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School Board News Bulletin
April 2002

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Voters OK 27 of 54 tax referenda, 43 of 60 bond issues

Different administrative re-certification proposals pushed; Showdown looms in Senate committee

Five school districts added to financial watch list

Supreme Court to consider case on expanding drug tests

NEWS HEADLINES

WHAT'S NEW ON IASB'S WEB SITE

DEVELOPMENTS IN SCHOOL LAW

NEWS FROM IASB

IASB member boards asked to submit policy-making resolutions

Joint Annual Conference information to be mailed out in June

Tech 2002 / AT&T school technology demonstrations set

STATE BOARD UPDATE

Board members win Those Who Excel Awards for 2002

Federal ESEA reauthorization law timeline unveiled, posted online

TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

Education issues summarized in new guidebook for all educators

RESEARCH REPORTS

Public Agenda report yields mixed bag on standards, tests

Shortage of minority teachers serious, deepening: Study

ILLINOIS SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Lincolnshire, Palos Park districts win national honors

Districts need strong voice to carry message of change: Change expert

LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS

House floats budget counter-proposal with same bottom line

RECENT MAILINGS FROM IASB

Voters OK 27 of 54 tax referenda, 43 of 60 bond issues

Unofficial results indicate voters approved half (27 of 54) of the school tax increases on the March 19 primary ballot, including 24 of 48 education fund propositions and three of six operations and maintenance fund propositions. The 50 percent success rate is well above par for tax referenda since November 1989; a 35 percent success rate is typical.

The total number of tax propositions adopted was much better than average. Since 1989 an average of 13 tax questions have been adopted at school finance elections, with a high of 32 in November 1989. Again, this primary election saw 27 tax increases approved, the highest number of tax questions approved since March 1992, when 28 were approved.

The largest tax question approved was in Cambridge C.U. District 227, in Henry County, where a tax increase of $1 per $100 of assessed valuation was given a green light by a vote of 713-320. The second-largest tax increase approved was in Lake Zurich C.U. District 95, in Lake County, where the increase was 95 cents per $100.

Voters also approved tax increase proposals to support the education fund in: Kenilworth District 38; Hoover-Schrum District 157, Calument City (which also passed a building bond issue); Rhodes District 84-5, River Grove; Oak Park-River Forest District 200; Leroy C.U. District 2 (which passed both an education fund and an operations fund tax increase, and a building bond issue); Bensenville District 2; Naperville C.U. District 203; Central C.U. District 301, Burlington; Prairie Grove District 46, Crystal Lake; Beach Park C.C. District 3; Zion District 6; Waukegan C.U. District 60; Fremont District 79, Mundelein; Antioch Community High School District 117; Wauconda C.U. District 118; Adlai E. Stevenson High School District 125, Lincolnshire; Zion-Benton Township High School District 126; Barrington C.U. District 220; Braceville District 75; Yorkville C.U. District 115; Homer C.C. District 33C, Lockport; and Milne-Kelvin Grove District 91, Lockport.

In addition to the operations fund success in LeRoy C.U. District 2, both Amboy C.U. District 272, and St. Joseph C.C. District 169 passed operations fund tax increases. The St. Joseph district also passed a $5 million building bond issue.

As usual, bond referenda proved more likely to succeed than tax questions, with 43 of 60 bond proposals (72 percent) winning adoption, including 41 of 58 building bond questions (71 percent). Voters also passed the only working cash proposal, as well as the only alternative revenue bond proposal, on the ballot.

The success rate for bond propositions was on par with the March primary of two years ago, when 72 percent of bond proposals were adopted as well. Results were also in line with typical results for bond propositions in recent years -- several recent elections have produced success rates in the same range, including March 1994 (70 percent), March 1998 (72 percent), and March 2000 (72 percent).

Even better results, however, were achieved for bond questions at recent November general elections in even-numbered years. Success rates in the November 1998 and November 2000 elections were 80 percent, and 83 percent, respectively.

Of the 60 bond issues on the ballot this March, all but two involved building bonds. The exceptions were Fairmont District 89, Lockport, in Will County, 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. Both propositions were adopted, the latter by a relatively narrow margin, 17,509-16,976.

