---

School Board News Bulletin
February, 2003

---

NCLB presents formidable challenges for all districts

New laws limit phone use by bus drivers, allow student prayer

1970 Illinois Constitution okays borrowing

Five districts face February referenda

Do you know...

NEWS HEADLINES

ILLINOIS SCHOOLS

Decatur editorial urges governor to fund schools fairly this year

Four-day-week school calendar considered in Quincy Dist. 172

Former school board member confirmed to join State Board

FEDERAL UPDATE

$6.5 billion NCLB education funding boost considered

NASA had planned to hire teachers as educator astronauts

NEWS FROM IASB

Kevin Bell joins IASB staff from Senate President's team

IASB offers LeaderShop opportunities for growth

IASB's 2003 awards program invites nominations for honors

IASB Division Dinner Meetings

THE NATIONAL SCENE

America's public schools increasingly segregated

DEVELOPMENTS IN SCHOOL LAW

Mischief or misdeeds among us

RESEARCH REPORTS

Report gives Illinois an 'F' on school resource equity again

Census data: Hispanics quickly becoming largest minority

NCLB presents formidable challenges for all districts

The impact of No Child Left Behind, the federal legislation introduced a year ago, is still being weighed for its immediate and long-range regulatory implications.

But the time to begin an earnest discussion with your local community is now.

That was the message echoed by three different NCLB panelists who appeared Jan. 29 at the Three Rivers Division meeting in Joliet.

"This is another in a long series of reform acts," said Marilyn McConachie, a recently retired member of the Illinois State Board of Education. "The big difference is, this one has teeth, and the stakes have been raised to a very high level."

While McConachie outlined the origins and direction for NCLB, Michael Kiser, a Downers Grove attorney and member of the Illinois Council of School Attorneys, explained how the Act would require school districts to communicate with parents.

"(Most) Parents want to be involved in a meaningful way. (This law means that) all school districts will have to change the way they operate," he said, referring to the choices parents will have if a school fails to meet certain performance requirements.

And because NCLB is a data-driven accountability system, Melinda Selbee, general counsel for the Illinois Association of School Boards, said that discovering and resolving achievement gaps would require intense scrutiny.

"NCLB is our wakeup call. Boards will have to ask for and monitor all kinds of data," she said.

All three panelists agreed that the ever-changing interpretations of NCLB and its resulting conflicts with existing state and federal laws is compounding the problems for school districts expected to meet the new federal mandates.

State assessments are being revised to conform to Adequate Yearly Progress criteria. But because the requirements ratchet higher incrementally to the year 2013-2014, Kiser said the mandates would challenge even high-performing districts.

"Even some of these districts have demographic subgroups who are not improving (at the pace expected.) NCLB means we can't deal with 'average' performances any more," he said.

McConachie said the challenge is formidable, but not impossible. "It can be done. There are school districts in high poverty areas that are high performing. And NCLB offers rewards and recognition for that work," she said.

But developing and following a data-driven School Improvement Plan requires more than a 'boilerplate' approach, she added. "The community must buy into the plan, teachers must believe in it, and principals must use it."

What this means for school boards goes beyond policy, Selbee said. "It's program and curriculum, it's policy and administrative procedures."

Kiser added that the financial implications to meet new requirements would also show up in collective bargaining issues, referring to 'highly-qualified' teacher definitions, teaching assignments, use of teacher aides and availability of professional development programs or funds.

John Mannix, associate executive director of IASB, moderated the panel. "It's a challenge, but it's a laudable concept," he said of NCLB. "We're doing a good job, but this gives us an opportunity to go back to our districts and discuss what we are doing, and how we can do it better."

Table of Contents

New laws limit phone use by bus drivers, allow student prayer

New state laws affecting schools cover a wide range of topics, from generally prohibiting school bus drivers from using cell phones while driving, to clarifying the rights of students to engage in student-initiated prayer.

The latter new law, P.A. 92-832, specifies that voluntary student prayer must be non-disruptive, and may not be sponsored, promoted, or endorsed in any manner by the school. Such prayer must be consistent with the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the state and federal constitutions. Previously state law required student prayer to be consistent with the constitutional principle of freedom of religion and Supreme Court rulings on the separation of church and state.

