Full Text of HB5825 97th General Assembly
HB5825enr 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning education.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | 5 | | 27A-7.5 as follows: | 6 | | (105 ILCS 5/27A-7.5) | 7 | | Sec. 27A-7.5. State Charter School Commission. | 8 | | (a) A State Charter School Commission is established as an | 9 | | independent commission State agency with statewide chartering | 10 | | jurisdiction and authority. The Commission shall be under the | 11 | | State Board for administrative purposes only. | 12 | | (a-5) The State Board shall provide administrative support | 13 | | to the Commission as needed. | 14 | | (b) The Commission is responsible for authorizing | 15 | | high-quality charter schools throughout this State, | 16 | | particularly schools designed to expand opportunities for | 17 | | at-risk students, consistent with the purposes of this Article. | 18 | | (c) The Commission shall consist of 9 members, appointed by | 19 | | the State Board. The State Board shall make these appointments | 20 | | from a slate of candidates proposed by the Governor, within 60 | 21 | | days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the | 22 | | 97th General Assembly with respect to the initial Commission | 23 | | members. In making the appointments, the State Board shall |
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| 1 | | ensure statewide geographic diversity among Commission | 2 | | members. The Governor shall propose a slate of candidates to | 3 | | the State Board within 60 days after the effective date of this | 4 | | amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly and 60 days prior | 5 | | to the expiration of the term of a member thereafter. If the | 6 | | Governor fails to timely propose a slate of candidates | 7 | | according to the provisions of this subsection (c), then the | 8 | | State Board may appoint the member or members of the | 9 | | Commission. | 10 | | (d) Members appointed to the Commission shall collectively | 11 | | possess strong experience and expertise in public and nonprofit | 12 | | governance, management and finance, public school leadership, | 13 | | higher education, assessments, curriculum and instruction, and | 14 | | public education law. All members of the Commission shall have | 15 | | demonstrated understanding of and a commitment to public | 16 | | education, including without limitation charter schooling. At | 17 | | least 3 members must have past experience with urban charter | 18 | | schools. | 19 | | (e) To establish staggered terms of office, the initial | 20 | | term of office for 3 Commission members shall be 4 years and | 21 | | thereafter shall be 4 years; the initial term of office for | 22 | | another 3 members shall be 3 years and thereafter shall be 4 | 23 | | years; and the initial term of office for the remaining 3 | 24 | | members shall be 2 years and thereafter shall be 4 years. The | 25 | | initial appointments must be made no later than October 1, | 26 | | 2011. |
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| 1 | | (f) Whenever a vacancy on the Commission exists, the State | 2 | | Board shall appoint a member for the remaining portion of the | 3 | | term. | 4 | | (g) Subject to the State Officials and Employees Ethics | 5 | | Act, the Commission is authorized to receive and expend gifts, | 6 | | grants, and donations of any kind from any public or private | 7 | | entity to carry out the purposes of this Article, subject to | 8 | | the terms and conditions under which they are given, provided | 9 | | that all such terms and conditions are permissible under law. | 10 | | Funds received under this subsection (g) must be deposited into | 11 | | the State Charter School Commission Fund. | 12 | | The State Charter School Commission Fund is created as a | 13 | | special fund in the State treasury. All money in the Fund shall | 14 | | be used, subject to appropriation, by the State Board, acting | 15 | | on behalf and with the consent of the Commission, Commission | 16 | | for operational and administrative costs of the Commission. | 17 | | Subject to appropriation, any funds appropriated for use by | 18 | | the State Board, acting on behalf and with the consent of the | 19 | | Charter School Commission , may be used for the following | 20 | | purposes, without limitation: personal services, contractual | 21 | | services, and other operational and administrative costs. The | 22 | | State Board Charter School Commission is further authorized to | 23 | | make expenditures with respect to any other amounts deposited | 24 | | in accordance with law into the State Charter School Commission | 25 | | Fund. | 26 | | (g-5) Funds or spending authority for the operation and |