Among the big-ticket winners with the successful bond propositions were Plainfield C.C. District 202, in Will County, which passed a $159.9 million building bond proposition; and St. Charles C.U. District 303, in Kane County, which approved bonding authority for a $43 million building plan.

Building bond referendum winners also included: Argenta-Oreana C.U. District 1; Athens C.U. District 213; Rochester C.U. District 3A; Stewardson-Strasburg C.U. District 5A; Washington District 52; Rankin Elementary District 98; Skokie District 69; Chicago Ridge District 127.5; Calumet City District 155; Forest Ridge District 142, Oak Forest; Hoover-Schrum District 157, Calument City; Sandridge District 172, Chicago Heights; Leroy C.U. District 2; Winfield District 34; Lake Park High School District 108, Roselle; DuQuoin C.U. District 300; St. Joseph C.C. District 169 (which also passed an operations fund tax increase); and Selmaville C.C. District 10, Salem.

Other building bond winners: Centralia High School District 200; Hinckley-Big Rock C.U. District 429; Kaneland C.U. District 302, Maple Park; Grayslake High School District 127; Cairo District 1; Crab Orchard C.U. District 3; Alton C.U. District 11; Shiloh Village District 85; O'Fallon C.C. District 90; Minooka C.C. District 201; Bourbonnais District 53; St. George C.C. District 258, Bourbonnais; Yorkville C.U. District 115; Joliet District 86; Richland District 88A, Crest Hill; Valley View C.U. District 365U, Romeoville; Carrollton C.U. District 1; Hutsonville C.U. District 1; Palestine C.U. District 3; and Red Hill C.U. District 10, Bridgeport.

In addition, voters in Community Unit District 300, Carpentersville, adopted the lone working cash fund bond proposal on the ballot, a $35 million proposition.

Besides tax and bond questions, a few other school-related questions appeared on the March 19 ballot, including a proposal adopted by voters in Damiansville District 62 to shift from a three- to a seven-member school board. DuQuoin municipality voters approved an additional ½ of 1 percent local sales tax in order to assist DuQuoin C.U. District 300 in the construction of a new high school.

Cook County voters said yes to two advisory referendums about building new schools. The question in Elementary District 159, Matteson, was whether to build one new school; and in Ridgeland District 122, Oak Lawn, the question was whether to use existing funds for the construction of one building and the renovation of three others.

No school district consolidation proposals appeared on the primary ballot. Nor were voters asked to impose Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL) tax caps in any county. Voters in Ogle County, however, did adopt a proposal to place a binding referendum question on the November 5 general election ballot to seek PTELL tax caps. Elsewhere, voters rejected attempts to permanently increase PTELL debt service extension limitations, both countywide in Williamson County, and district-wide in Newark C.C. Grade School District 66 in Kendall County.

In addition, two school board members were elected in Peoria District 150.

Source: Illinois Association of School Administrators' Web site, March 22, 2002.

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Different administrative re-certification proposals pushed;
Showdown looms in Senate committee

A legislative push begun in mid-March would establish new re-certification standards and requirements for school administrators. The proposal -- drafted as an amendment to S.B. 1985 -- was presented by Hazel Loucks, Deputy Governor for Education. Loucks testified that the plan was a result of the Governor's Education Summit. Those in attendance at the summit meetings, however, could recall little discussion about administrative re-certification, according to the Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance (the Alliance).

"I examined 45 pages of notes from the summit meetings, and the word administrator was mentioned in there just eight times," noted Brenda Holmes, a lobbyist for the Alliance from the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA).

The governor's proposal was modeled after the teacher re-certification law and its requirements. In the Senate Education Committee, where the plan surfaced, only the Governor's office and the Large Unit District Association (LUDA) signed in as supporters of it. The Alliance testified in opposition.

The Illinois Association of School Administrators had long been working on developing its own model for administrative re-certification. Over the past 18 months the IASA -- along with the Illinois Principals' Association and others, including school board members and legislators -- had been working with the ISBE's "Continuous Improvement Partners" committee to examine this issue. Alliance lobbyists say they were disappointed the Governor's office introduced an amendment that did not include the work of this group.

After the committee meeting on the governor's plan, interested parties met to discuss the issue and agreed to tentative new language for administrative re-certification. "The Alliance has been able to work with the State Board of Education and the governor's office to reach an agreement we are all happy with," Holmes explained.

