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School Board News Bulletin
March 2002

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Schools lose under Governor's '02 budget

FRN delegates from Illinois lobby Congress for schools, oppose tax credits

Tax hikes, bond issues top March 19 primary ballot

ISBE's Those Who Excel Award winners to be presented honors April 13

Ruling may limit local board voting to items on agenda

High Court ruling on peer grading supports local control

Deadline nears for providing notice of non-renewal

State report paints grim picture of teacher qualifications

IASB Directors tour Chicago schools on city’s southwest side

TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

Education issues summarized in new guidebook for all educators

More Web sites striving toward violence prevention share ideas

WORKSHOPS AND MEETINGS

IASA conference is May 8-10

NEWS FROM IASB

IASB announces changes in 2002 Conference procedures

WHAT'S NEW ON IASB'S WEB SITE

NEWS HEADLINES

RESEARCH REPORTS

School failure linked to crime

Violent crime in schools down

Public schools safer than homes

FEDERAL UPDATE

Internet filters required on all school computers by July 2002

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS

Schools lose under Governor's '02 budget

Plan shifts funds from grants to direct state aid, but total amount cut

Governor George Ryan announced a plan February 18 to reallocate $500 million in state funding for schools from ISBE-administered grant programs to more direct assistance to local school districts via general state aid. Ryan said he devised the proposal in response to the hard economic times facing the state, with state government's budget cuts now expected to total up to $500 million.

The proposal would shift school funding now distributed through about 20 different state grants and redirect those funds into the state aid distribution formula. Many school districts get little or no state aid distribution, but do benefit from the categorical grant programs that would be cut under the governor's proposal.

What is more, categorical grants had already undergone significant cuts last year, including a $35.6 million cut last year in the school safety and educational improvement block grant. The legislature also "zeroed out" the professional development block grant last year, taking its entire $24.3 million and putting it into general state aid and poverty grants.

The state categorical grant programs the governor wants to phase out are:

• ADA Block Grant
• Gifted Education
• School Breakfast Incentive Program
• Certificate Renewal Administrative Payment
• Professional Development
• Mathematics Statewide
• Reading Improvement Block
• Scientific Literacy
• Reading Improvement Statewide
• Early Childhood Education
• Alternative Learning
• Bilingual Education
• Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention
• Summer Bridges
• Truant/Dropout/Optional Education
• Technology for Success
• Agriculture Education
• Career Awareness & Development
• Middle Level Education
• Vocational Education Staff Development

When ISBE released the first printout examining the proposed formula February 27, many observers were dismayed. Although the foundation level was increased to $4,977, the overall appropriation would total less than school districts received last year. Statewide, the proposed formula would result in a net loss to school districts of $76.4 million.

The ISBE cautioned that these initial numbers are estimated and that the printout numbers will likely change significantly. The categorical program figures were estimates based on previous years, and final data for Equalized Assessed Value and Average Daily Attendance are not yet available. The entire 79-page printout can be accessed on the ISBE Web site at: ftp://ftp.isbe.net/public/gsa/gsa03.pdf.

School districts in Cook County outside of Chicago would lose over $12 million; school districts in all counties outside of Cook and the six "collar counties" would lose over $46 million; the school districts in the collar counties would see an increase of $32 million.

Chicago District 299 was projected to lose more than $38 million under the suggested funding shift, causing Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley to vow he would go to Springfield to lobby against the proposal: "If you cut all your funding by 5 percent then say, 'We're gonna give you X-amount of money' but it's never gonna get back to where it was, it's still a cut," said Daley.

According to the Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance, the biggest winners under the plan are larger school districts with increasing enrollments - districts that are highly dependent on state aid and do not rely on hold harmless payments. Districts that rely mainly on the categorical grant programs for state money, on the other hand, would be hurt by the change.

"The most chilling aspect of this printout may be that the appropriation for public education is less than last year," an Alliance report said. Given that the governor's budget presentation "suggested education was the 'big winner,' this was unexpected," the report added.

The governor's proposal would boost state expenditures from the present $4,560 per pupil to $4,977 per pupil. Since 1999, that foundation level has increase by $335 per pupil.

In addition to his new funding proposal, Ryan also vowed to continue to earmark 51 percent of all new state revenue for education. The governor's remarks came during a preview of his education agenda at a visit to an elementary school in Decatur. By executive order he also announced a plan to help ensure that Illinois is meeting the Bush administration's priorities in the "No Child Left Behind" education reform act.

Sources: Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance, Alliance Legislative Report 92-44, February 28, 2002; ISBE Web site; Chicago Tribune, "No red-tape plan for school grants," February 19, 2002.

