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School Board News Bulletin
September 2000

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Report cards chronicle school improvement

Teenagers’ illicit drug use declines for a second year

School enrollment increase largest in decades

Caffeine content in cola called harmful to children

Illinois students post record-high scores on ACT

Matteson District 162 to provide new choice school

State leaders plan virtual high school

THE NATIONAL SCENE

School bus maker warns of defective brakes

Bilingual kids keeping up with their peers in California

Freedom of information officers required in Kansas school districts

NEWS FROM IASB

Nominating committee slates IASB officers

IASB offices experience telephone, e-mail problems

Panel to feature TV news correspondent Bill Kurtis

WORKSHOPS & MEETINGS

Illinois Gifted Education Conference nears

State Superintendent to hold more "schoolhouse meetings"

RESEARCH REPORTS

Gallup Poll shows public support for vouchers declining

Dieting may harm girls’ IQs

TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

How to win finance campaigns

American Disabilities Act (ADA) notice kits available

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

New lobbyist joins school management alliance

DEVELOPMENTS IN SCHOOL LAW

A review of the 14-year history of the Illinois School Report Card offers strong evidence that school quality is good and getting better. That finding is being reported by Walter H. Warfield, Executive Director of the Illinois Association of School Administrators, and by IASA Communications Director Paul Black.

"Illinois public school students are relatively poorer, more culturally diverse, and yet still achieving at higher levels than just a generation ago," Warfield and Black stated. (See accompanying table.)

"The school report card released in October 1999 profiled the first generation of students whose educational progress had been monitored through their entire term in Illinois public schools. It showed that over the past six years, at a time when there has been a 9 percent increase in student population, graduation rates have increased and the dropout rate has decreased," according to Warfield and Black.

ACT scores in Illinois have continued to improve (the 1999-2000 composite of 21.5 set an all-time high for the state). This new record high for Illinois students on the ACT marks a 3½-point improvement from the first calculation 14 years ago.

At the same time, the number of limited-English-proficient student has doubled, and there are nearly 5,000 more "chronic truant" students in Illinois schools than six years ago when the statistic was first compiled. Warfield and Black note that the job of educating these and other growing "at-risk" populations has gotten tougher.

Despite the growing challenges, however, student attendance has remained near 94 percent throughout the history of the Illinois school report cards. What is more, student mobility—the number of students transferring out of and into a school district—has actually dropped to a 13-year low of 18.1 percent.

Major changes have taken place in the teaching ranks. Teachers are increasingly female (75.4 percent today compared with 69.4 percent in 1985-86), and teacher salaries have increased nearly 67 percent to reach a level of $45,337. Meanwhile, pupil-to-teacher ratios have improved slightly, and pupil-to-administrator ratios have changed much more dramatically (rising from 221.8 to one in 1985-86 to 243.3 to one in 1998-99). The latter change appears to have been due to consolidation of school districts and the elimination of mid-level positions.

Source: Walter H. Warfield, Executive Director, IASA, and Paul Black, Communications Director, IASA.

Source: IASA, study of school report cards, 1985-86 to 1998-99.

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Illicit drug use among teens declined by 9 percent last year and by 21 percent over the past two years, mirroring the continuing drop in the crime rate, said a survey released by federal officials August 31.

President Clinton said the results also showed that federal efforts to curb smoking and drinking among teens are working and he urged Congress to fully fund the administration’s Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. Source: Washington Post online edition, August 31, 2000.

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Classrooms have swelled this school year with the largest one-year enrollment increase in more than three decades, according to state estimates. ISBE officials said enrollment in public schools could hit 1.9 million students this fall statewide, a 1.8 percent jump from a year ago.

The cause? Baby-boomers’ grandchildren now are pouring into the public schools. Public school enrollment in Illinois could top out at nearly 2.1 million students by 2006-07 and begin to slide again, officials suggest.