The cell phone law--which prohibits school bus drivers from operating a school bus while using a cell phone device (P.A. 92-730)--specifically does not apply to the use of school district cell phones as two-way radios.

Other significant new laws that took effect in January 2003 include provisions:

• Requiring school boards to adopt and implement a policy that prohibits disciplinary action against a student based on his or her parent's refusal to permit the administration of psychotropic or psycho-stimulant drugs. Such drugs are routinely used to treat attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Board policy must also require staff training, at least once every two years to cover the best practices for identifying and treating ADD and ADHD (P.A. 92-663).
• Requiring that anyone operating a bus chartered to transport young students (grade 2 or lower) to interscholastic athletic activities or school-sponsored activities must hold a valid school bus driver's permit (P.A. 92-849).

Source: Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance, New School Laws 2003, January 2003. (Copies of this new publication were mailed to all school board members and districts superintendents on January 29.)

Table of Contents

As state leaders search for ways to balance the state budget and provide for education and other needed services despite an estimated $5 billion revenue shortfall in the current fiscal year and no-tax pledges, a provision of the state constitution may offer assistance. Article IX, Sec. 9(d) of the 1970 Constitution provides:

State debt may be incurred by law in an amount not exceeding 15% of the State's appropriations for that fiscal year to meet deficits caused by emergencies or failures of revenue. Such law shall provide that the debt be repaid within one year of the date it is incurred.

This constitutional provision was used to fill a major shortfall in state revenue in 1983, and again in 1994, when it was tapped to defray a large Medicaid debt. Such short-term borrowing for emergencies merely requires that lawmakers enact a statute similar to the Casual Deficits in State Government Act, the state law used in 1983, and since repealed, to implement the state's Article IX, Sec. 9(d) constitutional provisions.

A similar statute, the Medicaid Liability Liquidity Borrowing Act, was passed in 1994 to implement the same constitutional provisions. That law (30 ILCS 342/1) remains on the books; it allowed the state to borrow up to $900 million to repay Medicaid debt in Fiscal Year 1995.

Such authority could be used to prevent delayed state aid payments to schools this year, for example.

Source: Illinois General Assembly, Legislative Research Unit, New Members' Conference booklet, August 1987.

Table of Contents

Five school districts have placed tax increase referendums on the February 25 primary election ballot, but no bond issues are scheduled, based on unofficial preliminary data from the State Board of Elections.

Taking education fund tax increase proposals to the voters are: C.U. Dist. 300, Carpentersville; River Bend C.U. Dist. 5, Fulton; Gurnee Dist. 56; Warren Township High School Dist. 121, Gurnee; and Will County Dist. 92, Lockport. Carpentersville Dist. 300 apparently is asking for the largest amount of tax increase, a boost of 90 cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation, which would raise the annual tax rate for educational purposes to $3.60 per $100.

The February referendum count is in line with totals from previous February primaries. There were six tax questions on the last February ballot, for example, in 2001. Over the past decade the average total has been four tax referendums on the ballot, but typically a bond issue is put forward as well.

For a look at statistical comparisons of recent tax rate and bond referendums, visit the IASB Web site link at: http://www.iasb.com/files/finance.htm.

Source: State Board of Elections' Web site at: http://www.elections.state.il.us.

Table of Contents

In response to an inquiry, IASB staff ran a count of how many school boards hold one regular meeting per month and how many hold two. The findings:

• one meeting per month -- 714 boards, 83 %
• two meetings per month -- 147 boards, 17 %

Table of Contents

Kids are far more likely to be injured tripping over their backpacks or getting hit with them than to hurt their backs carrying them, research indicates. Researchers have concluded: "actual use of a backpack is not exceptionally dangerous, and efforts should be directed toward educating children on proper backpack safety habits [such as using both straps and not stowing the packs on the floor either at school or at home] rather than restricting loads and redesigning backpacks." Study results were published in Pediatrics (January 3, The Associated Press) ... Illinois is attempting to attract college students to teaching via scholarships and incentives. The state is offering three kinds of scholarships providing up to $5,000 annually to over 1,400 qualified students. More information is available on the Web at http://www. isac-online.org or by calling 1-800/899-4722 (January 6, Morris Daily Herald) ... The count of American children and adolescents taking Ritalin, antidepressants, and psychiatric drugs increased rapidly from 1987 to 1996, a development some researchers say is continuing. A study confirming this trend appeared in the January Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (January 14, The Associated Press.)

