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School Board News Bulletin
May, 2004

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'Disastrous' property tax relief bill passes House

Former ISBE chief floats ISBE replacement agency plan

Bureau Valley district seeks windfall from wind power

Nutrition bill passes U.S. House

Quinn plan to better fund schools won't appear on ballot this fall

NEWS FROM IASB

Cole Awards newspaper contest seeks entries

First School Board LeaderShop Academy Symposium planned

Conference information to be mailed on June 7

2004 IASB Delegate Assembly resolutions invited by June 23

IASB seeks officer nominations to lead the Association in 2005

First TAG workshops aim to boost NCLB scores

RESEARCH REPORTS

Illinois receives top grade for teacher quality standards

Poll finds opinion gap on equal opportunity in schools

U.S. math teaching lags: Study

DEVELOPMENTS IN SCHOOL LAW

Recent decisions pertain to board meetings

SCHOOL LAW ANNOUNCEMENTS

Updated IASB school law books will ship by June 1

Illinois celebrates 50th anniversary of Brown ruling

Scariano named chairman of national school law group

NEWS HEADLINES

ILLINOIS SCHOOL DISTRICTS

More schools leaving special ed cooperatives

Many Illinois districts challenge poverty estimates

Teacher of Year honored with Those Who Excel Award

'Disastrous' property tax relief bill passes House
Major issues remain in flux as legislative session winds to an end in three weeks

The Illinois House of Representatives passed S.B. 2112 on May 5, the latest of several statewide property tax relief proposals to pass the House and Senate this year. The bill, which lobbyists say is almost certain to pass, contains a number of costly property tax exemption increases. Foremost are increases for the general homestead exemption and the senior citizens homestead exemption.

The bill raises the ceiling for household income eligibility for the Senior Citizen Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption, rising from $40,000 for taxable years 1999 through 2003 to $45,000 for taxable years 2004 and thereafter. It also provides that, for taxable years 2004 and thereafter, the maximum reduction under the Senior Citizens Homestead Exemption would be $3,000 in all counties and the maximum reduction under the general homestead exemption would be $5,000 in all counties. And it creates an option for any county government to impose a new 7 percent cap on residential property tax assessments.

"This bill is disastrous for school districts because it hits their local property tax revenue, primarily through the increased homestead exemption, but also their state aid, through the seven percent assessment cap," said Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance lobbyist Ben Schwarm. "It's really a 'double whammy' for schools."

Schwarm says the bill's cost to local school districts has not yet been determined. The Illinois State Board of Education can't easily run the numbers because the bill has extremely complex effects that differ from district to district.

"While we have some sense of the impact on property tax revenues statewide, much depends on local factors, he said. Among them are:

• Has the county imposed the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law?
• Are local residential property tax assessments increasing more than 7% per year?
• Is the local school district's EAV mostly residential homes or business property?
• Is the local school district already at its maximum tax rate?

Both houses of the General Assembly have passed some version of the bill twice now. "This is essentially the fourth version of the bill, and although each version has been slightly improved for schools, the bill re-mains a nightmare for local school districts," Schwarm concluded.

The bill is now in the Senate, where it was placed on the Order of Concurrence to House Amendments on May 6. To become law, it must win approval in its amended form in the Senate and then be signed by the governor.

A copy of S.B. 2112 as amended is available online at: www.ilga.gov/legislation/.

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Former ISBE chief floats ISBE replacement agency plan

Note: Just before press time, Gov. Blagojevich announced he would accept a compromise proposal put forward by Senate Democrats to abandon his own plan to create a new DOE agency answerable only to him. Instead, the governor said the compromise proposal would keep the ISBE, but essentially give him unprecedented new powers over the management of public schools. Specifically, the plan would allow Blagojevich to name an entirely new State Board membership in July, and its members would serve "at will," meaning he could dismiss them whenever he wished.

