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School Board News Bulletin
July 1999

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Courts strike down voucher programs in Ohio, Maine, Vermont

Congressional battle looms over new e-rate discounts

Schools compete with other callings to hire teachers

Drug testing consortium statistics show improved bus driver safety

NEWS FROM IASB

Gift ban policy deadline passes

IASB Directors endorse energy consortium

LEGISLATIVE ACTION

Governor expected to sign compromise TIF reform bill

Governor signs school safety bills

Governor gets charter schools bill

RESEARCH REPORTS

Schools are becoming resegregated, study finds

California class size program yields mixed outcome

TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

Recruit teachers from qualified troops

Ideas offered to help prevent bullying

FEDERAL UPDATE

Congress considers bills to improve teacher quality

DEVELOPMENTS IN SCHOOL LAW

A school budget is not a predicate for a school levy

WORKSHOPS & MEETINGS

Anti-violence videoconference series to air

Recent mailings from IASB

Courts in Ohio, Maine and Vermont all recently struck down state voucher programs on various grounds. The trend began when the Ohio Supreme Court ruled May 27 that the method the Ohio legislature has used to fund vouchers violates a state law, thus striking down the nation's second largest voucher program.

The Maine and Vermont rulings went much further, finding voucher programs unconstitutional on grounds they violate fundamental requirements for separation of church and state. The Maine ruling came from a federal appeals court, which found state vouchers illegal on federal constitutional grounds, and the Vermont ruling came from that state's supreme court, which made findings on state constitutional grounds.

Voucher opponents were unhappy with the Ohio ruling, noting that it did not come to grips with the key constitutional questions. "I'm glad the justices struck down the program," said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

"But they completely missed the point on the church-state issue," Lynn charged. "This ruling says forcing taxpayers to support religious schools is OK if you route the public funds through parents."

The Ohio legislature voted within days of the state's high court ruling to reinstate the Ohio voucher program.

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Congressional opposition is growing to a recent announcement by the FCC that it will seek to collect $2.25 billion to support e-rate discounts for libraries and schools for the coming year. Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Montana) and Rep. Billy Taxon (R-Louisiana) have sponsored the "Schools and Libraries Internet Access Act" (H.R. 1746 and S. 1004), which would replace the e-rate program, also known as universal service discounts, currently available for schools.

The bills address allegations by some members of Congress that the e-rate funding mechanism amounts to an illegal tax.

The new legislation before Congress, identical in House and Senate versions, would employ a 3 percent telephone excise tax to fund telecommunications programs for schools, libraries and rural health care. The legislation also provides for a reduced funding level.

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A survey by the American Federation of Teachers indicates that the competition for certified teachers is intensifying, as better paying fields increasingly prove attractive to recent college graduates.

The AFT survey showed beginning teachers earned an average salary of $25,735 in 1997-98, in contrast to the $42,862 earned by engineering graduates, and the $40,920 earned by computer science graduates.

The average teacher salary nationally was $39,347, according to the AFT. Meanwhile, attorneys earned $71,530, engineers earned $64,489 and computer systems analysts earned $63,072.

For further information, visit the AFT website at http://www.aft.org.

Source: CNN.com, June 21, 1999.

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Some encouraging numbers were released recently by the Midwest Truckers Association, which handles all testing of school bus drivers for the Illinois schools' consortium.

More than 6,000 Illinois bus drivers are included in the testing pool and one-half of the pool is randomly tested each year. Pre-employment and after-accident tests are also administered.

IASB endorses this program, established by the Midwest Truckers Association for school district personnel in the wake of federal legislation requiring such testing.

Random testing results indicate a remarkable downturn in drug and alcohol abuse among school bus drivers, as the following consortium figures show:

Sophisticated scientific tests are performed on all specimens in the laboratory in order to uncover any effort to cheat. The testing consortium even counts substituted or adulterated specimens as a "refusal to test," which equals a positive test.

If a specimen is able to be tested but is diluted (with water for example), and the result is negative, a test is again conducted on that individual. This time, however, it can be conducted under direct observation (the district decides whether to permit that approach).

For further information about the program, contact the Midwest Truckers Association at 217/525-0310.

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FEDERAL UPDATE

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Congress considers bills to improve teacher quality

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved a bill June 30 aimed at improving teacher quality.

The bill constitutes the teacher training component of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). It would be funded at $2 billion over five years.

