105 ILCS 5/34-1.01
2021 Illinois Compiled Statutes|Chapter 105 - SCHOOLS|105 ILCS 5/ - School Code.|Article 34 - Cities Of Over 500,000 Inhabitants - Board Of Education

 (from Ch. 122, par. 34-1.01)Sec. 34-1.01.     Intent.     The General Assembly has previously established  that the primary purpose of schooling is the transmission of knowledge and  culture through which children learn in areas necessary to their continuing  development, and the  General Assembly has defined these areas as including  language arts, mathematics, biological, physical and social sciences, the  fine arts, and physical development and health. The General Assembly  declares its intent to achieve the primary purpose of schooling in  elementary and secondary schools subject to this Article, as now or  hereafter amended, in cities of over 500,000 inhabitants, through the  provisions of this amendatory Act of 1991.A. Goals.  In the furtherance of this intent, the General Assembly is  committed to the belief that, while such urban schools should foster  improvement and student growth in a number of areas, first priority should  be given to achieving the following goals:1. assuring that students show significant progress     toward meeting and exceeding State performance standards in State mandated learning areas, including the mastery of higher order thinking skills in these and other learning areas;2. assuring that students attend school regularly and     graduate from high school at rates that equal or surpass national norms;3. assuring that students are adequately prepared for     further education and aiding students in making a successful transition to further education;4. assuring that students are adequately prepared for     successful entry into employment and aiding students in making a successful transition to employment;5. assuring that students are, to the maximum extent     possible, provided with a common learning experience that is of high academic quality and that reflects high expectations for all students' capacities to learn;6. assuring that students are better prepared to     compete in the international market place by having foreign language proficiency and stronger international studies;7. assuring that students are encouraged in exploring     potential interests in fields such as journalism, drama, art and music;8. assuring that individual teachers are granted the     professional authority to make decisions about instruction and the method of teaching;9. assuring that students are provided the means to     express themselves creatively and to respond to the artistic expression of others through the visual arts, music, drama and dance; and10. assuring that students are provided adequate     athletic programs that encourage pride and positive identification with the attendance center and that reduce the number of dropouts and teenage delinquents.B. Achieving goals. To achieve these priority goals, the General  Assembly intends to make the individual local school the essential unit for  educational governance and improvement and to establish a process for  placing the primary responsibility for school governance and improvement in  furtherance of such goals in the hands of parents, community residents,  teachers, and the school principal at the school level.Further, to achieve these priority goals, the General Assembly intends to  lodge with the board of education key powers in limited areas related to  district-wide policy, so that the board of education supports school-level  governance and improvement and carries out functions that can be performed  more efficiently through centralized action.The General Assembly does not intend to alter or amend the provisions  of the desegregation obligations of the board of education, including but  not limited to the Consent Decree or the Desegregation Plan in United  States v. Chicago Board of Education, 80 C 5124, U.S. District Court for  the Northern District of Illinois. Accordingly, the implementation of this  amendatory Act of 1991, to the extent practicable, shall be consistent with  and, in all cases, shall be subject to the desegregation obligations  pursuant to such Consent Decree and Desegregation Plan.    (Source: P.A. 87-455; 88-686, eff. 1-24-95.)