Oddly enough, the National Center for Education Statistics ranks midwestern schools as the nation’s slowest-growing, at an 8.5-percent rate from 1988-98. Ironically, school enrollment could drop by 3.1 percent from 1998-2008 in the midwest, according to the Center’s projections, just the opposite of the growth trend ISBE predicts for Illinois schools.

Growing enrollments and ongoing efforts to slash class size will boost the demand for teachers, according to an ISBE report issued last year. "If all classrooms in the state were at capacity, an additional 18,000 students would require the hiring of 720 new teachers (at an average of 25 students per classroom) as well as building more classrooms to house them. Furthermore, states in the South and the West are growing at much faster rates than the Midwest; therefore Illinois may experience increasing competition for quality teachers."

"There will be wide variation in growth or decline both between and within regions. In general, small and rural districts are losing students while larger districts are getting bigger," according to ISBE. For further details see ISBE website: http://www.isbe.state.il.us/research/Issue%20Scans/99aug.htm. Sources: Illinois State Journal-Register, Springfield, "Officials expect large jump in public school attendance," August 21, 2000; and ISBE, Research and Policy Division.

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The Archives of Family Medicine reported in its August edition that cola drinkers generally cannot taste the difference between caffeinated and decaffeinated cola. The study’s results—which call into question the necessity of adding caffeine to cola—were disputed by the soft drink industry’s National Soft Drink Association (NSDA).

One physician who commented on the findings said kids "are the ones likely to suffer most from the high levels of caffeine in soft drinks."

Regular consumption of two or three caffeinated colas daily is sufficient to create physical dependency, according to the study’s authors. In children, the dose needed to cause withdrawal is likely much lower, they said. Symptoms of caffeine withdrawal include headache and lethargy. Symptoms of caffeine withdrawal may last one or two days. Children "may go in and out of withdrawal and have erratic periods of sub-optimal feelings that could affect they way they function," writes Roland R. Griffiths of John Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Source: Reuters News Service, "Study Counters Industry Claim That Caffeine Affects Cola Taste," August 14, 2000.

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The state’s average composite score for students on the ACT—the college entrance exam taken by most high school students in Illinois—reached an all-time high at 21.5 in 2000. Scores of Illinois students remained well above the national average, which stood unchanged at 21.0 for the fourth year in a row.

Illinois scores topped the national average for the tenth consecutive year, with 72 percent of Illinois high school graduates taking the exam before their graduation in 2000. The ratio of Illinois graduates having taken the exam rose from 67 percent the previous year. That ratio is much higher than the national average: nationwide only 38 percent of graduates are tested.

"This is outstanding news," State Superintendent Glenn McGee said of the record-high 21.5 composite score – one tenth of one percent higher than the 21.4 composite score achieved by 1999 graduates.

"These figures really illustrate the tremendous work being done by our students, teachers and local communities to prepare our young people for life after high school," McGee stated. "We are definitely moving in the right direction."

The rising performance of Illinois students was all the more remarkable in light of the rising percentage of the state’s high school students taking the ACT exam. When only the brightest high school students take the exam, averages are higher. As more students ranked in the lower half of their class take the exam, statewide average composite scores typically fall. Despite rising Illinois student participation, however, scores actually rose a full percentage point in 2000.

On the national level, Richard L. Ferguson, president of ACT, Inc., noted that steadily increasing or stable ACT scores have been the norm only since 1990. "From the 1960s through the ’80s, the national average score fluctuated constantly," Ferguson said. "Decreases outnumbered increases, and increases were seldom consecutive. Today, the situation is the reverse. We haven’t seen a decline in the national average since 1989."

Ferguson also noted the record number of ACT-tested students nationally: "We had 46,000 more in this year’s graduating class than in the last, and the total increase since 1990 has been almost 250,000. The phenomenon of thousands more students preparing for college each year while achieving average entrance-exam scores consistently equal to or higher than those of the year before is very positive."