Funds would be distributed to states and local schools for use in:

* improving recruitment through signing bonuses and expanding alternative routes to teacher certification

* improving retention of teachers by establishing mentoring support and incentives for high-quality teachers to stay in the classroom

* implementing innovative programs such as tenure reform, merit pay, teaching testing, alternative certification, mentoring, and in-service teacher academies

* reducing class size

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RESEARCH REPORTS

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Schools are becoming resegregated, study finds

America's schools are becoming more segregated, reports a new study by Gary Or field and John T. Gun of the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University.

According to the study, schools in the South are resegregating. This comes "after two and a-half decades in which civil rights law broke the tradition of apartheid in the region's schools and made it the section of the country with the highest levels of integration in its schools." For more information on the study, visit the project's website at http://www.law.harvard.edu/civilrights/ .

While censuring Southern states for abandoning progress in school integration, the report indicates that schools in Illinois remain even less integrated than in the south.

In 1996, for example, 34.7 percent of black students in southern states attended majority-white schools, yet only 19.5 percent of black students in Illinois attended majority-white schools.

Source: NSBA News Service, June 22, 1999.

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California class size program yields mixed outcome

A three-year drive to reduce class size throughout California's public school system has produced mixed results, including modest academic gains for most students and apparent problems with classroom space and teacher quality.

That is the initial conclusion of the first comprehensive study of California's multi-billion dollar push to reduce class size. The study was conducted by a consortium of research agencies.

After California class size was reduced from roughly 30 students per class to roughly 20, students scored two or three percentage points higher, on average. That's the equivalent of moving a student from the 50th percentile to the 53rd.

These gains are "modest but statistically significant," according to Brian Stecher, a senior social science researcher at the RAND Corporation, which participated in the study.

The report, "Class Size Reduction in California: Early Evaluation Findings, 1996-1998" is available on-line at http://www.classize.org.

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DEVELOPMENTS IN SCHOOL LAW

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A school budget is not a predicate for a school levy

IASB's comprehensive treatment of a potential budget nightmare got results. Over a year ago, the Illinois Court of Appeals followed fifty-some years of precedent by concluding that a tax levy filed by a cash-basis school district before the December deadline is a tax levy for the fiscal year in which it is filed, regardless of when the school district intends to spend the money resulting from the levy. A dissenting opinion was very critical of the majority's opinion stating that it "contorts [the statute's] meaning beyond reasonable recognition."

This dissenting opinion went largely unnoticed until the Illinois Supreme Court granted the tax objector's petition to appeal. Did the Supreme Court justices find the dissenting opinion meritorious? Concern spread that the Supreme Court might reverse the lower court's decision and thereby cause Illinois school districts untold headaches.

While the case arose in DuPage County, it was extremely important to hundreds of school districts. Tax levy objectors construed The School Code to require districts operating on a cash basis to adopt an annual budget before passing a levy for the year in question. Such a rule would require adoption of a school annual budget 18 months or more in advance of the fiscal year to which the levy pertains. The IASB immediately began efforts to shore-up any unsteadiness concerning a link between a tax levy and budget, i.e., that there is none. The IASB sought to convey its message before both the Illinois Supreme Court and the General Assembly. These efforts were totally successful.

Working with Marcy Dutton of IASA, the IASB hired Heidi Katz and Everett Nicholas (Robbins, Schwartz, Lifton & Taylor) to file an Amici Curiae brief in support of current budget and tax levy practices. The friend-of-the-court brief urged that a tax levy filed before the December deadline is for that fiscal year regardless of when the district intends to spend the money. The Supreme Court agreed with our position and filed a very favorable decision on June 17, 1999.

Through the Alliance, the IASB sought a legislative solution. Peggy Agnos (LEND Coordinator), along with John Izzo (Scariano, Ellch, Himes, Srage and Petrarca), presented legislation to ensure that a tax levy is made for the fiscal year in which the levy is due regardless of when the levy's proceeds are used. House Bill 1291 clearly authorizes current budget and levying practices.

Meanwhile, the IASB informed all district superintendents about the pending case. In an October 1998 memo, the IASB warned, "[i]f the taxpayers who brought the tax objections in the case . . . are successful, and the Court issues its opinion prior to the deadline for filing the 1998 school levy, school districts could suffer a dramatically negative impact on their 1998 school levy." The memo described some actions to eliminate potential risk. As it turned out, those actions were unnecessary; superintendents, however, were kept informed of the potential risk.