The following are some of the components agreed to:

• Administrative certificate renewal would begin July 1, 2003.
• All persons currently holding an administrative certificate and employed in a position requiring such certification would have to follow the new re-certification plan.
• Each administrator would develop a plan that would include a minimum of three individual improvement goals.
• Each administrator wishing to renew a certificate would agree to:
1. participate in continuing professional development activities that total a minimum of 100 hours;
2. participate every year in an Illinois Administrator's Academy course, which equals 36 continuing professional development hours over a five-year period.
• For administrators other than a school district superintendent, such as a director of a co-op or a director of a state-operated school, an administrative certificate renewal plan would have to be submitted to the superintendent (or his designee) of the employing district or to the director of the program for review.
• For each school district superintendent, director of a co-op or director of a state-operated school, an administrative certificate renewal plan would be submitted to a review panel comprised of his or her peers (panels are established by the Regional Office of Education in the geographic area where the certificate holder is employed).
• For administrators who submit plans that do not conform to the statute, the reviewer or the review panel would have to notify the administrator who would revise the plan (this could be appealed to the regional superintendent).
• An administrator may modify his or her plan at any time during the five-year period.
• An administrator must show evidence of completion of the activities in his or her plan by submitting the plan to the responsible reviewer or review panel.
• Before the administrator's certificate expires, the administrator would have to sign a verification form (developed by the ISBE) confirming that the administrator has met the requirements for re-certification. The form is to be submitted to the responsible ROE when the administrator renews his or her certificate.
• The ROE would have to review and validate the verification form for each administrative certificate holder and forward a recommendation for renewal or non-renewal to ISBE. The ISBE would notify each administrator in writing of a decision denying renewal of the administrator's certificate. If an administrator's certificate is non-renewed, the administrator could appeal the decision to the State Teacher Certification Board.
• The ISBE would be given authority to promulgate rules in consultation with the State Teachers Certification Board.

Holmes said it is not certain how vigorously the Senate Education Committee will push the latter plan. If an amendment is offered regarding administrative re-certification, however, it should contain the agreed language and not the original amendment proposed by the governor's office. This amendment also could be tacked onto a bill with other controversial provisions (i.e. mandatory teacher mentoring programs), which would make it more difficult to pass the bill, she suggested.

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Six of eleven school districts on the state's Financial Watch List for 2002 were also on last year's list; only five districts were added this year; but 90 or more may be added next year.

That's because the state's financial accountability system, known as the Financial Assurance and Accountability System (FAAS), which includes the Financial Watch List, is undergoing a fundamental change, according to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). The ISBE staff is work on developing an improved system for analyzing and reporting the financial health of school districts.

"The current financial analysis, which has been in place since 1988, is based on a single ratio comparing fund balances to revenues," explained State Superintendent of Education Respicio F. Vazquez. "This is a valuable indicator but it gives only a partial picture of the complexities of school district finances and understates the financial difficulties faced by schools."

The current criteria place districts on the watch list primarily when the district's ratio of end-of-year fund balances to revenue is negative or it has issued teachers' orders or funding bonds to retire teachers' orders in three of the last five years;

At its March meeting the State Board adopted the state's 2002 Financial Watch List, which includes 11 districts: Abingdon C.U. District 217; Belleville District 118; Cahokia C.U. District 187; Divernon C.U. District 13; Dupo C.U. District 196; Elverado C.U. District 196; Queen Bee District 16, Glendale Heights; Lena-Winslow C.U. District 202; Panhandle C.U. District 2, Raymond; Roseville C.U. District 200; and Waukegan C.U. District 60.

Three districts were removed from the Financial Watch List since last year: Cairo C.U. District 1; Calumet City District 155; and Geneva C.U. District 304.

Two districts remain from last year on the 2002 list of districts certified as "In Financial Difficulty" -- Livingston C.C. District 4, and Spring Lake C.C. District 606, Manito. These two districts must develop multi-year financial plans that propose solutions to their fiscal problems and the state must approve those plans.

Meanwhile, two districts also remain from last year on the list of those for which a Financial Oversight Panel has been appointed: Round Lake Area District 116, and East St. Louis District 189. A three-member state panel must approve all financial activity for these districts, although the local school boards maintain control of all other school district functions.

