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School Board News Bulletin
May 1999

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LAWMAKERS APPROVE "ILLINOIS FIRST" PROGRAM

NEWS FROM IASB

Leadership and Development Awards system revised

LEGISLATIVE ACTION

Lawmakers extend early retirement option

Governor signs tuition tax credit bill

Budget for schools gets $391 million boost

RESEARCH REPORTS

Only a few anti-drug programs get highest marks

Studies link bullying, school violence

THE NATIONAL SCENE

Debate reopened on school bus seat belts

Vouchers approved in Florida, defeated in New Mexico.

TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

Schools ruled liable for student-on-student harassment

State to establish character education pilot program

NASSP, feds seek New American High School applicants

FEDERAL UPDATE

Y2K survey to assess school readiness

DEVELOPMENTS IN SCHOOL LAW

A story of disenchantment

WORKSHOPS & MEETINGS

Chicago area leadership conference is October 15

Illinois to take part in national math tests based on TIMSS

Recent mailings from IASB

CLASSIFIED ADS

Schools get $1.1 billion in added construction funding from state

State lawmakers have approved Gov. George H. Ryan’s Illinois FIRST program, a $12 billion public works plan that includes over $1.1 billion for school construction. The plan calls for more than $573 million in tax and fee increases to support the new program.

Most of the $12 billion in expenditures would go for new and enhanced roads, mass transit, and other infrastructure projects.

The plan would roughly double the state’s ongoing $2.2 billion school construction program, whose funds had already been depleted after only three years. Fifty percent of the additional funding ($1.1 billion) would come from the state, while the rest would come from local school districts with voter approval.

Taxpayers will pay for the plan through higher taxes and fees on alcoholic drinks, license plate renewals, and vehicle title transfers.

The increases are smaller than the governor had initially sought. Legislators said citizens complained about Governor Ryan’s proposal to double the annual vehicle registration fee on most vehicles from $48, so the fee increase was scaled back to $78.

The registration fee for school buses was hiked to $50, a $2 increase.

Illinois FIRST is the largest public works project since the $2.4 billion Build Illinois program was launched in 1985. The $12 billion Ryan program dwarfs that works project: adjusted for inflation, Build Illinois would be worth only about $3.48 billion today.

Borrowing will provide most of the needed money.

Key spending categories

Key spending categories include:

• Schools: The state’s $2.2 billion school construction program would be nearly doubled. Half of the added funds will come from the state and half from local school districts. The new total will be roughly $4.32 billion.
• Transportation: The plan provides $5.3 billion in bonding authority to upgrade roads, bridges, airports and railroads.
• State universities, colleges and community colleges receive $1.5 billion.
• State prisons: $1.3 billion is earmarked for corrections department projects.

Other projects: The plan will allocate funds for projects to better the economy, improve the environment, and help overall quality of life. It includes just about anything government can spend money on, such as water and sewer projects, bike trails, local jails and juvenile detention centers.

In addition, the plan makes "school maintenance" a new category for which school districts may request funding from the School Infrastructure Fund. The plan will provide up to $50,000 per maintenance project, with a 50 percent local matching fund required. First priority will be granted to emergency projects and health and life-safety projects.

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FEDERAL UPDATE

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Y2K survey to assess school readiness

In April, the superintendent of every school district received a letter from the U.S. Department of Education asking for responses to an on-line survey regarding local preparedness for dealing with potential Y2K computer problems.

NSBA encouraged districts to respond to the survey, which was due to be returned by May 28.

Survey results will be posted to a web site at http://web1.xservices.com/k12/intro.asp. Preliminary aggregate survey results were posted to the web site on May 28, 1999. Final aggregate survey results will be posted to the web site by June 30, 1999.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Education has established a year 2000 web site (http://www.ed.gov/y2k) that has useful information, including "Squashing the Millennium Bug, a Y2K Compliance Guide for K-12 Education." Also available are the Department of Education’s Year 2000 Toolkit, and meeting minutes from Year 2000 focus groups featuring members of the elementary and secondary education community. In addition, the Department has set up an electronic mailbox (y2k@ed.gov) for comments and questions on Year 2000.