The Illinois Supreme Court's opinion is well described in this memo written by Heidi Katz:

Illinois "cash basis" school districts do not violate § 17-l of The School Code by adopting their tax levy in any given year before adopting a budget for the next ensuing fiscal year. The Illinois Supreme Court's ruling to that effect this month in Application of the DuPage County Collector v. ATI Carriage House. Inc., ___Ill.2d ___ (No. 85204, June 14, 1999) soundly rejected tax rate objectors' contention that the language of the statute was "clear" and mandated formal budgeting nine months or more ahead of the fiscal year to be financed by the levy proceeds.

Objectors had challenged the 1993 aggregate levies of various DuPage County school districts, arguing that the districts could not validly adopt 1993 aggregate levies unless they had previously approved school budgets for fiscal year 1994-95, the fiscal year in which the levy proceeds were to be expended. They relied on a mangled sentence in the Annual Budget" provisions of School Code § 17-l, stating that:

If the beginning of the fiscal year of a district is subsequent to the time that the tax levy for such fiscal year shall be made, then such annual budget shall be adopted prior to the time such tax levy shall be made.

105 ILCS 5/17-1 (emphasis added). The objectors insisted that this language was "clear" and needed no interpretation, and that the Court therefore should not embark on the task of deciding whether the alternate construction of the statute advanced by the school districts made more sense – namely, that the levy "for" a fiscal year means the levy adopted during a particular fiscal year, in which case the quoted phrase would ordinarily not require an annual budget as the predicate for the levy.

First and crucially, the Supreme Court agreed with the DuPage County Collector and Second District Appellate Court that the controversial clause in § 17-1 was ambiguous. Writing for the majority, Justice Miller was persuaded by the argument made in the friend-of-the-court brief which Robbins, Schwartz prepared for the Illinois Association of School Boards and the Illinois Association of School Administrators.

In support of the collector's interpretation, Amici . . . note that "for"- has meanings besides those cited by objectors, and that it may also mean "on account of," "as regards," "in respect to," or "concerning." Webster's Third New International Dictionary 886 (1986). In ascribing different meanings to the disputed provision, the objectors focus on when the proceeds of the levy will be used, while the collector focuses on when the levy is made . . . We believe that the challenged provision may reasonably be interpreted in more than one way and therefore is ambiguous.

An ambiguous statute, the Court went on, must be construed reasonably, so as not to produce absurd or unjust results that the legislature could not have intended. It observed that other tax-related statutes identify a levy by the year in which it is made, rather than by the year in which its proceeds are spent, and that other passages of § 17-1 itself suggest that a school district's budget will typically be drafted "around the time it is scheduled to take effect, rather than months in advance."

On a practical level, the Court continued, the objectors' interpretation would force cash-basis school districts to budget far ahead of when they are able to obtain solid information about their income and expenses for that fiscal year. Again taking a page from the Amici's presentation, the Court stated:

For example, as noted by [the IASB and IASA] in their joint brief, a district's assessed valuation against which the district's next tax levy will be extended is not finally determined until the following March or April, when county tax authorities will have completed their property tax assessment and review processes. The local equalization factor for the next fiscal year, computed by the Department of Revenue, is also unknown in the preceding summer. . . . The effects of the tax cap formula on districts located in counties that are subject to the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law . . . are also not known until spring. The availability of other sources of revenue for the next fiscal year, such as various forms of state and federal aid, have generally not been determined as of the previous summer.

The unknown factors on the income side of the ledger are matched by uncertainty on the expense side:

Fluctuations in enrollments, increases in staffing costs resulting from subsequent contract negotiations, and other variables could undermine the utility of budgets drafted [a] year in advance of their operation. To be sure, section 17-1 permits districts to amend their budgets. To do so, however, a district would once again be required to satisfy the notice and hearing requirements that govern the budget-making process. In addition, a district making a late amendment to its budget would not be able to adjust the amount of its levy, for the December deadline for certifying the levy could have passed by that time.

Thus, rather than advancing the objectors' professed goal of making accurate and timely budget figures available to taxpayers, the objectors' construction of the statute could actually produce the opposite result: their interpretation would require school districts to formulate budgets far in advance of the time when they could reasonably have available to them accurate and reliable information about their possible income and expenditures.