Source: ISBE.

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The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule by this summer on whether the circumstances that now make drug testing acceptable for student athletes could also apply to other after-school activities. The expected ruling could expand school authority for imposing random drug tests on students involved in most after-school activities, from chess clubs and debating teams to cheerleading.

Even if the High Court does allow expanded use of random drug tests for extracurricular participants, however, it is unlikely it will ever allow drug testing for all students, according to Melinda Selbee, IASB General Counsel.

"The case may, however, let us know how broadly we can drug screen students who are engaged in activities that are not constitutionally protected," Selbee said.

Selbee said the case would not have much immediate impact in Illinois. "I don't know that many school districts are using drug screening tests, anyway," she said.

An October 2000 survey conducted by IASB found only 41 school districts in Illinois were conducting or planning to conduct random drug testing. The results were published in the May/June 2001 Illinois School Board Journal.

The current Court case, Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls, 01-332, involves the Tecumseh, Oklahoma, school board. A few years ago the board expanded drug tests to include students involved in any competitive after-school activities, noting that such students, like athletes, had opened themselves to more scrutiny than their peers.

The district's policy encompassed several sports and clubs, including cheerleading, football, and the Future Farmers of America club. Overall, 505 high school students were tested for drug use; but only three students tested positive. Ironically, all of the students who tested positive were athletes.

The Bush administration is supporting the Oklahoma district's drug-testing policy, along with many national organizations, including the National School Boards Association (NSBA), and the Drug-Free Schools Coalition.

Source: The Associated Press, "Court Hears Arguments on Drug Tests," March 20, 2002.

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Teachers will receive modest tax relief under the economic stimulus bill signed in mid-March by President George W. Bush. The law permits elementary and secondary school teachers to deduct up to $250 for un-reimbursed spending for books and supplies used in their classrooms. Teachers report spending an average of $400 a year for classroom supplies. Such spending has always been deductible as a miscellaneous job expense, but to qualify for the deduction teachers have had to itemize deductions, and miscellaneous deductions were required to exceed 2 percent of income. The new law eliminates obstacles by redefining such spending as an adjustment to income, comparable to interest on a student loan. For teachers in the 15 percent tax bracket, the new deduction would lower federal income taxes by as much as $38 (March 14, USA Today) ... Teens who watch TV more than an hour per day are far more prone to violence than those who watch less, researchers say. A new highly definitive study links viewing television with violence, finding both women and men are influenced by violent programs on TV. But the study, published in the latest edition of the journal Science, found teen boys were influenced the most (March 28, Reuters).

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Online registration is now available for IASB division meetings and for some workshops via the IASB Web site. IASB members can use their credit cards or school district purchase orders to register individuals or groups for most events. The registration site is protected with security encryption.

Registrants will receive immediate confirmation, along with a copy of their registration information. Access to online registration is available from the calendar of Coming Events on the IASB home page at www.iasb. com/calendar/. Online registration will not be available for the 2002 Joint Annual Conference.

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DEVELOPMENTS IN SCHOOL LAW

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On January 10, 2002, the Illinois Court of Appeals, First Judicial District, granted IASB's petition to participate as an Amicus Curiae (friend of the court) in a case involving student records. The Chicago Tribune submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records of 1.1 million past and present Chicago Public School students. It argued that the students' identities could be "masked" by deleting the names, social security numbers, and student ID numbers from the records. However, the Chicago Board of Education maintained that the plethora of personal facts the Tribune sought makes it possible to identify some students. Therefore, it maintained the Tribune's request was improper and would offend the Illinois School Student Records Act (ISSRA) and the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

The trial court ordered the Chicago Board of Education to comply with the Tribune's record request; the judge seemingly dismissing the consequences as inconsequential. IASB is urging the Court of Appeals to overturn this order, believing that school districts large and small should not be placed in the untenable position of having to comply with a FOIA request that would violate ISSRA and FERPA. This is a high-profile case in that six entities filed an amici brief supporting the Tribune.

This article contains excerpts from our brief, with citations omitted. Besides finding it interesting, you will be reassured that your Association is serious about supporting local school board policy. Many thanks are extended to Sarah Price and Heidi Katz, Robbins, Schwartz, Nicholas, Lifton & Taylor, LTD. They did a wonderful job writing this brief.

