Public Act 097-1156
 
HB5825 EnrolledLRB097 19935 RPM 65225 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 changing Section 
27A-7.5 as follows:
 
    (105 ILCS 5/27A-7.5)
    Sec. 27A-7.5. State Charter School Commission.
    (a) A State Charter School Commission is established as an 
independent commission State agency with statewide chartering 
jurisdiction and authority. The Commission shall be under the 
State Board for administrative purposes only.
    (a-5) The State Board shall provide administrative support 
to the Commission as needed. 
    (b) The Commission is responsible for authorizing 
high-quality charter schools throughout this State, 
particularly schools designed to expand opportunities for 
at-risk students, consistent with the purposes of this Article.
    (c) The Commission shall consist of 9 members, appointed by 
the State Board.  The State Board shall make these appointments 
from a slate of candidates proposed by the Governor, within 60 
days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 
97th General Assembly with respect to the initial Commission 
members.  In making the appointments, the State Board shall 
ensure statewide geographic diversity among Commission 
members. The Governor shall propose a slate of candidates to 
the State Board within 60 days after the effective date of this 
amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly and 60 days prior 
to the expiration of the term of a member thereafter.  If the 
Governor fails to timely propose a slate of candidates 
according to the provisions of this subsection (c), then the 
State Board may appoint the member or members of the 
Commission.
    (d) Members appointed to the Commission shall collectively 
possess strong experience and expertise in public and nonprofit 
governance, management and finance, public school leadership, 
higher education, assessments, curriculum and instruction, and 
public education law.  All members of the Commission shall have 
demonstrated understanding of and a commitment to public 
education, including without limitation charter schooling. At 
least 3 members must have past experience with urban charter 
schools.
    (e) To establish staggered terms of office, the initial 
term of office for 3 Commission members shall be 4 years and 
thereafter shall be 4 years; the initial term of office for 
another 3 members shall be 3 years and thereafter shall be 4 
years; and the initial term of office for the remaining 3 
members shall be 2 years and thereafter shall be 4 years. The 
initial appointments must be made no later than October 1, 
2011.
    (f) Whenever a vacancy on the Commission exists, the State 
Board shall appoint a member for the remaining portion of the 
term.
    (g) Subject to the State Officials and Employees Ethics 
Act, the Commission is authorized to receive and expend gifts, 
grants, and donations of any kind from any public or private 
entity to carry out the purposes of this Article, subject to 
the terms and conditions under which they are given, provided 
that all such terms and conditions are permissible under law. 
Funds received under this subsection (g) must be deposited into 
the State Charter School Commission Fund.
    The State Charter School Commission Fund is created as a 
special fund in the State treasury.  All money in the Fund shall 
be used, subject to appropriation, by the State Board, acting 
on behalf and with the consent of the Commission, Commission 
for operational and administrative costs of the Commission. 
    Subject to appropriation, any funds appropriated for use by 
the State Board, acting on behalf and with the consent of the 
Charter School Commission, may be used for the following 
purposes, without limitation: personal services, contractual 
services, and other operational and administrative costs. The 
State Board Charter School Commission is further authorized to 
make expenditures with respect to any other amounts deposited 
in accordance with law into the State Charter School Commission 
Fund. 
    (g-5) Funds or spending authority for the operation and 
administrative costs of the Commission shall be appropriated to 
the State Board in a separate line item. The State 
Superintendent of Education may not reduce or modify the budget 
of the Commission or use funds appropriated to the Commission 
without the approval of the Commission. 
    (h) The Commission shall operate with dedicated resources 
and staff qualified to execute the day-to-day responsibilities 
of charter school authorizing in accordance with this Article. 
The Commission may employ and fix the compensation of such 
employees and technical assistants as it deems necessary to 
carry out its powers and duties under this Article, without 
regard to the requirements of any civil service or personnel 
statute; and may establish and administer standards of 
classification of all such persons with respect to their 
compensation, duties, performance, and tenure and enter into 
contracts of employment with such persons for such periods and 
on such terms as the Commission deems desirable. 
    (i) Every 2 years, the Commission shall provide to the 
State Board and local school boards a report on best practices 
in charter school authorizing, including without limitation 
evaluating applications, oversight of charters, and renewal of 
charter schools.
    (j) The Commission may charge a charter school that it 
authorizes a fee, not to exceed 3% of the revenue provided to 
the school, to cover the cost of undertaking the ongoing 
administrative responsibilities of the eligible chartering 
authority with respect to the school. This fee must be 
deposited into the State Charter School Commission Fund.
    (k) Any charter school authorized by the State Board prior 
to this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly shall have 
its authorization transferred to the Commission upon a vote of 
the State Board, which shall then become the school's 
authorizer for all purposes under this Article.   However, in no 
case shall such transfer take place later than July 1, 2012. At 
this time, all of the powers, duties, assets, liabilities, 
contracts, property, records, and pending business of the State 
Board as the school's authorizer must be transferred to the 
Commission. Any charter school authorized by a local school 
board or boards may seek transfer of authorization to the 
Commission during its current term only with the approval of 
the local school board or boards.  At the end of its charter 
term, a charter school authorized by a local school board or 
boards must reapply to the board or boards before it may apply 
for authorization to the Commission under the terms of this 
amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly.
    On the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th 
General Assembly, all rules of the State Board applicable to 
matters falling within the responsibility of the Commission 
shall be applicable to the actions of the Commission. The 
Commission shall thereafter have the authority to propose to 
the State Board modifications to all rules applicable to 
matters falling within the responsibility of the Commission.  
The State Board shall retain rulemaking authority for the 
Commission, but shall work jointly with the Commission on any 
proposed modifications. Upon recommendation of proposed rule 
modifications by the Commission and pursuant to the Illinois 
Administrative Procedure Act, the State Board shall consider 
such changes within the intent of this amendatory Act of the 
97th General Assembly and grant any and all changes consistent 
with that intent. 
    (l)  The Commission shall have the responsibility to 
consider appeals under this Article immediately upon 
appointment of the initial members of the Commission under 
subsection (c) of this Section.  Appeals pending at the time of  
initial appointment shall be determined by the Commission;  the 
Commission may extend the time for review as necessary for 
thorough review, but in no case shall the extension exceed the 
time that would have been available had the appeal been 
submitted to the Commission on the date of appointment of its 
initial members.  In any appeal filed with the Commission under 
this Article, both the applicant and the school district in 
which the charter school plans to locate shall have the right 
to request a hearing before the Commission.  If more than one 
entity requests a hearing, then the Commission may hold only 
one hearing, wherein the applicant and the school district 
shall have an equal opportunity to present their respective 
positions. 

(Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 97-641, eff. 12-19-11.)
 

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