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School Board News Bulletin
July 2001

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Two panels study TRIP crisis: IASB Executive Director appointed to both

Bush education plan nears final approval

Seven strikes called this past school year

Property tax assessment appeals increasing

Consolidation became effective July 1

Tax credits aid one in eleven Illinois families with school-age children

Communities across the state continue to pursue Charter goals

Reading Is Fundamental program funding threatened

Poverty called a significant concern in many counties

Edison Schools projected to lose $45 million

News headlines from the past month

LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS

Senate panel studying school calendar, testing issues

THE NATIONAL SCENE

Arne Duncan named new CEO of Chicago schools

NEWS FROM IASB

IASB resolution proposals submitted

RESEARCH REPORTS

Preemies commonly struggle in school

Many parents say kids not affected by violence

IASB mails copies of teacher salary study

Two separate state panels -- a Senate committee and a task force appointed by the governor -- have begun the search for a long-term solution to the funding crisis facing the Illinois Teachers' Retirement Insurance Program (TRIP).

Governor George H. Ryan came to the aid of the retired teachers in dramatic fashion June 5, providing temporary relief to thousands of retirees faced with skyrocketing health premiums. The governor announced he is cutting the premium increase Illinois retired teachers must pay from a proposed 45 percent to 21 percent, effective July 1.

The governor subsequently appointed an emergency study group, a 16-member TRIP Task Force that includes IASB Executive Director Michael Johnson and IASA Executive Director Walt Warfield. The task force also includes lawmakers, teachers organization representatives, and retired teachers.

Meanwhile, Senate President Pate Philip (R-Wood Dale) appointed Dr. Johnson and Dr. Warfield to the Special Senate Committee on the Teachers' Retirement Insurance Program.

The Senate panel -- scheduled to meet July 26 (although the place and starting time have not yet been determined) -- was originally chaired by Sen. Robert A. Madigan (R-Lincoln). Madigan recently announced his retirement from the Senate to head a state worker's compensation review board, and a new committee chairman has not yet been named. Hearings will be held throughout the state this summer, and the group is charged with making a recommendation by November 1.

School leadership interests may be particularly interested in these panels' recommendations because some funding proposals would make school districts directly responsible for major costs in a proposed TRIP bailout, a major departure from past practices.

School lobbyists, however, say there are better options for finding additional funding, including passing some of the costs on to current teachers and to the state: "We are extremely sympathetic to the retired teachers, but the insurance program has been designed to be self-funded from retirees and current teachers. The plan has never involved school districts and it would hardly be fair or wise to reverse that plan and suddenly make schools shoulder the burden of increasing insurance costs."

Such a change clearly would mean diverting operating funds from school districts," said another school lobbyist.

Insiders say the crisis in TRIP funding has resulted largely from a sudden upswing in teacher retirements, coupled with double-digit increases in medical costs. Source: Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance.

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U.S. Senators rejected a last-ditch attempt to revive President George W. Bush's school voucher program June 12, defeating a voucher amendment by a vote of 58-41.

The vote came as leaders in both parties worked to wrap up adoption of the President's education legislation. As the Newsbulletin went to press July 17, conference committee work was pending on significant issues.

The Senate bill for elementary and secondary schools now calls for about $30 billion for 2002, nearly $11 billion more than President Bush proposed. House lawmakers approved their own, less costly, version of the measure (H.R. 1) May 23 after the House also had rejected vouchers. The Senate passed its version of legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (S. 1) June 14.

The Senate bill would authorize $15 billion for Title I in fiscal year 2002, compared to $11.5 billion under the House bill. Last year Congress appropriated $8.6 billion for Title I.

Both versions of the Bush plan would require states to oversee annual math and reading tests for students in grades three through eight, and in one grade in high school.

Both bills would implement a series of accountability measures linked to those assessments to ensure schools and districts improve student achievement. The accountability measures require corrective actions for those that fail to make "adequate yearly progress" (AYP).

