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School Board News Bulletin
July 2000

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School leaders urged to testify on school funding system

U.S. Supreme Court OKs aid to parochial schools

Gas prices bite into school district budgets

Schools grapple with high student mobility rates

Courts reject organized, school-sponsored prayer at high school football games

THE NATIONAL SCENE

Charter schools movement booming

Education commentator attacks myths about public schools

Federal judge strikes down Kentucky desegregation order

NEWS FROM IASB

New conference housing policy takes effect

IASB Board accepts 2000-2001 budget

Illinois to require juniors to take college entrance exams

IASB Past President Jay Tovian receives "Man of the Year" award

RESEARCH REPORTS

Public school accomplishments touted

New teachers enthusiastic but unprepared

Schools often don’t view emotional abuse as bullying

TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

Updated technology book illustrates school technology solutions

Outdated law books worse than none, attorney says

LEGISLATIVE ACTION

Lawmakers suspend enhanced 911 regulations for schools

CLASSIFIED ADS

An Illinois Senate subcommittee recently announced it would be holding a hearing August 17th, 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. in the State Capitol, to gather testimony on the current elementary and secondary funding mechanism. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee members have indicated they would like to hear how the current system is working (or not) and the effects of hold harmless, block grants, categoricals, and so forth. This opportunity to hear testimony from school officials will likely set the stage for changes in the current funding formula to be proposed next year.

The subcommittee, chaired by Senator Brad Burzynski, R-Sycamore (pictured above), held its first hearing on the school funding system July 11 at the Thompson Center in Chicago.

"It is important that school administrators and business officials present testimony on the effects of the current funding system," said a spokeperson for the Illinois School Management Alliance. "No one knows how school funding works better than school leaders do." All who attend will be given an opportunity to address the committee. School leaders interested in testifying are being asked to notify Deanna Sullivan of their interest by e-mail at dsullivan@iasb.com or by phone at 217/528-9688, extension 1123.

The following Senators are the members of the Illinois Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education:

Senator Brad Burzynski, Chairman, R-Sycamore

Senator Lisa Madigan, D-Chicago

Senator John Maitland, R-Bloomington

Senator Donne Trotter, D-Chicago

Senator Steve Rauschenberger, R-Elgin

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The Supreme Court ruled in late June that public funds may be used to purchase computers and other equipment for parochial schools, a decision some experts said may forecast eventual court approval of vouchers. NSBA called the decision in the case of Mitchell v. Helms "discouraging since it chips away at the wall of separation between church and state and the historic principle that public money must be reserved for public schools."

The Louisiana case involved government aid to religious schools, delivered in the form of computers and other high-tech educational equipment and materials.

"We are disappointed the Court ruled that it is acceptable for public schools to transfer computers to private, religious institutions," said Anne L. Bryant, NSBA executive director. "Distributing computers and technology to private schools is the equivalent of providing curriculum in a box. These items can easily be diverted for a religious purpose, and the school district will never be able to monitor usage."

"The entanglement that the court is permitting—allowing religious schools to further their religious messages using public resources—is bad law and bad practice," Bryant said. "From a legal and public policy standpoint, it appears that the Court has again cut away at the wall of separation between church and state," said NSBA general counsel Julie Underwood.

Legal analysts say the Supreme Court may soon clarify its position on vouchers. The opportunity for court review certainly should present itself, with many school voucher cases now wending their way through the lower courts. Cases such as Mitchell v. Helms, meanwhile, may be significant because they signal the willingness of the court to examine various forms of government aid to private and parochial schools.

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Many school districts could be faced with major unbudgeted costs from higher gasoline prices unless the recent trend towards slightly lower prices continues. Some have already felt the squeeze on their budgets.

One such district is Barry C.U. District 1, located in rural downstate Adams County, where gasoline-powered school buses must travel long distances: "It cost us $10,000 more than we budgeted back in the spring to contract for gas," explained Barry District 1 Superintendent Shari L. Marshall. "We paid $1.10 per gallon for gas recently, and we usually pay only about 87 cents per gallon," Marshall said. Barry District 1 runs 11 school buses (10 gas-powered buses and one diesel) on routes totaling 4,390 miles per month.

As of July 7, the U.S. average price of gasoline stood at nearly $1.67 per gallon, according to the Lundberg Survey, a nationwide industry census of gas prices. The average price had dropped roughly four-and-a-half cents in the previous two weeks, the first price drop since the average cost of gas began its upward swing two months ago.