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Illinois school board members from 13 local boards recently attended two days of briefings on federal education issues and then spent a day lobbying Congress. The 2002 Federal Relations Network Conference, February 3-5, was sponsored by the National School Boards Association and participants said it was again a great success.

Illinois board members who attended under the auspices of IASB were:

• Michael McMurray (Hazel Crest District 152.5)
• Dennis McConville, IASB Past President (Dimmick C.C. Dist. 175, LaSalle)
• Anne Marzullo (East Main District 63, Des Plaines)
• Mike Kelly (Plainfield C.C. District 202)
• John Moss (Glenbard Township H.S. District 87, Glen Ellyn)
• Christy Coleman, IASB President (Geneseo C.U. District 228)
• Barb Newmark (Aptakisic-Tripp C.C. District 102, Buffalo Grove)
• Donna Gayden (Hazel Crest District 152.5)
• Fredi Beth Schmutte ( Aptakisic-Tripp C.C. District 102, Buffalo Grove)
• Gary Friedlander (Aptakisic-Tripp C.C. District 102, Buffalo Grove)
• Donald Nesbit (Harvey C.U. District 152)
• Ray Zimmerman, IASB Vice President (Flanagan C.U. District 4)
• Victoria Eggerstedt (Plainfield C.C. District 202)

The FRN members visited congressional offices February 5 to discuss funding for special education, the implementation of President Bush's recently enacted education bill, and their opposition to a new proposal for an income tax credit for private school tuition.

The Illinois FRN members met as a delegation with Senator Richard Durbin and with the staff of Senator Peter Fitzgerald. Several FRN delegates also met with a member of House Speaker Dennis Hastert's education staff.

Source: Ben Schwarm, IASB governmental relations director.

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A total of 114 finance questions appeared on the March ballot, including 53 tax propositions, and 61 bond issues. Of the 53 tax propositions, seven were operations and maintenance fund increase proposals, and 46 were education fund increase proposals. No transportation fund tax increases were sought.

Of the 61 bond issues placed before voters, all but two were seeking approval for building bonds. The exceptions were Fairmont District 89, Lockport, which sought to issue $412,000 in funding bonds, and Rockford District 205, which asked for $23.5 million in bonding authority to settle litigation regarding tax objections, including making payments of refunds to tax objectors.

School bond proposals on the March 19 ballot ranged in size from $159.9 million in Plainfield C.C. District 202 to $412,000 in nearby Fairmont District 89, Lockport, both located in Will County. Tax rate percentage increases ranged from a high 1 percent proposed in Springfield District 186, and in Cambridge C.U. District 227, to a low of .05 percent in St. Joseph C.C. District 169.

The largest bond issues other than Plainfield's called for proposed new debt of:

• $143.2 million in Valley View C.U. District 365U, Romeoville
• $55 million in DeKalb C.U. District 428
• $45 million in Lake Park CHSD 108, Roselle
• $43 million in St. Charles C.U. District 303

Two miscellaneous proposals appeared on the ballot, one to increase the number of school directors from three to seven in Damiansville Elementary District 62, and another to seek voter input on building a new school in Elementary District 159, Matteson. There was one advisory referendum, as well, which asked voters about adopting core knowledge as the primary course of study in grades K-8 for Grayslake C.C. District 46.

Voters also decided the fate of two plans to increase the extension limitation under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL) for the 2001 levy year. These proposals were put before voters in Newark C.C. District 66, and Salt Creek District 48, Villa Park.

A summary of election results will be reported in the April Illinois School Board Newsbulletin.

Source: Illinois State Board of Elections, Web site search, February 19, 2002.

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Nominations are now set for ISBE's Those Who Excel Awards for individuals and groups that have made outstanding contributions to education. The annual awards were not made last year and their timing was moved up in the calendar from the fall to the spring. Also, the deadline for submitting nominations was moved up from July to February. This year, 10 Illinois school board members have been nominated for the honors. Awards will be presented April 13, and an announcement of winners was to be mailed by March 1, according to ISBE. To check whether your nomination was received or to learn about the awards ceremony, call ISBE's communications and external relations office at 217/524-7618.

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A January 24 state appellate court ruling may bar school boards from voting on matters that don't appear on their published board agendas, school attorneys report. The court ruling on the matter came in an Illinois Open Meetings Act case, Rice v. Board of Trustees of Adams Co., which did not even deal with schools or school boards.

Nevertheless, the ruling applies to boards and a draft of the Policy Reference Education Subscription Service (PRESS) - IASB's legally referenced policy update service - suggests school boards located "in the Fourth District [of the Illinois Appellate Court] should limit board action to published agenda topics." The PRESS update adds that other districts may want to follow suit: "Your district's lawyer can provide guidance."

