Bill Text: IL SB0205 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends the School Code. Makes technical and revisory changes in a Section concerning waivers of School Code mandates.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2023-01-31 - Referred to Assignments [SB0205 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2023-SB0205-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 Section | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | 2-3.25g as follows:
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6 | (105 ILCS 5/2-3.25g) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.25g) | |||||||||||||||||||
7 | Sec. 2-3.25g. Waiver or modification of mandates within | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | the School
Code and administrative rules and regulations. | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | (a) In this Section: | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | "Board" means a school board or the
the governing | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | board or administrative district, as the case may be, for | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | a joint agreement. | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | "Eligible applicant" means a school district, joint | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | agreement made up of school districts, or regional | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | superintendent of schools on behalf of schools and | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | programs operated by the regional office of education.
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17 | "Implementation date" has the meaning set forth in | |||||||||||||||||||
18 | Section 24A-2.5 of this Code. | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | "State Board" means the State Board of Education.
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20 | (b) Notwithstanding any other
provisions of this School | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | Code or any other law of this State to the
contrary, eligible | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | applicants may petition the State Board of Education for the
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23 | waiver or modification of the mandates of this School Code or |
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1 | of the
administrative rules and regulations promulgated by the | ||||||
2 | State Board of
Education. Waivers or modifications of | ||||||
3 | administrative rules and regulations
and modifications of | ||||||
4 | mandates of this School Code may be requested when an eligible | ||||||
5 | applicant demonstrates that it can address the intent of the | ||||||
6 | rule or
mandate in a more effective, efficient, or economical | ||||||
7 | manner or when necessary
to stimulate innovation or improve | ||||||
8 | student performance. Waivers of
mandates of
the School Code | ||||||
9 | may be requested when the waivers are necessary to stimulate
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10 | innovation or improve student performance or when the | ||||||
11 | applicant demonstrates that it can address the intent of the | ||||||
12 | mandate of the School Code in a more effective, efficient, or | ||||||
13 | economical manner. Waivers may not be requested
from laws, | ||||||
14 | rules, and regulations pertaining to special education, | ||||||
15 | teacher educator licensure, teacher tenure and seniority, or | ||||||
16 | Section 5-2.1 of this Code or from compliance with the Every | ||||||
17 | Student Succeeds Act (Public Law 114-95). Eligible applicants | ||||||
18 | may not seek a waiver or seek a modification of a mandate | ||||||
19 | regarding the requirements for (i) student performance data to | ||||||
20 | be a significant factor in teacher or principal evaluations or | ||||||
21 | (ii) teachers and principals to be rated using the 4 | ||||||
22 | categories of "excellent", "proficient", "needs improvement", | ||||||
23 | or "unsatisfactory". On September 1, 2014, any previously | ||||||
24 | authorized waiver or modification from such requirements shall | ||||||
25 | terminate. | ||||||
26 | (c) Eligible applicants, as a matter of inherent |
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1 | managerial policy, and any
Independent Authority established | ||||||
2 | under Section 2-3.25f-5 of this Code may submit an
application | ||||||
3 | for a waiver or modification authorized under this Section. | ||||||
4 | Each
application must include a written request by the | ||||||
5 | eligible applicant or
Independent Authority and must | ||||||
6 | demonstrate that the intent of the mandate can
be addressed in | ||||||
7 | a more effective, efficient, or economical manner
or be based
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8 | upon a specific plan for improved student performance and | ||||||
9 | school improvement.
