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School Board News Bulletin
June 2002

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Lawmakers reduce state budget cuts for schools

Vazquez will apply to State Board to retain his current post as its head

ISBE board gives local school boards policy guidance on 'No Child Left Behind' Act at May meeting

Unions prompt ISBE push to ease new teacher licensing regulations

Moratorium requested on PE waivers from state

A 'heads up' to boards planning to attend NSBA's 2003 conference

Japan cuts school hours and days but officials waver under public criticism

RESEARCH REPORTS

Public Agenda report yields mixed bag on standards, tests

Shortage of minority teachers serious, deepening: Study

High school seniors don't know much about history

NEWS FROM IASB

IASB can disseminate your board policies via the Web

IASB seeks officer nominations to lead the Association in 2003

LEGISLATIVE ACTION

NEWS HEADLINES

ILLINOIS DISTRICTS

Schools face conflict between spring break, April elections

Morton Grove district is national technology award winner

Lawmakers reduce state budget cuts for schools
State leaders push through $500 million for school construction

Lawmakers adopted a Fiscal Year 2003 budget May 31 that contained roughly $17 million more for schools than the governor had proposed, but the session dragged on until June 2 before a late-night agreement could be reached about how to pay for it. The budget contends with a $1.35 billion state budget shortfall while passing along to schools only a $23 million decrease in General Revenue Funds spending.

The plan provides for no change in the per pupil foundation level, and contains a 94 percent pro-rated support for categorical programs -- well above the governor's recommendations, but 6 percent below last year's full funding level.

Lawmakers approved the governor's recommendations, however, for $500 million in new bond funds for the School Construction Grant Program in FY 2003, plus another $500 million in FY 2004. The additional debt likely would be retired with revenue from the state's new "sin taxes."

"Probably the most significant aspect of the new budget was the Governor and the legislative leaders pushing for new funding for the School Construction Grant Program," said Ben Schwarm, IASB Associate Executive Director of Governmental Relations.

The Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance was generally pleased with the final outcome of this spring session, according to Schwarm. He notes that from the outset it was evident that this would be a very difficult budget year and that education would have to share in the burden of budget cuts.

"Overall, legislators in both chambers and from both political parties did work to make the cuts in education as painless as possible," said Schwarm.

Alliance lobbyists said there was a true sense of conviction among legislators in making education the top priority during the budget discussions. "In particular, budget leaders Senator Steve Rauschenberger (R-Elgin) and Representative Julie Curry (D-Mt. Zion) fought continuously to keep education funding as a top priority," said IASB director of governmental relations Deanna Sullivan.

State revenue declined for the first time in 50 years, forcing state leaders to make widespread cuts in spending, assess major tax increases on cigarettes and riverboat gaming, and borrow against future income from the national tobacco settlement. The final budget would have been unbalanced without the adoption of permanent revenue enhancements totaling $365 million. The state's precariously balanced budget of expenditures and tax increases now goes to Governor George Ryan for his consideration.

There is still a chance however, depending on May and June state revenue receipts, that the budget could fall out of balance. If state tax receipt totals come in lower than anticipated -- which many observers are expecting -- the governor will likely veto portions of the budget to bring spending in line with revenue. The governor has the power to "line item veto" the bill, striking out any spending he chooses. The legislature would then vote in November on whether or not to accept the governor's changes.

Senate Bill 2393 (sponsored by Sen. Rauschenberger, R-Elgin) contains lawmakers' spending plan for next year. The House crafted an amendment to S.B. 2393 and passed the budget outline on a 92-22-2 vote the afternoon of May 31. The Senate concurred with the spending plan that night and approved it on a vote of 55-2-1.

This year's final budget was based upon a revised budget Governor Ryan presented to a joint session of the legislature on Memorial Day. Under that plan, public schools would have seen about $40 million less than last year, FY '02. But the House plan added about $300 million in general revenue fund spending to the governor's revised plan, including about $17 million for schools.

