Bill Text: IL HB4235 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Engrossed
Bill Title: Amends the School Code. Provides that a waiver or modification from mandates of the Code may not be requested from a provision in the Code governing tuition for non-resident pupils unless the area encompassing the school district requesting the waiver qualifies as a designated teacher shortage area as determined by the State Board of Education and approved by the U.S. Department of Education. Effective immediately.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-03-07 - Third Reading - Short Debate - Lost 037-060-006 [HB4235 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2017-HB4235-Engrossed.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,
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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 the | ||||||
8 | School
Code and administrative rules and regulations. | ||||||
9 | (a) In this Section: | ||||||
10 | "Board" means a school board or the governing board or | ||||||
11 | administrative district, as the case may be, for a joint | ||||||
12 | 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 programs | ||||||
16 | 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 may | ||||||
9 | be requested when the waivers are necessary to stimulate
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10 | innovation or improve student performance or when the applicant | ||||||
11 | demonstrates that it can address the intent of the mandate of | ||||||
12 | the School Code in a more effective, efficient, or economical | ||||||
13 | manner. Waivers may not be requested
from laws, rules, and | ||||||
14 | regulations pertaining to special education, teacher educator | ||||||
15 | licensure, teacher tenure and seniority, or Section 5-2.1 of | ||||||
16 | this Code or from compliance with the Every Student Succeeds | ||||||
17 | Act (Public Law 114-95). A waiver or modification of a mandate | ||||||
18 | may not be requested from subsection (a) of Section 10-20.12a | ||||||
19 | of this Code unless the area encompassing the school district | ||||||
20 | requesting the waiver qualifies as a designated teacher | ||||||
21 | shortage area as determined by the State Board and approved by | ||||||
22 | the U.S. Department of Education. Eligible applicants may not | ||||||
23 | seek a waiver or seek a modification of a mandate regarding the | ||||||
24 | requirements for (i) student performance data to be a | ||||||
25 | significant factor in teacher or principal evaluations or (ii) | ||||||
26 | teachers and principals to be rated using the 4 categories of |
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1 | "excellent", "proficient", "needs improvement", or | ||||||
2 | "unsatisfactory". On September 1, 2014, any previously | ||||||
3 | authorized waiver or modification from such requirements shall | ||||||
4 | terminate. | ||||||
5 | (c) Eligible applicants, as a matter of inherent managerial | ||||||
6 | policy, and any
Independent Authority established under | ||||||
7 | Section 2-3.25f-5 of this Code may submit an
application for a | ||||||
8 | waiver or modification authorized under this Section. Each
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9 | application must include a written request by the eligible | ||||||
10 | applicant or
Independent Authority and must demonstrate that | ||||||
11 | the intent of the mandate can
be addressed in a more effective, | ||||||
12 | efficient, or economical manner
or be based
upon a specific | ||||||
13 | plan for improved student performance and school improvement.