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RESEARCH REPORTS

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Only a few anti-drug programs get highest marks

The quality of school-based drug prevention programs has improved in the past three years—but there still are only a handful of outstanding programs. That’s one of the findings of Making the Grade: A Guide to School Drug Prevention Programs, released by Drug Strategies, a Washington, D.C., research group.

First published in 1996, this updated report offers a brief analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the nation’s most popular programs for K-12 students.

Programs receiving the top grade are the Michigan Model (a comprehensive health program), Alcohol Misuse Prevention Program (Series II), Life Skills Training, Project ALERT, Project Northland, Project TNT (Towards No Tobacco Use), Reconnecting Youth, and STAR (Students Taught Awareness and Resistance).

The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program received a "B" for its efforts and effectiveness.

For more information phone Drug Strategies at 202/289-9070.

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Studies link bullying, school violence

Past research "suggests that young people who bully are more likely to commit violent acts in later years," according to the authors of a new study, who also provide specific steps to prevent bullying.

The authors—three student counseling experts—warn that "once the threshold for tolerating bullying behavior has been reached, students have been shown to ‘strike back’ in many ways."

Writing in the NASSP Bulletin of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (May 1999), the authors recommend:

* educating teachers, parents and students about bullying and getting their commitment to end it

* providing adequate adult supervision on playgrounds and having a plan for dealing with bullying

* posting signs in classrooms stating that bullying will not be tolerated, and getting teachers to explain and enforce those warnings

* informing bullies’ and their victims’ parents about problems

Single copies of the May NASSP Bulletin (request item number 1109905) are available for $12, plus $5 shipping and handling, from the NASSP, 1904 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191. For more information, visit the NASSP website at http://www.nassp.org/publications/bulletin/index.html or phone 800/253-7746.

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DEVELOPMENTS IN SCHOOL LAW

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A story of disenchantment

Imagine: public school buildings with structural flaws, falling plaster, malfunctioning heating systems, chronic flooding, asbestos, broken windows, cockroaches and rats, non-nutritious lunches in the cafeteria, meager instructional equipment, disenchanted and uncertified teachers, high student drop-out rates and low test scores. What can parents do who describe their school like this?

The Illinois Constitution mandates that the State "provide for an efficient system of high quality public educational institutions." Isn’t this article violated if a district fails to provide an adequate instructional program? The due process clause of the U.S. Constitution protects fundamental liberty interests against infringement by government. Don’t compulsory education laws and the presence of State-created dangers give rise to a duty under the due process clause to provide minimally adequate education? Wretched conditions violate various School Code provisions. Can’t these provisions be enforced?

Parents, seeing such woefully inadequate conditions, made these arguments. They brought suit against the Illinois State Board of Education and State Superintendent, as well as the local board of education.

Their school-aged children were the plaintiffs in a class action that charged that the defendants violated the students’ rights under the Illinois Constitution’s education article, the due process clauses of the U.S. and Illinois Constitutions, and various provisions of the School Code. The news from the Court of Appeals was optimistic for the parents: their theories could support a cause of action. That same news, through the eyes of school districts across Illinois, was frightening. Asking courts to pass judgment on education quality issues presented an alarming forecast.

The Illinois Supreme Court gave school officials more acceptable news – the Court rejected the parents’ constitutionally based theories of action. The alleged violations of the School Code cannot support a tort action against school officials for damages. However, the parents can seek to compel compliance with duties imposed by the School Code.

The Supreme Court expeditiously concluded that the quality of public education is a legislative matter – not a judicial one. The education article states:

A fundamental goal of the People of the State is the educational development of all persons to the limits of their capacities.

The State shall provide for an efficient system of high quality public educational institutions and services. Education in public schools through the secondary level shall be free. There shall be such other free education as the General Assembly provides by law.

The State has the primary responsibility for financing the system of public education.

Illinois Constitution 1970, art. X, §1.

As recently as 1996, the Illinois Supreme Court held that the quality of public education is not justiciable. Committee for Judicial Rights v. Edgar, 174 Ill. 2d 1 (1996). There, a group of plaintiffs challenged the State’s scheme for funding public schools. They asserted that the funding scheme violated the educational article by failing to provide a "quality education," as required by the education article, to students in poorer districts. The Court concluded that "questions relating to the quality of education are solely for the legislative branch to answer."