Any eligible applicant requesting a waiver | ||||||
10 | or modification for the reason that intent
of the mandate can | ||||||
11 | be addressed in a more economical manner shall include in
the | ||||||
12 | application a fiscal analysis showing current expenditures on | ||||||
13 | the mandate
and projected savings resulting from the waiver
or | ||||||
14 | modification. Applications
and plans developed by eligible | ||||||
15 | applicants must be approved by the board or regional | ||||||
16 | superintendent of schools applying on behalf of schools or | ||||||
17 | programs operated by the regional office of education | ||||||
18 | following a public hearing on the application and plan and the
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19 | opportunity for the board or regional superintendent to hear | ||||||
20 | testimony from staff
directly involved in
its implementation, | ||||||
21 | parents, and students. The time period for such testimony | ||||||
22 | shall be separate from the time period established by the | ||||||
23 | eligible applicant for public comment on other matters. | ||||||
24 | (c-5) If the applicant is a school district, then the | ||||||
25 | district shall post information that sets forth the time, | ||||||
26 | date, place, and general subject matter of the public hearing |
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1 | on its Internet website at least 14 days prior to the hearing. | ||||||
2 | If the district is requesting to increase the fee charged for | ||||||
3 | driver education authorized pursuant to Section 27-24.2 of | ||||||
4 | this Code, the website information shall include the proposed | ||||||
5 | amount of the fee the district will request. All school | ||||||
6 | districts must publish a notice of the public hearing at least | ||||||
7 | 7 days prior to the hearing in a newspaper of general | ||||||
8 | circulation within the school district that sets forth the | ||||||
9 | time, date, place, and general subject matter of the hearing. | ||||||
10 | Districts requesting to increase the fee charged for driver | ||||||
11 | education shall include in the published notice the proposed | ||||||
12 | amount of the fee the district will request. If the applicant | ||||||
13 | is a joint agreement or regional superintendent, then the | ||||||
14 | joint agreement or regional superintendent shall post | ||||||
15 | information that sets forth the time, date, place, and general | ||||||
16 | subject matter of the public hearing on its Internet website | ||||||
17 | at least 14 days prior to the hearing. If the joint agreement | ||||||
18 | or regional superintendent is requesting to increase the fee | ||||||
19 | charged for driver education authorized pursuant to Section | ||||||
20 | 27-24.2 of this Code, the website information shall include | ||||||
21 | the proposed amount of the fee the applicant will request. All | ||||||
22 | joint agreements and regional superintendents must publish a | ||||||
23 | notice of the public hearing at least 7 days prior to the | ||||||
24 | hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in each school | ||||||
25 | district that is a member of the joint agreement or that is | ||||||
26 | served by the educational service region that sets forth the |
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1 | time, date, place, and general subject matter of the hearing, | ||||||
2 | provided that a notice appearing in a newspaper generally | ||||||
3 | circulated in more than one school district shall be deemed to | ||||||
4 | fulfill this requirement with respect to all of the affected | ||||||
5 | districts. Joint agreements or regional superintendents | ||||||
6 | requesting to increase the fee charged for driver education | ||||||
7 | shall include in the published notice the proposed amount of | ||||||
8 | the fee the applicant will request. The
eligible applicant | ||||||
9 | must notify either electronically or in writing the affected | ||||||
10 | exclusive collective
bargaining agent and those State | ||||||
11 | legislators representing the eligible applicant's territory of
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12 | its
intent to seek approval of a
waiver or
modification and of | ||||||
13 | the hearing to be held to take testimony from staff.
The | ||||||
14 | affected exclusive collective bargaining agents shall be | ||||||
15 | notified of such
public hearing at least 7 days prior to the | ||||||
16 | date of the hearing and shall be
allowed to attend
such public | ||||||
17 | hearing. The eligible applicant shall attest to compliance | ||||||
18 | with all of
the notification and procedural requirements set | ||||||
19 | forth in this Section. | ||||||
20 | (d) A request for a waiver or modification of | ||||||
21 | administrative rules and
regulations or for a modification of | ||||||
22 | mandates contained in this School Code
shall be submitted to | ||||||
23 | the State Board of Education within 15 days after
approval by | ||||||
24 | the board or regional superintendent of schools. The | ||||||
25 | application as submitted to the
State Board of Education shall | ||||||
26 | include a description of the public hearing.