For these reasons, the Court held, the Collectors' (and school districts') reading of the statute was correct. Justice Heiple, joined by Justice Harrison, dissented, arguing that the majority's holding could not be reconciled with the "plain" language of § 17-1.

Although the Court's opinion does not mention this development, the General Assembly acted in its just-concluded session to amend § 17-l in a manner which further dooms objections of the type made in the ATI case. The amendatory legislation deletes the offending preposition "for" from the contested sentence in § 17-1, states that a school board's failure to comply with the statute's budgeting provisions shall not invalidate an otherwise proper levy, and adds the following:

[A] tax levy is made for the fiscal year in which the levy is due to be made regardless of which fiscal year the proceeds of the levy are expended or are intended to be expended, and ...except as otherwise provided by law, a board of education's adoption of an annual budget in conformity with this Section is not a prerequisite to the adoption of a valid tax levy and is not a limit on the amount of the levy.

House Bill 1291, as enrolled. Governor Ryan is expected to sign the bill into law.

Melinda Selbee is IASB's general counsel.

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NEWS FROM IASB

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Gift ban policy deadline passes

As required by the State Gift Ban Act (Public Act 90-737), each school district was required to have a policy in place by July 1, 1999, prohibiting the solicitation and acceptance of gifts.

IASB has developed a sample policy on this issue. School districts that subscribe to the Policy Reference Education Subscription Service (PRESS) have already received the sample gift ban policy.

PRESS provides a comprehensive list of sample school board policies and administrative procedures that are legally referenced and footnoted. PRESS subscribers also receive updated policies as changes are made in state and federal law, regulations and case law.

Those school districts that have not seen the sample policy on the Gift Ban Act should call the nearest IASB office and ask for the policy department.

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IASB Directors endorse energy consortium

The IASB Board of Directors met in Springfield May 14-15, and took action to approve the Association's participation in and endorsement of the Illinois Energy Consortium, an Illinois not-for-profit corporation. IASB has employed a consulting firm to develop a feasibility study and to report on the potential savings for school districts from this energy consortium. A third party administrator could be selected by late July.

In other action, the IASB Directors:

* received and approved monitoring reports of Association activities in compliance with policies on Ends, Governance Process, and Executive Limitations

* heard a legislative report presented by IASB governmental relations staff members

* developed questions regarding recommendations of the ad hoc Policy Committee

* approved FY 2000 budget assumptions and reviewed the proposed budget

* received a report on the progress being made in the development of a national association of school district foundations

* appointed Nominating Committee members: Jay Tovian, Immediate Past President, Chair; Dave Engelbrecht, Northwest Division; Bill Jenner, Southwestern Division; Barbara Somogyi, North Cook Division; and Pat Stroube, South Cook Division. Jim Michael, Abe Lincoln Division, was appointed as an alternate.

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TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

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Recruit teachers from qualified troops

School districts that experience difficulty recruiting high-quality teachers might wish to check out a new online resource, according to the ISBE. It is the free Internet listing service of the nationwide Troops to Teachers program.

The program's website lists thousands of potential candidates. Many hold teacher certificates from other states, which may qualify them to receive an Illinois Provisional Certificate.

To learn more about Troops to Teachers, visit their homepage at http://voled.doded.mil/dantes/ttt/newjobs.htm. Contact the program's referral and placement assistance office by phone at 800/452-6616, ext. 159, or fax 850/452-1096, or contact your Illinois Troops to Teachers office at 217/782-2805.

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Ideas offered to help prevent bullying

A free 18-page pamphlet from the Department of Education lists strategies for teachers, students and parents to use when dealing with bullying. Called Preventing Bullying, the pamphlet provides information about successful approaches to bullying used in schools around the country.

To order the manual, contact the Education Publications Center of the U.S. Department of Education. The department's online ordering address is: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/hedpubs. html or call toll-free 877/433-7827.

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LEGISLATIVE ACTION

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Governor expected to sign compromise TIF reform bill

Pending minor statutory reforms could limit abuses of the state's Tax Increment Financing (TIF) law, which provides tax incentives for the redevelopment of blighted areas, often at the expense of public schools.

A compromise bill recently approved — S.B. 1032, sponsored by Sen. Christine Radogno (R-LaGrange) — would prevent farmland from becoming part of a TIF district. The bill also would give schools and libraries greater say in negotiating TIF district parameters. Gov. George H. Ryan is likely to sign the bill, according to insiders.

