M E M O R A N D U M TO: The Honorable William E. Brady, Senate Minority Leader The Honorable John J. Cullerton, Senate President The Honorable Jim Durkin, House Minority Leader The Honorable Michael J. Madigan, Speaker of the House The Honorable JB Pritzker, Governor FROM: Dr. Carmen I. Ayala State Superintendent of Education DATE: January 6, 2020 SUBJECT: Illinois State Board of Education Biennial Charter School Report The Illinois Charter School Biennial Report is submitted in compliance with Section 27A-12 of the Illinois Charter Schools Law (105 ILCS 5/27A-12). It provides information on the Illinois charter school sector for school years 2017-18 and 2018-19. This report is transmitted on behalf of the State Superintendent of Education. For additional copies of this report or for more specific information, please contact Amanda Elliott, Executive Director, Legislative Affairs at (217) 782-6510 or [email protected]. cc: Tim Anderson, Secretary of the Senate John W. Hollman, Clerk of the House Legislative Research Unit State Government Report Center Table of Contents 1. Charter Schools Background ................................................................................................................. 2 Section 1.1 - Charter Landscape: Statutory and Regulatory Modifications .................................................. 3 Section 1.2 - Charter Landscape: Federal Charter Schools Program Grant .................................................. 4 Section 1.3 - Charter Landscape: Facts at a Glance ...................................................................................... 4 2. Number of Charter Schools and Enrollment Trends ............................................................................. 9 Section 2.1 - Charter School Closures ......................................................................................................... 13 3. Charter School Demographics ............................................................................................................. 14 Section 3.1 - Racial and Ethnic Composition of Charter Schools…………………………..………………………………..14 Section 3.2 - Socioeconomic Composition of Charter Schools………….…………………………………………………….20 Section 3.3 - Special Student Populations in Charter Schools………………………….……………………………………..23 4. Charter School Operations ................................................................................................................... 30 Section 4.1 - Staff Licensure………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………….31 Section 4.2 - Educational Program Design…………………………………………………………………………………………..….31 Section 4.3 - School Calendar………..……………………………………………………………………………………………………….32 Section 4.4 - Budgeting and Fiscal Priorities……………………………………………………………………………………………32 5. Charter School Student Performance……………………………………………………………………………………….........32 6. Suggested Statutory Changes ............................................................................................................... 46 7. Authorizer Information ........................................................................................................................ 48 Darren Reisberg, Chair of the Board Dr. Carmen Ayala, State Superintendent of Education Page i 1. Charter Schools Background Charter schools are public schools governed by an independent board of directors that come into existence through a contract with an authorized public chartering agency. The charter — or contract — establishes the framework within which the school operates and provides public support for the school for a specified term. The charter may be renewed or revoked at the end of the contract term. Charter schools have been part of the Illinois public education system since April 1996, when the General Assembly passed its first charter law, the 20th in the nation.i The Illinois Charter Schools Law, Public Act 89-450, codified at 105 ILCS 5/27A-1 et seq. (effective April 10, 1996), specifies that school districts are the primary authorizers of charter schools. Section 27A-2 [105 ILCS 5/27A-2] sets forth the intent of the Charter Schools Law as follows: [T]o create a legitimate avenue for parents, teachers, and community members to take responsible risks and create new, innovative, and more flexible ways of educating children within the public school system. The General Assembly seeks to create opportunities within the public school system of Illinois for development of innovative and accountable teaching techniques. The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has promulgated a set of regulations at Part 650 of the 23 Illinois Administrative Code to implement the Charter Schools Law, where necessary. The regulations outline procedures for the review, submission, and execution of charter agreements; the certification of charters; biennial reporting requirements; the monitoring of charter school authorizers; appeals of local school board decisions to deny a charter application or close a charter schoolii; and closing procedures for charter schools. Such regulations also define principles and standards for authorizing charter schools. Charter schools are afforded significant flexibility under the Charter Schools Law to help them meet their goals. The law exempts charter schools from most mandates and restrictions applicable to public schools and school districts; laws applicable to charter schools are generally those designed to protect the well-being and privacy of students and staff. A charter school is operated by an independent governing board, and each charter school has complete autonomy over its educational plan and operations, provided that it adheres to the terms and conditions of its charter. Key components of the charter school’s education plan, such as curriculum, staffing, professional development, length of school day and year, and “seat time,” are left to the discretion of the charter school. In exchange for autonomy and flexibility in operations, charter schools are subject to rigorous accountability standards set forth by the charter authorizer and can be closed if they are not performing or meeting their contractual obligations. ISBE monitors charter schools and authorizers on an ongoing basis and by statute must compile information and data on the charter school sector into a single report every two years. This report, known as the Illinois Charter School Biennial Report, provides law and policymakers, educators, and the general public with information regarding the state of Illinois’ charter schools. In compliance with Section 27A-12 of the Charter Schools Law [105 ILCS 5/27A-12], it contains information that (i) compares the academic performance of charter school students to the performance of their peers in traditional public schools, (ii) analyzes whether or not exemption from certain regulations allows charter schools to better meet their stated goals and objectives, and (iii) recommends any changes to the Charter School Darren Reisberg, Chair of the Board Dr. Carmen Ayala, State Superintendent of Education Page 2 Law. This report also includes authorizer-specific information for each authorizer in the state, including (i) the authorizer’s strategic vision for chartering and progress toward achieving that vision; (ii) the status of each authorizer’s charter school portfolio; and (iii) the authorizing functions provided by the authorizer to the charter schools under its purview, including its operating costs and expenses. 1.1 – Charter Landscape: Statutory and Regulatory Modifications Of the charter legislation passed in the last two years, Senate Bill 1226 (Public Act 101-0543) is likely to have the most substantial impact on the charter school sector. This legislation abolishes the Illinois State Charter School Commission effective July 1, 2020. The Illinois State Charter School Commission’s existing charter schools will transfer to ISBE on that date. In addition, ISBE will assume responsibility for hearing and deciding appeals of local school board decisions to close an existing charter school, either through non-renewal or revocation of the school’s charter agreement.iii The legislation also eliminated administrative appeal rights when a local school board denies an application to open a new charter school — these decisions can now only be appealed in circuit court. A final key legislative change provides that when a local school board closes a charter school through revocation or non-renewal, it must ensure that the displaced charter school students are placed in a higher-performing school. Local school boards will be challenged in defending any decision to close a charter school that is outperforming the schools the charter students would otherwise attend, even if the charter school has not met the academic performance expectations set forth in the charter agreement. Other recent changes to the Charter Schools Law: • Public Act 100-0465, or the Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act, went into effect August 31, 2017. This Act primarily concerns school district funding, but it also included a change to the funding level for charter schools. Whereas previously the law required that charter schools receive a per pupil amount of not less than 75 percent and not more than 125 percent of the local school district’s per capita tuition charge (PCTC), PA 100-0465 narrowed the funding range to not less than 97 percent and not more than 103 percent of the PCTC. Districts that had negotiated a charter school funding rate outside of this range had to work with their charter schools to ensure