In the present case, the Supreme Court relied on this earlier decision. The parents’ attempt to distinguish the two cases failed. The 1996 decision did not limit itself to whether courts could define a "high quality" education; instead, it considered the broader issue of "whether the quality of education is capable of or properly subject to measurement by the courts." No matter how the issue is framed, recognition of the parents’ cause of action under the education article would require the judiciary to determine from the Constitution alone the content of an "adequate education." These decisions are for the legislature, not the courts, to decide. Thus, no matter how awful the conditions, students may not sue State and local officials under the education article for deprivation of even a "minimally adequate education."

The claims based on alleged violations of Constitutional due process were likewise dismissed. The U.S. Constitution is a charter of negative liberties; it does not require federal or State government to provide services. Illinois officials are under no constitutional duty to provide substantive services to an individual, unless he or she is institutionalized and wholly dependent on the State. Compulsory education is not the type of restraint on liberty that serves as the basis for imposing such a duty.

The parents argued that, since school officials placed their children in a position of danger, the Constitutional due process clause imposes a duty on the State to protect or care for them. The State-created danger theory requires an affirmative act on the part of the State to create the danger. Here, there was mere inaction. Thus, their substantive due process claims were dismissed. As there is no basis for a broader construction of the Illinois due process clause in this context, those claims were also dismissed.

The only recourse left for the parents was predicated on alleged violations of the Illinois School Code . While the School Code does not provide a private right of tort action, it does support an action for mandamus. The complaint did not explicitly seek a writ of mandamus, but the Court reviewed its allegations to determine if it contained the necessary elements for one.

Mandamus is a remedy to enforce the performance of a public officer’s official duties where no exercise of discretion on his or her part is involved. A writ of mandamus will not be granted unless the plaintiff can show a right, a clear duty of the defendant to act, and the authority of the defendant to comply with the writ.

Here, the Court was unable to glean from the complaint the necessary allegations for a mandamus action. The Court dismissed the School Code claims, but allowed the plaintiffs to file an amended complaint. If the parents do this, each statutory duty sought to be enforced through mandamus will be evaluated to ascertain if the elements are satisfied: does the particular statute cited impose a clear duty to act on the defendants and does it grant the plaintiffs a clear right to the relief requested. Lewis v. Spagnolo, et al., April 15, 1999, Ill. S.Ct.

Odious-fact cases, like this one, illustrate how our parents and communities can be overcome with frustration. Events triggering frustration may not amount to the level of mismanagement alleged here, but any nonsensical obstruction, waste, or silence may leave a distaste and mistrust for public institutions. Board members, as well as other school officials, should consider the lessons learned in this case: convene your community, listen to it, answer the big "quality" questions, and monitor the execution of statutory duties.

Melinda Selbee is IASB’s general counsel.

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NEWS FROM IASB

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Leadership and Development Awards system revised

1998-99 Leadership and Development Activity Summaries were mailed to all seated school board members in mid-June. Leadership and Development Awards are IASB’s way of recognizing and honoring board members for the time and effort they devote to self-improvement and leadership activities.

For the second year a revised awards level system is being used that allows board members more opportunities to earn L&D points and changes the number of credits needed to reach each level. For the 1998/99 awards year, one important change has been made. Attendance at the 1998 Joint Annual Conference will count 30 points, five more than in previous years.

Attendance at future Joint Annual Conferences will also be credited 30 points. This change was made after pre-conference materials for the 1999 conference were published listing 25 points. This change will allow board members to move more quickly from level to level. Additionally, Master School Board Members who attend the conference will be able to maintain that level with only 20 additional L&D points.

Please complete and return your L&D Activity Summary no later than July 23rd so that you may be recognized at your fall division meeting.

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THE NATIONAL SCENE

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Debate reopened on school bus seat belts

The Florida House and Senate both approved a bill April 30 requiring all school buses purchased after Dec. 31, 2000, to be equipped with seat belts. Thus, Florida may join New York and New Jersey as the only states to mandate seat belt installation on all new large (over 10,000 pounds) school buses. New Jersey goes even further by requiring the seat belts to be used.

Another 30 states, including Illinois, saw seat belt legislation introduced this spring.

