Bill Text: IL SB0182 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Removes the limit on the total number of charter schools that may operate at any one time; makes related changes. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-03-25 - Added as Co-Sponsor Sen. Kirk W. Dillard [SB0182 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2009-SB0182-Introduced.html

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96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2009 and 2010 SB0182 Introduced 1/30/2009, by Sen. Dan Cronin SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 5/27A-4
Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Removes the limit on the total number of charter schools that may operate at any one time; makes related changes. Effective immediately.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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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 changing Section
27A-4 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/27A-4)
Sec. 27A-4. General Provisions.
(a) The General Assembly does not intend to alter or amend
the provisions of any court-ordered desegregation plan in
effect for any school district. A charter school shall be
subject to all federal and State laws and constitutional
provisions prohibiting discrimination on the basis of
disability, race, creed, color, gender, national origin,
religion, ancestry, marital status, or need for special
education services.
(b) The total number of charter schools operating under
this Article at any one time shall not exceed 60. Not more than
30 charter schools shall operate at any one time in any city
having a population exceeding 500,000; not more than 15 charter
schools shall operate at any one time in the counties of
DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, and that portion of Cook
County that is located outside a city having a population
exceeding 500,000, with not more than one charter school that

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has been initiated by a board of education, or by an
intergovernmental agreement between or among boards of
education, operating at any one time in the school district
where the charter school is located; and not more than 15
charter schools shall operate at any one time in the remainder
of the State, with not more than one charter school that has
been initiated by a board of education, or by an
intergovernmental agreement between or among boards of
education, operating at any one time in the school district
where the charter school is located. For purposes of
implementing this Section, the State Board shall assign a
number to each charter submission it receives under Section
27A-6 for its review and certification, based on the
chronological order in which the submission is received by it.
The State Board shall promptly notify local school boards when
the maximum numbers of certified charter schools authorized to
operate have been reached.
(c) No charter shall be granted under this Article that
would convert any existing private, parochial, or non-public
school to a charter school.
(d) Enrollment in a charter school shall be open to any
pupil who resides within the geographic boundaries of the area
served by the local school board, provided that the board of
education in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may
designate attendance boundaries for no more than one-third of
the charter schools permitted in the city if the board of

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education determines that attendance boundaries are needed to
relieve overcrowding or to better serve low-income and at-risk
students. Students residing within an attendance boundary may
be given priority for enrollment, but must not be required to
attend the charter school.
(e) Nothing in this Article shall prevent 2 or more local
school boards from jointly issuing a charter to a single shared
charter school, provided that all of the provisions of this
Article are met as to those local school boards.
(f) No local school board shall require any employee of the
school district to be employed in a charter school.
(g) No local school board shall require any pupil residing
within the geographic boundary of its district to enroll in a
charter school.
(h) If there are more eligible applicants for enrollment in
a charter school than there are spaces available, successful
applicants shall be selected by lottery. However, priority
shall be given to siblings of pupils enrolled in the charter
school and to pupils who were enrolled in the charter school
the previous school year, unless expelled for cause, and
priority may be given to pupils residing within the charter
school's attendance boundary, if a boundary has been designated
by the board of education in a city having a population
exceeding 500,000. Dual enrollment at both a charter school and
a public school or non-public school shall not be allowed. A
pupil who is suspended or expelled from a charter school shall

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be deemed to be suspended or expelled from the public schools
of the school district in which the pupil resides.
(i) (Blank).
(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
contrary, a school district in a city having a population
exceeding 500,000 shall not have a duty to collectively bargain
with an exclusive representative of its employees over
decisions to grant or deny a charter school proposal under
Section 27A-8 of this Code, decisions to renew or revoke a
charter under Section 27A-9 of this Code, and the impact of
these decisions, provided that nothing in this Section shall
have the effect of negating, abrogating, replacing, reducing,
diminishing, or limiting in any way employee rights,
guarantees, or privileges granted in Sections 2, 3, 7, 8, 10,
14, and 15 of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.
(Source: P.A. 92-16, eff. 6-28-01; 93-3, eff. 4-16-03; 93-861,
eff. 1-1-05.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.