The Fourth District includes the following Illinois counties: Adams, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Champaign, Clark, Coles, Cumberland, DeWitt, Douglas, Edgar, Ford, Greene, Jersey, Livingston, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Mason, McLean, Menard, Morgan, Moultrie, Piatt, Pike, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott, Vermilion, and Woodford.

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High Court ruling on peer grading supports local control
Narrow ruling on student records and privacy questioned by IPA law counsel

The U.S. Supreme Court announced a decision February 19 that upholds the power of school districts to let students grade each other's academic work.

The High Court ruling came in the case of Owasso Independent School District v. Falvo. At question was the widespread practice of peer grading and whether it violates the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). An amicus brief from the National School Boards Association (NSBA) to the Court said federal law should have no role in this local classroom method, and that peer grading results are not a "record" maintained by the school district, and no privacy rights are violated in the process. The U.S. Justice Department sided with the school district as well.

"As a policy matter, this ruling leaves discretion where it belongs, at the local level and within local control," said NSBA Executive Director Anne Bryant.

But not everyone was as enthused about the decision. "Our position has long been that peer grading is not a good practice," prefaced Brian Schwartz, general counsel with the Illinois Principals Association (IPA). Schwartz said the Falvo decision, while favorable to school leaders, was too narrowly drawn, limited as it was to instances where students grade one another's papers.

"I am disappointed and I would have liked to have seen a broader decision on the whole area of student grades and student records," Schwartz stated.

But that broader area - which includes interpreting the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) - is likely to be defined through a related case, known as Gonzaga University v. Doe, now being argued before the Court. A ruling on Gonzaga is expected before July 4, when the High Court's current term expires, and should clarify whether FERPA grants a private right to sue schools.

In its Falvo decision, the Supreme Court emphasized that a finding for Falvo would have altered the existing allocation of responsibilities between state and federal governments in operating schools.

"This opinion is clearly based on a common-sense reading of the statute," said Julie Underwood, NSBA General Counsel. "A contrary ruling could have been fraught with problems and would have turned a widely used practice into a legal nightmare."

The Falvo ruling supports Position 6.01 of IASB in favor of local control of schools. Position 6.01 calls on the "federal courts to refrain from introducing, supporting or promulgating rules…which deprive local school districts of decision-making powers or matters in which there is not a clear and compelling state or national interest."

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School districts are required by law to serve written notice 45 days before the end of the school term upon probationary teachers not being reemployed for the following school term. Notice is require 60 days before the end of the school term for any tenured teacher being honorably discharged because of a reduction-in-force (RIF) or the discontinuation of a program.

Notice must be given directly and mailed to the teacher, either by certified mail, return receipt requested, or personal delivery with receipt, along with a statement of honorable dismissal and the reason for the dismissal. Under some circumstances these provisions also apply to the dismissal of an administrator. Any employee not properly notified is deemed reemployed for the following year.

Note: Often collective bargaining agreements, policies or evaluation plans have different notice requirements from those required by statute, therefore school district employers must be careful to meet all relevant notice requirements.

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A report on improving the state's teaching workforce, prepared by the Illinois legislature's Joint Education Committee found major gaps in current teacher qualifications. The report, commissioned by an Illinois House resolution, found:

• Only 33 percent of math teachers and 25 percent of English teachers hold a college major or minor in their subject area.
• 40 percent of Illinois teachers did not take teacher preparation courses in college.
• 70 percent of under-qualified teachers are employed in schools containing the highest proportions of "at-risk" students.
• 15 percent of all new teachers in the state's public schools were not certified to teach.

For a copy of the report visit the Web site at: www.isbe.state.il.us/summit/pdf/unified%20final.pdf.

Source: Improving Illinois' Education Workforce, Joint Education Committee, January, 2002.

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On February 22 a Chicago school bus carried members of the Board of Directors and staff of the Illinois Association of School Boards on a whirlwind tour of Chicago District 299 schools. The board members visited Gordon S. Hubbard High School and Sandoval Elementary School, both located on the city's near southwest side in the West Lawn and Gages Park neighborhoods, respectively.

Members of the IASB Board in attendance were: Joseph Alesandrini, Lowell Beggs, Gary Carter, Christy Coleman, (IASB President), Roger Edgecombe, John Heidler, Cheryl Jackson, David Kniker, Dennis McConville (Immediate Past President), Mark Metzger, Jack Moore, Roger Pfister, Frances Roll, Michelle Skinlo, Barbara Somogyi, and Milton Koppenhoeffer.