The National School Boards Association (NSBA) has expressed serious concerns about the provisions of both bills for determining AYP. According to Reggie Felton, NSBA's director of federal relations, "the legislation, as drafted, will result in the over-identification of many schools and school districts as 'failing' when, in fact, they are not."

The bills require the data on student achievement to be broken out by racial/ethnic group and by other group characteristics, including economically disadvantaged students, those with limited English proficiency (LEP); those in special education; and migrant students. At least 95 percent of the students in each of these groups would have to take the tests.

Schools yielding low test scores would receive additional aid, but if a school failed to show enough progress after two years, low-income students would be free to transfer to another public school. After three years, the same students would be permitted to use federal funds for tutoring or transportation to another public school.

The Bush plan also would give schools additional flexibility in the use of federal dollars, and the legislation would create a demonstration program in which seven states and 25 school districts could receive even greater spending latitude.

In addition to the assessment and accountability measures, several provisions that are included in both bills are expected to survive in the final bill. These include the new Reading First and Early Reading First programs, public school choice, a new initiative to improve teacher quality, liability protections for school board members, increased flexibility for school districts, and provisions to make it easier for school officials to discipline special education students who are violent.

Several other areas where the two bills differ -- and where the conferees will have to resolve the differences -- include the following:

• The House bill would require every secondary school to provide access to military recruiters if the school accepts federal funds.
• The Senate bill calls for the secretary of education to establish a campaign to educate school officials about access to military recruiters.
• The House bill would require schools to obtain written consent from parents before giving any non-emergency examinations or tests.
• A comparable provision is not included in the Senate bill.

Source: The Associated Press, "Education plan nears completion," June 13, 2001; and NSBA, School Board News, "ESEA conferees must resolve major issues," July 3, 2001.

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A total of just seven school strikes were recorded in Illinois during the 2000-2001 school year, according to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, which maintains official records. That total is down from nine the previous school year.

Thanks primarily to collective bargaining laws, the number of public school strikes nationwide has declined from 134 in 1991 to 21 in 1999. In Illinois the number has declined from 40 strikes in the 1979-80 school year, to 14 strikes in the 1990-91 school year, to just seven in 2000-01.

Sources: Illinois strike data compiled by the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, and national strike data compiled by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.

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Experts say under-valuations of commercial properties are increasingly common, as are tax appeals by corporations seeking to cut their tax bills.

School districts report that a growing number of businesses are filing tax appeals. Currently, Galatia C.U. District 1 in deep southern Illinois is facing a loss of 35 percent of its total equalized assessed valuation (EAV) because of a tax appeal filed by a coal company. According to District Superintendent Terry Pearcy, the potential revenue loss threatens the district's bonding capacity and future income.

The rural district has already suffered a harmful loss of local property valuation in recent years with the closing of local coal mines, including the Brushy Creek Coal mine and one other. These reversals have already cost the district roughly $150,000 per year in revenue, which has resulted in cutbacks and decisions not to rehire some staff. Superintendent Terry Pearcy has been talking to local lawmakers to seek possible legislative remedies.

Meanwhile the tax appeal filed by American Coal Company -- which the county tax board of appeals has already turned down -- is now pending before the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board. The school district has filed statements challenging the appeal.

Many districts around the state have faced a similar situation on tax appeals. Decatur District 61 lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue just last year when several major corporations succeeded in appealing the tax valuation of their commercial properties in the central Illinois district.

In fiscal year 2000, Palatine C.C. District 15 lost more than $5 million in revenue due to successful tax appeals and tax rate objections filed by large commercial property owners. The district then lost another $4.3 million in fiscal year 2001, which ended June 30. These losses have drastically reduced the district's fund balances, and have threatened the finances of one of the most successful school districts in the state. Companies involved in these appeals of commercial property assessments have included UPS, Motorola and Square D Corporation.

