104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026 SB2062 Introduced 2/6/2025, by Sen. Cristina Castro SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 105 ILCS 5/27A-9 Amends the Charter Schools Article of the School Code. Requires a charter school authorized by the State Board of Education to provide a copy of its charter renewal proposal to the local school board or boards of the resident district or districts at the same time that it submits its proposal to the State Board. Allows the local school board of each resident district to have an opportunity to negotiate with the charter school for a transfer of authorization prior to the State Board voting on the renewal proposal. Provides that authorization shall be transferred from the State Board to a local school board at the end of the charter term with the agreement of both the charter school and the local school board. Allows the State Board to adopt any rules necessary to implement the changes made by the amendatory Act. LRB104 03586 LNS 13610 b A BILL FOR 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026 SB2062 Introduced 2/6/2025, by Sen. Cristina Castro SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 105 ILCS 5/27A-9 105 ILCS 5/27A-9 Amends the Charter Schools Article of the School Code. Requires a charter school authorized by the State Board of Education to provide a copy of its charter renewal proposal to the local school board or boards of the resident district or districts at the same time that it submits its proposal to the State Board. Allows the local school board of each resident district to have an opportunity to negotiate with the charter school for a transfer of authorization prior to the State Board voting on the renewal proposal. Provides that authorization shall be transferred from the State Board to a local school board at the end of the charter term with the agreement of both the charter school and the local school board. Allows the State Board to adopt any rules necessary to implement the changes made by the amendatory Act. LRB104 03586 LNS 13610 b LRB104 03586 LNS 13610 b A BILL FOR
104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026 SB2062 Introduced 2/6/2025, by Sen. Cristina Castro SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 5/27A-9 105 ILCS 5/27A-9
105 ILCS 5/27A-9
Amends the Charter Schools Article of the School Code. Requires a charter school authorized by the State Board of Education to provide a copy of its charter renewal proposal to the local school board or boards of the resident district or districts at the same time that it submits its proposal to the State Board. Allows the local school board of each resident district to have an opportunity to negotiate with the charter school for a transfer of authorization prior to the State Board voting on the renewal proposal. Provides that authorization shall be transferred from the State Board to a local school board at the end of the charter term with the agreement of both the charter school and the local school board. Allows the State Board to adopt any rules necessary to implement the changes made by the amendatory Act.
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A BILL FOR
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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 Section
5 27A-9 as follows:
6 (105 ILCS 5/27A-9)
7 Sec. 27A-9. Term of charter; renewal.
8 (a) An initial charter shall be granted for a period of 5
9 school years. A charter may be renewed in incremental periods
10 not to exceed 10 school years. Authorizers shall ensure that
11 every charter granted on or after January 1, 2017 includes
12 standards and goals for academic, organizational, and
13 financial performance. A charter must meet all standards and
14 goals for academic, organizational, and financial performance
15 set forth by the authorizer in order to be renewed for a term
16 in excess of 5 years but not more than 10 years. If an
17 authorizer fails to establish standards and goals, a charter
18 shall not be renewed for a term in excess of 5 years. Nothing
19 contained in this Section shall require an authorizer to grant
20 a full 10-year renewal term to any particular charter school,
21 but an authorizer may award a full 10-year renewal term to
22 charter schools that have a demonstrated track record of
23 improving student performance.
104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026 SB2062 Introduced 2/6/2025, by Sen. Cristina Castro SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 5/27A-9 105 ILCS 5/27A-9
105 ILCS 5/27A-9
Amends the Charter Schools Article of the School Code. Requires a charter school authorized by the State Board of Education to provide a copy of its charter renewal proposal to the local school board or boards of the resident district or districts at the same time that it submits its proposal to the State Board. Allows the local school board of each resident district to have an opportunity to negotiate with the charter school for a transfer of authorization prior to the State Board voting on the renewal proposal. Provides that authorization shall be transferred from the State Board to a local school board at the end of the charter term with the agreement of both the charter school and the local school board. Allows the State Board to adopt any rules necessary to implement the changes made by the amendatory Act.
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A BILL FOR
105 ILCS 5/27A-9
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1 (b) A charter school renewal proposal submitted to the
2 local school board or the State Board, as the chartering
3 entity, shall contain:
4 (1) a report on the progress of the charter school in
5 achieving the goals, objectives, pupil performance
6 standards, content standards, and other terms of the
7 initial approved charter proposal; and
8 (2) a financial statement that discloses the costs of
9 administration, instruction, and other spending categories
10 for the charter school that is understandable to the
11 general public and that will allow comparison of those
12 costs to other schools or other comparable organizations,
13 in a format required by the State Board.
14 A charter school authorized by the State Board must
15 provide a copy of its charter renewal proposal to the local
16 school board or boards of the resident district or districts
17 at the same time that it submits its proposal to the State
18 Board. The local school board of each resident district shall
19 have an opportunity to negotiate with the charter school for a
20 transfer of authorization prior to the State Board voting on
21 the renewal proposal. Authorization shall be transferred from
22 the State Board to a local school board at the end of the
23 charter term with the agreement of both the charter school and
24 the local school board. The State Board may adopt any rules
25 necessary to implement the changes made by this amendatory Act
26 of the 104th General Assembly.