Table of Contents

---

ILLINOIS SCHOOLS

---

A recent editorial in the Decatur Herald & Review called for sweeping changes to bring about equity in the way Illinois schools are funded. A January 22 editorial stated:

"The first step for the Blagojevich administration is to make the aid payments that schools are expecting. It's unfair for schools to establish budgets based on expected payments and then be told at the last minute the money isn't available.

"Blagojevich also should take a quick look at the state education department's budget and trim what isn't necessary. [Former State Senator from Mt. Zion Julie] Curry said last year she identified $60 million in the education budget that could be eliminated and redirected to the schools.

"Longer term, but still necessary, is to change the way Illinois schools are funded and the way Illinois education is organized..."

Table of Contents

Add Quincy to the growing number of school districts considering a move to a four-day school week, as school officials strive to preserve school programs under ever-tightening financial strictures.

The modified school calendar--attractive first and foremost as a cost-cutting program--has been used for years in at least seven states, reportedly without negative academic consequences.

Quincy Dist. 172 apparently is the first school district in Illinois to consider the cost-cutting move, which realizes savings mainly by operating school buses and cafeterias four days a week rather than five.

Under the four-day schedule, students spend the same amount of time in the classroom each week, and school personnel draw their usual salaries.

Nationally, more than 100 districts have made the switch--most of them small and rural districts--cutting costs anywhere from 2 percent to more than 10 percent. In Quincy, the anticipated 8 percent savings would nearly undo a projected $3.6 million budget shortfall.

Source: The Associated Press, "Quincy ponders 4-day school weeks; Modified calendars may come to Illinois," January 21, 2003.

Table of Contents

Prior to departing from the Governor's chair, George Ryan appointed one more new member to the Illinois State Board of Education: Dean Clark, of Glen Ellyn. Clark is President of a large ink manufacturing company in Villa Park, and he was President of the Glen Ellyn C.U. Dist. 41 Board of Education from 1991 to 1998. He also was a charter member of the Illinois School Funding Advisory Board (EFAB), which supported fundamental reform of the state's school revenue and funding system. He has previously served, as well, on the board of directors for the Illinois Manufacturers' Association.

Table of Contents

---

FEDERAL UPDATE

---

In late January the U.S. Senate adopted amendments to the Fiscal Year 2003 Ominibus Appropriations bill that would increase federal education funding by $6.5 billion. One amendment would provide $5 billion for the Title V Innovative Education Program. These funds would flow through the state to local school districts for use to help defray the costs of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Another recently adopted amendment would increase IDEA funding by $1.5 billion beyond the levels proposed by House lawmakers.

Table of Contents

Just weeks before the space shuttle Columbia tragically exploded upon reentry to the Earth's atmosphere on February 1, NASA had unveiled plans to hire three to six astronauts from the ranks of the nation's teachers. The Educator Astronaut program was planned as a 21st century version of NASA's Teacher in Space program.

The Jan. 28, 1986 Challenger shuttle explosion put the Teacher in Space program on hold for more than 15 years while NASA pursued many ground-based education initiatives inspired by Challenger. But details of a new $2 million education project were announced in early January 2003 at a school in Washington, DC. It is not clear what, if any, effect the February 1 Columbia disaster will have on NASA's plans for the program. Details are available online at: http://edspace.nasa.gov/home.html.

Source: Space.com, January 22, 2003.

Table of Contents

---

NEWS FROM IASB

---

IASB's governmental relations department recently announced the hiring of former legislative aide Kevin Bell to join the Alliance lobbying staff in Springfield. Prior to joining IASB, Bell had served on the Senate President's staff at the Illinois General Assembly. He is a graduate of Iowa State University.

Table of Contents

IASB's School Board LeaderShop is a series of workshops and networking opportunities to build board members' school leadership skills that also provides a coherent path to boost school board performance and competency.

