Illinois 2025-2026 Regular Session

Illinois Senate Bill SB2062 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	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
2	2	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB2062 Introduced 2/6/2025, by Sen. Cristina Castro SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
3	3	105 ILCS 5/27A-9 105 ILCS 5/27A-9
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5	5	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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11	11	1 AN ACT concerning education.
12	12	2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
13	13	3 represented in the General Assembly:
14	14	4 Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
15	15	5 27A-9 as follows:
16	16	6 (105 ILCS 5/27A-9)
17	17	7 Sec. 27A-9. Term of charter; renewal.
18	18	8 (a) An initial charter shall be granted for a period of 5
19	19	9 school years. A charter may be renewed in incremental periods
20	20	10 not to exceed 10 school years. Authorizers shall ensure that
21	21	11 every charter granted on or after January 1, 2017 includes
22	22	12 standards and goals for academic, organizational, and
23	23	13 financial performance. A charter must meet all standards and
24	24	14 goals for academic, organizational, and financial performance
25	25	15 set forth by the authorizer in order to be renewed for a term
26	26	16 in excess of 5 years but not more than 10 years. If an
27	27	17 authorizer fails to establish standards and goals, a charter
28	28	18 shall not be renewed for a term in excess of 5 years. Nothing
29	29	19 contained in this Section shall require an authorizer to grant
30	30	20 a full 10-year renewal term to any particular charter school,
31	31	21 but an authorizer may award a full 10-year renewal term to
32	32	22 charter schools that have a demonstrated track record of
33	33	23 improving student performance.
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37	37	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB2062 Introduced 2/6/2025, by Sen. Cristina Castro SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
38	38	105 ILCS 5/27A-9 105 ILCS 5/27A-9
39	39	105 ILCS 5/27A-9
40	40	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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68	68	1 (b) A charter school renewal proposal submitted to the
69	69	2 local school board or the State Board, as the chartering
70	70	3 entity, shall contain:
71	71	4 (1) a report on the progress of the charter school in
72	72	5 achieving the goals, objectives, pupil performance
73	73	6 standards, content standards, and other terms of the
74	74	7 initial approved charter proposal; and
75	75	8 (2) a financial statement that discloses the costs of
76	76	9 administration, instruction, and other spending categories
77	77	10 for the charter school that is understandable to the
78	78	11 general public and that will allow comparison of those
79	79	12 costs to other schools or other comparable organizations,
80	80	13 in a format required by the State Board.
81	81	14 A charter school authorized by the State Board must
82	82	15 provide a copy of its charter renewal proposal to the local
83	83	16 school board or boards of the resident district or districts
84	84	17 at the same time that it submits its proposal to the State
85	85	18 Board. The local school board of each resident district shall
86	86	19 have an opportunity to negotiate with the charter school for a
87	87	20 transfer of authorization prior to the State Board voting on
88	88	21 the renewal proposal. Authorization shall be transferred from
89	89	22 the State Board to a local school board at the end of the
90	90	23 charter term with the agreement of both the charter school and
91	91	24 the local school board. The State Board may adopt any rules
92	92	25 necessary to implement the changes made by this amendatory Act
93	93	26 of the 104th General Assembly.
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104	104	1 (c) A charter may be revoked or not renewed if the local
105	105	2 school board or the State Board, as the chartering entity,
106	106	3 clearly demonstrates that the charter school did any of the
107	107	4 following, or otherwise failed to comply with the requirements
108	108	5 of this law:
109	109	6 (1) Committed a material violation of any of the
110	110	7 conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the
111	111	8 charter.
112	112	9 (2) Failed to meet or make reasonable progress toward
113	113	10 achievement of the content standards or pupil performance
114	114	11 standards identified in the charter.
115	115	12 (3) Failed to meet generally accepted standards of
116	116	13 fiscal management.
117	117	14 (4) Violated any provision of law from which the
118	118	15 charter school was not exempted.