Former Illinois State Superintendent of Education Glenn W. (Max) McGee-now the Superintendent of Wilmette Elementary District 39-recently unveiled a detailed "service-based proposal" for structuring the proposed Illinois Department of Education. Gov. Rod Blagojevich had proposed creating such an agency and turning the current Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) into a think tank.

"The governor has developed no detailed plan for the agency that would replace the State Board of Education," McGee explained. "This plan would fill that void."

McGee suggested at the annual conference of the Illinois Association of School Administrators on April 29 in Springfield that the state needs a department of education that will support local control. He suggested regional delivery of services and said the new state agency needs to "facilitate and enhance the capacity of local school districts to improve teaching and learning."

McGee agreed with Gov. Blagojevich that the current ISBE is an intractable bureaucracy, saying the agency "remains entrenched in regulations and sometimes even retribution."

What's more, he predicted the General Assembly will agree to change the state agency, noting, "there will probably be some kind of compromise: the state board will be reorganized in some way, but the governor will not get all the control he wants over the new agency."

McGee unveiled plans for a new Illinois Department of Education (DOE) that would make it a "catalyst to attract and keep exemplary teachers and administrators for Illinois; and be both a partner and an advocate for assuring the equity, adequacy, predictability and stability of educational opportunities and resources."

McGee said the guiding principles for DOE identity should be to make DOE a partner, a facilitator and a problem solver, "not a gate keeper and regulator for school districts." For example, he said the agency should "support, not dictate, local school districts' efforts to meet state and federal statutory accountability standards," including NCLB standards.

He suggested redirecting resources to teaching and learning by cutting the state bureaucracy, streamlining the School Code to eliminate rules and regulations that interfere with local control, and boosting state agency efficiency and responsiveness to local needs. As an example of the latter principle, he pointed to the need to send ISAT results to local school districts before June 1, a clear reference to long delays by ISBE last year.

He said the new DOE should "eliminate functions that duplicate the work of local schools, and operate on the assumption that local districts can be trusted to make decisions in the best interest of students."

McGee also made public a streamlined organizational chart for DOE, which would include a Secretary of Education directly responsible to the Governor.

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Bureau Valley district seeks windfall from wind power

Imagine having sufficient windfall income from a project that not only pays for itself but also generates additional revenue for the school district for years to come.

That's what school officials at Bureau Valley C.U. Dist. 340, Manlius, literally expect to happen late this fall when a 660-kilowatt wind turbine goes into operation at Bureau Valley High School.

In addition to saving the district about $90,000 annually in electric bills, Superintendent Rick Stoecker said the district could reap additional income by selling excess energy to its local utility company.

The project is estimated to cost $965,000, but the district has already secured three grants totaling more than $500,000 from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. School officials are still considering options for paying the balance of the cost, either through financing or budget reserves.

The 213-foot tall structure with 77-foot blades would be built northeast of the high school football stadium.

Unlike a nearby large-scale commercial wind farm project, which has been bogged down by legal and financial delays, and by neighboring property owners, the Bureau Valley C.U. Dist. 340 proposal is slated to pass through county zoning and board approval within the next month.

It's been nearly two years since board member Keith Bolin proposed the state's first school-owned and operated wind turbine, but officials are expecting to begin operation by November 2004.

Bureau County is one of just four Illinois counties with potential for "utility grade" wind power, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The others are Pike, Lee and McLean Counties.

Sources: Bureau County Republican, April 29, 2004; and Illinois Country Living, May 2004, Volume 61, Number 13.

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Nutrition bill passes U.S. House

The U.S. House of Representatives, on a vote of 419 to 5, passed and sent to the Senate a new Child Nutrition Improvement and Integrity Act (H.R. 3873) on March 24. The bill seeks to reauthorize programs under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 through fiscal year 2008, as well as address child obesity concerns.

To combat obesity, the bill stipulates that by 2006 school districts must implement a local wellness policy that outlines goals for nutrition education and physical activity, nutrition guidelines for foods sold in schools and an implementation plan.