At least some of the drop in Illinois gas prices was attributable to the legislature’s recent vote to suspend the gas sales tax (see accompanying chart of St. Louis Metro East area gas prices before and after the tax cut). Law- makers effectively voted to reduce the state sales tax from 6.25 percent of the total sales price to 1.25 percent.

What led to the gas tax suspension was the largest dollar increase in gas prices in more than 30 years. Soaring gas prices were particularly shocking in the Chicago area, where prices peaked at more than $2 a gallon in June. Fortunately, diesel prices have not risen nearly as dramatically, which is good news for schools because roughly 60 percent of school buses run on diesel fuel.

School districts are to be reimbursed by the state for 80 percent of their actual transportation costs this year, including costs for fuel and other supplies. School administrators and business officials say this is slightly above the reimbursement rate of recent years, yet local schools still must pay the higher prices when gas prices soar.

Unlike some motorists, schools cannot significantly reduce their fuel costs by cutting back on driving mileage. Students must be transported on school days.

"We would like to see the state reimburse 100 percent of all costs for transportation," explained Superintendent Marshall.

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Research indicates that jumping between schools or classrooms can limit student academic progress. Some school districts have responded with programs to counsel parents to avoid school transfers if possible and to assist highly mobile students who fall behind academically. That approach reportedly is working for many school districts. Source: NSBA, School Board News, June 13, 2000.

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In a case that raises more questions than it answers about school prayer, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 19 that organized, school-sponsored prayer at high school football games is unconstitutional. The narrowly worded ruling involved a Texas district that had adopted an unwritten policy encouraging election of a student to deliver a message or invocation at football games.

The court noted that the constitutional question was limited to "whether the policy permitting student-led, student-initiated prayer at football games violates the Establishment Clause."

By a 6-3 vote, the court ruled in Santa Fe v. Doe that such prayer violates the Establishment Clause, the constitutional prohibition against the "establishment of religion" by government entities.

"School sponsorship of a religious message is impermissible because it sends the ancillary message to members of the audience who are non-adherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored members of the political community," Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the court.

"The delivery of such a message—over the school’s public address system by a speaker representing the student body, under the supervision of school faculty and pursuant to a school policy that explicitly and implicitly encourages public prayer—is not properly characterized as private speech," Justice Stevens added.

Paradoxically, other school-based religious activities devised to meet the legal guidelines of earlier Supreme Court decisions should remain lawful, experts on both sides of the case agreed.

The opinion noted, in fact, that the U.S. Constitution does not ban all religious activity at school. "By no means do these commands impose a prohibition on all religious activity in our public schools. … Indeed, the common purpose of the religion clauses is to secure religious liberty. …

"Thus, nothing in the Constitution as interpreted by this Court prohibits any public school student from voluntarily praying at any time before, during or after the school day. But the religious liberty protected by the Constitution is abridged when the State affirmatively sponsors the particular religious practice of prayer," Justice Stevens wrote.

Critics said the court did not precisely define the circumstances that constitute an affirmative sponsorship of school prayer, leaving many areas of uncertainty for schools.

For more information about recent Supreme Court rulings on prayer in schools visit the NSBA website at http://www.nsba.org/pressroom/religion.

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THE NATIONAL SCENE

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Charter schools movement booming

The number of charter schools nationwide jumped 44 percent from 1998 to 1999, according to a report released in June by the Center for Education Reform, a school choice and school voucher advocacy group. Charter schools are relatively independent public schools designed to provide new choices in local education.

In the past year, 521 new charter schools have been launched, bringing the total to 1,689 in 34 states. In Illinois 17 charter schools were in operation in the 1999-2000 school year, with two more chartered for 2000-2001.

The center, a Washington, D.C.-based organization, profiles all 1,689 charter schools in its newly released charter schools directory. A copy of the center’s National Charter School Directory 2000 may be purchased for $33 by phoning 800/521-2118 or e-mailing the center at CER@edreform com.

Illinois is one of 28 states that permits schools to be chartered locally, according to the center. Local boards of education sponsor nearly 50 percent of the charter schools in operation nationwide, the center says.

In contrast, nearly all Illinois charter schools are sponsored by non-profit organizations—such as universities and foundations—rather than school districts. Only recently—with the passage of Public Act 91-407 in 1999—did Illinois school districts become eligible to sponsor charter schools. For more information, phone Sharon Roberts, charter school state director for the Illinois State Board of Education, at 217/557-8129.