Neighboring Cook County districts have faced similar losses due to tax appeals.

Often, corporations seeking to cut costs hire attorneys who specialize in tax appeals, giving them at least the appearance of being unassailable. But experts say whenever an assessment appeal is not valid and the potential loss of revenue justifies the expense, a school district should file statements against the appeal. Such action is necessary, just as an underassessment appeal is needed when property is clearly under-assessed.

The road to filing statements against tax appeals begins with obtaining information about the costly local tax assessment challenges. Under state law, schools are entitled to receive notice of all assessment reductions greater than $100,000.

In order to decide whether to challenge an assessment appeal on a piece of commercial property, school districts first need to hire an outside firm to obtain an appraisal of the property to make a determination of its fair market value. Next, district leaders need to figure the tax revenue increase that would result from a successful challenge and weigh that potential benefit against the cost of litigation.

"School officials should watch for the annual publication of assessment changes and especially for the triennial or quadrennial publication of the complete assessment role for the school district. It is good strategy to select a sample of residential and business properties and monitor it over the years. Such data will enable school leaders to discern trends in valuation and assessment that will impact their revenues."

That advice comes from James Fritts, a Loyola University professor, in a scholarly paper revised by Michelle Clifford in 1999 and titled "The Property Tax Cycle." The entire report is available online at: www.luc.edu/libraries/mallinckrodt/fritts/property.html.

Of course, not all school districts have adequate resources to follow Professor Fritts' advice. But the advance notification of large assessment reductions required under law should permit any district to challenge an unwarranted assessment appeal.

Sources: Robert Strand, Business Manager, Palatine C.C. District 15; Terry Pearcy, Superintendent, Galatia C.U. District 1.

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The school district consolidation approved by voters for Bethany C.U. District 301, located in Moultrie County, and Findlay C.U. District 2, in Shelby County, became effective July 1. The newly formed district is Okaw Valley C.U. District 302, Bethany. The district superintendent is Marilyn Bayley.

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Roughly one in eleven Illinois families with children in school will receive a new state tax break that is averaging roughly $361 per recipient family, according to state officials. The tax break in question is offered under the state's tuition tax credit program, which provides credits of up to $500 per family, primarily for those who send their children to parochial schools.

The state supreme court recently refused to entertain a legal challenge to the tax credit, a challenge launched by public school advocates, including IASB. The action ended one of two major court challenges to the 1999 law establishing the program.

Under that law, parents who pay income taxes are offered a tax break to help cover the cost of education expenses, including books, tuition and laboratory fees. Although the break is available to families with children in public schools, their allowable expenses usually are not high enough to qualify for the credit.

The law allows parents to deduct 25 percent of the cost of book fees, tuition and laboratory fees for kids enrolled in any K-12 school. Any family that claims the full $500 credit must have spent at least $2,250 on allowable education expenses.

As of June 15, a total of 133,767 state tax returns had been filed claiming the tax credit, according to the Department of Revenue. Roughly 48 percent of these tax returns were eligible for the maximum available $500 credit.

The current $48.3 million tab for the program likely will grow as the state finishes processing tax returns. But the revenue agency says the final cost this year should fall within the department's $50 million to $75 million estimate. Insiders believe use of the tax credit also will increase in future years as it becomes better known that little or no documentation is required to obtain the credit.

The Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) filed a separate lawsuit against the law, arguing the tax credits represent an unconstitutional diversion of public funds to religious schools. The IFT suit has not yet reached the state's high court, but school law experts believe the tax credit law will again be upheld.

Sources: Illinois State Journal-Register, "Some families saving with tuition tax credit," June 18, 2001; and 2000 Census data.

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Those actively applying the principles of the Charter for Illinois Children recently have included communities from upstate Cook County to downstate McLean County.

In Cook County, the Oak Lawn Partnerships have been working together to coordinate services and to achieve the Charter goal that states: "Just as families must support children, communities must support families, and government and business must support both."

