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92_HB4263eng HB4263 Engrossed LRB9212686NTsb 1 AN ACT concerning education. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing 5 Section 1D-1 and adding Section 2-3.51a as follows: 6 (105 ILCS 5/1D-1) 7 Sec. 1D-1. Block grant funding. 8 (a) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year 9 thereafter, the State Board of Education shall award to a 10 school district having a population exceeding 500,000 11 inhabitants a general education block grant and an 12 educational services block grant, determined as provided in 13 this Section, in lieu of distributing to the district 14 separate State funding for the programs described in 15 subsections (b) and (c). The provisions of this Section, 16 however, do not apply to any federal funds that the district 17 is entitled to receive. In accordance with Section 2-3.32, 18 all block grants are subject to an audit. Therefore, block 19 grant receipts and block grant expenditures shall be recorded 20 to the appropriate fund code for the designated block grant. 21 (b) The general education block grant shall include the 22 following programs: REI Initiative, Summer Bridges, Preschool 23 At Risk, K-6 Comprehensive Arts, School Improvement Support, 24 Urban Education, Scientific Literacy, Substance Abuse 25 Prevention, Second Language Planning, Staff Development, 26 Outcomes and Assessment,K-6Reading Improvement, Truants' 27 Optional Education, Hispanic Programs, Agriculture Education, 28 Gifted Education, Parental Education, Prevention Initiative, 29 Report Cards, and Criminal Background Investigations. 30 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all amounts paid 31 under the general education block grant from State HB4263 Engrossed -2- LRB9212686NTsb 1 appropriations to a school district in a city having a 2 population exceeding 500,000 inhabitants shall be 3 appropriated and expended by the board of that district for 4 any of the programs included in the block grant or any of the 5 board's lawful purposes. 6 (c) The educational services block grant shall include 7 the following programs: Bilingual, Regular and Vocational 8 Transportation, State Lunch and Free Breakfast Program, 9 Special Education (Personnel, Extraordinary, Transportation, 10 Orphanage, Private Tuition), Summer School, Educational 11 Service Centers, and Administrator's Academy. This 12 subsection (c) does not relieve the district of its 13 obligation to provide the services required under a program 14 that is included within the educational services block grant. 15 It is the intention of the General Assembly in enacting the 16 provisions of this subsection (c) to relieve the district of 17 the administrative burdens that impede efficiency and 18 accompany single-program funding. The General Assembly 19 encourages the board to pursue mandate waivers pursuant to 20 Section 2-3.25g. 21 (d) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year 22 thereafter, the amount of the district's block grants shall 23 be determined as follows: (i) with respect to each program 24 that is included within each block grant, the district shall 25 receive an amount equal to the same percentage of the current 26 fiscal year appropriation made for that program as the 27 percentage of the appropriation received by the district from 28 the 1995 fiscal year appropriation made for that program, and 29 (ii) the total amount that is due the district under the 30 block grant shall be the aggregate of the amounts that the 31 district is entitled to receive for the fiscal year with 32 respect to each program that is included within the block 33 grant that the State Board of Education shall award the 34 district under this Section for that fiscal year. In the HB4263 Engrossed -3- LRB9212686NTsb 1 case of the Summer Bridges program, the amount of the 2 district's block grant shall be equal to 44% of the amount of 3 the current fiscal year appropriation made for that program. 4 (e) The district is not required to file any application 5 or other claim in order to receive the block grants to which 6 it is entitled under this Section. The State Board of 7 Education shall make payments to the district of amounts due 8 under the district's block grants on a schedule determined by 9 the State Board of Education. 10 (f) A school district to which this Section applies 11 shall report to the State Board of Education on its use of 12 the block grants in such form and detail as the State Board 13 of Education may specify. 14 (g) This paragraph provides for the treatment of block 15 grants under Article 1C for purposes of calculating the 16 amount of block grants for a district under this Section. 17 Those block grants under Article 1CICare, for this purpose, 18 treated as included in the amount of appropriation for the 19 various programs set forth in paragraph (b) above. The 20 appropriation in each current fiscal year for each block 21 grant under Article 1C shall be treated for these purposes as 22 appropriations for the individual program included in that 23 block grant. The proportion of each block grant so allocated 24 to each such program included in it shall be the proportion 25 which the appropriation for that program was of all 26 appropriations for such purposes now in that block grant, in 27 fiscal 1995. 28 (Source: P.A. 90-566, eff. 1-2-98; 90-653, eff. 7-29-98; 29 91-711, eff. 7-1-00; revised 12-04-01.) 30 (105 ILCS 5/2-3.51a new) 31 Sec. 2-3.51a. Reading improvement grants. 32 (a) Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, the State 33 Board of Education, from a separate appropriation made for HB4263 Engrossed -4- LRB9212686NTsb 1 the purposes of this Section, shall make reading improvement 2 grants to school districts in order to improve the reading 3 and study skills of students in kindergarten through twelfth 4 grade. The State Board may use up to 2% of the appropriation 5 for the purpose of providing teacher training and retraining 6 in the teaching of reading. The remaining funds shall be 7 distributed to school districts as follows: 8 (1) Up to the first $5,000,000 in new funds in the 9 2002-2003 school year shall be distributed to districts 10 serving grades 7 through 12. Of the funds allocated 11 under this paragraph (1), 70% shall be distributed on the 12 basis of each district's share of the prior year's best 3 13 months average daily attendance in those grades and 30% 14 shall be distributed on the basis of each district's 15 share of the prior year's number of economically 16 disadvantaged (ESEA Title I) pupils in those grades. 