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School Board News Bulletin
February 2000

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IASB announces new housing guidelines for 2000 Joint Annual Conference

Illinois boosts childhood immunization rate

Teacher of the Year, Kevin Murphy, available for speaking engagements

ISBE contemplates tougher teaching requirements

Chicago District 299, ISBE compromise resolves ISAT dispute

State Board budget features school breakfast mandate

THE NATIONAL SCENE

States make bad decisions about who should teach: Report

Chicago charter school established for female students

Intel, Microsoft announce worldwide training program for teachers

Report gives "C" grade for state's teacher quality efforts

NEWS FROM IASB

FRN conference includes ten Illinois board members

IASB announces changes in Field Services staffing

LEND winter seminar contributors acknowledged

RESEARCH REPORTS

Survey finds public only vaguely understands vouchers and charters

TIF report is offered online

FEDERAL UPDATE

Clinton proposes unprecedented national spending effort to aid nation's schools

U.S. ED fiscal year 2000 grant initiatives listed on the Web

Teacher quality meeting held

Good Friday holiday school closing law upheld

TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

Feds provide educational materials via Internet

Risk management center offers publications

WORKSHOPS & MEETINGS

Date change announced for Tech 2000

Math and science academy to host national education confab

LEGISLATIVE ACTION

Governor Ryan wants to fully fund general state aid to education

RECENT MAILINGS FROM IASB

CLASSIFIED ADS

Due to an increase in last-minute hotel room cancellations for the past several Joint Annual Conferences, IASB has announced new housing guidelines. The increasing cancellation rate led to problems in getting hotels to commit sufficient rooms to meet IASB membership needs. In an effort to be fair to both the hotels and school districts, IASB has announced the following new housing guidelines for the 2000 annual conference, to be held November 17-19, 2000.

First, IASB is asking that superintendents and boards seriously discuss who will attend and enter housing requests only for those individuals. IASB suggests that this topic should be added to the agenda for a local board meeting no later than May, and that a resolution be passed at that meeting regarding the school district's conference attendance. This would authorize district staff to write the necessary checks to accompany the return of registration and housing forms that will be received by district superintendents the first week of June.

In addition, when districts complete and return their conference registration and housing forms, the forms must be accompanied by two checks. One check will cover the registration fee for each board member and administrator, along with special event and workshop fees listed on the registration form. The second check will cover room deposits, at $150 apiece, for each room requested on the housing form. Both checks must be made payable to the Illinois Association of School Boards. Conference registration and housing forms cannot be processed without both checks: a proper registration fee check, and a proper room deposit check.

In case of a cancellation, requests for refunds of conference fees from IASB, and refunds for hotel rooms from the assigned hotel, will be honored if those requests are received by letter or fax by 4 p.m., Friday, October 20. Written registration fee refund requests are to be directed to the Illinois Association of School Boards, 2921 Baker Drive, Springfield, Illinois 62703. Written refund requests for room deposits are to be directed to the assigned and confirming hotel, not to IASB. Requests for refunds of registration fees will be processed after the conference, provided that IASB receives such requests before the 4 p.m., Friday, October 20 deadline. The hotels will process room cancellation requests received no later than 4 p.m., Friday, October 20. Hotel room deposits are nonrefundable after 4 p.m., Friday, October 20.

Though it is always best to cancel hotel rooms by letter or fax, school districts may cancel them by telephone. If canceling by telephone, obtain a cancellation number and the name of the hotel employee who took the cancellation request, and keep a record of this information and the date and time of the call. This will be needed in case of any misunderstanding.

Every year, the number of cancellations increases. Hotels can sell their rooms at much higher rates than the rates IASB has negotiated for its members -- up to 250% higher than IASB's negotiated rates. The demand for rooms in Chicago is much greater than when contracts were made. The hotels have an obligation to live up to the rates negotiated in lower-rate times, but IASB has a responsibility to meet its commitment to fill the contracted rooms. A cancellation rate of 8% to 10% is tolerable, but the conference room cancellation rate of some of the properties has been running as high as 20% to 50%.