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| 1 | | administrative costs of the Commission shall be appropriated to | 2 | | the State Board in a separate line item. The State | 3 | | Superintendent of Education may not reduce or modify the budget | 4 | | of the Commission or use funds appropriated to the Commission | 5 | | without the approval of the Commission. | 6 | | (h) The Commission shall operate with dedicated resources | 7 | | and staff qualified to execute the day-to-day responsibilities | 8 | | of charter school authorizing in accordance with this Article. | 9 | | The Commission may employ and fix the compensation of such | 10 | | employees and technical assistants as it deems necessary to | 11 | | carry out its powers and duties under this Article, without | 12 | | regard to the requirements of any civil service or personnel | 13 | | statute; and may establish and administer standards of | 14 | | classification of all such persons with respect to their | 15 | | compensation, duties, performance, and tenure and enter into | 16 | | contracts of employment with such persons for such periods and | 17 | | on such terms as the Commission deems desirable. | 18 | | (i) Every 2 years, the Commission shall provide to the | 19 | | State Board and local school boards a report on best practices | 20 | | in charter school authorizing, including without limitation | 21 | | evaluating applications, oversight of charters, and renewal of | 22 | | charter schools. | 23 | | (j) The Commission may charge a charter school that it | 24 | | authorizes a fee, not to exceed 3% of the revenue provided to | 25 | | the school, to cover the cost of undertaking the ongoing | 26 | | administrative responsibilities of the eligible chartering |
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| 1 | | authority with respect to the school. This fee must be | 2 | | deposited into the State Charter School Commission Fund. | 3 | | (k) Any charter school authorized by the State Board prior | 4 | | to this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly shall have | 5 | | its authorization transferred to the Commission upon a vote of | 6 | | the State Board, which shall then become the school's | 7 | | authorizer for all purposes under this Article. However, in no | 8 | | case shall such transfer take place later than July 1, 2012. At | 9 | | this time, all of the powers, duties, assets, liabilities, | 10 | | contracts, property, records, and pending business of the State | 11 | | Board as the school's authorizer must be transferred to the | 12 | | Commission. Any charter school authorized by a local school | 13 | | board or boards may seek transfer of authorization to the | 14 | | Commission during its current term only with the approval of | 15 | | the local school board or boards. At the end of its charter | 16 | | term, a charter school authorized by a local school board or | 17 | | boards must reapply to the board or boards before it may apply | 18 | | for authorization to the Commission under the terms of this | 19 | | amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly. | 20 | | On the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th | 21 | | General Assembly, all rules of the State Board applicable to | 22 | | matters falling within the responsibility of the Commission | 23 | | shall be applicable to the actions of the Commission. The | 24 | | Commission shall thereafter have the authority to propose to | 25 | | the State Board modifications to all rules applicable to | 26 | | matters falling within the responsibility of the Commission. |
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| 1 | | The State Board shall retain rulemaking authority for the | 2 | | Commission, but shall work jointly with the Commission on any | 3 | | proposed modifications. Upon recommendation of proposed rule | 4 | | modifications by the Commission and pursuant to the Illinois | 5 | | Administrative Procedure Act, the State Board shall consider | 6 | | such changes within the intent of this amendatory Act of the | 7 | | 97th General Assembly and grant any and all changes consistent | 8 | | with that intent. | 9 | | (l) The Commission shall have the responsibility to | 10 | | consider appeals under this Article immediately upon | 11 | | appointment of the initial members of the Commission under | 12 | | subsection (c) of this Section. Appeals pending at the time of | 13 | | initial appointment shall be determined by the Commission; the | 14 | | Commission may extend the time for review as necessary for | 15 | | thorough review, but in no case shall the extension exceed the | 16 | | time that would have been available had the appeal been | 17 | | submitted to the Commission on the date of appointment of its | 18 | | initial members. In any appeal filed with the Commission under | 19 | | this Article, both the applicant and the school district in | 20 | | which the charter school plans to locate shall have the right | 21 | | to request a hearing before the Commission. If more than one | 22 | | entity requests a hearing, then the Commission may hold only | 23 | | one hearing, wherein the applicant and the school district | 24 | | shall have an equal opportunity to present their respective | 25 | | positions.
| 26 | | (Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 97-641, eff. 12-19-11.)
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| 1 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 2 | | becoming law.
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