The proposed act also seeks to implement a number of changes that supporters say will make it easier for eligible children to get nutritious meals while bolstering the integrity of the programs that supply the meals.

Provisions of the bill include:

• Shifting the responsibility for approving free and reduced-price meal applications from the School Food Authority (SFA) to the local school district, which would also be accountable for the accuracy of benefit determinations.
• Simplifying the application process for parents and guardians by allowing them to fill out one application for multiple children, and by granting year-long certification.
• Adding fruits and vegetables to the list of preferred agricultural commodities bought by the Department of Agriculture and supporting partnerships between schools and local produce farms.
• Encouraging the use of technology in order to cut back on human error, increase efficiency and eliminate the stigma associated with receiving free and reduced price meals.

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Quinn plan to better fund schools won't appear on ballot this fall

Although voters overwhelmingly approved the concept, lawmakers have failed to approve a proposed voter referendum-based on a proposal by Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn-to aid schools and property tax payers. The plan called for doubling the state income tax for those who earn over $250,000 a year.

Sen. Maggie Crotty, D-Oak Forest, sponsored Senate Joint Resolution and Constitutional Amendment 20 (SJR-CA20) to place the amendment on the November ballot. Crotty needed approval from lawmakers in both houses by May 2 to put the amendment on the ballot, but the bill stalled.

Crotty's resolution specified that half of the revenue derived from the proposed tax increase would go towards education and half would go towards property tax relief.

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NEWS FROM IASB

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Cole Awards newspaper contest seeks entries

The annual Illinois Press Association contest is seeking entries from newspapers and reporters for "Best School Board Coverage" and other categories of journalistic excellence.

Nearly 4,000 entries in 32 different subject categories are submitted annually to the IPA contest. IASB sponsors the Best School Board Coverage category to recognize outstanding coverage of education issues that emphasize the community's connection with its local public school district.

Winners in the IASB contest are presented with the Robert M. Cole Award, named for the first full-time Executive Director of IASB. Entries are judged on: (a) their contribution to public understanding of local school governance, and (b) their support for effective dialogue that helps the community and school board define major public policy issues. Judges also look for enterprise, depth of reporting and clarity of writing.

This contest is not directed at public relations campaigns or school district newsletters. Nor does it require nominations. Rather, it is intended for general circulation newspapers that cover local districts or schools to submit their own entries. IASB will present the Robert M. Cole Award to four first-place winners from different circulation categories.

School board members or local school administrators who want to encourage their local media to participate should do so soon. Deadline for submitting entries to the 2004 IPA newspaper contest is Friday, June 4, 2004. Members of the Virginia Press Association will judge this year's competition on July 16, 2004 and winners of the Robert M. Cole Award and other newspaper categories will be announced on Friday, Oct. 8.

For more information about this contest, visit the Illinois Press Association Web site, or call the Association at 217/241-1300. For a list of last year's winners of the Robert M. Cole Award, visit the IASB Web site at www.iasb.com/files/cole.htm.

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First School Board LeaderShop Academy Symposium planned

IASB will offer a daylong learning opportunity especially for School Board LeaderShop Academy members on Saturday, June 19, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at Indian Lakes Resort, Bloomingdale.

The event will kick off with a keynote address by Jamie Vollmer, a champion of public education and inspirational speaker. A former businessman and attorney and one time harsh critic of America's public schools, he now insists that public education must be broadly and aggressively supported if America is to remain great.

Following his keynote address, Vollmer will lead an interactive workshop, "Building Support, Gaining Permission" which presents the "nuts and bolts" of increasing local support for schools. He will detail a strategy to reverse current trends that undermine support for public schools.

Meals and materials will be provided, as well as time to network and share ideas with other Academy members.

For more information contact IASB at ext. 1115 or visit the IASB Web site to register for the event: https://www.iasb.com/calendar/register.cfm?ID=733.