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This school year one district aiming to address a wider range of learning styles for students through innovative programming is Matteson Elementary District 162. The district’s plan for a new choice school will allow parents a voice in what schools their children attend for grades K-5, according to Superintendent Lee Jones. A new designated choice school will provide an extended calendar year, flexible multi-age groupings, technology studies, and daily foreign language studies. Source: Matteson Elementary District 162. For more information phone Denise Faris at 815/469-9166.

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State education leaders have launched a $250,000 project with ISBE, the Illinois Board of Higher Education, and the governor’s office, to establish an Illinois Virtual High School (IVHS), beginning in school year 2000-01. Many secondary level students should benefit from the project’s introduction of additional on-line learning and opportunities previously offered in only the wealthiest school districts. For additional information contact Brad Woodruff, ISBE Division Administrator, Secondary Education, at bwoodruf@smtp.isbe.state.il.us or phone 217/782-2826.

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THE NATIONAL SCENE

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School bus maker warns of defective brakes

A major school bus manufacturer, Thomas Built Buses Incorporated, warned school districts by mail August 30 that 6,000 of the company’s buses may contain defective brake systems. The firm stated that the same problem could affect as many as 300,000 commercial vehicles.

When the vehicles are moving at slow speeds, typically at less than 20 mph, they can lose their braking ability for as much as three seconds, said a spokesman for Freightliner Corporation, parent company of the school bus maker Thomas Built.

Apparently the emergency brake is not affected by the problem. To date no accidents have been attributed to the faulty brakes.

The Thomas Built company said repair kits are being manufactured and will be shipped by November. Meanwhile, Freightliner dealerships are prepared to inspect buses 24 hours a day, seven days a week, said Debi Nicholson, a spokeswoman for Freightliner Corporation.

Source: The Associated Press, Sunday, September 3, 2000.

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Bilingual kids keeping up with their peers in California

Non-English speaking students improved roughly as much as all other students in California last year in standardized testing, just two short years after the state’s voters called a halt to most bilingual education.

Foes of bilingual education maintain that the rising tide lifting bilingual student’s scores along with their peers’ proves the success of Proposition 227, a state law adopted by voters through the state’s initiative and referendum process. The California law requires teaching to be "overwhelmingly" in English for immigrant students.

For more information visit the California Department of Education website: http://star.cde.ca.gov.

Source: The Associated Press, August 15, 2000.

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Freedom of information officers required in Kansas school districts

As of July 1, school boards in Kansas are required by state law to appoint a district freedom of information officer and provide printed brochures to aid citizens with requests for public records. Source: Kansas Association of School Boards.

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NEWS FROM IASB

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Nominating committee slates IASB officers

The IASB Delegate Assembly will elect Association officers at the annual meeting Saturday, November 18, from 10:30 a.m. until noon at the Joint Annual Conference. The slate of officers presented by the nominating committee includes: Dennis McConville, Dimmick C.C. District 175, for President; Christy Coleman, Geneseo C.U. District 228, for Vice President; and for Directors-at-Large Milt Koppenhoefer, Metamora C.C. District 1; Debra McCleary, Coal City C.U. District 1; Frances Roll, Cary C.C. District 26; and Michelle Skinlo, Mattoon C.U. District 2.

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IASB offices experience telephone, e-mail problems

IASB apologizes to member school districts and customers of the Association for any difficulties encountered recently in contacting the staff. Both Association offices have been experiencing line problems with the telephone system and e-mail. Please re-contact IASB staff if you have failed to make connections in recent weeks, and please re-transmit any messages that may have failed to get through or draw a response.

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Panel to feature TV news correspondent Bill Kurtis

Joint Annual Conference organizers have announced a late addition to the program: a two-part panel on long-distance learning—scheduled for Saturday, November 18—will feature celebrated Chicago television newsman Bill Kurtis. Arrangements were finalized too late to permit the following descriptions of the panel to be included in the recently mailed pre-conference brochure. For room locations and other final details about this and other panels and events, please see the official conference program:

The Future Is Now – The "eld!n" Way With Bill Kurtis (Part 1, 1:30 - 3:00 p.m., Saturday, Sheraton) Bill Kurtis has embarked on a highly successful venture in the realm of science and technology called the electronic long distance network or eld!n, an interactive science curriculum for middle-grade students. Come learn about Bill’s adventures as an explorer and about motivating students to become scientists. This is part one of a two-strand, double time-slot panel. You may attend one or both time slots.