Following receipt |
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1 | of the waiver or modification request, the
State Board shall | ||||||
2 | have 45 days to review the application and request. If the
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3 | State Board fails to disapprove the application within that | ||||||
4 | 45-day period, the
waiver or modification shall be deemed | ||||||
5 | granted. The State Board
may disapprove
any request if it is | ||||||
6 | not based upon sound educational practices, endangers the
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7 | health or safety of students or staff, compromises equal | ||||||
8 | opportunities for
learning, or fails to demonstrate that the | ||||||
9 | intent of the rule or mandate can be
addressed in a more | ||||||
10 | effective, efficient, or economical manner or have improved
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11 | student performance as a primary goal. Any request disapproved | ||||||
12 | by the State
Board may be appealed to the General Assembly by | ||||||
13 | the eligible applicant
as outlined in this Section. | ||||||
14 | A request for a waiver from mandates contained in this | ||||||
15 | School Code shall be
submitted to the State Board within 15 | ||||||
16 | days after approval by the board or regional superintendent of | ||||||
17 | schools.
The application as submitted to the State Board of | ||||||
18 | Education
shall include a description of the public hearing. | ||||||
19 | The description shall
include, but need not be limited to, the | ||||||
20 | means of notice, the number of people
in attendance, the | ||||||
21 | number of people who spoke as proponents or opponents of the
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22 | waiver, a brief description of their comments, and whether | ||||||
23 | there were any
written statements submitted.
The State Board | ||||||
24 | shall review the applications and requests for
completeness | ||||||
25 | and shall compile the requests in reports to be filed with the
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26 | General Assembly. The State Board shall file
reports outlining |
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1 | the waivers
requested by eligible applicants
and appeals by | ||||||
2 | eligible applicants of requests
disapproved by the State Board | ||||||
3 | with the Senate and the House of
Representatives before each | ||||||
4 | March 1 and
October
1. | ||||||
5 | The report shall be reviewed by a panel of 4 members | ||||||
6 | consisting of: | ||||||
7 | (1) the Speaker of the House of Representatives; | ||||||
8 | (2) the Minority Leader of the House of | ||||||
9 | Representatives; | ||||||
10 | (3) the President of the Senate; and | ||||||
11 | (4) the Minority Leader of the Senate. | ||||||
12 | The State Board of Education may provide the panel | ||||||
13 | recommendations on waiver requests. The members of the panel | ||||||
14 | shall review the report submitted by the State Board of | ||||||
15 | Education and submit to the State Board of Education any | ||||||
16 | notice of further consideration to any waiver request within | ||||||
17 | 14 days after the member receives the report. If 3 or more of | ||||||
18 | the panel members submit a notice of further consideration to | ||||||
19 | any waiver request contained within the report, the State | ||||||
20 | Board of Education shall submit the waiver request to the | ||||||
21 | General Assembly for consideration. If less than 3 panel | ||||||
22 | members submit a notice of further consideration to a waiver | ||||||
23 | request, the waiver may be approved, denied, or modified by | ||||||
24 | the State Board. If the State Board does not act on a waiver | ||||||
25 | request within 10 days, then the waiver request is approved. | ||||||
26 | If the waiver request is denied by the State Board, it shall |
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1 | submit the waiver request to the General Assembly for | ||||||
2 | consideration. | ||||||
3 | The General Assembly may disapprove any waiver request | ||||||
4 | submitted to the General Assembly pursuant to this subsection | ||||||
5 | (d) in whole
or in part within 60 calendar days after each | ||||||
6 | house of the General Assembly
next
convenes after the waiver | ||||||
7 | request is submitted by adoption of a resolution by a record | ||||||
8 | vote
of the majority of members elected in each house. If the | ||||||
9 | General Assembly
fails to disapprove any waiver request or | ||||||
10 | appealed request within such 60-day period, the waiver or | ||||||
11 | modification shall be deemed granted. Any resolution
adopted | ||||||
12 | by the General Assembly disapproving a report of the State | ||||||
13 | Board in
whole or in part shall be binding on the State Board. | ||||||
14 | (e) An approved waiver or modification may remain in | ||||||
15 | effect for a period not to
exceed 5 school years and may be | ||||||
16 | renewed upon application by the
eligible applicant. However, | ||||||
17 | such waiver or modification may be changed within that
5-year | ||||||
18 | period by a board or regional superintendent of schools | ||||||
19 | applying on behalf of schools or programs operated by the | ||||||
20 | regional office of education following the procedure as set
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21 | forth in this Section for the initial waiver or modification | ||||||
22 | request. If
neither the State Board of Education nor the | ||||||
23 | General Assembly disapproves, the
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