Because hotels have the right to reduce succeeding-year room blocks for any contract in light of the number of rooms actually occupied the previous year, it is becoming increasingly difficult for IASB to obtain enough rooms to cover requests.

For the past three years, in fact, IASB has filled all blocks of rooms by July 15, leaving many members to find housing on their own at much higher rates. At the same time, however, other districts have canceled a large proportion of the assigned housing just before the conference. In many cases, this leaves hotels with empty rooms that cannot be resold at the last minute. Hotels are in business to make a profit, and even though they know school districts have limited budgets and thus are willing to offer IASB lower than standard over-the-counter room rates, they expect a stable revenue stream. When revenue consistently does not meet expectations, hotels cannot continue to provide the large number of rooms at the rates the Association has been enjoying. Thus, these changes in procedure have become necessary.

"IASB appreciates the cooperation of everyone in this effort to serve all our member districts in the best possible manner," said Meetings Management head Pat Culler. Any questions regarding these procedures may be directed to IASB Meetings Management Department at 217/528-9688, ext. 1115 or ext. 1102.

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Between 1994 and 1997, six states in the nation - including Illinois - significantly increased their percentage of two-year-olds who had been fully immunized against preventable childhood diseases. Source: The National Education Goals Report: Building a Nation of Learners, 1999.

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Kevin Murphy, a physics and astronomy teacher in Lyons Township High School District 204, has been named the Illinois Teacher of the Year for 2000. Murphy teaches students in grades 11 and 12 and has been a teacher for 13 years. He is now scheduling speaking engagements around the state. To hear him speak in your schools, either at an inservice meeting, or at a conference or workshop-at no cost to your district-call Kathy at Lyons Township High School at 708/579-6409.

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Among the major topics explored at the January 20 meeting of the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) was teacher accountability as measured through assessments. Staff members raised several options available to the board for possible improvement. One participant suggested, for example, that the tests need to be made more rigorous. Discussion ensued on the possibility of increasing the score required to pass the tests. There were some feelings expressed, however, against "just raising the bar." The general consensus was that the test should cover both content and pedagogy. One idea examined by the board is to require a basic skills test at the point of entry to the teaching profession.

In order to get Title IV funds now available from the federal government there must also be a teacher preparation report card. The format for the report card is yet to be determined, but participants said the report card will impose an additional data burden on ISBE and on higher education. It was noted, as well, that the entire issue of teacher preparation is governed by federal statutes that require program accountability. States run the risk of federal sanctions if minimum requirements are not met. Source: Cynthia Woods, IASB liaison to ISBE.

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A dispute between the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and Chicago District 299 over whether Chicago students should be required to take the ISAT state achievement exam this year was resolved January 27. District 299 agreed to give the ISAT in grades 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 at the same time as other districts. In exchange, ISBE agreed to delay next year's exams roughly ten weeks, and to ensure that no schools will be added to the state's academic early warning list this year.

The state proclaimed that the settlement, which covers schools statewide, protects the comparability of results and assures meaningful statewide data. Under the agreement, next year's ISAT will be administered "probably the week of April 17, but no earlier than the week of April 3," according to an ISBE spokesman. The new schedule will allow teachers and students to take advantage of additional instructional time.

ISBE agreed not to place new schools on the Academic Early Warning List until the fall of 2001, when ISAT results from 2000 and 2001 will be used to determine warning list eligibility.

"We know that you will have many questions related to these decisions, including when schools will get back ISAT results and whether performance standards for ISAT will be adjusted. Frankly, we don't have answers yet - but we look forward to working with you [school leaders] to figure them out," said Lee Milner, a spokesman for State Superintendent of Education Max McGee.