The Illinois FOIA does not decree unfettered access to all public records. Its numerous express limits on access to public records include key provisions reflecting legislative solicitude for the personal privacy of individuals. The information sought by the Tribune is per se exempt from disclosure under FOIA § 7(1)(b)(i) [which states:]

One of these privacy-protective provisions comes into play when a requester seeks ... files and personal information maintained with respect to...students or other individuals receiving...social, medical, [or] educational...services directly or indirectly from federal agencies or public bodies.

The 1.1 million individual student educational records requested by the Tribune fit squarely within the enumerated category described in FOIA § 7(1)(b)(i). Their per se exempt status obviated any need for the trial court to analyze whether disclosing them would constitute a "clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy": per se, it would....

The information requested by the Tribune is also per se exempt from disclosure pursuant to FOIA § 7(1)(a). [This section] exempts from public inspection and copying: "[i]nformation specifically prohibited from disclosure by federal or State law or rules and regulations adopted under federal or State law." The disclosure prohibitions of federal and state law germane to the Tribune's FOIA request are found in the Illinois School Student Records Act [ISSRA], the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act [FERPA], and their implementing regulations.

ISSRA and FERPA protect the privacy rights of each student concerning whom the Tribune proposes to gather facts, and the rights of individual students to non-disclosure of confidential information maintained in educational records which pertain to them cannot be disregarded on the hypothesis that the anonymity of some or even most of these students may survive the massive download of personal data sought by the FOIA request in this case.

The court below readily acknowledged that complying with the Tribune's FOIA request would effectively enable the identification of individual students, although the court ventured the observation -- untethered to any citation of evidence in the record -- that this could occur only in "certain isolated situations." The court then opined that "the mere possibility of identification is not sufficient proof of an invasion of privacy" for purposes of declining to comply with the FOIA request in this case.

However, the privacy rights conferred by ISSRA and FERPA belong to the individual student, not to a group of students collectively or in the abstract. The fact that the Tribune seeks a wide array of personal facts about a vast number of students without names or ID numbers does not extinguish the statutory privacy rights of particular individual students whose identities may be deduced, whether by the Tribune's reporters or other members of the public, from the aggregate of admittedly personal and confidential facts disclosed about them. [I]f students' identities are "easily traceable" in a large urban school district, the "mask" on individual student names in a one-school district called upon to produce similar information would be well-nigh transparent.

[M]asking is not a panacea for every FOIA school records request. ... In this case, the trial court erred in assuming that the law excuses revealing confidential and personally identifiable student information if the breaches occurred only in " isolated situations," as it ventured to describe the magnitude of the potential privacy invasions at issue....

The trial court's unsteady reading of the relationship between FOIA and statutory protections for confidential student records places school districts in legal jeopardy by making it impossible to harmonize and comply with their duties under these laws. The trial court's ruling is a "lose-lose" proposition for Illinois school districts trying to comply with federal and state laws safeguarding the privacy of student educational records, and simultaneously to fulfill their obligations under the Freedom of Information Act.

School districts making good-faith attempts to comply simultaneously with their legal obligations under FOIA, FERPA, and ISSRA face a recurring dilemma, which Shakespeare might have framed as, "To disclose or not to disclose." The decision of the court below threatens to unnecessarily sharpen and complicate the compliance picture in Illinois by ordering FOIA disclosure of a massive base of confidential data from which the identification of individual Chicago Public Schools students can admittedly be deduced, in violation of their privacy rights under FERPA and ISSRA. The redress for these violations which can be had in federal and state court, on federal and state causes of action, represents potentially grave litigation exposure and expense which -- the Tribune's own news coverage regularly reminds us -- financially strapped Illinois school districts are in no position to bear.