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Conference information to be mailed on June 7

June 7 is the planned mailing date for the Joint Annual Conference registration packet IASB sends to district superintendents each year. Questions about registration procedures for the 2004 conference should be directed to IASB Meetings Management, at ext. 1115 or 1102.

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2004 IASB Delegate Assembly resolutions invited by June 23

The deadline is fast approaching for member boards to submit course-setting Delegate Assembly resolutions to direct IASB in the coming year. Copies of the resolution submission forms are available by calling the association at extension 1132. Proposals from active member school boards may be submitted for 1) new IASB resolutions; 2) amendments to existing position statements; or 3) reaffirmations of existing position statements.

What is the Delegate Assembly?

The annual Delegate Assembly of IASB functions as the major policy-setting mechanism of your Association. Each year's assembly is made up of delegates chosen by IASB member school boards to represent them (each board is entitled to send one delegate). Delegates gather at the association's annual conference to vote on resolutions submitted by member districts to establish policy for IASB for the coming year.

The submission deadline this year is June 23, 2004. Resolutions are welcome at any time prior to the deadline, however, and earlier submission will allow the staff to better serve member districts by preparing adequate background materials for the resolution committee.

How does the resolutions process work?

A resolutions committee of at least seven individuals is appointed from the membership of the Association each year by IASB's president to review resolution proposals submitted by member districts. The committee is empowered to recommend the approval or disapproval of proposed resolutions, and to determine which resolutions are presented to the delegate assembly.

Resolutions committee decisions may be appealed, but such appeals must be submitted by member districts in writing to the committee at least eight days before the assembly's annual meeting.

Forms and other resolution information

IASB sent a letter on April 1 to board presidents and district superintendents asking boards to submit resolutions, along with forms for that purpose. For information, contact your division representative to the Resolutions Committee (a list of these representatives and contact information also was included in the April 1 mailing) or phone IASB Governmental Relations at ext. 1132.

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IASB seeks officer nominations to lead the Association in 2005

The 2004 Nominating Committee of the Illinois Association of School Boards is seeking candidates for the offices of president and vice president.

The following criteria will be used by the committee in considering nominees: 1) leadership experience and general participation in IASB activities, 2) leadership experience on the local school board, 3) involvement with other education-related associations or organizations, 4) other leadership experiences, and 5) special talent or interests of benefit to IASB as currently constituted.

Nominating forms are due by August 1, and candidates will be interviewed in that same month. A slate of candidates will be presented to the Delegate Assembly meeting in Chicago at the 2004 Joint Annual Conference in November.

To request necessary forms, interested candidates should write: IASB, 2921 Baker Drive, Springfield, IL 62703 or phone 217/528-9688, ext. 1102.

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First TAG workshops aim to boost NCLB scores

The first-ever training sessions under the new "Targeting Achievement Through Governance" (TAG) program went well, thanks to dedicated school leaders who participated at eight regional locations. The grant-funded TAG program is free to eligible participants, and aims to help school boards boost student achievement in districts that have been identified as failing to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) under NCLB.

TAG meetings on leadership topics were offered for five hours each at eight separate regional locations on April 3, 17 and 24, and May 1. The introductory meetings covered everything from detecting and communicating a compelling vision for the community, to the board's vital role in maintaining educational accountability.

Attendance at the initial meetings was good. For example, 24 school leaders were in attendance on May 1 at the Tinley Park Holiday Inn. Up next are in-district TAGassessments this summer.

Event outcomes, judging by participants' comments, were very good. "The participants' evaluations were great relative to content, pace, facilitation, etc.," said facilitator and IASB Assistant Director of Policy Services Susan Farrell Herrmann.

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RESEARCH REPORTS

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Illinois receives top grade for teacher quality standards

Illinois recently received an 'A' grade for its solid teacher standards designed to meet requirements for Highly Qualified Teachers under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Grading of 20 state's standards was conducted and released recently by the respected National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ).