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The State Board of Education's January 25 budget hearing featured discussions on a line item containing incentive funds to encourage more schools to participate in the school breakfast program. Incentive funding for the program is strongly supported by the School Management Alliance, but lobbyists say the issue is clouded by an inequitable mandate.

Alliance lobbyists say the State Superintendent has agreed to support legislation to mandate that school districts offer the breakfast program at all public schools in which at least half of the students are eligible for the free and reduced-priced lunch program. Non-public schools would not be covered by this new mandate, although they do participate in the school lunch and breakfast programs and would be eligible to receive the new incentives.

The Alliance has been working with the Illinois Hunger Coalition, the State Board of Education, and the Illinois Education Association for the past eight months to try to find a compromise to avoid mandates in the school breakfast program. Alliance lobbyists say the emergence of the ISBE-supported proposal, which includes such a mandate, seems premature during these negotiations in pursuit of a compromise.

The original "Childhood Hunger Prevention Act" initiative from last year-H.B. 2379, sponsored by Representative Sonia Silva (D-Chicago)-would have required every school district to implement a school breakfast program by September 1, 2003. In Alliance discussions with the bill's proponents, it became clear, however, that it is still the proponents' goal to mandate that every school district offer a breakfast program.

"Even in districts not covered under this new ISBE proposal, where fewer than half of their students are eligible for free or reduced-priced lunches in any school, this should still concern local school leaders. Proponents will attempt to extend this mandate to all school districts," said an Alliance spokesman.

"The Alliance supports promoting the school breakfast program and would support increased marketing of the program, a reduction in the burdensome paperwork that accompanies participation, and enactment of incentives to participate. Yet the Alliance strongly opposes mandated participation," the Alliance spokesman added.

The new proposal is drafted as an amendment to H.B. 2379. Proponents refer to implementation costs only in reference to the cost of the food. School districts actually would have many additional costs at the local level, according to the Alliance, including personnel costs to run and oversee the program.

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THE NATIONAL SCENE

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States make bad decisions about who should teach: Report

An annual 50-state status report by Education Week has found states are not doing enough to attract, screen, and keep good teachers. "Quality Counts 2000" found states are "playing an elaborate shell game." States establish standards regarding "who can enter the profession on the front end, but most keep the door cracked open on the back end."

That is, 39 states-including Illinois-require future teachers to pass a test of basic skills. Yet laws or practices in 36 states-including Illinois-contain loopholes that allow some people to teach who have failed such exams. The so-called loophole in Illinois is the Temporary Employment Authorization, good for up to four years, the report charged.

Twenty-nine states-including Illinois-demand that high school instructors pass tests for the subjects they want to teach. Thirty-nine states-including Illinois-require a major, a minor or a corresponding total of course credits in the teachers' chosen subjects. All states, except New Jersey, can waive these requirements, however, either by granting licenses to individuals who have not met them or by permitting districts to hire nonqualified people. Standards are still lower for middle school teachers.

"Moreover, even licensed teachers are often assigned classes for which they have not been trained," the report noted.

"Together, these piecemeal policies and lackluster incentives steer people away from teaching," the report stated. "The result is a teacher pipeline that more closely resembles a leaky faucet."

Source: Education Week, January 13, 2000 (Quality Counts is produced with support from the Pew Charitable Trusts).

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Chicago charter school established for female students

The Chicago District 299 Board of Education has given final approval to a proposal to operate an all-girls charter school next year on the city's south side, a school focusing on math, science and technology for 525 students in grades 6-12. The decision creates the nation's first charter school designed for just one sex. The school is needed, organizers say, to give girls a nurturing environment in which they can excel in science and mathematics.

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Intel, Microsoft announce worldwide training program for teachers

A philanthropic initiative that promises to help train roughly 400,000 teachers worldwide to incorporate Windows-based software applications in classroom lessons was announced recently by Intel and Microsoft. "There clearly is a large need, now that teachers are getting increasing access to hardware and software through activities by their states and school districts," said Wendy Hawkins, Intel's manager of teacher-development initiatives. The initiative is scheduled to begin this spring in four western states and expand to other states within two years.