The Future Is Now – The "eld!n" Way With Bill Kurtis (Part 2, 3:30 - 5:00 p.m., Saturday, Sheraton) Explore the importance of the board’s commitment to a science curriculum that is an exciting tool for improved student achievement. Hear fellow educators share information about eld!n and their successes with this program, including staff development and community components.

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RESEARCH REPORTS

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Gallup Poll shows public support for vouchers declining

Support for school vouchers is declining, according to the "32nd Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools." The report is available online at: http://www.pdkintl.org.

"Public willingness to experiment with attendance at private or church-related schools at public expense, which increased in the late 1990s, has now peaked and seems to be declining," the report states.

In response to the question, "Do you favor or oppose allowing students and parents to choose a private school to attend at public expense?," 39 percent in 2000 said they favor this option, a drop from 41 percent in 1999 and 44 percent in 1998, the peak year.

Meanwhile, "public approval of the public schools is near its all-time high," according to the report. In fact, forty-seven percent of the general public, and 56 percent of parents with children in public schools give the public schools in their community a grade of A or B. Seventy percent of parents give an A or B to the public school their oldest child attends. As usual, public opinion is not nearly so favorable towards schools in the abstract or those not nearby and familiar.

Source: NSBA, School Board News, August 29, 2000.

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Dieting may harm girls’ IQs

A new study in Great Britain has uncovered evidence that up to one-fourth of schoolgirls are significantly limiting their IQs by denying themselves adequate iron when dieting, according to Reuters News Service. "We were surprised that a very small drop in iron levels caused a fall in IQ," said Michael Nelson, author of the study and a senior lecturer on nutrition at King’s College, in London. Source: Yahoo news website at http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20000801/hl/girls_1.html .

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WORKSHOPS & MEETINGS

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Illinois Gifted Education Conference nears

The 37th annual Gifted Education Conference will be held December 4-6 at Pheasant Run Resort, St. Charles, the LaSalle County Regional Office of Education has announced. The statewide conference will feature four pre-conference workshops to choose from on the following topics: curriculum, social-emotional development, technology, and secondary studies. For more information check out the conference website at http://www.roe35.lth2.k12.il.us. Sponsorships are available for registration and lunch. To learn more, phone Linda at 217/522-6818.

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State Superintendent to hold more "schoolhouse meetings"

Concerned citizens will have an opportunity this fall to offer their opinion on school matters directly to State Superintendent of Education Glenn McGee and other state education officials. That’s because the State Board of Education has scheduled a second round of 16 "schoolhouse meetings," to follow up on the ones held at other locations earlier this year.

Topics will include: school funding and financial accountability, the Illinois Learning Standards, early childhood education, special education, and learning technology. McGee also plans yet another round of meetings at 19 additional locations in spring 2001.

There is no admission charge, but those who plan to attend are asked to register on site or in advance. Pre-registration is available online at http://www.isbe.state.il.us/schoolhouse, by fax at 217/524-4928 or by mailing to: Schoolhouse Meetings, 100 N. First St., Springfield, IL 62777-0001.

For meeting information, e-mail schoolhouse@smtp.isbe.state.il.us.m or phone 217/782-4321.

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TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

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How to win finance campaigns

Does your district face a bond or tax referendum this fall? Then you will be happy to learn that it doesn’t take vast amounts of funding to win, provided you have a history of solid community relations, a group of committed volunteers and a good plan. The following "quota" system has worked for many districts.

Before you seek volunteers, identify how many "yes" votes you will need. This means looking at the number of votes cast in the past three or four elections. If presidential elections bring out more voters in your area, pay particular attention to the number of votes cast in these elections.