Recent serious accidents have heightened the call for belts. (Lap belts already are required on all school buses under 10,000 pounds nationwide.)

Last year, the National Parent-Teacher Association adopted a resolution calling for all new school buses to have lap belts. The American Medical Association, the American College of Emergency Physicians, and other medical groups also endorse seat belts.

Both the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which investigates crashes, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the regulatory agency, are studying the issue.

The NTSB says it will issue a recommendation by early summer on whether bus seat belts should be required.

According to the NHTSA, an average of 11 children die on school buses each year, a small number considering that buses transport 23.5 million students twice daily. For every child killed while riding as a school bus passenger, about three die as they are entering or leaving the bus.

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Vouchers approved in Florida, defeated in New Mexico

The New Mexico legislature has overwhelmingly rejected a school voucher proposal that had been a major priority of Gov. Gary Johnson. Meanwhile, the Florida legislature has enacted the nation’s first statewide voucher program—a high priority of Gov. Jeb Bush.

Gov. Bush’s plan will make vouchers worth up to $4,000 a year available to students in schools that get a failing grade, which could include up to 170 of Florida’s 3,000 schools. The vouchers will help cover tuition at a private school.

Opponents say using state-financed vouchers in private and religious schools is unconstitutional and discriminatory.

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TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

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Schools ruled liable for student-on-student harassment

A recent Supreme Court ruling in the case of Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education should benefit both students and school districts, according to the National School Boards Association. It creates a limited legal liability for schools failing to take action to stop known cases of severe sexual harassment of one student by another.

"This ruling protects children from sexual harassment by other children without putting the school district at an excessive financial risk," said Anne Bryant, executive director of the National School Boards Association (NSBA). "School boards across the country have developed or are in the process of developing tough and clear sexual harassment policies that demonstrate that such action will not be tolerated. Today’s Court ruling shows that if school officials implement these guidelines, children should not be vulnerable to harassment and schools, with limited public funding, should not be vulnerable to huge monetary damages."

In addition, Julie Underwood, NSBA general counsel, noted that the court ruling sets a very high standard for school districts in cases of sexual harassment of children by other children.

"The Court stated that school districts will only be held liable if they were deliberately indifferent to known and pervasive harassment," Underwood said. "These are rare occasions."

For further information contact Renée M. Williams, PR Coordinator, NSBA, phone 703/838-6717; or fax 703/548-5613; e-mail: rwilliams@nsba.org

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State to establish character education pilot program

Illinois is one of nine states receiving a 1999 federal grant to work with local school districts and communities to ensure that students learn values and ethics as part of their lessons.

The state received a grant totaling $349,488 to establish a character education pilot program for youth. For more information, contact ISBE’s Leon Hendricks at 773/553-1990.

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NASSP, feds seek New American High School applicants

High schools engaged in comprehensive school reform that are able to demonstrate significant student achievement are encouraged to apply for New American High Schools status.

The national program is co-sponsored by NASSP and the U.S. Department of Education. It recognizes and supports high schools that have undertaken extensive reform efforts to ensure that all students meet challenging academic standards and are prepared for college and careers.

Such schools use innovative instruction, leading-edge technology, professional development, community service, integrated work-based experience, and community-based partnerships to increase student achievement and performance.

Further information on the program is available from NASSP on their website at http://www.nassp.org; from the U.S. Department of Education website at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/nahs; or by calling 800/USA-LEARN. The deadline for applications is July 2, 1999.

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LEGISLATIVE ACTION

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Lawmakers extend early retirement option

SB 55 (sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Parker, R-Northbrook), which addresses a defect in the Early Retirement Option (ERO) law, won final legislative approval May 27. It is designed to extend the sunset of the Early Retirement Option until June 30, 2005 and to eliminate the requirement that local school districts pay up to 100 percent of the salary level of a TRS member who retires with 34 years of creditable service.

Governor Ryan has signed the bill, which takes effect immediately.

The Teachers’ Retirement System reportedly will contact any member whose retirement benefits or costs will be affected by the new legislation. TRS will offer the option of a revised retirement date to allow the member to take advantage of the new legislation.