In the first such report card ever issued, NCTQ gave Illinois the highest grade (and the only 'A'), noting the state is "Very rigorous; teachers become highly qualified (HQ) primarily through a hefty 24 semester hours in content course."

Release of the report comes as the nation is just past the halfway mark toward the January 2006 deadline when most teachers will need a "highly qualified" designation to stay in the classroom. NTCQ graded each state on the basis of its rigor; likelihood that it will identify teachers weak in subject knowledge; the degree to which it appears the state is serious about addressing the problem; but also on clarity; and on how readily accessible these standards are to the public.

For a copy of their complete report, visit: www.nctq.org/nctq/images/nctq_report_spring2004.pdf .

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Poll finds opinion gap on equal opportunity in schools

Fifty years after the Supreme Court banned separate schools for black and white students, most Americans think blacks have better educational opportunities. But only 31 percent of black Americans believe opportunities for black children are now on par with those of whites.

A Gallup poll released on April 27 showed 90 percent of adult respondents believe black children's school opportunities have improved since 1954. Yet only 31 percent of black adults say black children's opportunities are equal to those of white children's; 63 percent of whites believe those opportunities are the same.

Among those of both races who believe blacks have fewer options (38% of respondents), about one in three say it is due to discrimination; the rest believe it is because of other factors.

May 17 was the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education. Brown barred lawful segregation of public schools, saying that what were said to be "separate but equal" schools for black and white students were inherently unequal. A subsequent high court ruling a year later ordered school districts to integrate "with all deliberate speed."

Federal and state statistics show an achievement gap that separates white and minority students.

"Most whites believe opportunities are evenly distributed, but this simply is at odds with reality," says Ross Wiener of The Education Trust, a Washington-based group that advocates for low-income and urban students. "In every way we can measure, it is clear that black students get less than white students from public education."

Source: USA Today, "Poll finds split on educational equality," April 27, 2004.

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U.S. math teaching lags: Study

Alan Greenspan told the U.S. Senate's committee on banking in February that the chief threat to America's standard of living springs from a decline in U.S. educational outcomes.

"We do something wrong, which obviously people in Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan do far better. Teaching in these strange exotic places seems, for some reason, to be far better," Greenspan said.

Stanford University mathematics professor James Milgram recently agreed and expanded upon Greenspan's remark by citing a research estimate that at least 3.3 million jobs and $136,000,000,000 in wages will move from the U.S. to East Asia in the next 15 years. In pointing towards an education-based remedy to this threat, Milgram said that beyond teaching students to read: "the part of our education that is most directly involved with this failure is mathematics."

In response, Milgram conducted a new study, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, called "What is Mathematical Proficiency." The study contrasts math teaching practices in the United States "with those in the successful foreign countries that Greenspan mentions."

Milgram decries U.S. "trends in K-12 mathematics education [that] isolate out mathematical reasoning and problem solving as separate topics within mathematics instruction."

He also charges that "something on the order of 25 percent of the questions on a typical state mathematics assessment are mathematically incorrect," largely because they fail to precisely define their terms.

Milgram's study is available online at: ftp://math.stanford.edu/pub/papers/milgram/msri-presentation.pdf

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DEVELOPMENTS IN SCHOOL LAW

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By Melinda Selbee, IASB's general counsel

Recent decisions pertain to board meetings

Four recent Illinois appellate decisions address separate issues involving board meetings. Several decisions interpret Open Meetings Act provisions while others involve civil rights or defamation issues.

Anticipating a large, hostile audience, a county board allegedly held a meeting in a room knowing it was too small to accommodate the crowd. In addition, it allegedly gave its supporters preferential access to the meeting room. Several excluded community members charged the county board with violating the Open Meetings Act.

