Governor's Commission on Revising the Illinois School Code

Information from the State of Illinois

• The proposed changes to the School Code
  The recommended school code amendments are 1,283 pages long and are presented in several large PDF files. The old language is struck through and is followed by the new language.
• August 1 Press release
  This describes the Commission's creation and purpose, and lists the places at which hearings will be held by the Commission; it also contains some handy links:
  • Homepage for the Governor's Commission
  • The current School Code of Illinois, which the commission proposes to revise
  • The Illinois Bar Association, which began revising the School Code several years ago
  • The Governor's Executive Order #7
  • Illinois State Board of Education
• Homepage for the Governor's Commission
  Purpose of the Commission, and links to more information:
  • The Governor's Executive Order #7
  • A listing of the members of the Commission
  • A listing of the Commission's counsel
  • Commission and Committee calendar of meetings
• The Governor's Executive Order #7
  This describes the Commission's guiding philosophical and policy principles

Legistlative alert from the HSLDA

The parts of the revised School Code mentioned in the alert can be found by opening http://www.isbe.state.il.us/schoolcode/articles21-28.pdf and clicking on the link to Article 26. This will take you to page 105 of the pdf file, which is page 780 of the School Code revision draft.

Recent news and developments

• Newspaper account of the first hearing in Godfrey, Illinois, 15 August 2002
• Newspaper account of the second hearing in Carterville, Illinois, 22 August 2002

Resources

• Illinois newspapers and TV stations

Background

The Governor of Illinois, George H. Ryan, announced on 1 August 2002 that the Governor's Commission on Revising the Illinois School Code will conduct hearings at local community college campuses to discuss proposed School Code changes and gather public opinion on the commission-recommended revisions.

According to the press release from the Illinois Government News Network, the current School Code of Illinois, which took effect on 1 July 1961, contains outdated information, making it difficult for educators, parents and the general public to understand. Several years ago, the Illinois Bar Association (IBA) began work on re-writing the Code and the Governor's Commission will continue the work started by the IBA.

The release stated that approximately 130,000 full and part-time public school teachers educate over two million students in 4,290 public schools in the State of Illinois. The State's educational system has undergone a fundamental shift to standards-led reform in recent years, focusing on student achievement as the primary result of the educational system. The school code needs to be updated to reflect this new approach.

The Governor's Commission on Revising the School Code was created in Executive Order #7 and is comprised of a variety of persons from across the state. The purpose of this commission is to conduct a comprehensive study of the existing school code.

Contact address:

The Governor's Commission on Revising the Illinois School Code
204 State Capitol
Springfield, Illinois 62706
217-524-1423
217-557-1733 fax