Designed for new and veteran board members looking for individual development or district improvement, workshops will be offered in two categories:

Core programs that directly relate to principles of effective school governance. These include workshops covering: school district governance overview; school law and finance; the board's role in a democracy; detecting district ends with community engagement; monitoring district performance with accountability to the community; board/superintendent roles and relationships; and effective board processes.

Elective programs that focus on additional board and board member skills to promote effective school district leadership. These include such workshop topics as: collective bargaining; Myers-Briggs personality types; communications skills; and meeting management.

Programs in both categories will be offered at regular intervals in four-year cycles coinciding with the typical four-year term of office. In addition, some programs will be offered every other year to accommodate board turnover following each biennial election, while others may be offered every year.

School board members who participate in this continuous learning and professional development program will be able to earn and maintain membership in the School Board LeaderShop Academy. This designation promotes and recognizes board members who work their way through the School Board LeaderShop curriculum.

Upcoming Leadershop events include:

Mar. 1 Collective Bargaining
Raddison, Bloomington, 8:30 am - 3:30 pm

Mar. 15 Collective Bargaining
Four Points, Sheraton, Schiller Park, 8:30am - 3:30pm

Apr. 25-26 Basics of School District Governance
Rend Lake Resort, Whittington, Fri.1:30 pm-5:00, Sat.8 am-3:30pm

Apr. 25-26 Basics of School District Governance
Indian Lakes Resort, Bloomingdale, Fri. 1:30 pm-5:00, Sat. 8am-3:30pm

May 10 Basics of School Law and Finance
The Gardens, Litchfield, 8:30 am - 3:30pm

May 10 Basics of School Law and Finance
Hyatt-Lisle, 8:30 am - 3:30pm

Please direct questions to Field Services staff or the IASB Director of Board Development.

To register or to get more information about a School Board LeaderShop event, visit the IASB Web site linked at: http://www.iasb.com/calendar/calendar.cfm.

Table of Contents

IASB annually recognizes people, agencies, corporations or non-governmental organizations whose actions have contributed to excellence in education for Illinois children. Recognition is provided through the Harold P. Seamon Award for Distinguished Service to public education. Nominations are being sought for this prestigious award.

Recipients must have done one or more of the following: 1) displayed exceptional service and commitment to public education in Illinois; 2) provided innovative and creative approaches to meeting the challenges facing public education; or 3) enhanced local, lay control of, and responsibility for, the governance of public education by school boards.

The activity for which the nomination is made should extend statewide or have an impact on a large region of the state -- not just a district-wide impact. Only one such award may be given annually. The deadline to submit nominations is April 15. Outstanding nominees are sought from all walks of life - not just from the realm of professional education. The award is presented at a general session of the annual conference in November.

IASB Honorary Memberships for Exceptional Service are awarded to people who have rendered distinguished service to the Association or to public education generally. These contributions may be district-wide or regional. Up to three awards may be given each year. They are presented at regional meetings.

Submit a brief letter of nomination for either award to the awards committee liaison. Deadline for submissions is April 15 for both awards. Current school board members and IASB staff are not eligible to receive IASB awards.

In addition, IASB offers the IASB Service Award to an individual who: 1) has given 25 years of service (not necessarily continuous) to schools and children; 2) has had a positive impact through that service; and 3) has had a close affiliation with and been of direct service to schools, either as an employee or volunteer.

Service Awards are issued to as many people as meet the requirements to receive them. They are presented at regional meetings. There is no deadline for submission of names.

Submit nominations to: IASB Awards Committee Liaison, 2921 Baker Drive, Springfield, IL 62703-5929, phone IASB, ext. 1139, fax 217/753-2485.