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14 | Any eligible applicant requesting a waiver or modification for | ||||||
15 | the reason that intent
of the mandate can be addressed in a | ||||||
16 | more economical manner shall include in
the application a | ||||||
17 | fiscal analysis showing current expenditures on the mandate
and | ||||||
18 | projected savings resulting from the waiver
or modification. | ||||||
19 | Applications
and plans developed by eligible applicants must be | ||||||
20 | approved by the board or regional superintendent of schools | ||||||
21 | applying on behalf of schools or programs operated by the | ||||||
22 | regional office of education following a public hearing on the | ||||||
23 | application and plan and the
opportunity for the board or | ||||||
24 | regional superintendent to hear testimony from staff
directly | ||||||
25 | involved in
its implementation, parents, and students. The time | ||||||
26 | period for such testimony shall be separate from the time |
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1 | period established by the eligible applicant for public comment | ||||||
2 | on other matters. | ||||||
3 | (c-5) If the applicant is a school district, then the | ||||||
4 | district shall post information that sets forth the time, date, | ||||||
5 | place, and general subject matter of the public hearing on its | ||||||
6 | Internet website at least 14 days prior to the hearing. If the | ||||||
7 | district is requesting to increase the fee charged for driver | ||||||
8 | education authorized pursuant to Section 27-24.2 of this Code, | ||||||
9 | the website information shall include the proposed amount of | ||||||
10 | the fee the district will request. All school districts must | ||||||
11 | publish a notice of the public hearing at least 7 days prior to | ||||||
12 | the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation within the | ||||||
13 | school district that sets forth the time, date, place, and | ||||||
14 | general subject matter of the hearing. Districts requesting to | ||||||
15 | increase the fee charged for driver education shall include in | ||||||
16 | the published notice the proposed amount of the fee the | ||||||
17 | district will request. If the applicant is a joint agreement or | ||||||
18 | regional superintendent, then the joint agreement or regional | ||||||
19 | superintendent shall post information that sets forth the time, | ||||||
20 | date, place, and general subject matter of the public hearing | ||||||
21 | on its Internet website at least 14 days prior to the hearing. | ||||||
22 | If the joint agreement or regional superintendent is requesting | ||||||
23 | to increase the fee charged for driver education authorized | ||||||
24 | pursuant to Section 27-24.2 of this Code, the website | ||||||
25 | information shall include the proposed amount of the fee the | ||||||
26 | applicant will request. All joint agreements and regional |
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1 | superintendents must publish a notice of the public hearing at | ||||||
2 | least 7 days prior to the hearing in a newspaper of general | ||||||
3 | circulation in each school district that is a member of the | ||||||
4 | joint agreement or that is served by the educational service | ||||||
5 | region that sets forth the time, date, place, and general | ||||||
6 | subject matter of the hearing, provided that a notice appearing | ||||||
7 | in a newspaper generally circulated in more than one school | ||||||
8 | district shall be deemed to fulfill this requirement with | ||||||
9 | respect to all of the affected districts. Joint agreements or | ||||||
10 | regional superintendents requesting to increase the fee | ||||||
11 | charged for driver education shall include in the published | ||||||
12 | notice the proposed amount of the fee the applicant will | ||||||
13 | request. The
eligible applicant must notify in writing the | ||||||
14 | affected exclusive collective
bargaining agent and those State | ||||||
15 | legislators representing the eligible applicant's territory of
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16 | its
intent to seek approval of a
waiver or
modification and of | ||||||
17 | the hearing to be held to take testimony from staff.
The | ||||||
18 | affected exclusive collective bargaining agents shall be | ||||||
19 | notified of such
public hearing at least 7 days prior to the | ||||||
20 | date of the hearing and shall be
allowed to attend
such public | ||||||
21 | hearing. The eligible applicant shall attest to compliance with | ||||||
22 | all of
the notification and procedural requirements set forth | ||||||
23 | in this Section. | ||||||
24 | (d) A request for a waiver or modification of | ||||||
25 | administrative rules and
regulations or for a modification of | ||||||
26 | mandates contained in this School Code
shall be submitted to |
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1 | the State Board of Education within 15 days after
approval by | ||||||
2 | the board or regional superintendent of schools. The | ||||||
3 | application as submitted to the
State Board of Education shall | ||||||
4 | include a description of the public hearing.
Following receipt | ||||||
5 | of the waiver or modification request, the
State Board shall | ||||||
6 | have 45 days to review the application and request. If the
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7 | State Board fails to disapprove the application within that 45 | ||||||
8 | day period, the
waiver or modification shall be deemed granted. | ||||||
9 | The State Board
may disapprove
any request if it is not based | ||||||
10 | upon sound educational practices, endangers the
health or | ||||||
11 | safety of students or staff, compromises equal opportunities | ||||||
12 | for
learning, or fails to demonstrate that the intent of the | ||||||
13 | rule or mandate can be
addressed in a more effective, | ||||||
14 | efficient, or economical manner or have improved
student | ||||||
15 | performance as a primary goal. Any request disapproved by the | ||||||
16 | State
Board may be appealed to the General Assembly by the | ||||||
17 | eligible applicant
as outlined in this Section. | ||||||
18 | A request for a waiver from mandates contained in this | ||||||
19 | School Code shall be
submitted to the State Board within 15 | ||||||
20 | days after approval by the board or regional superintendent of | ||||||
21 | schools.