Accompanied by 12 IASB staff, association directors were given a guided tour by representatives of the school district central office, and school principals Andrew Manno of Hubbard, and Anna Garcia Berlanga of Sandoval. IASB board members reported being most impressed by the quality of the programs, students and staff at the two schools.

IASB wishes to thank the school board of Chicago District 299 for its cooperation and hospitality in organizing the tour.

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TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

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Significant rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court on education, and basic information about rural schools, block scheduling, and myriad other subjects are examined in the updated guidebook Covering the Education Beat, published by the Education Writers Association (EWA). Designed for journalists, this exhaustive resource may also be useful to anyone in the field of education who works with the news media. For more information, contact Margaret Ritsch of EWA, 202/452-9830 or order online for $60 at http://www.ewa.org/offers/publications/.

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Many schools across the nation are struggling to find and share solutions to the rare but unsettling problem of school violence. A number of reputable organizations' Web sites offer descriptions of successful programs and strategies employed by school and community leaders to prevent violence. In addition to the sites listed in the February Newsbulletin, the following Web sites offer valuable information:

• www.center-school.org/viol_prev/index.html
• www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/dvp.htm
• http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/OSEP/Products/earlywrn.html
• www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash/violence/index.htm
• eric-web.tc.Columbia.edu/digests/dig132.html
• www.samhsa.gov/csap/index.htm

Source: IASB Resource Center, February 2002.

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WORKSHOPS AND MEETINGS

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"Building Futures: One Child at a Time" is the theme of the 2002 Annual Conference of the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA), scheduled May 8-10 at the Springfield Hilton and Springfield Renaissance hotels. A brief summary of the conference program is available online at http://www.iasaedu.org/conferences/conf.htm.

For information about the conference, which annually draws more than 600 school administrators, contact IASA by phone at 217/787-9306 or e-mail tduknoski@iasaedu.org.

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NEWS FROM IASB

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To reduce the expense of hotel cancellations, and other procedures associated with late registrations or last-minute changes, IASB has announced new guidelines for the Joint Annual Conference in 2002.

In order to secure and retain an adequate number of hotel rooms at reduced group rates, hotel room deposits will be nonrefundable once rooms are placed with a Conference block hotel.

Deposits are fully refundable, but only if districts refuse their hotel assignments before the deadline. Notification must be received by fax or in writing at the IASB no later than five working days following assigned hotel notification being made to the district superintendent, according to Patricia Culler, Meetings Management Director. If registrants do not want the placed hotel, the district superintendent has five working days to respond, by fax or in writing to IASB Meetings Management, declining the placement.

"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 at preferred rates to cover all requests," she said.

Last year, the cancellation rate at the Hyatt Regency was 16.5 percent; 35.3 percent at the Sheraton, and as high as 72 percent at other downtown hotels.

For the past four years, 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, Culler said a number of districts have canceled their assigned housing just before conference, leaving hotels with empty rooms that cannot be resold at the last minute.

"Even though hotels know school districts have limited budgets and are willing to offer IASB lower room rates, they expect a stable revenue stream," she said. "When late cancellations reduce their revenue, they cannot continue to commit the same number of rooms at the rates the Association has been enjoying. Thus, the change in deposit procedure has become necessary."

Room rates and hotels for the 2002 Conference will be announced with the mailing of the Conference packets to district superintendents June 1. Culler anticipates about 5,700 rooms will be available at group rates at 15 Chicago hotels.

"IASB appreciates the cooperation of everyone in this effort to serve all of our member school districts as well as possible," she added.

Other changes in Conference procedures involve registration fees and badges.

Registration will cost $260 per person if submitted to IASB by 4 p.m., October 18. After the deadline, registration will only be completed onsite, and the fee will be $285 per person.

Registration still will be complimentary for family members (the spouse and children only) of paid registrants. Pre-conference registrants are asked to list all such family members who may be joining them in order to ensure that a sufficient number of badges will be mailed. Other guests may be registered onsite for $25 each.

Badges will be issued in the mail prior to the Conference in November. However, badge name substitutions that are made onsite will be charged $25 per name change, when accompanied by the badge of the individual who is being replaced. Without the original badge, the full onsite registration fee of $285 will apply.

Badge name substitutions made before Oct. 18 will not be charged a late fee.

Questions concerning registration procedures for Conference should be directed to Meetings Management, ext. 1115 or 1102.

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IASB has joined the Illinois Association of School Administrators and the Illinois Principals Association to offer the Audio Journal, a monthly executive briefing on the latest trends and issues in education, management and leadership.