Table of Contents

Below is an updated list of IASB spring dinner meetings, some of which could not be included in the January Newsbulletin. More information about these meetings is available online from the IASB Web site linked at: http://www.iasb.com/calendar/

Mar. 4 -- Abe Lincoln Division -- Chester-E.L. CC 61

Mar. 4 -- Corn Belt Division -- Tri-Valley CU 3

Mar. 4 -- Egyptian Division -- Woodlawn CC 4

Mar. 5 -- Central Illinois Valley Division -- Illini Bluffs CU 327

Mar. 6 -- Northwest Division -- Forrestville V. CU 22

Mar. 6 -- Two Rivers Division -- Scott-Morgan CU 2

Mar. 6 -- Shawnee Division -- Eldorado CU 4

Mar. 11 -- Wabash Division -- Neoga CU 3

Mar. 12 -- DuPage Division -- West Chicago 33

Mar. 12 -- Lake Division -- Lake Villa Dist. 41

Mar. 12 -- Kaskaskia Division -- Salem CHSD 600

Mar. 13 -- Western Division -- Abingdon 217 High School

Mar. 27 -- Southwestern Division -- Madison CU 12

Mar. 27 -- Blackhawk Division -- Erie CU 1

Apr. 30 -- South/West Cook Division -- Radisson Hotel, Alsip

Apr. 30 -- Kishwaukee Division -- South Beloit CU 320

Table of Contents

---

THE NATIONAL SCENE

---

Public schools in the U.S. are sliding back into racial segregation, with schools in New York, Michigan and Illinois being among the most segregated, says a study by The Civil Rights Project, located at Harvard University.

A nationwide breakdown of 2000-2001 school year enrollments found black and Hispanic students increasingly are attending schools where most students are minorities. Likewise, whites are increasingly likely to go to schools where whites are in the majority.

"Martin Luther King's dream is being honored in theory and dishonored in the decisions and practices that are turning our schools back to segregation," according to professor Gary Orfield, co-director of The Civil Rights Project.

The resegregation of public schools has gone fastest in the South, where integration of schools had proceeded the fastest in the 1960's and 1970's, the study found

Illinois has among the most segregated schools for black and Hispanic students, according to the report by The Civil Rights Project.

The report--A Multiracial Society with Segregated Schools; Are We Losing the Dream?--found the average white student in America attends a school where 80 percent of his or her classmates are also white. (For details on the same topic see "Resegregation: Is the clock ticking backward?" in the January/February 2003 issue of The Illinois School Board Journal.)

Source: The Associate Press, "U.S. Schools Resegregating, Study Says," January 21, 2003.

Table of Contents

---

DEVELOPMENTS IN SCHOOL LAW

---

Some lawsuits involve significant interests or legal issues worthy of schools' energy and resources. Unfortunately, others arise out of mischief or misdeeds and are just money pits. Every school official wants to avoid these lawsuits, but finding the time to give serious thought to it may be difficult. A shortcut is to read how typical cases arose and apply independent thinking to how they could have been avoided.

Avoiding lawsuits arising out of mischief or misdeeds may be as simple as avoiding mischief and misdeeds. This is a centuries-old pursuit, in fact we can look all the way back to George Washington for assistance. The Library of Congress harbors two manuscripts containing George Washington's school exercises¹. One contains 110 "Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation." Washington apparently copied these precepts as a penmanship exercise.

Had the parties in the following cases abided by the cited Rule, a lawsuit might have been avoided.

Sometimes community members engage in mischief. In a recent California case, one citizen's mischief was fueled by frustration at the school board's lack of action². The citizen had complained at two open board meetings about littering by high school students. He brought a bag to a third board meeting containing student garbage picked-up in his neighborhood. At a fourth meeting, he brought five bags and, while at the microphone during public comments, he dumped their contents on the floor. The board adjourned, summoned police, and had the citizen arrested for disturbing a public meeting. He was never charged with a crime.

The citizen sued the board for false arrest - he claimed that dumping the trash was constitutionally protected First Amendment free speech. The court disagreed, acknowledging that while some audience activities may be protected, his action was not deserving of protection.

Undoubtedly the citizen violated the first Rule in Washington's notebook. Did school officials also violate the Rule, however, by not respecting that citizen? Consider how school officials in similar situations can defuse apparent anger and frustration by respecting a citizen's complaint, by conducting an investigation, for example, or creating a citizen's committee, or notifying the police.

Sometimes a supervisor engages in mischief, as a recent Illinois case illustrates³. A facilities director at a community college charged his supervisor and the board with battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The director testified that his supervisor physically or verbally abused him about 100 times in a five-year period. The supervisor frequently kicked him beneath the table during meetings, screamed at him, and called him profane names. The director repeatedly reported the abuse to each board member and to the college president.