The Open Meetings Act states: "All meetings required by this Act to be public shall be held at specified times and places which are convenient and open to the public." To analyze the openness component, the Court used the dictionary definition of "open," that is, "not restricted to a particular group or category of participants." The Court concluded that restricting access to a particular group violates the "open" requirement.

Concerning the "convenient" requirement, the Court adopted a rule of reason to determine if a particular location is convenient. Merely using a board's normal meeting place does not automatically determine reasonableness. The surrounding circumstances determine whether the meeting place is convenient. In this case, if the excluded community members show the facts as alleged, they likely will receive the relief sought - an order declaring the county board's action taken during the meeting to be void. Gerwin v. Livingston County Board, 802 N.E.2d 410 (Ill.App. 4th Dist, 2003).

How this applies to you: Unfortunately, you cannot press an applause button and expect audience cooperation. Resist the temptation to make it difficult for detractors to attend meetings. Not allowing detractors access to meetings violates the "open" requirement in the Open Meetings Act. Holding meetings in rooms too small to accommodate a large audience may also violate the Open Meetings Act depending on the surrounding circumstances.

In another case involving an alleged Open Meetings Act violation, the Court examined the meanings of "advisory body" and "committee." State university presidents created the Council of Presidents to make recommendations to the Illinois Board of Higher Education. A labor organization complained that the Council was a "public body" as defined by the Open Meetings Act and, thus, its meetings must comply with that law.

The Court, after reviewing many cases discussing the meaning of "advisory body" or "committee," concluded that the Council of Presidents was not a "public body" subject to the Open Meetings Act. It identified factors a court should review in deciding whether an entity is a public body, specifically "who appoints the members of the entity, the formality of their appointment, and whether they are paid for their tenure; the entity's assigned duties, including duties reflected in the entity's bylaws or authorizing statute; whether its role is solely advisory or whether it also has a deliberative or investigative function; whether the entity is subject to government control or otherwise accountable to any public body; whether the group has a budget; its place within the larger organization or institution of which it is a part; and the impact of decisions or recommendations that the group makes."

University Professionals v. Stukel, N.E.2d (Ill.App.1st Dist., 2003).

How this applies to you: Much confusion continues around when a committee must comply with the Open Meetings Act. Generally, committees whose members are appointed by a school board and/or report directly to the board are school board committees and must comply with the Open Meetings Act. Absent these features, a committee probably will be a staff committee not triggering the Open Meetings Act. There are, however, many variations and the factors given in this case (see the above paragraph) provide additional guidance.

While not an Open Meetings Act case, the incident litigated in another appellate decision occurred at an open meeting. During a village trustees' meeting, an audience member accused a village trustee with accepting a bribe and pocketing money. The trustee filed a defamation claim seeking $50,000 in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages.

The audience member defended the defamation lawsuit by asserting that her statements were privileged because they were directed at a public official during a legislative proceeding. The Court discussed "constitutional privilege" and "absolute privilege." Both privileges pose a significant hurdle for public officials who bring defamation claims. The constitutional privilege protects a person who makes a disparaging statement about a public official, unless the statement was made with actual malice, meaning that the statement was false and was made with knowledge of its falsity or in reckless disregard of whether it was false or true. The defense of absolute privilege bars defamation actions for statements made during legislative proceedings as long as the statement was related to the business being conducted. This is a factual inquiry. Krueger v. Lewis, (Ill.App. 4th Dist., 2003).

How this applies to you: School board members are public officials for purposes of defamation law. Thus, school board members face significant hurdles when bringing a defamation action, even when an accusation is made during an open board meeting. However, this case illustrates that a public official may bring a defamation action when the remark was made with actual malice and was not related to the business being conducted. Of course, keeping control of board meetings may be the best way to avoid ugliness. Consider ways to defuse audience member anger, such as by providing a meaningful alternative for dissenters to be heard, explaining complaint procedures, referring them to appropriate channels, and/or reminding them that they are modeling conduct for students.