Then average the typical number of voters and divide this average by two. Add 25 percent more to this total to get the "yes" number needed.

For instance, let’s say that recent elections indicate you need approximately 500 votes to carry the election. Multiply 25 percent times 500 = 125 votes. Add 125 and 500 = 625.

Set your goal to identify 625 people who say they support the issue and will vote. This extra 125 votes is to compensate for people who, despite what they may tell you, will not vote or will vote against the measure.

Divide the quota by 10 to determine the number of volunteers needed for your campaign. This means each volunteer must beat the bushes to bring out 10 yes votes. In larger districts, volunteers should be organized by school. The greater burden of election quotas often falls on elementary schools because parents of young children are generally more likely to vote YES on school issues.

From Win at the Polls, an election campaign kit, available from National School Public Relations Association, phone 301/519-0496.

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American Disabilities Act (ADA) notice kits available

A recent federal district court ruled, in Clarkson v. Coughlin, that a public entity had violated the law by failing to provide American Disabilities Act (ADA) notices. The notice section of the federal ADA requires all public schools to inform community members and employees of the ADA’s applicability to schools, and of the protections against discrimination assured by the ADA. One way to meet this requirement is through use of the updated ADA notice kits available from the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). Available in two sizes, depending on the requesting school district’s enrollment, the kits cost $72 each for districts with enrollments over 2,500, and $30 each for districts with enrollments under 2,500—plus $9.50 shipping and handling. For more information or to order phone toll free: 877/232-5487.

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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

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New lobbyist joins school management alliance

The Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance has added Brenda Holmes to its lobbying team. Holmes has been with the Illinois State Board of Education since 1987, serving as a special assistant to the State Superintendent of Education and director of the agency’s governmental relations.

The Alliance legislative team consists of full-time and part-time lobbyists employed by each of the four Alliance organizations: IASB, the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA), the Illinois Association of School Business Officials, and the Illinois Principals Association. Brenda Holmes will work out of the IASA office in Springfield.

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DEVELOPMENTS IN SCHOOL LAW
by Melinda Selbee, IASB’s General Counsel

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Since 1992, public schools across the country have tackled how to solemnize certain school events without violating the U.S. Constitution. In that year, the U.S. Supreme Court held a nonsectarian and non-proselytizing prayer delivered by a rabbi at a public school graduation ceremony violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577 (1992). The school unsuccessfully argued the prayer was needed to solemnize the graduation ceremony. The Court found the practice impermissibly coerced those at graduation ceremonies to support or participate in a religious exercise.

Some schools solved the problem of how to solemnize graduation and other school events by allowing a student to address the audience. The Santa Fee school board used this device to solemnize football games. It passed the following policy:

The board has chosen to permit students to deliver a brief invocation and/or message to be delivered during the pre-game ceremonies of home varsity football games to solemnize the event, to promote good sportsmanship and student safety, and to establish the appropriate environment for the competition. Upon advice and direction of the high school principal, each spring, the high school student council shall conduct an election, by the high school student body, by secret ballot, to determine whether such a statement or invocation will be a part of the pre-game ceremonies and if so, shall elect a student, from a list of student volunteers, to deliver the statement or invocation. The student volunteer who is selected by his or her classmates may decide what message and/or invocation to deliver, consistent with the goals and purposes of this policy.

If the District is enjoined by a court order from the enforcement of this policy, then and only then will the following policy automatically become the applicable policy of the school district. [Same as above with the following added:] Any message and/or invocation delivered by a student must be nonsectarian and nonproselytizing.

In June 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court held this policy violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, U.S. Sup. Ct., June 19, 2000. This policy was struck despite the school officials’ efforts – in fact, maybe because of them – to have a policy solemnizing special events that complied with Lee v. Weisman.