Specifically, representatives from Ridgeland District 122, Oak Lawn-Hometown District 123 and Oak Lawn Community High School District 229 recently met with community health groups to coordinate Oak Lawn's health outreach programs. Results of the meeting were sent to state legislators, local principals and churches. The group -- which also included representatives from the League of Women Voters, Cook County Department of Public Health and Christ Hospital -- will meet again before school begins next fall to use the framework of the Charter in setting goals for the upcoming year.

Meanwhile, the McLean County Community Forum was actively raising awareness of children's issues and working to achieve the Charter goal: "Encourage parents to be active in the democratic process and promote the interests of children and families."

Various service organizations, civic groups, businesses and churches gathered at Second Presbyterian Church on a Thursday morning to discuss what McLean County can do to help children reach their full potential. Using the Charter as a guide, community members voiced their ideas to build understanding and increase awareness of the issues facing children and families. The forum brought out local legislators, parents and community leaders and resulted in an article in the Sunday paper.

Source: Kimberly Fitzgerald, Charter for Illinois Children.

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The proposed 2002 Bush budget eliminated funding for RIF (Reading Is Fundamental), but Congress does not appear ready to go along with that budget suggestion. Both versions of the ESEA reauthorization plans approved by the House and Senate would keep federal funding for the RIF program alive.

Appropriation levels have not been decided, however, for fiscal year 2002. An omnibus Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill will determine the actual funding levels for RIF. Consideration for this bill has been delayed until later this summer.

RIF receives roughly $20 million in federal funding annually. RIF has been providing free books to poor children from infancy to age 11 for more than 35 years. Since its inception in 1966, RIF reportedly has donated more than 200 million books to schoolchildren. This year, with the help of more than 310,000 volunteers, RIF is expected to distribute nearly 15 million books to 5 million students.

Source: RIF "grassroots action" Web site at http://capwiz.com/rif/home/.

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Roughly one in three Illinois counties is plagued with poverty to the degree that it should be placed on a "poverty concern" or "poverty watch" list, according to a new study conducted by the Heartland Alliance. The affected counties "show signs that poverty is weakening quality of life in the county as a whole," according to Sid Mohn, president of the alliance, a Chicago anti-poverty group.

The report found almost ten percent of adult Illinois workers are "extremely poor," with income falling below the federal poverty line, which is currently set at $17,029 a year for a family of four.

In recognition of the impact poverty has on education, the Illinois General Assembly this spring voted to increase poverty grants across the board for school districts. Lawmakers also changed poverty grant guidelines to allow all school districts to access the grants to some extent, but with the level of grant access being based on the percentage of low-income students (the previous formula set the threshold for eligibility at a 20 percent low- income concentration level).

The new poverty grant structure, which is expected to allow 553 more school districts to access this grant, is as follows:

Poverty is not just an urban problem, the study found. For example, 20 percent of rural children were classified as poor between 1997 and 2000, compared with 30 percent of urban children. The problem generally is less severe in suburban areas, with only eight of every 100 suburban children being classified as poor, although each poverty-level student brings added costs to a particular school.

The report adds that "poverty rates show a 70 percent correlation with student academic performance in Illinois schools," and warns the percentage of students who are poor is increasing. The percentage of low-income students in Illinois increased from 27 percent in 1990 to 36.7 percent in 2000, the report states.

The new report is available on the Web at www.heartland-alliance.org.

Source: the Heartland Alliance.

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Edison Schools, Incorporated -- a private company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange and involved in the business of managing public schools -- announced June 20 it expects a net loss of $45 million in fiscal 2002.

The Edison forecast applies only to its core business, however, which involves the management of schools, and does not extend to new corporate initiatives. Despite losses, revenue for the company is expected to top a half- billion dollars this year.

Chris Whittle, the company's founder and chief executive officer, is perhaps best known in education circles for founding the Channel One television-in-the-classroom business.