Source: Education Week on the Web, June 14, 2000.

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Education commentator attacks myths about public schools

Best-selling author and education commentator Jonathan Kozol recently identified three myths about public schools that, he said, present tremendous challenges to American education:

• Myth number one: Public schools, particularly those in inner cities, have made no progress despite many years of intense reform. "It’s a lie," he said. Kozol decried the disparity in funding and class size between many wealthier suburban schools and typical inner-city schools across the nation. He noted that whenever a child "grows up illiterate, unable to hold a job and ends up in jail, then we spend real money."

• Myth number two: Schools are not accountable for the funds they get and no one really knows what those funds are buying. "Everybody knows what it pays for," Kozol said. "It pays for teachers, it pays to keep classrooms small enough."

• Myth number three: Exams provide an adequate measure of a student’s intelligence and capacity to become successful in life. "It’s a terrible idea that anything of value kids learn can be translated onto an exam," said Kozol.

The author recalled visiting a new school recently in the South Bronx, with an average class size of 15 students, plenty of computers, counselors and even doctors on staff, and no absenteeism. "This was a school most kids in the inner city can only dream of," he added. Enrollment was selective, however. "You had to murder someone to get in, because it was a children’s prison," Kozol said.

Source: Council of the Great City Schools, Urban Educator, April 2000.

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Federal judge strikes down Kentucky desegregation order

A 1975 desegregation order for Louisville public schools now discriminates against black children and essentially has outlived its usefulness, a U.S. district judge ruled June 20. The judge not only lifted the U.S. District Court’s desegregation order, but ruled that the school district’s court-mandated use of racial quotas now violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

In response to a lawsuit filed by a group of black parents, Judge John G. Heyburn II found that racial segregation of schools in Kentucky’s biggest school district is largely a thing of the past. Parents brought the lawsuit in an effort to get their children enrolled in Louisville’s Central High School, a magnet career academy that once was the only public high school for the city’s black students.

Source: The Associated Press, wire story by Mike Chambers, June 21, 2000.

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NEWS FROM IASB

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New conference housing policy takes effect

Preparations are well underway for this year’s Joint Annual Conference, November 17-19, 2000. As previously noted, however, conference attendees should be prepared for two important changes that will affect housing at this year’s event:

1. There will be one conference rate for both single (one person) and double (two persons) rooms this year at conference hotels.

2. Two checks must accompany submission of registration and housing forms: One check will cover the registration fee for individuals listed on the registration form, along with workshop and special event fees for events chosen on the registration form. A second check will cover the room deposit for each room requested on the completed housing form (at $150 per room). Both checks must be made payable to IASB.

IASB will forward a check to cover all rooms assigned at each hotel to the hotel, along with completed housing forms.

If a district cancels room reservations at its assigned hotel (room cancellation requests must be directed to the hotel, not to IASB) by 4 p.m., October 20, 2000, the hotel will refund the deposit for the cancelled rooms directly to the school district. Hotel room deposits are nonrefundable after 4 p.m., October 20.

In case of a cancellation, legitimate requests for refunds of conference fees from IASB will be honored, provided they are received via letter or fax by 4 p.m., October 20. Requests for registration fee refunds will be processed after the conference, provided IASB receives them before the 4 p.m., October 20 deadline.

Written requests for registration fee refunds should be directed to IASB, 2921 Baker Drive, Springfield, IL 62703. Questions or feedback about these procedures may be directed to the Meetings Management Department at IASB, extension 1115 or extension 1102.

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IASB Board accepts 2000-2001 budget

The IASB Board of Directors met in Springfield May 19-20 and reviewed and accepted a budget for 2000-2001. The budget includes total revenue of $5.85 million, and total expenses of $5.74 million, with increases of roughly 5 percent in both categories over the previous year. The budget includes a surplus of $108,000, and continues the positive budget trend of past years while maintaining a healthy financial position for the Association.

Specific budget assumptions for fiscal year 2001 include staff participation in a multi-state coalition led by NSBA to create board development courses via the Internet. The IASB website, meanwhile, will continue to undergo improvements to "make it a truly invaluable tool for board members and administrators." In addition, the Association will pursue development of new school board video training materials, and will produce and distribute school board elections packets and conduct workshops for school board candidates prior to board elections next April.

The next meeting of the Board of Directors is set for August 25-27, 2000.

