teachers.

(6) One member appointed by the head of an association representing teachers in a city of over 500,000 people.

(7) One member appointed by the head of an association representing computer science teachers.

(8) One member appointed by the head of an association representing school boards.

(9) One member appointed by the head of an association representing the media.

(10) One member appointed by the head of an association representing the non-profit sector that promotes computer science education as a core mission.

(11) One member appointed by the head of an association representing the non-profit sector that promotes computer science education among the general public.

(12) One member appointed by the president of an institution of higher education who teaches college or graduate-level government courses or facilitates a program dedicated to cultivating computer science education.

(13) One member appointed by the head of an association representing principals or district superintendents.

(b) The members of the Task Force shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for their reasonable and necessary expenses from funds appropriated to the State Board of Education for that purpose. The members of the Task Force shall be reimbursed for their travel expenses from appropriations to the State Board of Education available for that purpose and subject to the rules of the appropriate travel control board.

(c) The members of the Task Force shall be considered members with voting rights. A quorum of the Task Force shall consist of a simple majority of the members of the Task Force. All actions and recommendations of the Task Force must be approved by a simple majority vote of the members.

(d) The Task Force shall meet initially at the call of the State Superintendent of Education, shall elect one member as chairperson at its initial meeting through a simple majority vote of the Task Force, and shall thereafter meet at the call of the chairperson.

(e) The State Board of Education shall provide administrative and other support to the Task Force.

(f) The Task Force is charged with all of the following tasks:

(1) To analyze the current state of computer science education in this State.

(2) To analyze current computer science education laws in other jurisdictions, both mandated and permissive.

(3) To identify best practices in computer science education in other jurisdictions.

(4) To make recommendations to the General Assembly focused on substantially increasing computer science education and the capacity of youth to obtain the requisite knowledge, skills, and practices to be educated in computer science.

(5) To make funding recommendations, if the Task Force's recommendations to the General Assembly would require a fiscal commitment.

(g) No later than July 1, 2017, the Task Force shall summarize its findings and recommendations in a report to the General Assembly, filed as provided in Section 3.1 of the General Assembly Organization Act. Upon filing its report, the Task Force is dissolved.

(h) This Section is repealed on July 1, 2018.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.