Waivers of School Code Mandates: Fall 2001 Summary Report

              M E M O R A N D U M
TO: The Honorable James “Pate” Philip, Senate President
The Honorable Emil Jones, Senate Democratic Leader
The Honorable Michael J. Madigan, Speaker of the House
The Honorable Lee A. Daniels, House Republican Leader
FROM: Glenn W. McGee
State Superintendent of Education
DATE: September 28, 2001
RE: Report on Waiver of School Code Mandates (105 ILCS 5/2-3.25g)
As required by Section 2-3.25g of the School Code (105 ILCS 5/2-3.25g), the following
report provides summaries of requests for waivers of School Code mandates to the
Illinois General Assembly for its consideration. Also included are summaries of requests
for waivers and modifications acted on by the State Board of Education and of
applications that have been returned to school districts or other eligible applicants.
As members of the General Assembly are aware, the State Board of Education, from
time to time, has had concerns about certain waiver requests, in particular those that
seek to waive the requirement for daily physical education. In some cases, these waiver
requests propose alternatives to daily physical education that would compromise certain
students’ access to equal learning opportunities, particularly those opportunities
necessary to master the Illinois Learning Standards for Physical Development and
Health. The issues associated with these requests that the General Assembly will
consider in this report are discussed in the Executive Summary on page i.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact Connie Wise, Division
Administrator, Research Division, at 217/782-3950.
cc: The Honorable George H. Ryan, Governor
Tony Rossi, Clerk of the House
Jim Harry, Secretary of the Senate
Legislative Research Unit
State Government Report Center