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Governor signs tuition tax credit bill

Governor George H. Ryan has signed SB 1075 (sponsored by Sen. Dan Cronin, R-Elmhurst) into law. The bill provides an income tax credit to taxpayers for tuition paid to public or non-public elementary and secondary schools. Governor Ryan had long pledged that he would sign such a bill.

The new law provides the credit for the parents or guardians of any Illinois resident, under age 21, who is a full-time student enrolled in any K-12 educational program at any public or non-public elementary or secondary school. It allows an income tax credit of 25% of tuition, book fees and lab fees paid.

The law requires at least $250 to be incurred in qualified educational expenses in order to be eligible for the tax credit and it caps the credit at a maximum of $500 per household. Anyone spending at least $2,250 in school tuition or fees would be eligible for the full $500 tax credit. The program, which could cost up to $150 million, would begin with tax years ending after December 31, 1999.

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Budget for schools gets $391 million boost

The Fiscal Year 2000 elementary and secondary education budget will receive a $391.4 million increase over last year’s budget total. Just as Gov. George H. Ryan had pledged in his campaign, the budget will earmark 51 percent of all new state revenue to schools for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The foundation level will reach the statutory requirement of $4,325 per student and all mandatory categorical programs (including special education, transportation and free school lunches and breakfasts) will be fully funded for the first time in recent memory. Other significant budget provisions would:

* provide funding to allow for a $1.05 calculation rate for high school districts to compute the "available local resources"

* provide the funding necessary to implement HB 1134, a bill adopted to address the property tax cap

* double whammy," which stipulates that the "available local resources" in the state aid formula shall be determined by using an EAV of a district’s taxable property that reflects the limitations imposed by the property tax cap law

* provide a $16 million increase in early childhood education

* reinstate $2.75 million for the Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention Program

* provide $50 million for school maintenance project grants

* provide $8 million for a new summer bridge program

* provide $5 million from the state and $51 million in federal funding to allow school districts to hire new teachers and reduce class size

* provide for full funding of the Teacher Retirement System

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WORKSHOPS & MEETINGS

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Chicago area leadership conference is October 15

The 21st annual Chicagoland Leadership Conference, titled "The heart of our brain," is set for October 15, 1999, at Holiday Inn Select, 1801 Naper Boulevard, Naperville.

Featured speakers will include Robert Sylwester, Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Oregon, who will focus on the educational implications of developments in science and technology. He has written several books and dozen of journal articles including "An Educator’s Guide to the Human Brain" (1995, ASCD) and "Student Brains, School Issues" (1998, Skylight).

This program is approved for Administrator Academy Credit. A program and registration brochure will be available to all school districts at the beginning of the 1999-2000 school year.

The cost, including a plate lunch, is $75 through September 15, and $85 thereafter ($30 for full time students). For additional information and a registration form, visit their web site at http://www.chicagolandleadership.org.

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Illinois to take part in national math tests based on TIMSS

Illinois and nine other states—including Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin—have agreed to link instruction and assessment of mathematics to world-class learning standards.

The new Mathematics Achievement Partnership will address deficiencies in American middle school mathematics performance uncovered by the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).

Participating states plan to design a tough assessment for 8^th graders based on TIMSS and assemble materials to help teachers and students prepare for the exam.

Math training and instructional materials will be offered to participating states by next spring for use the following school year (2000-2001). The tests are to be tried out in spring 2001, with the completed assessment to be available for use in spring 2002.

Participating states will develop materials for the test in cooperation with Achieve, Incorporated, a nonprofit organization led by business executives and governors. Achieve says it will donate $2 million to the effort.

For further information, see "Coalition of Governors, Business Leaders Plans for New Math Test," in the May 12 issue of Education Week, available online at http://www.edweek.org/ .

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Recent mailings from IASB

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Not all IASB mailings are sent to all school board members. For speed or economy, some mailings are sent only to the board president or district superintendent. Here is a list of such items mailed recently. For more information about any item, contact your board president or district superintendent or get in touch with IASB.

May 3: Announcement of educational environments exhibits program at the 1999 annual conference, mailed to superintendents.

June 4: 1999 Joint Annual Conference announcement packets and publicity mailing, to superintendents.

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IASB ARCHIVES HOME

Illinois Association of School Boards

2921 Baker Drive
Springfield, Illinois 62703