This case offers insight into how the current Supreme Court views public school officials’ attempts to comply with Establishment Clause jurisprudence. The dissenting opinion labeled the Court’s tone as one that "bristles with hostility to all things religious in public life." Indeed, the Court’s opinion questioned the sincerity of the school’s efforts to avoid sponsoring or endorsing a religious message. So, school boards are left more frustrated than ever in their attempts to solemnize school events. They are faced with two choices: forget about using any speaker who might decide to pray or follow the Supreme Court’s guidance in Santa Fe. What is to be learned from Santa Fe?

First, if the school event is a graduation ceremony, an attempt to solemnize it with a student-led message or prayer may survive Constitutional scrutiny. An earlier Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision permitted student-led prayer that was approved by a majority vote of the students and was nonsectarian and nonproselytizing. The Supreme Court’s affirmation of the Fifth Circuit’s judgment in Santa Fe is arguably an affirmation of that scenario, i.e. attempting to solemnize graduation with student-led prayer that was approved by a vote of the students and was nonsectarian and nonproselytizing. However, such a policy is questionable and a school board should consult its attorney before permitting it.

Second, if the school event is an athletic event, an attempt to solemnize it with a student-led "message" will be viewed with suspicion. The Supreme Court quoted the lower Court’s assessment that a football game is "hardly the sober type of annual event that can be appropriately solemnized with prayer." Thus, a school board should apply this nebulous rule knowing it may be second-guessed by a federal court: the less sober an event, the less likely a student-led "message" is permissible.

A policy using student-led messages to solemnize events must leave the message’s content to the student. In other words, the school should retain little or no control over of the message’s content. It was clearly a mistake for the Santa Fe policy to say, "the board has chosen to permit students to deliver a brief invocation and/or message;" the Court believed this statement evidenced the school’s retention of control.

Allowing the student body to vote on whether a message will be used, followed by a similar election to choose the speaker, is also highly problematic. The majority opinion found a student election does nothing to protect minority views, but rather places the students who hold such views at the mercy of the majority.

The Court found another major problem with Santa Fe’s policy: "[T]he policy, by its terms, invites and encourages religious messages [by stating] the purpose of the message is to solemnize the event." The Court, somewhat cynically, believed school officials were contemplating a religious message "as a religious message is the most obvious method for solemnizing an event." Moreover, the Court found the requirements that the message "promote good citizenship" and "establish the appropriate environment for competition" further narrowed the types of message deemed appropriate. Thus, it is problematic to express as the policy’s purpose – maybe even to have as its purpose – solemnizing an event.

Perhaps the hardest problem to overcome when drafting a policy on using student-led messages to solemnize school events concerns the context. According to the Court’s opinion, the message’s actual or perceived endorsement is established by factors beyond the policy’s text. In the context of a football game, the Court believed the audience would perceive the pre-game message as a public expression of the majority of the student body’s views delivered with the school’s approval. The Court felt an objective Santa Fe High School student will unquestionably perceive the pre-game prayer as stamped with the school’s seal of approval.

The dissenting opinion in Santa Fe was troubled that the policy was declared unconstitutional on its face – before it was ever implemented. According to the dissent, the Court "ventured into the realm of prophecy" deciding it "need not wait for the inevitable." The dissent took great exception to the Court’s opinion that it is unacceptable to grant the student body the power to elect a speaker, who may choose to pray or not. The dissenting opinion moreover rejected the Court’s reasoning that the policy’s rationale, i.e. to solemnize the event, was suspect. Said the dissent: "Under the Court’s logic, a public school that sponsors the singing of the national anthem before football games violates the Establishment Clause." Scolds the dissent: "The Court grants no deference to — and appears openly hostile toward — the policy’s stated purposes, and wastes no time in concluding that they are a sham."

Using a student-led message to solemnize a school event is very problematic at present. Even a public school board's desire to "solemnize" an event is suspect. This is especially true when the student-led message was historically a prayer - even a nonsectarian and nonproselytizing one. At present, public school officials may have to be satisfied with student-led-and- generated messages.

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