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Report gives "C" grade for state's teacher quality efforts

A recent report by the conservative Fordham Foundation, The Quest For Better Teachers, gives Illinois an overall grade of "C" on state efforts to increase teacher quality. The report, mentioned on page 2 of the January News Bulletin (see "State standards debate rages on") included the following criticism: "While innovative reforms in Chicago should lead to an improved teaching force, most residents of Illinois have reason for concern. Only Chicago is home to a good alternative certification program and the only true systemic accountability and school choice in the state."

The report grades states on 29 indicators covering four broad areas of policy and practice: whether they hold schools, principals, and teachers accountable for results; whether they have given schools authority to make personnel decisions; whether they require teachers to demonstrate subject mastery; and whether they have multiple or alternative pathways into teaching. Nine states earned all "A's" or "B's."

The foundation-led by Chester E. Finn, Jr., a severe critic of public education-gathered its information from a variety of existing reports and data sources and through a state-by-state survey. Single copies of The Quest for Better Teachers: Grading the States can be obtained by calling 1-888/823-7474.

A copy of the report can be viewed in its entirety at the following web site: http://www.edexcellence.net/index.html.

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NEWS FROM IASB

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FRN conference includes ten Illinois board members

Ten local school board members from Illinois heard from Education Secretary Richard W. Riley at NSBA's Federal Relations Network Conference (FRN) January 31. Riley told them that funding for school construction and renovation will be the Clinton Administration's major priority for education this year.

On Tuesday, February 1, the FRN members visited congressional offices to discuss vouchers, school funding, and the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The Illinois FRN delegation also met with Senator Richard Durbin and Senator Peter Fitzgerald to discuss major issues of interest to local boards of education. The conference was held January 30-February 1 in Washington, DC.

Those attending from Illinois: Michael McMurray, Hazel Crest District 152.5; Earline Wilson, Hazel Crest District 152.5; John Moss, Glenbard Township High School District 87; Jay Tovian, DuPage District 45; Fredi Beth Schmutte, Aptakisic-Tripp District 102; Dennis McConville, Dimmick District 175; Mike Kelly, Plainfield District 202; Jerry Eiffert, Mt. Zion C.U. District 3; Dorothy Whitted, West Harvey Dixmoor District 147; and Chester LeSure, Harvey District 152.

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IASB announces changes in Field Services staffing

The impending retirement of veteran staff member Joan Isenberg will generate a number of changes in assignments for the IASB Field Services staff.

Isenberg plans to retire June 30 as a Director of Field Services. She joined the Association staff in 1979 and for the past several years has been serving the North Cook and West Cook divisions and providing leadership for a variety of staff initiatives.

Sanetta George-Jackson is assuming responsibility for the West Cook Division immediately. This exchange frees Isenberg to focus more on the development and testing of governance training tools before her departure next year. Jackson has been a Field Services Director since 1994 and will continue to work with South Cook.

Also, Field Services Director John Cassel will soon be re-assigned from the Three Rivers Division to the North Cook Division and Jackson will take responsibility for Three Rivers. Cassel and Jackson will each be responsible for servicing three divisions (Cassel also works with the DuPage and Starved Rock divisions).

Although plans are not firm at this point, the vacancy created by Isenberg's retirement most likely will be used to provide a staff specialist in the development and delivery of school board member training programs.

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LEND winter seminar contributors acknowledged

IASB extends its thanks to the following companies and individuals for their contributions to the Annual Legislative Education Network of DuPage (LEND) winter seminar on "Achieving Success."