Here are some key provisions of the education portion of SB 2393:

• No increase in the per student foundation level -- it is held flat at $4,560
• The "hold harmless" line item would be funded ($65.7 million)
• Mandated categorical grants would be prorated at 94% (this plan added an additional $33 million over the Governor's proposal)
• $10 million was added to the poverty grant line item. The increased poverty grant funding would give school districts in the 20-35% student poverty level an additional $140 per student and give school districts in the 35-50% student poverty level an additional $29 per student.
• Funds the ADA Block Grant at $67.5 million (approximately $36 per student)
• Decreases the Standards, Assessment and Accountability line item by $3 million from the Governor's level
• The Governor's new line item for a universal pre-school pilot program would be funded at $5.2 million
• The Governor's new line item for a teacher mentoring program would be funded at $8.1 million
• The Governor's new line item for an administrator mentoring program would be funded at $450,000
• The Governor's new line item for the "Teach America" program would be funded at $450,000
• The Governor's $3.6 million increase for National Board Certification was retained
• The Governor's $2 million for the new "Waterford Early Reading Program" was eliminated
• The Governor's recommended increase in the "Golden Apple" program was reduced by $40,000 to $2.9 million
• $3.7 million was added back to the early childhood education program restoring it to the FY '02 funding level
• Vocational education would be level funded
• No line items were eliminated, but all others were funded below the FY '02 level.

The list of elementary and secondary education line items that were significantly reduced is a long one, including the following items.

The school funding plan is detailed online at the ISBE Web site at http://www.isbe.state.il.us/FY03 Budget.xls.

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Vazquez will apply to State Board to retain his current post as its head

Interim State Superintendent of Schools Respicio Vazquez put rumors to rest at this year's Illinois Association of School Administrators' conference by announcing that he will apply for the job he currently holds.

"Originally I said I would only apply if people felt I should apply," Vazquez told a capacity breakfast crowd at the Hilton in Springfield. "If you don't like the direction I'm going, if you don't like what you've seen, talk."

A May 16 statement from Connie Rogers, search committee chair, said the committee was "on schedule" with its timeline that calls for candidate interviews in June and announcement of the new superintendent in July.

Vazquez also urged superintendents not to be "wedded" to the idea that the state superintendent's position should only be filled by an educator.

In discussing the budget, he said he was trying to get "as much as we can" in the way of educational funding, adding that he would rather have an idea of how much the legislature is willing to appropriate before he asks for a specific amount. Vazquez compared the state budget process with feeding a family: you buy macaroni and cheese or filet mignon -- it depends on knowing how much you have to spend.

As far as testing and student achievement, Vazquez said he would like to create a strategic plan of what education could look like, use data from current testing to make certain any future tests are directly linked to Illinois Learning Standards and find a proposal that superintendents and other educators can live with before meeting with outside groups, such as the Business Roundtable, to gain support for different testing.

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The Illinois State Board of Education, meeting in Springfield May 15 and 16, heard a progress report that included a review of in-district school choice requirements under federal HR 1, the so-called No Child Left Behind Act. The board recommended action for local boards to take to comply with this new federal law.

The new federal law requires school districts identified as inadequate to offer in-district choice, beginning in the 2002-2003 school year. The ISBE has identified 65 school districts in Illinois (including 404 schools) as potentially needing to offer student choice. Identified schools must show "adequate yearly progress" on their ISATs in test outcomes to be released in August. Otherwise they must give parents the option to transfer their children to another school that has not been identified as inadequate.

There are, however, practical concerns about these requirements. First, what if there is no other school in the district or no school that is eligible to accept student transfers? The solution ISBE heard from federal administrators is simple: develop an intergovernmental agreement with a neighboring district to allow students to attend one of their schools - but only if the agreement is practical and if the sending district can pay for the transfers with their federal money.

If none of those options are available, however, there would be no immediate consequences for the so-called failing school. If the school continually failed to make adequate yearly progress, however, it would have to offer supplemental education services (tutoring, after-school programs, etc.) in the near future.

The state board took unprecedented action to recommend that local boards establish a specific policy necessitated by the "No Child Left Behind" law. Specifically, the motion adopted by the board includes the following provisions:

"The state board will recommend that each local school board establish and implement a policy on public school choice for the possible transfer of students from attendance centers identified as having the consequence of public school choice due to lack of academic progress.

"The state board will recommend that each local school board establish and implement a policy governing the provision of supplemental educational services for students from attendance centers identified as having the consequences of public school choice and supplemental education services due to lack of academic progress."

The state board also:

• Voted to disseminate the board policy permitting "unsafe school" choice, including a provision allowing any student who is the victim of violent crime on school property to move to another school; and
• Voted to endorse the use of the national education technology standards for the Illinois technology literacy standards.

Source: Cynthia S. Woods, IASB intergovernmental relations staff.