Although taxpayers may wince, the people are beggared first and foremost when educational resources are diverted in this manner from Illinois' school children. IASB urges the Court to use this appeal to chart a compliance course correction, by holding that the student records requested by the Chicago Tribune Company in this case are per se exempt from FOIA's disclosure mandates by FOIA § 7(1)(b)(i). This holding would obviate the need to ask whether -- as the Chicago Board of Education and amicus curiae also believe and have shown -- the records are likewise per se exempt from disclosure pursuant to FOIA § 7(1)(a), which imports into FOIA the stringent confidentiality protections ISSRA and FERPA afford to educational records containing individually identifiable student information. Finally, although this litigation arises under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act and no constitutional claims have been made, the Court can and should dispel the erroneous suggestion contained in the lower court's Memorandum Opinion and Order that principled denial of the Tribune's FOIA request would implicate any First Amendment concerns.

For the reasons stated above, amicus curiae the Illinois Association of School Boards requests this Honorable Court to reverse the decision of the Circuit Court of Cook County granting summary judgment to the Chicago Tribune Company.

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NEWS FROM IASB

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Setting policy for the Illinois Association of School Boards for the coming year is an important task, and the deadline for member school boards to suggest new policies is fast approaching. Copies of resolution submission forms were sent to board presidents and district superintendents April 3, along with a cover letter asking boards to submit proposed resolutions. Resolution forms may also be obtained by calling IASB at extension 1132.

Proposals from active member districts may be submitted by school boards for 1) new IASB resolutions; 2) amendments to existing position statements; or 3) reaffirmations of existing position statements.

The annual IASB Delegate Assembly functions as a major policy-setting mechanism of your Association. The November assembly consists of delegates chosen by IASB member school boards (one delegate per board) to represent them in order to set policy for IASB in the year ahead.

The deadline for submitting resolutions this year is June 26. But resolutions are welcome at any time before the deadline, and earlier submission allows the staff to better serve member districts by preparing adequate background materials for the resolutions committee.

IASB sent a letter and forms to board presidents and district superintendents April 1 asking school boards to submit resolutions. For information, contact your division representative to the resolutions committee (a list of these representatives was included in the April 1 mailing) or contact IASB Governmental Relations, ext. 1132.

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The planned mailing date is June 7 this year for the Joint Annual Conference registration packet IASB sends annually to district superintendents.

As mentioned in the March 15 Newsbulletin, IASB has announced new guidelines for the Joint Annual Conference in 2002 in order to reduce the expense of hotel cancellations, and other procedures associated with late registrations or last-minute changes.

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.

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

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Educators, school leaders, and other interested citizens are invited to attend the eleventh annual Tech 2002/AT&T Students for the Information Age program on Tuesday, May 7, at the State Capitol Building, Springfield.

Students and teachers from more than 60 Illinois school districts will be on hand to conduct school technology demonstrations throughout the day.

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STATE BOARD UPDATE

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Ten school board members are being honored by the Illinois State Board of Education this year for their outstanding contributions to Illinois schools. Three board members will be receiving the ISBE's highest honor, awards of excellence, in Those Who Excel award ceremonies April 13: Kathy Havens, Bloomington District 87; Elizabeth Klein, Skokie District 69; and Katie Wright, Department of Corrections District 428, Springfield.

The seven board members earning awards of recognition, the second-highest level of honors, are: Jill Bertels, Edwardsville C.U. District 7; Byron Heape, Triad C.U. District 2, Troy; Anna Klimkowicz, Township High School District 211, Palatine; Steven Lillie, Geneva C.U. District 304; Jan Mandernach, Decatur District 61; Ted Stenerson, Belvidere C.U. District 100; Ronald Thouvenot, Central District 104, O'Fallon.

The annual awards were not granted last year.

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The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act signed into law January 8 by President George W. Bush is "one of the federal government's most sweeping changes to education in a generation," according to state superintendent of education Respicio Vazquez.

The new law aims primarily at ensuring that students in every classroom enjoy the benefits of well-prepared teachers, research-based instruction and safe learning environments. Some of its provisions challenge states, schools and districts to take immediate action. Others call for action in future months and years.

According to ISBE, here is the timeline for the current school year:

District employment decisions are to be affected by the NCLB law as follows.

1. Employment of new paraprofessionals employed with Title I funds must use new federal employment criteria intended to ensure that all personnel are "highly qualified." Aides/paraprofessionals, excluding interpreters or those whose responsibilities concern parents, employed after January 2002 in any program funded by Title I must be "highly qualified." The federal definition of highly qualified includes three options:

a. completion of two years of post-secondary study;

b. an earned Associate's (or higher) degree; or

c. meeting "a rigorous standard of quality and demonstrating, through a formal state or local academic assessment, knowledge of and the ability to assist in instructing reading, writing, and mathematics.