Healy, Snyder, Bender & Associates, Inc.
Architects, Engineers - Planners
10331 S. Helene Ave.
Naperville, IL 60564
($250 contribution)

O'Donnell, Wicklund, Pigozzi and Peterson
Arthitects Incorporated
111 W. Washington St. Suite 2100
Chicago, IL 60602-2714
($200 contribution)

Bob English
495 N. Commons Dr. Suite 104
Aurora, IL 60504
($500 contribution)

The seminar was held Saturday, February 5 at the Hilton Hotel in Lisle.

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RESEARCH REPORTS

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Survey finds public only vaguely understands vouchers and charters

A new survey by the interest group Public Agenda, titled On Thin Ice, indicates that a majority of Americans have a poor understanding of what school vouchers and charter schools actually are. The national survey, subtitled How Advocates and Opponents Could Misread the Public's Views on Vouchers and Charter Schools, is based on responses from 1,200 adults. The survey also finds only 11 percent of those queried believe vouchers to be "a good idea that promises to solve the nation's education problems." Meanwhile, 67 percent believe vouchers are "a good idea but they cannot solve the nation's education problems."

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TIF report is offered online

A report that casts doubt on the economic value of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) incentives may be ordered online at northernlight.com.

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TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

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Feds provide educational materials via Internet

A new Web site provided by the U.S. Department of Education contains thousands of learning resources for teachers. The Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM) site permits teachers to type a topic, grade level, and other information into a search screen that then retrieves the requested learning resources. Included are lessons, instructional units, and other free educational materials on the chosen topic, for the chosen grade level. Visit the GEM Web site at http://www.thegateway.org/.

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Risk management center offers publications

School leaders looking for information on risk management issues should know that the Nonprofit Risk Management Center (NORMAC) offers an extensive line of relevant publications. Training, and various information services are also available. The aim is to help nonprofit organizations control risks so they can focus on their core mission. Topics covered include employment practices, crisis management and internal controls, special event risks, fundraising and screening volunteers. For more information, contact NORMAC at 1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036; phone 202/785-3891 or visit them on the Web at http://www.nonprofitrisk.org.

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WORKSHOPS & MEETINGS

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Date change announced for Tech 2000

The sponsors have moved up this year's TECH 2000 event to Wednesday, March 22, from the usual April date. MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND PLAN TO BE AT THE CAPITOL MARCH 22, 2000, for 140 exciting displays of technology use in the classroom from schools all over the state.

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Math and science academy to host national education confab

More than 300 educators from around the country will gather in Aurora at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) March 2-4 for an annual professional conference of educators from similar schools. The theme of the conference of the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology (NCSSSMST) is "liberating goodness and genius for the world." For more information visit the IMSA Web site: http://www.imsa.edu/ncsssmst.

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FEDERAL UPDATE

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Clinton proposes unprecedented national spending effort to aid nation's schools

In his State of the Union Address January 27, President Clinton announced what he labeled an unprecedented national effort to demand more from schools and to invest more in them.

The President proposed: 1) the largest-ever expansion of after-school and summer school programs, to ensure that every child in need can get extra help to meet high standards; 2) the largest increase in Head Start in history; 3) a dramatic increase in accountability in public schools, by doubling funding to turn around low-performing schools and by rewarding states that improve academic achievement; 4) a new teacher quality initiative to help states and districts recruit, train, and reward good teachers; and 5) a substantial increase in class-size funding to reach nearly half way towards the administration's five-year goal of hiring 100,000 new teachers.

President Clinton said he will urge Congress to invest $1 billion to expand after-school and summer school -- more than double the $453 million enacted last year, and the largest expansion ever proposed. The number of children served would rise from 850,000 to 2.5 million children.

Clinton also called for a $1 billion increase in funding Head Start -- the largest funding increase ever proposed for the program -- to provide Head Start and Early Head Start to approximately 950,000 children. Clinton also proposed a $600 million Early Learning Fund to improve child care quality and early childhood education for children under five.