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Under pressure from teachers organizations, the ISBE recently suggested easing statutory requirements that call for making new teachers pass a competency test after working in the classroom for four years. Beginning next year, unless state law is revised, teachers who fail the competency test will be denied permanent teaching licenses.

But ISBE officials divulged the outlines of a plan in early May that would weaken this 1998 law, which greatly toughened licensing requirements for teachers.

"I think this shows Illinois is not as dedicated to improving teacher quality as it professes to be," objected Carolyn Nordstrom, president of Chicago United, a business organization that pushed for the original teacher licensing legislation.

The proposal would permit teachers to earn a permanent license in any of six ways, including earning 60 credit hours through workshops and seminars or completing four semester hours of graduate-level work. But regardless of which of the six options is chosen, beginning teachers will have to prove to veteran teachers that they can teach.

Teachers organization representatives say they disagree with using one written exam to gauge a novice teacher's ability. They prefer an approach that would aim to help such teachers improve in their profession instead of ending their career early.

This proposal would improve teaching in Illinois classrooms, according to Respicio Vazquez, interim state superintendent of education. "We tried to do the best we could to meet everyone's interests," Vazquez noted.

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More Illinois kids are overweight than ever before -- including one in five kids ages 6 to 17 -- in part because physical education is no longer required in many schools, physical education advocates charge.

A coalition calling itself the Illinois Physical Activity Coalition for Kids recently announced plans to get the state to enforce laws more strictly by requiring daily PE classes and barring new PE waivers in the meantime.

According to the PE advocates, two-thirds of Illinois grade schools only require PE one or two days a week. The coalition says 87 percent of these schools skip daily PE classes without having waivers to do so.

State law in Illinois generally requires daily PE classes through the 12th grade for public school students. Eleventh and twelfth graders can opt out of PE classes if they need another class to get into a college or to graduate; athletes can opt out, as well.

Ben Schwarm, lobbyist with the Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance, said there's no data that indicates daily PE will help address the childhood obesity problem. "If this is directly related to PE, then we should be ahead of the curve," Schwarm said.

The PE coalition issued a "health watch" list of Illinois districts indicating how many days their students take PE classes per week. The list includes about twenty percent of the state's 892 schools districts.

The state board recently revised its waiver process by requiring districts to show how they would meet state PE standards if granted a waiver.

Source: Illinois State Journal-Register, "Child obesity linked with lax views toward PE classes," April 26, 2002.

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Boards and board members need to be aware of a potential scheduling conflict with regard to their election canvassing duties next April, if NSBA's annual conference is in their plans. A conflict arises because the national conference -- April 5-8, 2003, in San Francisco -- immediately follows Illinois' next consolidated election, April 1, 2003.

Thus, as school boards now begin to look at adopting annual calendars for next year, they must plan around NSBA's 2003 conference, particularly in planning to meet the statutory requirement that boards must canvas their election results within seven days and reorganize.

In the past many boards fulfilled this legal duty on the first Monday and Tuesday after the election, which next year would fall on the last two days of the NSBA annual conference. Thus, boards sending members to the NSBA event next year should to plan to canvass election results within the first two or three days following the election.

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Long held up to Americans as a paragon of educational commitment, the Japanese educational system is cutting back the nation's required number of hours and days of student instruction. The cuts are being made by the central government in favor of family time and an enhanced opportunity for non-academic pursuits.

The program calls for a five-day week that finally gives students Saturdays off, and a reduced compilation of teaching guidelines that permits schools to adjust to the shortened week.

Public opposition is mounting. A survey last month showed 60 percent of Japanese adults objected to the shortened schedule of schooling.

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RESEARCH REPORTS

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Improving public schools remains one of Americans' top priorities, a national public opinion poll shows. The poll, conducted by the Public Education Network and Education Week, also indicates that education ranks second only to the economy and jobs as Americans' most serious public concern, outranking terrorism and security, and even the war in Afghanistan.

Americans oppose cuts to education funding, even if it means painful cutbacks in other areas, according to the April 24 report, Accountability for All: What Voters Want from Education Candidates. The survey also shows that most people will vote against elected officials who cut support for public schools.

The report is online at http://www.publiceducation.org.

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A new survey of school board members by NSBA shows board members spend about 25 hours per month on board business. Substantial numbers of board members, however -- especially those in large districts -- spend 20 or more hours a week on board work.