17 (2) The remainder of the appropriation shall be 18 distributed to districts serving kindergarten through 19 grade 6. Of the funds allocated under this paragraph 20 (2), 70% shall be distributed on the basis of each 21 district's share of the prior year's best 3 months 22 average daily attendance in those grades and 30% shall be 23 distributed on the basis of each district's share of the 24 prior year's number of economically disadvantaged (ESEA 25 Title I) pupils in those grades. 26 Grants shall be prorated as necessary for the 2002-2003 27 school year to ensure that the grant for each school district 28 shall be no less than the grant that the district received 29 during the 2001-2002 school year under the Reading 30 Improvement Block Grant Program. 31 Program funds shall be distributed to school districts in 32 2 semi-annual installments, one payment on or before October 33 30 and one payment on or before April 30, each year. 34 (b) A grant shall be awarded to each school district HB4263 Engrossed -5- LRB9212686NTsb 1 submitting an approved application on a form provided by the 2 State Board of Education. The application shall include a 3 proposed assessment method for measuring the reading growth 4 of students who receive direct instruction as a result of the 5 funding and the impact of staff development activities on 6 student growth in reading. Such methods may include the 7 reading portion of the Illinois Standards Achievement Testing 8 Program. At the end of each school year, the district shall 9 report performance of progress results to the State Board. 10 Districts not demonstrating performance progress using an 11 approved assessment method shall not be eligible for funding 12 in the third or subsequent years until such progress is 13 established. 14 (c) Grants shall be used to hire reading specialists, 15 reading teachers, and reading aides in order to provide early 16 reading intervention in kindergarten through grade 2 and 17 programs of continued reading support for students in grades 18 3 through 12 who need continued assistance in learning to 19 read or in maintaining reading achievement. Programs 20 provided with grant funds shall not replace quality classroom 21 reading instruction, but shall instead supplement such 22 instruction. Therefore, funds may be used for professional 23 development for classroom teachers, administrators, and other 24 appropriate staff members on the teaching of reading. Funds 25 used for instruction and staff development must be based on 26 scientifically based reading research and best practices that 27 demonstrate student growth in reading achievement. In this 28 Section, the term "scientifically based reading research" 29 means the application of rigorous, systematic, and objective 30 procedures to obtain valid knowledge relevant to reading 31 development, reading instruction, and reading difficulties. 32 The term includes research that employs systematic, empirical 33 methods that draw on observation or experiment, involves 34 rigorous data analysis that is adequate to test the stated HB4263 Engrossed -6- LRB9212686NTsb 1 hypotheses and to justify the general conclusions drawn, 2 relies on measurements or observational methods that provide 3 valid data across evaluators and observers and across 4 multiple measurements and observations, and has been accepted 5 by peer-reviewed journal or approved by a panel of 6 independent experts through a comparably rigorous, objective 7 and scientific review. 8 Grants shall be used as follows: 9 (1) In kindergarten through second grade, funds 10 shall be used to establish short-term tutorial early 11 reading intervention programs for children who are at 12 risk of failing to learn to read. The programs shall (i) 13 focus on scientifically based research and best practices 14 with proven long-term results, (ii) identify students in 15 need of help no later than the middle of first grade, 16 (iii) provide ongoing training for teachers in the 17 program, (iv) focus instruction on strengthening a 18 student's phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and 19 comprehension skills, (v) provide a means to document and 20 evaluate student growth, and (vi) provide properly 21 trained staff. 22 (2) In grades 3 through 6, funds shall be used to 23 establish programs of support for students who 24 demonstrate a need for continued assistance in learning 25 to read and in maintaining reading achievement. These 26 programs shall (i) focus on scientifically based research 27 and best practices with proven long-term results, (ii) 28 provide ongoing training for teachers and other staff 29 members in the program, (iii) focus instruction on 30 strengthening a student's phonics, fluency, and 31 comprehension skills in grades 3 through 6, (iv) provide 32 a means to evaluate and document student growth, and (v) 33 provide properly trained staff. 34 (3) In grades K through 6, funds shall be used to HB4263 Engrossed -7- LRB9212686NTsb 1 provide classroom reading materials for students. Each 2 district shall allocate up to 10% of the funds for this 3 purpose if the appropriation exceeds $92,000,000. 4 (4) In grades 7 through 12, funds shall be used to 5 establish programs of support for students who need 6 continued assistance in learning to read and in 7 maintaining reading achievement. These programs shall 8 (i) focus on best scientifically based research and 9 practice with proven long-term results, (ii) provide 10 ongoing training for teachers and other staff members in 11 the program, (iii) focus instruction on strengthening a 12 student's comprehension of informational and technical 13 text and study skills, (iv) provide a means to evaluate 14 and document student progress, and (v) provide properly 15 trained staff. 16 (5) Funds shall be used to provide a long-term 17 professional development program for classroom teachers, 18 administrators, and other appropriate staff. The program 19 shall (i) focus on scientifically based research and best 20 practices with proven long-term results, (ii) provide a 21 means to evaluate student progress in reading as a result 22 of the training, (iii) and be provided by approved staff 23 development providers. 24 (d) The State Superintendent of Education, in 25 cooperation with the school districts participating in this 26 reading grant program, shall annually report to the 27 leadership of the General Assembly on the results of the 28 reading grant program and the progress being made on 29 improving the reading skills of students in kindergarten 30 through twelfth grade. 31 (e) The State Board of Education may promulgate any 32 rules necessary for implementation of this Section. 33 (105 ILCS 5/2-3.51 rep.) HB4263 Engrossed -8- LRB9212686NTsb 1 Section 10. The School Code is amended by repealing 2 Section 2-3.51. 3 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on 4 July 1, 2002.