The Tort Claims Act provided immunity to the board of college trustees. Had an amendment to the Act adding a willful and wanton exception been applied retroactively, the result may have been different. The court affirmed the jury's $600,000 award against the supervisor because battery was beyond the immunity provision's scope.

The supervisor clearly violated the 45th Rule in George Washington's notebook by reprimanding the facilities director in public in a manner far from "sweetness or mildness." The college board, while not legally culpable, knew about the supervisor's misdeeds. By failing to stop the harassment, the college board also violated the 45th Rule. Second-guessing here, it appears there were many opportunities to avert this lawsuit.

Sometimes a school board engages in misdeeds by simply being hasty. A long-time career education supervisor for a Texas school district was awarded $215,894 for the wrongful termination of his contract⁴. The board notified the employee that he was being considered for discharge for: (1) sexually harassing female subordinates; (2) using district resources for personal benefit; (3) impeding the district's investigation of his behavior; and (4) falsifying asbestos records. The employee's request for a hearing was denied on the mistaken belief that the request was untimely. The board's deliberate choice to discharge the employee without a hearing was an unconstitutional deprivation of his property right.

The allegations against the employee were serious and the board's interest in removing the employee was understandable. However, had the board followed the 50th Rule, it would have proceeded more cautiously. The employee's contract was property protected by the Due Process Clause. Before an employee can be deprived of property, the district must provide procedural due process, including a hearing. Not even serious charges of impropriety will justify hasty action that violates an employee's rights. Hasty action invites misdeeds that lead to being sued.

Sometimes a student's mischief leads to a lawsuit when the school fails to protect him⁵. A student violated the 3rd Rule by allowing a friend to take a picture of him urinating. The picture was published two years later in the school's yearbook. The student alleged that the school denied him his right to privacy under the Fourth Amendment by publishing the picture. The Constitutional right to privacy is implicated when an interest is highly personal and private. The picture qualified. The Court refused to dismiss the student's lawsuit against the district, principal, and yearbook sponsor.

How might have this lawsuit been avoided? We do not have the facts regarding the district's response when the picture was discovered. One wonders, however, whether a compassionate response might have mattered. Prevention is optimal, but when accidents happen, defensiveness and aggressiveness may backfire. When someone else violates a civility rule, kindness is called for. And that is Rule 23: Show pity to the suffering offender.

^1. "Washington's School Exercises: Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour In Company and Conversation," http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/civility/index.html .
^2. McMahon v. Albany United School Dist., A093980 (Cal.App.4th 12-31-2002).
^3. Vallentino v. Hilquist, No. 1-01-2407 (Ill.App. 1-24-03).
^4. Coggin v. Longview Indep. School Dist., 289 F.3d 326 (5th Cir. 2002).
^5. Granger v. Klein, 197 F.Supp.2d 851 (S.D.Cal. 2002).

Table of Contents

---

RESEARCH REPORTS

---

A recent national Quality Counts 2003 report examined what states are doing in education, and for the second year in a row gave Illinois an "F" on equitable distribution of resources and a "C+" for adequacy of educational resources. Scores on equity were based on the percent of taxable resources spent on education by the states, while adequacy was judged on each state's per pupil spending as a percentage of the U.S. average, adjusted for regional cost differences, and student needs. The seventh annual supplement to Education Week offers state-by-state comparisons of education quality.Source: Education Week, "Quality Counts 2003: Building Blocks for Success," January 2003.

Table of Contents

The U.S. Census Bureau reports Hispanics are fast becoming America's largest minority group, according to 2000 census figures released January 21.

The latest population figures--based mainly on birth and death records--are the first such estimates the census bureau has released since the 10-year census was taken in April 2000.

The count of those who said they were Hispanic rose to 37.6 million from April 2000 to July 2001, a 4.7 percent increase. The black population increased by just 1.7 percent, to 37.7 million.

Source: Chicago Sun-Times, "Hispanics next major minority," January 22, 2003.

Table of Contents

IASB ARCHIVES HOME

Illinois Association of School Boards

2921 Baker Drive
Springfield, Illinois 62703