Respondents included members from 827 school districts nationwide. Their answers to poll questions show the typical board holds 22.9 meetings per year. The total time that respondents spend on the job, however, varies tremendously from small districts to large districts. In large districts, more than 60 percent of board members spend at least seven hours a week on board business. In small districts, fewer than 20 percent of board members spend as much as seven hours a week on board affairs.

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The vast majority of America's high school seniors have an "abysmal" understanding of their nation's history, and seniors' knowledge of U.S. history has not improved in the past seven years. So said a report from the U.S. Department of Education, released May 9.

Graduating high school students' "truly abysmal scores" on the 2001 U.S. History Report Card are alarming, said Diane Ravitch, professor of education at New York University.

Fully 57 percent of high school seniors performed at a sub-par level. Another 32 percent scored only at the basic level. Just 11 percent completed grade-level work; and 1 percent earned a ranking of advanced.

Source: 'History report card: "Abysmal,"' USA Today, May 10, 2002.

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NEWS FROM IASB

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With 138 districts now enrolled and saving money on electricity, the Illinois Energy Consortium has turned services to schools up a notch by adding a natural gas option.

In the past few months that the option has been available, 50 school districts have committed to the service, according to John Nania of Peoples Energy Services, the program administrator and natural gas supplier. Some are receiving natural gas from the consortium already; others are waiting for agreements with previous distributors to expire.

Nania emphasized the need for districts to commit to the program "as soon as possible" in order for the company to make strategic purchases for the next heating season. The biggest advantage for school districts, in addition to securing lower prices, is that it will eliminate the need to store their own natural gas inventories, he said.

The new natural gas option will operate similarly to the current electric option, which CILCO administrates.

"Districts can join without switching service," said Kristi Fitzanko, IEC program administrator with CILCO. "They will only be switched if we can save the district money."

David Grace, superintendent of Lincoln Elementary School District 156 and IEC governing board chairman, said IEC's goal is to be a statewide energy supplier, to reduce paperwork for districts and save them money.

Grace also announced that the IEC, created in 1999 as a joint project of Illinois Association of School Boards, Illinois Association of School Administrators and Illinois Association of School Business Officials, plans to expand its nine-member governing board to 12 members, four representatives from each association.

Latham and Associates performed a feasibility study for a Natural Gas Program for the IEC. The IEC board reviewed the findings and on March 1, 2002, the IEC began its new natural gas program.

Any school district in the NICOR, Peoples, and North Shore Natural Gas areas using more than 20,000 therms should save money, according to IEC estimates.

Any school district interested in the IEC's Electric or Natural Gas Programs can phone Ron Steigerwald at 847/567-3051 (fax 847/634-8254 or email rsteigerwald@hotmail.com ).

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New 2002 editions of both the Illinois School Code and Illinois School Law Survey are now available from IASB. Both publications now come packaged with CD ROM versions designed to run on either PC or Apple Macintosh computers.

Illinois School Law Survey (ISBN: 1-880331-13-6) is compiled and written by Attorney Brian A. Braun, an attorney with Miller, Tracy, Braun, Funk & Guenther, Ltd., and it is published in alternating years by IASB. The Survey is a popular layman's guide to school law that uses a question-and-answer format to address issues commonly encountered by board members and administrators.

Illinois School Law Survey presents more than 1,300 questions and answers in 27 chapters on such topics as student discipline, the educational program, education of the handicapped, teacher employment, collective bargaining, school elections, public meetings, budgeting, property taxes, and state aid.

The 672-page Seventh Edition, including the CD, may be ordered through your local bookstore (ISBN: 1-880331-13-6). It also is available from IASB for $30 a copy ($25 for IASB member districts), plus $4 per order for shipping. See ordering information below.

The 2002 Illinois School Code and Related Acts is current through all of the 2001 legislative session. The CD ROM edition it comes with carries the same statutes as its printed version, with full annotation for each statute, including legislative history, cross references, judicial rulings and library references (features not included in the book). The CD ROM carries a license to install the School Code and search engine on one personal computer. (Additional licenses are available to accommodate multiple workstations connected to a Local Area Network.) Also included: an on-line users manual and technical support from Lexis Law Publishing. Copies of the School Code are $28 each ($23 for IASB member districts), plus $4 per order for shipping.

Both the Seventh Edition of the Illinois School Law Survey, and the 2002 Illinois School Code may be purchased from IASB in any of the following ways:

• Call 217/528-9688, ext. 1108
• FAX your order to TAMMY at 217/528-2831
• By mail: IASB Publications, 2921 Baker Drive, Springfield, Illinois 62703

Please provide the following information:

• The title of the item(s) you want and the quantity.
• Your name, organization (if appropriate), mailing address, and daytime telephone.
• You may pay for your purchase by check or credit card or purchase order.