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1 (c) A charter may be revoked or not renewed if the local
2 school board or the State Board, as the chartering entity,
3 clearly demonstrates that the charter school did any of the
4 following, or otherwise failed to comply with the requirements
5 of this law:
6 (1) Committed a material violation of any of the
7 conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the
8 charter.
9 (2) Failed to meet or make reasonable progress toward
10 achievement of the content standards or pupil performance
11 standards identified in the charter.
12 (3) Failed to meet generally accepted standards of
13 fiscal management.
14 (4) Violated any provision of law from which the
15 charter school was not exempted.
16 In the case of revocation, the local school board or the
17 State Board, as the chartering entity, shall notify the
18 charter school in writing of the reason why the charter is
19 subject to revocation. The charter school shall submit a
20 written plan to the local school board or the State Board,
21 whichever is applicable, to rectify the problem. The plan
22 shall include a timeline for implementation, which shall not
23 exceed 2 years or the date of the charter's expiration,
24 whichever is earlier. If the local school board or the State
25 Board, as the chartering entity, finds that the charter school
26 has failed to implement the plan of remediation and adhere to
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1 the timeline, then the chartering entity shall revoke the
2 charter. Except in situations of an emergency where the
3 health, safety, or education of the charter school's students
4 is at risk, the revocation shall take place at the end of a
5 school year. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to
6 prohibit an implementation timetable that is less than 2 years
7 in duration. No local school board may arbitrarily or
8 capriciously revoke or not renew a charter. Except for
9 extenuating circumstances outlined in this Section, if a local
10 school board revokes or does not renew a charter, it must
11 ensure that all students currently enrolled in the charter
12 school are placed in schools that are higher performing than
13 that charter school, as defined in the State's federal Every
14 Student Succeeds Act accountability plan. In determining
15 whether extenuating circumstances exist, a local school board
16 must detail, by clear and convincing evidence, that factors
17 unrelated to the charter school's accountability designation
18 outweigh the charter school's academic performance.
19 (d) (Blank).
20 (e) Notice of a local school board's decision to deny,
21 revoke, or not renew a charter shall be provided to the State
22 Board.
23 The State Board may reverse a local board's decision to
24 revoke or not renew a charter if the State Board finds that the
25 charter school or charter school proposal (i) is in compliance
26 with this Article and (ii) is in the best interests of the
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1 students it is designed to serve. The State Board may
2 condition the granting of an appeal on the acceptance by the
3 charter school of funding in an amount less than that
4 requested in the proposal submitted to the local school board.
5 The State Board must appoint and utilize a hearing officer for
6 any appeals conducted under this subsection. Final decisions
7 of the State Board are subject to judicial review under the
8 Administrative Review Law.
9 (f) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Article, if
10 the State Board on appeal reverses a local board's decision or
11 if a charter school is approved by referendum, the State Board
12 shall act as the authorized chartering entity for the charter
13 school and shall perform all functions under this Article
14 otherwise performed by the local school board. The State Board
15 shall report the aggregate number of charter school pupils
16 resident in a school district to that district and shall
17 notify the district of the amount of funding to be paid by the
18 State Board to the charter school enrolling such students. The
19 charter school shall maintain accurate records of daily
20 attendance and student enrollment and shall enter data on the
21 students served, their characteristics, their particular
22 needs, the programs in which they participate, and their
23 academic achievement into the statewide student information
24 system established by the State Board. The State Board shall
25 withhold from funds otherwise due the district the funds
26 authorized by this Article to be paid to the charter school and
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1 shall pay such amounts to the charter school in quarterly
2 installments, calculated as follows:
3 (1) The amount of the first quarterly payment shall be
4 based on the projected number of students who will be
5 enrolled in the charter school in the upcoming school
6 year, multiplied by one-fourth of the resident district's
7 per capita tuition amount. Each charter school shall
8 submit its projected enrollment by no later than August 1
9 of each year on a form provided by the State Board for this
10 purpose.
11 (2) The amount of the second quarterly payment shall
12 be calculated such that the aggregate amount of the first
13 and second quarterly installments is equal to the number
14 of students reported as enrolled at the charter school on
15 October 1 in the State Board's student information system,
16 multiplied by one-half of the resident district's per
17 capita tuition amount.
18 (3) The amount of the third quarterly payment shall be
19 based on the number of students enrolled in the charter
20 school on January 1, multiplied by one-fourth of the
21 resident district's per capita tuition amount. Each
22 charter school shall submit its January 1 enrollment by no
23 later than January 5 of each year on a form provided by the
24 State Board for this purpose.
25 (4) The amount of the fourth quarterly payment shall
26 be calculated such that the aggregate amount of the third
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