The application as submitted to the State Board of | ||||||
22 | Education
shall include a description of the public hearing. | ||||||
23 | The description shall
include, but need not be limited to, the | ||||||
24 | means of notice, the number of people
in attendance, the number | ||||||
25 | of people who spoke as proponents or opponents of the
waiver, a | ||||||
26 | brief description of their comments, and whether there were any
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1 | written statements submitted.
The State Board shall review the | ||||||
2 | applications and requests for
completeness and shall compile | ||||||
3 | the requests in reports to be filed with the
General Assembly. | ||||||
4 | The State Board shall file
reports outlining the waivers
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5 | requested by eligible applicants
and appeals by eligible | ||||||
6 | applicants of requests
disapproved by the State Board with the | ||||||
7 | Senate and the House of
Representatives before each March 1 and
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8 | October
1. | ||||||
9 | The report shall be reviewed by a panel of 4 members | ||||||
10 | consisting of: | ||||||
11 | (1) the Speaker of the House of Representatives; | ||||||
12 | (2) the Minority Leader of the House of | ||||||
13 | Representatives; | ||||||
14 | (3) the President of the Senate; and | ||||||
15 | (4) the Minority Leader of the Senate. | ||||||
16 | The State Board of Education may provide the panel | ||||||
17 | recommendations on waiver requests. The members of the panel | ||||||
18 | shall review the report submitted by the State Board of | ||||||
19 | Education and submit to the State Board of Education any notice | ||||||
20 | of further consideration to any waiver request within 14 days | ||||||
21 | after the member receives the report. If 3 or more of the panel | ||||||
22 | members submit a notice of further consideration to any waiver | ||||||
23 | request contained within the report, the State Board of | ||||||
24 | Education shall submit the waiver request to the General | ||||||
25 | Assembly for consideration. If less than 3 panel members submit | ||||||
26 | a notice of further consideration to a waiver request, the |
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1 | waiver may be approved, denied, or modified by the State Board. | ||||||
2 | If the State Board does not act on a waiver request within 10 | ||||||
3 | days, then the waiver request is approved. If the waiver | ||||||
4 | request is denied by the State Board, it shall submit the | ||||||
5 | waiver request to the General Assembly for consideration. | ||||||
6 | The General Assembly may disapprove any waiver request | ||||||
7 | submitted to the General Assembly pursuant to this subsection | ||||||
8 | (d) in whole
or in part within 60 calendar days after each | ||||||
9 | house of the General Assembly
next
convenes after the waiver | ||||||
10 | request is submitted by adoption of a resolution by a record | ||||||
11 | vote
of the majority of members elected in each house. If the | ||||||
12 | General Assembly
fails to disapprove any waiver request or | ||||||
13 | appealed request within such 60
day period, the waiver or | ||||||
14 | modification shall be deemed granted. Any resolution
adopted by | ||||||
15 | the General Assembly disapproving a report of the State Board | ||||||
16 | in
whole or in part shall be binding on the State Board. | ||||||
17 | (e) An approved waiver or modification may remain in effect | ||||||
18 | for a period not to
exceed 5 school years and may be renewed | ||||||
19 | upon application by the
eligible applicant. However, such | ||||||
20 | waiver or modification may be changed within that
5-year period | ||||||
21 | by a board or regional superintendent of schools applying on | ||||||
22 | behalf of schools or programs operated by the regional office | ||||||
23 | of education following the procedure as set
forth in this | ||||||
24 | Section for the initial waiver or modification request. If
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25 | neither the State Board of Education nor the General Assembly | ||||||
26 | disapproves, the
change is deemed granted. |
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1 | (f) (Blank). | ||||||
2 | (Source: P.A. 99-78, eff. 7-20-15; 100-465, eff. 8-31-17.)
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3 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
4 | becoming law.
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