The above announcement appears on IASB's Web site (look for the heading "Audio Journal," under "What's New?" at the top of the home page) at http://www.iasb.com.

To learn how to subscribe to the Audio Journal, visit the Web site located at http://www.audioed-online.com, or telephone 1/800-824-4804. Audio Journal is available on CD-ROM, audiocassettes or streaming audio.

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The Elementary and Secondary Education Committee of the Illinois House rejected legislation February 6 forbidding teachers from recommending Ritalin for students. Panel members agreed that Ritalin is over-prescribed and problematic, but some lawmakers said teachers are able to distinguish symptoms that call for use of the prescription drug (February 7, Daily Herald) . . . Illinois bureaucrats are advising the state to create a finance authority with broad powers designated expressly to remedy the financial troubles that have plagued Round Lake Area District 116 for the past ten years. The recommendation, announced in late January, came from the state financial oversight panel that manages district funds. The proposal would require legislative approval during the spring session, however, and the District 116 board of education wants to save local control by heading off such drastic action. Hope hinges on the board's recent decision to ask local voters at the March primary to approve a debt limit increase in order to permit borrowing an additional $24 million (January 28, Daily Herald) … In a typical year an estimated one million students make the trip to Washington, DC, but it is becoming far less commonplace since September 11. This school year more than 25 percent of American school districts have banned student travel to Washington (February 11, The Los Angeles Times) ... An extremely generous Florida voucher bill, designed to award vouchers to any pupil who wants to go to private school at public expense, has sailed through committee and on to the house floor in the Florida legislature. Known as the "No Strings Attached Act," it would grant districts much greater authority in spending state funds in exchange for participating in the voucher program (St. Petersburg Times, February 15, 2002).

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RESEARCH REPORTS

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Failure in school is one of the first predictors of criminal behavior, according to a study conducted by the Coalition for Juvenile Justice in Washington, DC. The report, Abandoned in the Back Row: New Lessons in Education and Delinquency Prevention, recommends parents get more involved in their children's schools and educators find ways to assist students who don't perform satisfactorily in traditional classrooms. The report is available online at http://www.juvjustice.org.

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A recent joint report by the federal Justice and Education departments found a 33 percent decline over a seven year span in the number of students who reported becoming victims of violent crime in schools. The report found violent crimes against students ages 12 to 18 plummeted from 48 crimes per 1,000 students in 1992 to 33 per 1,000 in 1999. For a copy of the report, "Indicators of School Crime and Safety, 2001," phone 877/4ED-PUBS, or visit the Web site at http:www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/iscs01.htm.

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Shootings have occurred in less than one-hundredth of one percent of American schools, and public schools apparently are safer than American homes, according to a new national survey on lethal violence in U.S. schools. A key finding from Lethal Violence in Schools: A National Study is that revenge is the main motive for most school shootings, according to 87 percent of student respondents. The report is available on the Web site at: www.alfred.edu/teenviolence and can be obtained via e-mail at news@alfred.edu.

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FEDERAL UPDATE

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Federal law requires schools that use federal money to cover the cost of Internet connections or services to place Internet filtering devices in service on school computers by July 2002. While such filtering devices can be expensive - tens of thousands of dollars in many cases - schools may risk the loss of federal funding if they don't comply.

The Children' Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was adopted two years ago as part of a Clinton administration education funding plan. Since then, all but 26 percent of the nation's school districts have installed Internet filters, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

For information about seeking a filtering device, phone the Learning Technology Hub for your school district or ISBE at 312/814-3228.

Source: Education Week, "Internet filtering is balancing act for many schools," January 16, 2002.

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BID NOTICE: Bond County C.U. District 2 will be receiving sealed bids for two modular classroom facilities located at 513 Beaumont Avenue, Greenville. Interested parties who wish to inspect the buildings should direct all contact to: Administrative Center, Bond County C.U. District 2, 1008 N. Hena St., Greenville, IL 62246; phone 618/664-0170.

The offering for public bid includes two separate classroom buildings with two bathrooms in each. The buildings have their own heating and air conditioning units with adjoining handicapped-accessible deck. The buildings make ideal classrooms and office or storage facilities and are in excellent condition. Each unit measures 24' x 68' and is licensed by the state for student occupancy.

The successful bidder is responsible for all relocation costs and removal of the building from school district property no later than June 30, 2002.

Bids must be received at the administrative center listed above no later than the Wednesday, March 27, 1 p.m. bid opening. The district reserves the right to accept or reject any and all bids at a Board of Education meeting to be announced following the bid opening.

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IASB ARCHIVES HOME

Illinois Association of School Boards

2921 Baker Drive
Springfield, Illinois 62703