Education Law

(Court opinion corrected 3/30/18.) Plaintiffs, all Chicago residents, claim Section 34-3 of School Code is unconstitutional because it denies Chicago residents the ability to vote for members of their school board, while residents of all other Illinois school districts may do so. No violation of equal protection. Legislature's constitutional decision to make office appointed rather than election is subject only to rational basis test, which is satisfied given large size of Chicago.Constitution does not provide fundamental right to approval of city council as opposed to approval of mayor.  Legislature's delegation of taxing authority to Chicago School Board does not violate due process; authority is under scrutiny and control of legislature.(McBRIDE and ELLIS, concurring.)

Plaintiffs petitionerd Regional Board of School Trustees to detach their properties from boundaries of DeKalb School District and annex them into boundaries of Sycamore School District. Board denied petition, after hearing, and court affirmed Board's decision. Plaintiffs raised concern that in 2014 incident, several students and faculty at elementary school in DeKalb School District had been hospitalized for exposure to carbon monoxide fumes from nearby landfill. Prior version of School Code allowed Regional Board to consider multiple factors simultaneously in ruling on detachment petition, amended (2016) version requires Regional Board to first determine that there would be a significant direct educational benefit to petitioners' children if petition were granted.Board's decision was not against manifest weight of evidence, as landfill incident was an isolated event not likely to reoccur.(HUDSON and SPENCE, concurring.)

Over objection of two School Districts, State Board of Education authorized creation of a charter school in 1998, entitling it to enroll students residing within boundaries of School Districts. Court properly granted joint motion for summary judgment in declaratory judgment action filed by School Districts. Based on language of Section 27A-11(a) of Charter Schools Law, pupils attending a charter school located within local school district in which they reside cannot be excluded from a determination of the actual number of pupils in attendance in that district for purposes of calculating district's average daily attendance, which is the denominator of formula used to determine district's per capita tuition cost set forth in section 18-3 of School Code, which establishes minimum and maximum to be deducted from funds otherwise due to School Districts and paid to charter school. (CUNNINGHAM and CONNORS, concurring.)

School District denied Defendant's application to open a charter school in Waukegan. Illinois State Charter School Commission concluded that Defendant's proposal was in compliance with requirements of Charter Schools Law and in best interest of students the school was designed to serve. School district filed complaint for administrative review; court affirmed Commission's decision. Commission properly found that Defendant had proposed a sufficient education program for its Waukegan campus and for ELL, special education, and at-risk students students. Commission properly analyzed best interest factor, and its conclusion that Defendant's proposal was in best interest of students the school was designed to serve was not clearly erroneous. School district, as a school board, cannot assert due process claims against the Commission, which is an entity of the state. (GORDON and ELLIS, concurring.)

Two associate professors at SIU Carbondale (SIUC) filed complaint for money damages for alleged tortious interference by SIUC's interim provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs.  Under State Lawsuit Immunity Act, Defendant is entitled to sovereign immunity from Plaintiffs' tort claim seeking money damages in circuit court, and Court of Claims has exclusive jurisdiction over such claims under Court of Claims Act. (CATES and OVERSTREET, concurring.)