2. Teachers newly hired to serve Title I-funded programs after the start of the 2002-2003 school year must be "highly qualified," in other words, they must hold certification/endorsement directly related to the subject and grade level they are teaching.

This year's April 2002 ISAT and PSAE scores will provide the foundation for measuring progress toward the goal of 100 percent proficiency by 2013-2014.

Planning for the 2002-03 school year, the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) timeline is "ticking" in terms of the 12-year clock as of the end of 2001-2002.

1. The spring 2002 data will be used for determining what schools are in a Title I "school improvement" or "corrective action" status in terms of having made AYP over the past two years.

2. Title I schools that are in a "school improvement" or "corrective action" status and have not made AYP will need to offer parents public school choice for 2002-03 for their students to attend a better-performing public school within the district.

3. Those schools need to plan accordingly in terms of their Title I grant application for use of funds (see grant instructions) for 2002-03.

May 28, 2002 is the date by which the State Board of Education must submit its plans to USDE for meeting the new federal requirements.

The timeline for compliance early in the next school year includes:

• Noncompetitive grants, such as Title I, must be used in accord with the new law from the beginning of the school year. Grant applications became available in March 2002. Program operations in school districts must follow the requirements as delineated in the grant applications and instructions.
• Schools and districts will be notified before the beginning of the school year (with a 30-day window for corrections) of their school improvement status pursuant to student assessment results from the April 2002 tests.
• Any teachers hired with Title I funds must meet requirements of a "highly qualified" teacher by the beginning of the school year.
• Any paraprofessionals employed with Title I funds must meet the new standards of quality when employed after January 8, 2002.

ISBE is developing resources to help districts, schools, parents and communities understand and prepare for the changes NCLB will bring. A Web page at www.isbe.net/nclb will be the centerpiece of this effort.

Source: Gail Lieberman, ISBE.

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TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

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IASB has just released an updated step-by-step guide to conducting student disciplinary hearings. The School Official's Guide to Student Disciplinary Hearings, updated by Alan Mullins to cover recent changes in the law, provides detailed suggestions on how to organize and conduct hearings under a variety of circumstances, including the most difficult ones.

The guide is unique because it clarifies the sometimes divergent roles of the school officials involved in the hearings, including the school disciplinarian who initiates or presents the expulsion recommendation; the administrator who plans the hearing; the officer who presides over it; the person or body that examines the evidence; the school administrator who advises the board on discipline; the school board that deliberates on and decides matters of guilt and punishment; and the attorneys for both parties.

Co-authors of the guidebook are Gene J. Cartwright, a retired 25-year veteran superintendent of school districts in Illinois and Wisconsin, and Allen D. Schwartz, also now retired, and a former partner in the law firm of Robbins, Schwartz, Nicholas, Lifton & Taylor, Ltd. The book was originally published in 1986.

Written primarily with lay readers in mind, the book also contains an appendix that reviews pertinent case law, including findings on procedures, due process, and required elements of a valid hearing. The 60-page book also contains chapters covering: Why hearings are required; roles and responsibilities; organization of the expulsion hearing; conduct of the hearing; and related questions, including rules of evidence, student witnesses, and the pros and cons of open meetings.

The School Official's Guide to Student Disciplinary Hearings is available for $8 per copy ($7 each for IASB members) plus $4 shipping and handling from IASB Publications, 2921 Baker Drive, Springfield, IL 62703, or call IASB, extension 1108. The book may also be ordered online via the IASB Web site, www.iasb.com. Complimentary copies have been mailed to all member district superintendents.

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RESEARCH REPORTS

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A March 6 progress report on standardized testing shows most students are made nervous by high-stakes testing, but there is continued support for such efforts among teachers, parents, and students.

One key finding of the report Reality Check 2002 is 73 percent of students admit they get nervous when faced with standardized tests, but maintain they "can handle it." Yet one in 20 students (5 percent) report "getting so nervous" they can't take the tests.

Since 1998, Public Agenda has annually surveyed public school students, teachers, and parents, along with employers and college professors, to help gauge the nation's progress in raising academic standards.