Source: Reuters News Service, "Edison schools gives 2002 forecast," June 20, 2001.

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... Natural gas prices remain a major concern to school budget makers this summer, with the memory of last winter's price hikes still fresh in many minds. Soaring prices cost Illinois schools from $19 million to $84 million more for natural gas purchases in 2000-01 than in 1999-00. Over 60 percent of all school districts in the state responded to an ISBE survey that found schools paid 156 percent more for natural gas last winter than the previous year. Gas prices are expected to remain at similarly high levels for heating this winter, according to Beth Bosch, a spokeswoman for the ICC. Most school districts are budgeting for high price levels for next winter. (June 18, The Associated Press) ... Autistic children need the help of intensive intervention programs that treat their condition for at least 25 hours a week throughout the year, according to a new federal report. Researchers recommend school officials encourage parents to help plan treatment with a school special education expert (July 12, Reuters) ... Ten years ago philanthropist George Weiss promised a class of 69 Boston second-graders that if they finished high school he would pay their college tuition. Using his own money, businessman Weiss will be providing free tuition for 46 of those youngsters next fall, and he is thrilled about it. "These are great kids," he said. (June 15, The Associated Press) ... Researchers have discovered a link between iron-poor blood and lower test scores, providing one possible explanation for why girls commonly lag behind their male peers in high school mathematics scores. The nationwide study found children with iron deficiency were roughly two times as likely to score below average on tests of standardized math skills. The disparity in math performance was observed most clearly in teenage girls, said an article in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics (July 11, Education Week) ... Improvements in teen driver licensing laws could drastically reduce the number of deaths caused by the biggest killer of teenagers, motor vehicle crashes. Teens are just 7 percent of the driving public, but they account for 14 percent of the nation's traffic fatalities. A study of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data found strong graduated-driver-licensing programs could help prevent 1.5 million crashes and 500,000 injuries within ten years. Suggestions include passenger restrictions on teen-driven vehicles and curbs on night driving by teens. The findings mirrored an AMA report published last year, which found the risk of fatal injury for both male and female drivers ages 16 to 17 increases with the number of passengers in the vehicle (July 11, Education Week).

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NEWS FROM IASB

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The IASB Resolutions Committee will meet August 3 in Oak Brook to consider proposed resolutions and take testimony from the submitting districts.

The deadline for submission of resolutions recently passed with 15 resolutions submitted. Submitting districts represent ten different IASB divisions. Below are the submitting school districts (and co-sponsors where applicable), listed by IASB division and resolution subject matter.

ABE LINCOLN

Pleasant Plains C.U. District 8 (Life safety fund use)

BLACKHAWK

United Township H.S. District 30 (Elected state superintendent)

DUPAGE

C.C. District 93, Carol Stream (IASB annual conference)

Glen Ellyn District 41 (School funding formula)

C.C. District 89, Glen Ellyn (Take your child to work)

Marquardt Dist. 15/Queen Bee Dist. 16 (Utility tax exemptions)

LAKE

C.U. District 220, Barrington (Special education)

C.U. District 220, Barrington (Non-public school transportation)

SOUTH COOK

North Palos Elementary District 117 (Property tax base erosion)

SOUTHWESTERN

Waterloo C.U. District 5 (Post-retirement employment)

*29 other Southwestern Division school districts are co-sponsors

THREE RIVERS

Manteno C.U. District 5 (School ballot format)

TWO RIVERS

Franklin C.U. District 1 (Canvassing election results)

North Greene Unit District 1 (Scholarships for teachers)

WEST COOK

Oak Park Elementary District 97 (School board elections)

WESTERN

Fulton County C.U. District 3 (Group placement of students)

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RESEARCH REPORTS

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Babies born five to eight weeks prematurely encounter educational problems much more frequently than full-term babies, researchers announced June 21.