Using TIF funds for tax-exempt structures, such as municipal buildings and recreation halls—would be outlawed except in rare circumstances. Exceptions would include projects necessary to attract new private investment and those that result in an increased need for public safety in existing tax-exempt structures.

Residential areas could still be made part of a TIF district, but school districts would have to be reimbursed for the extra costs associated with the additional students who move into such areas.

Municipalities would still have the upper hand in designating TIF districts. If a Joint Review Board recommended against designating a TIF, however, a three-fifths vote of the municipality would be required to create the TIF over the review panel's objections.

The reforms would better define "blighted areas" by requiring TIF sponsors to demonstrate that the equalized assessed valuation of the proposed TIF district property has stagnated. Municipalities also would need to prove that the property has physically deteriorated.

The legislation would mandate annual distribution of surplus revenue to taxing districts, and would prohibit the use of TIF revenue for ordinary municipal administrative costs.

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Governor signs school safety bills

Legislation signed June 4 by Governor George H. Ryan will establish a school grant program administered by the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority, and strengthen penalties for discharging a gun on school property.

The so-called Safe to Learn legislative package (Public Acts 91-10 through 91-15) would provide $13.9 million in grants to schools to help defray the cost of metal detectors and other school security and violence-prevention measures. The first $500,000 of this funding may be used for three pilot programs, while the remainder may be distributed in grants to districts.

Adopted as Senate Bill 757 (P.A. 91-14), the grants program became effective July 1, 1999. Called "the cornerstone bill in the package," the legislation was sponsored by Sen. Dan Cronin, R-Elmhurst.

Other key provisions of the school safety package will:

* allow individuals ages 15 and over to be prosecuted as adults if they fire guns at, on or adjacent to school property or at school-related events elsewhere (P.A. 91-15, sponsored by Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-Hinsdale)

* make it a Class X offense, punishable by up to 30 years in prison, to sell any weapon to individuals under age 18 (P.A. 91-13, sponsored by Rep. Patricia R. Bellock, R-Westmont)

* make it a Class X felony, as well, to discharge a firearm on school grounds (P.A. 91-12, sponsored by Rep. William A. O'Connor, R-Berwyn)

* require school officials to notify law enforcement when they observe anyone with a firearm at a school. The bill also allows for the psychological evaluation of minors involved in threatening incidents. The bill takes effect immediately. (P.A. 91-11, sponsored by Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth).

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Governor gets charter schools bill

S.B. 648, containing a major revision of Illinois charter schools law, was approved by Illinois lawmakers and sent to the Governor in May. Governor Ryan is expected to sign the bill. Key changes to the charter law would include provisions:

* requiring local boards of education to submit charter school proposals to referendum voting if 5 percent or more of the voters of the district join in petitioning for it

* allowing for transition impact aid to a school district with a non-district created charter school

* stipulating that such transition impact aid must pay the school district 90 percent of the per capita funding of the charter school for the first year, 65 percent the second year, and 35 percent the third year

* establishing grants and interest-free loans to charter schools for start-up costs

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WORKSHOPS & MEETINGS

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Anti-violence videoconference series to air

A three-part videoconference series titled Lessons Learned: Breaking the Cycle of Violence II will begin September 21, at 3:00 p.m., with a program called "Acting on Early Warning Signs."

This videoconference will cover three themes: 1) early warning signs—what to look for and how to respond without "scapegoating"; 2) reviewing, updating and validating safety and crisis intervention plans; and 3) involving parents, media, and the community in a positive way.

Each single program video is $145; the entire series (including programs to air September 21, mid-October, and early November) is $395. All proceeds will go to the Hope Foundation "for further research and development on creating places of hope."

To down-link the first program, order the entire series or purchase a copy of one or all of the videoconferences on video tape, contact Nancy Silas Shin at 812/337-7703.

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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.

June 22: Memo from IASB Nominating Committee inviting nominations of IASB officer candidates, mailed to board presidents and district superintendents.

June 30: Digest Of Bills Passed in the 1999 Spring Session of the legislature, booklet mailed to board presidents and district superintendents.

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IASB ARCHIVES HOME

Illinois Association of School Boards

2921 Baker Drive
Springfield, Illinois 62703