But the latest survey contains some additional unwelcome news for standards proponents. Based on reports from teachers, parents, and students, the impact of higher academic standards on promotion and graduation policies has been mixed. Employers and professors continue to voice considerable dissatisfaction with high school graduates' basic skills.

For more information on this or other Public Agenda research, visit Public Agenda Online at www.publicagenda.org.

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The proportion of America's teachers who are members of minority groups is expected to fall from the current 13 percent level to 5 percent or less by 2005. That is the finding of a new report from the Southern Education Foundation. In contrast, nearly 40 percent of America's public school students represent minority populations. For more information on the report, Policy Perspectives on Diversity in Teaching and School Leadership, go to the Web site at www.sefatl.org .

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ILLINOIS SCHOOL DISTRICTS

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Adlai E. Stevenson High School District 125, Lincolnshire, has won a Magna Award from NSBA and the American School Board Journal for a district program designed to get more students to take advanced placement courses. The district was one of two school districts in the nation to win a Citation Award, the second-highest level of Magna Award honors.

Adlai E. Stevenson's school board was honored for establishing a goal to help all students achieve high academic standards and providing extra support and time for them and staff. Its Success for Every Student effort has resulted in more than 60 percent of district students taking at least one Advanced Placement course during high school. District leaders achieved this goal by lifting caps on enrollment in AP courses and developing the district's own proficiency test in reading, writing, math, and foreign languages.

Palos Community Consolidated School District 118, Palos Park, won an honorable mention Magna Award for Leaps In Literacy, a program designed to boost reading achievement in the early grades.

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Illinois is moving in a "healthy way" in school reform that should help increase student achievement, but to succeed the movement will need a strong, unified voice to avoid not looking like the education community is merely "circling the wagons."

That was the charge by W. Patrick Dolan, author of Restructuring Our Schools: A Primer on Systemic Change, during a two-day forum in Itasca. The forum, sponsored by the Illinois Learning Partnership, brought together leadership teams from 16 school districts where less than 50 percent of students meet or exceed state standards on ISAT and also included representatives from ILP's 23 member organizations.

With pressure to increase test scores, "movement at the state and federal level has enormous repercussions all the way down," Dolan told the nearly 200 attendees. Those repercussions could derail meaningful reform that's beginning on the local level. In order to sustain that reform, he said, school districts must find a way to channel information back to the state and federal government about what works ... and what doesn't ... to improve student achievement.

The conduit for that information may need to come through ILP, he said, because of the numerous voices it represents.

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LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS

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Countering the governor's budget plan, the Illinois House leadership unwrapped its own fiscal year 2003 budget proposal the week of March 11, but the new plan does not change the bottom line of the governor's budget for schools. The House Appropriations-Elementary and Secondary Education Committee met March 12 merely to discuss the ISBE budget bill.

Although the governor's budget will not be voted on in its original form, elements of the plan are contained in the House amendment. The governor had suggested eliminating 20 specific grant programs and rolling those funds into the General State Aid formula; but the House plan would only eliminate 13 specific grant programs, while significantly reducing 14 others.

The House proposal would boost the foundation level by $120 per pupil, to $4,680, $297 less than the governor's plan. It would pro-rate categorical grant programs at 85 percent, and continue the hold harmless provision of the state funding system. The latter provision is designed to prevent significant losses of revenue for school districts from one year to the next.

"This is still an early step in the budget process," said an Alliance spokesman.

Copies of Alliance Legislative Reports, updated weekly during legislative sessions, are now available via e-mail, according to the Alliance. To sign up for this service, phone 217/528-9688, extension 1132, or e-mail Ben Schwarm at bschwarm@iasb.com.

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IASB regularly sends informational materials to all member districts. Here is a list of such items mailed to representatives in your district in the past month. For more information about any item, contact your board president or district superintendent or get in touch with IASB.

2002 New Laws, 1/30/02 to board presidents and district superintendents.

Illinois Council of School Attorneys' member directory, 2/21/02 to district superintendents.

Announcement of legal workshop on student discipline, 2/27/02 to board presidents and district superintendents.

Student disciplinary hearing guidebook, & cover letter, 3/6/02 to board presidents and district superintendents.

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