"Up to a third of children born between 32 and 35 weeks' gestation may have school problems," said Charlotte Huddy of the Leicester Royal Infirmary in a study published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Nearly one-third of preemies had difficulties with writing, mathematics and fine motor skills and many required special help in school. The study supports earlier research that showed premature babies have a higher risk of encountering reading difficulties and behavioral problems.

Source: Reuters News Service, "Many premature babies do poorly in school - study," June 21, 2001.

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Fifty percent of parents report that their children encountered no problems with violence last school year, according to a national poll released June 25.

Nevertheless, the poll uncovered significant fears that children could become targets of violence. Released at the annual convention of the National Sheriffs' Association, the poll detailed responses from 710 parents nationwide. Youth Crime Watch of America commissioned the phone survey, conducted over a two-week period in June.

Source: USA Today online, "Half of parents say kids unaffected by violence," June 25, 2001.

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IASB recently mailed a copy of the 2000-2001 Illinois Teacher Salary Study to board presidents in every IASB member district. The study, published annually by the Illinois State Board of Education, provides details on actual salaries, salary policies, salary schedules and fringe benefits for every school district, arranged by district type.

For example, the median salary for beginning teachers now stands at $26,072 at the bachelor's degree level, and $28,853 at the master's degree level, the study says. Both of these median salary figures are up more than 18 percent (the equivalent of roughly 3.6 percent a year) from five years ago, based on a comparison of the figures with those from the 1995-1996 salary study.

The new booklet indicates "medians of the maximum scheduled salaries for experienced teachers at these same degree levels are $38,709 and $47,403, and the median for the highest scheduled salaries is $53,192." These median salary figures are up 17 percent, 19 percent, and 24 percent, respectively, from five years ago.

More than 96 percent of districts (856) now have a negotiated labor contract with teachers, compared to roughly 94 percent of districts (854) five years ago. Only 36 school districts do not have a negotiated contract with teachers, compared to 51 districts in 1995-96.

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LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS

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The Illinois Senate Education Committee is studying possible changes to the school-year schedule, including the method for counting attendance days under the state aid formula. One of the changes under discussion would require extending the school term to 190 days from 185 days. This could include roughly ten emergency days and up to four days for teachers' institutes, with statutory requirements for 176 full days of actual pupil attendance.

Other calendar changes under consideration pertain to teachers' institutes, parent-teacher conferences, parental institutes, in-service training programs, and school improvement activities and the number of days when these activities may be pursued.

The same committee is examining a student testing bill, including proposed changes that would require the State Board of Education to annually test all pupils enrolled in the 4th, 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th grades in English and math.

The testing bill, S.B. 667 (Cronin, R-Elmhurst), reportedly initiated by the Business Education Coalition and the Large Unit District Association, would attempt to better align school and classroom practices with state standards. It would make changes to require more sufficient funding for state tests and to require using state test results to improve instruction and student learning.

S.B. 667 would also require linking pupils with individually identifiable, confidential, and consistent numbers on state tests. The bill became stalled in the spring legislative session and did not pass, but it may be revived in the fall legislative session or next year.

Source: Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance.

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THE NATIONAL SCENE

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Chicago Mayor Richard Daley named Arne Duncan, a little-known schools official, to the post of chief executive officer of Chicago District 299, the nation's third biggest school system.

Duncan, 36, previously was deputy chief of staff for Paul Vallas, his predecessor in the CEO position. Vallas resigned in June and has since confirmed that he is exploring the possibility of running as a gubernatorial candidate in Illinois.

Duncan has spent three years with Chicago Public Schools, including service as chief of the district's magnet schools program. The Chicago Tribune reported that Mayor Daley first offered the CEO job to Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey, who turned it down. Source: Chicago Tribune online, "Surprise for Vallas job; Obscure deputy was Daley's second choice," June 27, 2001.

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IASB ARCHIVES HOME

Illinois Association of School Boards

2921 Baker Drive
Springfield, Illinois 62703