(35 ILCS 40/7.5) (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2025) Sec. 7.5. Determination of jointly-administered CTE programs. (a) Upon its own motion, or upon petition from a qualified school or technical academy, the State Board of Education shall determine whether a program or set of programs offered or proposed by a qualified school or technical academy provides coursework and training in career and technical education pathways aligned to industry-recognized certifications and credentials. The State Board of Education shall make that determination based upon whether the industry-recognized certifications or credentials that are the focus of a qualified school or technical academy's coursework and training program or set of programs (i) are associated with an occupation determined to fall under the LEADING or EMERGING priority sectors as determined through Illinois' Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Unified State Plan and (ii) provide wages that are at least 70% of the average annual wage in the State, as determined by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. (b) The State Board of Education shall publish a list of approved jointly administered CTE programs on its website and otherwise make that list available to the public. A qualified school or technical academy may petition the State Board of Education to obtain a determination that a proposed program or set of programs that it seeks to offer qualifies as a jointly administered CTE program under subsection (a) of this Section. A petitioner shall file one original petition in the form provided by the State Board of Education and in the manner specified by the State Board of Education. The petitioner may withdraw his or her petition by submitting a written statement to the State Board of Education indicating withdrawal. The State Board of Education shall approve or deny a petition within 180 days of its submission and, upon approval, shall proceed to add the program or set of programs to the list of approved jointly administered CTE programs. The approval or denial of any petition is a final decision of the Board, subject to judicial review under the Administrative Review Law. Jurisdiction and venue are vested in the circuit court. (c) The State Board of Education shall evaluate the approved jointly administered CTE programs under this Section once every 5 years. At this time, the State Board of Education shall determine whether these programs continue to meet the requirements set forth in subsection (a) of this Section.
(Source: P.A. 102-16, eff. 6-17-21.) |