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U.S. ED fiscal year 2000 grant initiatives listed on the Web

Visit http://ed.gov/inits/FY2000/index.html for a description of the major initiatives of the U.S. Education Department (ED) for this year. Information on application closing dates and award announcements is also listed. Budget information for ED for FY 2000 is available at http://ed.gov/inits/FY2000/index.html. Source: Joelle Marty, Office of Intergovernmental and Interagency Affairs, U.S. Department of Education.

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Teacher quality meeting held

The U.S. Department of Education held a National Conference on Teacher Quality in January where U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley called upon education leaders to build partnerships for recruiting, preparing and supporting new teachers. "If we expect students to learn to high standards, then we must ask teachers to teach to high standards," Riley said. For more information, visit the Department of Education's web site at http://www.ed.gov. Source: The NEGP WEEKLY, The National Education Goals Panel (for more information phone 202/724-0015).

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Good Friday holiday school closing law upheld;
High Court action does not revive similar Illinois law

The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld a Maryland law that requires public schools to close on Good Friday and the Monday after Easter. The Supreme Court rejected without comment an appeal that claimed the law violates the U.S. Constitution by favoring a particular religion. Lower courts had rejected that argument in the Maryland case, noting that the holiday supports a "pragmatic, legitimate secular purpose," namely, to avoid keeping schools open on a day of high absenteeism.

Good Friday is a legal holiday in 13 states, but only Illinois, Maryland, and North Dakota have passed laws requiring schools to be closed. A recent federal appeals court ruling struck down the Illinois law. Yet the High Court's action does not set a national precedent. It leaves intact all rulings on similar laws in other states, including the ruling against the Illinois law.

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LEGISLATIVE ACTION

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Governor Ryan wants to fully fund general state aid to education

Governor George Ryan delivered his combined State of the State Address and budget message February 2 before a joint session of the legislature. He said education and workforce training programs would see an increase of $528 million over last year, approximately 56% of new general funds.

For elementary and secondary education, Governor Ryan proposed the following allocations:

• $46.5 million to fully fund General State Aid and the Hold Harmless provision ($17.5 million in GSA to bring the foundation level to $4,425 per pupil and $29.5 for the Hold Harmless)
• $96.2 million to fully fund the categorical grants
• $32.5 million for early childhood programs
• $42 million for a new program "dedicated to a systematic school-based professional development initiative, to give our teachers the tools and the help they need to succeed in the classroom"
• $56 million to fund the second year of the Governor's initiative to hire additional teachers
• $20 million for Summer Bridge programs, $5 million for family literacy programs, and $6.5 million in other reading programs
• $57 million for the state pension fund (retirement funding represents over 13% of the general funds budget and nearly 26% of the recommended general fund increase)

The Governor also proposes to include $500 million in the Capital Development Board budget for the school construction grant program. An additional $197 million is proposed for the school maintenance project grants created last year in the Illinois FIRST program.

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RECENT MAILINGS FROM IASB

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Not all IASB mailings are sent to all school board members. For speed or economy, some mailings are sent only to the board president or district superintendent. Here is a list of such items mailed recently. For more information about any item, contact your board president or district superintendent or get in touch with IASB.

December 29: Multicultural Job Fair recruiters' packet, mailed to district superintendents.

January 12: Request for conference panel proposals, to board presidents and district superintendents.

January 14: Copy of IASB Constitution & Position Statements book, to district superintendents.

February 3: Announcement of Level II Collective Bargaining Workshops, to board presidents.

February 7: Announcement of student discipline workshop, to board presidents and district superintendents.

February 8: New School Laws 1999, to board presidents and district superintendents.

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CLASSIFIED ADS

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FOR SALE: Fleetwood wireless teaching system EC800. Excellent for training in language, shorthand, keyboarding, reading, music, etc. Includes cassette player-recorders, turntable, headphones with microphones, wireless receiver units and two roll-top cabinets with built-in storage. Contact John Duncan for more information at 618/445-2268.

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IASB ARCHIVES HOME

Illinois Association of School Boards

2921 Baker Drive
Springfield, Illinois 62703