Member prices are available to IASB Member school districts (board members and employees), and to members of IASB Service Associates and Illinois Council of School Attorneys.

A $4.00 surcharge will be added to all shipped orders.

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LEGISLATIVE ACTION

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H.B. 1692 (Mathias, R-Buffalo Grove), a bill suddenly revived in May after having stalled in House committee last spring, permits public elementary and secondary schools to incorporate activities to address intergroup conflict, beginning with the 2002-2003 school year. The objectives are improving relations on and beyond the school campus, defusing intergroup tensions, and promoting peaceful resolution of conflict. For school boards that adopt a policy to incorporate activities to address conflict, the legislation requires that they make information available to the public. Such information must describe the manner in which the board has implemented the authority granted to it in the bill's anti-bias education provisions. The bill was approved and will be sent to the Governor.

HB 1436 (Daniels, R-Elmhurst) requires new re-certification standards for school administrators. It provides that administrative certificate renewal would begin July 1, 2003. All persons currently holding an administrative certificate and employed in a position requiring such 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 participate in continuing professional development activities that total a minimum of 100 hours; and participate every year in an Illinois Administrator's Academy course, which equals 36 continuing professional development hours over a 5 year period. For more details on the administrative re-certification provision, please refer to Alliance Legislative Report 92-46.

The bill also contains language on moving from an initial teachers' certificate to a standard certificate: provides that persons may be issued Standard Teaching Certificates if they successfully complete certain requirements before the expiration of their Initial Teaching Certificates.

The bill was approved and will be sent to the Governor.

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NEWS HEADLINES

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Requiring universal childhood vaccinations for chickenpox would save thousands of children's lives, but would cause just as many adults to die from shingles, British scientists say (May 2, 2002, Reuters) ... While the sport is not entirely safe for kids, it is not clear whether helmets should be required for youngsters who play soccer, according to an April 2002 study. The report from a medical panel of the National Institute of Health endorsed a suggestion by the American Youth Soccer Organization that children under 10 should avoid "heading" the ball (April 30, Reuters) ... In an effort to reduce rising rates of pregnancy among local teens, Clinton C.U. District 15 school leaders will increase their schools' sex education program next year. Statewide the teen birth rate was 11.4 percent in 2000, compared to 16.5 percent in DeWitt County (April 29, The Pantagraph, Bloomington) ... Officials of Chicago District 299 are negotiating with the Chicago teachers' organization to take on the task of revamping two troubled grade schools. The Chicago Teachers Union school rescue proposal is modeled after an effort in New York City. (May 7, Chicago Tribune) ... Paul Vallas, the former Chicago schools' CEO, has applied for two different school leadership posts, one in Illinois and one in Pennsylvania. Vallas is seeking a job as Illinois' state superintendent, or as Philadelphia schools' CEO. "I have three or four things I am looking at, and the Illinois and Philadelphia jobs are two of them," Vallas said. (May 4, Chicago Tribune) ... Even minute quantities of secondhand smoke can measurably impair children's ability to read, compute, and reason, according to researchers. Reading skills are the most noticeably impaired (May 6, Reuters)

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ILLINOIS DISTRICTS

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Many school leaders across the state are wrestling with a real dilemma after discovering the scheduled April 1, 2003, local election will coincide with the scheduled spring break for their school district. For districts that will have school finance elections or school board races next April, this scheduling conflict could mean trouble.

That is, if most of the parents who support a school tax increase are visiting the Grand Canyon or far-flung amusement parks, the odds against passage may be seriously lengthened.

For years some regional offices of education have tried to coordinate a common spring break for the school districts they serve. Unfortunately, as a result, many school districts have scheduled their 2003 spring break from March 31 to April 4 -- placing the April election right in the middle of the break.

Source: Arlington Daily Herald, "Schools don't want to mix break, elections," May 24, 2002.

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Golf District 67, Morton Grove, has been selected as one of three districts to be showcased at the general session of NSBA's Technology and Leadership Conference in Dallas on Nov. 14. The winners were selected from a nationwide network of leaders in school technology for their success in educational programming and the "wise and innovative uses of technology to support student achievement."

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IASB ARCHIVES HOME

Illinois Association of School Boards

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Springfield, Illinois 62703