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Illinois to require juniors to take college entrance exams

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) will require high school students to take the ACT college entrance exam at no charge, along with a new state-level standards assessment, beginning April 25 and 26, 2001.

The ISBE approved a contract June 13 with ACT Inc. to combine the college-entrance exam with the state’s new Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE), a test that measures mastery of the Illinois Learning Standards. The PSAE replaces the controversial Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT), which had been given to all Illinois students in the 10th grade.

"We’ll have a test that has credibility with institutions of higher education and the business community, and most importantly, with students and parents," Illinois State Superintendent of Education Glenn W. McGee stated.

The state-designed PSAE will assess student progress toward complying with the Illinois Learning Standards in reading, writing, mathematics, science and social science. These standards aim to reflect the knowledge and skills students will need in order to succeed after high school.

Students will not need to pass the PSAE in order to graduate. But they should benefit from taking it, testing experts said, because it will be paired with a fee-paid opportunity to take the ACT (a $23 value). By taking the ACT as juniors, some students who had not been planning to attend college may decide to go after all. Those who don’t score well on the ACT will be allowed to retake the college entrance exam as seniors, but they will have to pay the test fee this time.

Juniors taking the ACT will receive potentially valuable information from related Work Keys assessment results about the relative strength of their individual workplace and academic skills in reading and mathematics.

The state’s new testing plan reportedly fits in well with a national effort to tie K-12 schooling with higher education and with school-to-work programs. So says Kathy Christie, policy analyst with the Education Commission of the States, as reported in the June 21 Education Week.

For more information on the ACT and the Work Keys, visit the ACT website at http://www.act.org.

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IASB Past President Jay Tovian receives "Man of the Year" award

IASB’s Immediate Past President Jay Tovian (pictured at right) recently received his community’s sincere thanks when he was chosen as Lombard’s Man of the Year. Tovian, a member of the Villa Park Elementary District 45 school board for the past 21 years, served two years as Vice President and three years as President of IASB. Tovian has long been active in local parent and teacher associations and in service to aid the mentally disabled in his community.

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RESEARCH REPORTS

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Public school accomplishments touted

A new study by the Center on Education Policy and the American Youth Policy Forum concludes America’s public schools have made remarkable strides over the past decade and a half of school reform. "What is perhaps most remarkable is that our nation has made these improvements with a very diverse population, a strong tradition of local control of education, and enormous variation among states and school districts." So said the study, titled Do You Know the Good News about American Education? Researchers found fewer dropouts, improved math and science achievement, increasing instructional time, and declining rates of school crime. They also found advances in teacher quality, in course-taking and in access to higher education. What were the study’s sources? The report states, "the only findings included are those supported by objective national data banks, such as the National Center for Education Statistics." The entire report is available online at: http://www.ctredpol.org/pubs/booklets.html.

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New teachers enthusiastic but unprepared

Rookie teachers are enthused and eager about their jobs, but most say they are not prepared for classroom realities, according to a study issued May 24 by Public Agenda, a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization. Roughly 96 percent of all new teachers surveyed said they are doing work they love, and about 7 out of 10 said they get a lot of satisfaction from their work.

The study, A Sense of Calling: Who Teaches and Why, comes at a time of great concern about how qualified teachers really are, and whether higher salaries will attract better candidates. Although the study does not examine the academic qualifications of new teachers, it tends to disprove charges that teaching is an undesirable field that people enter by default.

The study also found that working conditions are a major factor in choosing a particular school. In fact, 86 percent of respondents said they would choose to teach in a school where students are well behaved and parents are supportive over one where salaries were significantly higher.

Selected highlights of the study are available on the Public Agenda website at http://www.publicagenda.org. Print copies of the entire study are available for $12 from Public Agenda. To order or for more information on the study, contact the Public Agenda Foundation at 212/686-6610.

Source: National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA).

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Schools often don’t view emotional abuse as bullying

"If people aren’t recognizing emotional abuse as bullying, these things build up within children and can lead to an explosion of violence as a means of being heard or retaliation in what feels to them like a hopeless situation."

That is the key finding from a new study conducted by Richard Halzer, a professor of counseling education at Ohio University, based on polling conducted among 251 counselors and teachers in Ohio.

Halzer described 21 hypothetical situations involving physical or emotional conflicts between students, and asked which ones represent bullying. He found 50 to 80 percent of the professionals polled mislabeled certain scenarios.

Halzer explained that counselors and teachers generally react strongly to schoolyard fights, but commonly overlook ongoing verbal abuse that can be even more damaging in the long run. Halzer defines bullying as repeated acts of verbal, social or physical abuse and unfair confrontations between young people.