The final decision in our cases having an Open Meetings Act connection involves censure. Park district commissioners allegedly censured a member for releasing executive session material and making comments toward an employee. The censure was a one-meeting suspension.

The censured commissioner brought a civil rights action charging that the park district violated her property right and liberty interest without due process. The court agreed: she had a property interest to serve as a park commissioner until the end of her term and a liberty interest in her reputation. Before sanctioning her, the park district was required to give her due process. Nelson v. Crystal Lake Park District, 796 N.E.2d 646 (Ill.App. 3rd, 2003).

How this applies to you: The censure policy litigated in this case is worthless for school boards. The use of a censure resolution wherein a board disavows itself from a fellow member is problematic and should only be undertaken with an attorney's advice. I have rarely seen an effective censure resolution; they generally agitate rather than defuse volatile intra-board conflict.

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LEGISLATIVE ACTION

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Updated IASB school law books will ship by June 1

These days many school administrators and board members keep school law books at their desk for easy reference. Two standard legal reference titles are available from IASB, namely the Illinois School Law Survey, by Brian Braun, and the Illinois School Code, compiled by Lexis Publishing Company for IASB.

Keeping such legal references on hand makes good sense in light of the tremendous impact new laws can have on school districts and the ever-changing world of school law. Fortunately it's easy to use these two books to quickly uncover essential information on what the law currently says about many of the issues board members and administrators face.

But readers of all law books should beware of one major pitfall, according to school attorneys: If the law book you use is out of date, you'd be better off with no book at all. In fact, because of the myriad changes being enacted into law each year, experts suggest replacing any law book that is more than a year or two old.

That's why a complete new Eighth Edition of the Illinois School Law Survey ($30 regular price, or $25 for IASB members) is being prepared for release, and the 2004 Illinois School Code ($33, or $28 for IASB members) also is being released soon. Both will be shipped by June 1, both come with expanded CD ROM versions that are compatible with PC or Apple Macintosh computers, and both are current for laws in force as of January 1, 2004.

The accompanying new CDs are easier to search for information than the books. The CDs contain the full text of their respective publications, plus:

• This year's School Code CD features full annotation for each statute, including legislative history and judicial rulings;
• The Law Survey CD features quick links to the full text of nearly all statutory, regulatory and case law cited, as well as the book's full text.

Complete new editions of these works may be ordered from IASB Publications now at extension 1108.

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Illinois celebrates 50th anniversary of Brown ruling

On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown v. Board of Education to outlaw racial segregation in the nation's public schools. The landmark decision set the nation on a course towards greater equality and social justice for all Americans.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign devoted its entire academic year in 2003-04 to a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. The commemoration culminated with commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 16. The commencement speaker was Lani Guinier, civil rights attorney, author, and Harvard Law School professor.

Another appropriate remembrance of the Brown decision took place on May 15 at the DuSable Museum in Chicago. The museum, located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, hosted a resource fair where local young people could meet representatives from various employers to learn how they can prepare themselves for the future.

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Scariano named chairman of national school law group

For the second consecutive year a member of the Illinois Council Of School Attorneys (ICSA) has taken the reigns as chairman of the National Council of School Attorneys, with Anthony G. Scariano taking that post in March. Scariano-a partner in the Chicago and Chicago Heights law firm Scariano, Himes and Petrarca, Chtd.-has broad experience in the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements.

A former teacher and Northwestern University instructor, Scariano succeeds fellow ICSA member, Nancy Fredman Krent, in leading the national school lawyer organization.

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The high school in West Chicago Dist. 33 will eliminate the naming of valedictorians beginning with its 2008 graduating class, the district's school board decided in April. The school will continue to recognize students with perfect grade-point averages at an honors ceremony, but the title will be gone, and so will the extended reading of the honorees' accomplishments at graduation ceremonies (Chicago Daily Herald, April 13, 2004).