119	119	16 In the case of revocation, the local school board or the
120	120	17 State Board, as the chartering entity, shall notify the
121	121	18 charter school in writing of the reason why the charter is
122	122	19 subject to revocation. The charter school shall submit a
123	123	20 written plan to the local school board or the State Board,
124	124	21 whichever is applicable, to rectify the problem. The plan
125	125	22 shall include a timeline for implementation, which shall not
126	126	23 exceed 2 years or the date of the charter's expiration,
127	127	24 whichever is earlier. If the local school board or the State
128	128	25 Board, as the chartering entity, finds that the charter school
129	129	26 has failed to implement the plan of remediation and adhere to
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140	140	1 the timeline, then the chartering entity shall revoke the
141	141	2 charter. Except in situations of an emergency where the
142	142	3 health, safety, or education of the charter school's students
143	143	4 is at risk, the revocation shall take place at the end of a
144	144	5 school year. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to
145	145	6 prohibit an implementation timetable that is less than 2 years
146	146	7 in duration. No local school board may arbitrarily or
147	147	8 capriciously revoke or not renew a charter. Except for
148	148	9 extenuating circumstances outlined in this Section, if a local
149	149	10 school board revokes or does not renew a charter, it must
150	150	11 ensure that all students currently enrolled in the charter
151	151	12 school are placed in schools that are higher performing than
152	152	13 that charter school, as defined in the State's federal Every
153	153	14 Student Succeeds Act accountability plan. In determining
154	154	15 whether extenuating circumstances exist, a local school board
155	155	16 must detail, by clear and convincing evidence, that factors
156	156	17 unrelated to the charter school's accountability designation
157	157	18 outweigh the charter school's academic performance.
158	158	19 (d) (Blank).
159	159	20 (e) Notice of a local school board's decision to deny,
160	160	21 revoke, or not renew a charter shall be provided to the State
161	161	22 Board.
162	162	23 The State Board may reverse a local board's decision to
163	163	24 revoke or not renew a charter if the State Board finds that the
164	164	25 charter school or charter school proposal (i) is in compliance
165	165	26 with this Article and (ii) is in the best interests of the
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176	176	1 students it is designed to serve. The State Board may
177	177	2 condition the granting of an appeal on the acceptance by the
178	178	3 charter school of funding in an amount less than that
179	179	4 requested in the proposal submitted to the local school board.
180	180	5 The State Board must appoint and utilize a hearing officer for
181	181	6 any appeals conducted under this subsection. Final decisions
182	182	7 of the State Board are subject to judicial review under the
183	183	8 Administrative Review Law.
184	184	9 (f) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Article, if
185	185	10 the State Board on appeal reverses a local board's decision or
186	186	11 if a charter school is approved by referendum, the State Board
187	187	12 shall act as the authorized chartering entity for the charter
188	188	13 school and shall perform all functions under this Article
189	189	14 otherwise performed by the local school board. The State Board
190	190	15 shall report the aggregate number of charter school pupils
191	191	16 resident in a school district to that district and shall
192	192	17 notify the district of the amount of funding to be paid by the
193	193	18 State Board to the charter school enrolling such students. The
194	194	19 charter school shall maintain accurate records of daily
195	195	20 attendance and student enrollment and shall enter data on the
196	196	21 students served, their characteristics, their particular
197	197	22 needs, the programs in which they participate, and their
198	198	23 academic achievement into the statewide student information
199	199	24 system established by the State Board. The State Board shall
200	200	25 withhold from funds otherwise due the district the funds
201	201	26 authorized by this Article to be paid to the charter school and
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212	212	1 shall pay such amounts to the charter school in quarterly
213	213	2 installments, calculated as follows:
214	214	3 (1) The amount of the first quarterly payment shall be
215	215	4 based on the projected number of students who will be
216	216	5 enrolled in the charter school in the upcoming school
217	217	6 year, multiplied by one-fourth of the resident district's
218	218	7 per capita tuition amount. Each charter school shall
219	219	8 submit its projected enrollment by no later than August 1
220	220	9 of each year on a form provided by the State Board for this
221	221	10 purpose.
222	222	11 (2) The amount of the second quarterly payment shall
223	223	12 be calculated such that the aggregate amount of the first
224	224	13 and second quarterly installments is equal to the number
225	225	14 of students reported as enrolled at the charter school on
226	226	15 October 1 in the State Board's student information system,
227	227	16 multiplied by one-half of the resident district's per
228	228	17 capita tuition amount.
229	229	18 (3) The amount of the third quarterly payment shall be
230	230	19 based on the number of students enrolled in the charter
231	231	20 school on January 1, multiplied by one-fourth of the
232	232	21 resident district's per capita tuition amount. Each
233	233	22 charter school shall submit its January 1 enrollment by no
234	234	23 later than January 5 of each year on a form provided by the
235	235	24 State Board for this purpose.
236	236	25 (4) The amount of the fourth quarterly payment shall
237	237	26 be calculated such that the aggregate amount of the third
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