Source: On Board, New York State School Boards Association, June 5, 2000.

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TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

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Updated technology book illustrates school technology solutions

A newly updated NSBA publication, Plans & Policies for Technology in Education, is designed to help school districts manage a broad range of technology issues. The book illustrates some of the practical solutions various districts have uncovered recently to deal with staff development, student protection, liability, curriculum integration, security, and other critical technology planning and policy issues.

"This publication shares technology plans and policies from 25 school districts [Palatine District 15 is among them] reflecting the experiences of leading planners and policymakers," said Anne L. Bryant, NSBA executive director. The 238-page book is $35 ($28 for NSBA Technology Leadership Network or National Affiliate members). For more information, visit the website at http://www.nsba.org/itte or phone 800/706-6722.

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Outdated law books worse than none, attorney says

These days many school administrators and board members keep a school law book or two on hand for easy reference. Common legal reference titles range from the IASB’s Illinois School Law Survey, by Brian Braun, to the Illinois School Code, compiled by Lexis Publishing Company for IASB.

Keeping legal reference works at your desk makes sense in light of the tremendous impact laws can have on local school districts. It is easy to use these books to quickly uncover vital information on what the law says about many of the issues board members and administrators encounter. After all, it does not take an attorney to get a sense of what the law says: careful reading can accomplish that.

But school attorneys suggest that readers of all law books should beware of one major pitfall: "If the law book to which you refer is out of date, you would be better off having no book at all. ... The problem with an old book is that when you read what it says, you believe it ... [yet] much of the information in that book is now wrong. When you read it and act upon that information, you will be wrong," according to Richard J. Dickinson, director of legal services with the Ohio School Boards Association.

Dickinson offers this advice: "Check the date of those law books on your bookshelf. If they are more than a year or two old, get rid of them. Then either obtain the current versions or rely on your board attorney ... [school board association] or other professional associations to provide you with up-to-date information."

Note: A new Sixth Edition of the Illinois School Law Survey was recently issued by IASB, and the new 2000 Illinois School Code is also available. Both are current for laws in force as of January 1, 2000, and may be ordered from IASB offices, at extension 1108.

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LEGISLATIVE ACTION

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Lawmakers suspend enhanced 911 regulations for schools

The legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) voted June 13 to suspend a regulatory proposal that would have required schools to comply with an enhanced 911(E-911) law. On a unanimous vote, all nine JCAR members present objected to a proposed Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) state regulatory plan that opponents said would be costly and burdensome for schools.

In April, the General Assembly’s JCAR voted unanimously to prohibit a preliminary version of the proposal. The latest JCAR action immediately suspends the proposed rule for at least 180 days, which means it cannot be enforced or invoked during that time period.

An E-911 system not only gives the address of the building from which an emergency phone call is made, but also the location of the phone inside the building (such as the floor, wing or office number).

Originally the law was intended to help emergency crews find persons in distress who were calling from high-rise buildings. Although the law was passed several years ago, subsequent legislation has continued to move back the effective date of these provisions, which finally took effect July 1, 2000.

School advocates say the hardware needed to equip a school building with the kind of advanced phone system required for E-911 is expensive. Some vendors working with school districts currently involved in new construction or renovation projects reportedly are pressuring districts to purchase these new, costly phone systems.

School advocates also say the systems are not needed and legislators never intended for school districts to be included under the enhanced 911 mandate. New unfunded mandates should not be imposed unilaterally by state administrative rules and regulations, they argue.

The legislature’s suspension of the ICC’s proposed rule will delay further action on the matter until fall, but it is not clear what course the ICC intends to pursue next. The state regulatory commission could try to look for a legislative solution or revise its proposed rule so that it might be accepted by JCAR.

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CLASSIFIED ADS

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FOR SALE: Burnham steam boiler, 1.4 million BTU, propane fired, used five heating seasons. Boiler model number V-910, gas MBH: 1,479, gross output MBH: 1,184, steam sq. ft.: 3,700, steam MBH: 888, water MBH: 1,030. Owner also has a condensate pump and extra motor for the boiler. Lincoln School, Johnston City School District, Johnston City, Illinois; contact Dr. John A. Metzger, Superintendent, phone: 618/983-8021.

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IASB ARCHIVES HOME

Illinois Association of School Boards

2921 Baker Drive
Springfield, Illinois 62703