The board of education in Huntley C.U. Dist. 158 approved a new bell time schedule for next year that will keep some students in class as late as 5 p.m. The move, necessitated by the defeat of a March tax referendum, will slice $342,000 from the district's transportation budget by operating 20 fewer regular route buses this fall (Chicago Daily Herald, April 16, 2004).

The state of Montana is defying its constitution by failing to "adequately" fund public schools via a 1993 formula, and officials must devise a new formula by October 2005, a state judge ruled April 15. The state will likely appeal to the Montana Supreme Court, but if the decision holds up, taxpayers may end up paying $350 million more annually for Montana's schools (Missoulian, April 16, 2004).

The NCLB law will stand, President Bush said on May 11, declaring "we're not backing down" to critics who say the federal law is deeply flawed. His remarks preceded a new Bush re-election campaign advertising effort featuring Laura Bush supporting the NCLB law (The New York Times, May 12, 2004).

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ILLINOIS SCHOOL DISTRICTS

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More schools leaving special ed cooperatives

In order to save on rising costs, a growing number of school districts in recent months have decided to withdraw from regional special education cooperatives that provide services to disabled students. School leaders instead have opted to provide their own special education services to disabled students or to make arrangements to place local students elsewhere.

Wilmette Elementary District 39 is the latest in a string of districts to decide on such a course of action. Board members and administrators hope to save about $400,000 annually, beginning in 2006, by taking direct control of their special education grant money to provide needed services. The funds have been going to the Northern Suburban Special Education District (NSSED).

"We have no complaints with NSSED services. They are excellent," said Superintendent Glenn W. "Max" McGee. The district will save money, however, and can offer better services apart from the cooperative, according to McGee.

School districts elsewhere in the state also have withdrawn from special-education cooperatives to save money. Four school districts left the Lockport Area Special Education Cooperative last year, for example.

Meanwhile, the attempt by District 39 to withdraw from NSSED must be approved by the board of the Cook County regional education office and the Illinois State Board of Education.

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Many Illinois districts challenge poverty estimates

Claiming that costly errors were made, 57 Illinois school districts have notified the U.S. Census Bureau challenging the accuracy of recently released federal poverty estimates from the 2000 Census.

This year, for the first time, federal poverty grants to schools were based on federal census data. As a result, any school districts faced with an undercount of their local poverty populations will lose Title I funding for this academic year and eligibility for other grants tied to Title I in the future.

The challenges mainly have been submitted by small and rural school districts, where the loss of federal dollars can be particularly damaging because those funds represent a significant portion of total funding.

Poverty counts for small areas can be skewed, U.S. Census Bureau officials admit, because responses from a few residents can significantly change estimates.

"It is difficult to make the estimates for small areas of geography," said David Waddington, director of the Census Bureau's Small Area Estimates Branch.

For more information contact the Census Bureau by mail at david.g.waddington@census.gov.

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Teacher of Year honored with Those Who Excel Award

An Elgin High School science teacher's commitment to students and the environment earned her the highest honor an Illinois teacher can receive on April 17.

Deborah Perryman, of Streamwood, was named the state's 2004 Teacher of the Year, an award that is part of the Those Who Excel program. Those Who Excel recognizes outstanding teachers and educators, and is presented annually by the Illinois State Board of Education.

Teacher of the Year award criteria include: student success achieved through application of the Illinois Learning Standards; collaboration with others to achieve teaching excellence; demonstration of continuous learning to enhance teaching skills; and exhibition of leadership skills that support students achievement.

Perryman, who teaches in Elgin Area School District U-46, was chosen from 12 finalists. She and about 300 other educators, staff, parents and community volunteers were honored in Springfield as part of the 30th annual event.

"Her dedication to teaching students to be curious about the world around them has resulted in a generation of students who will forever appreciate her contribution to them and are sure to be lifelong learners," state Schools Supt. Robert Schiller said.

This year's other Those Who Excel program winners also includes the 10 school board members listed below.

Source: ISBE.

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