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School Board News Bulletin
September 2002

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Education funding panel (EFAB) urges sweeping changes

U.S. Education Department issues proposed rules clarifying NCLB

Code revisions draw fire from home-school advocates

Illinois' funding inequities draw national concern as gap grows

NEWS HEADLINES

FEDERAL UPDATE

Federal Blue Ribbon Schools program and criteria revised

LEGISLATIVE NEWS

New state law lifts ban on cell phones in public schools

THE NATIONAL SCENE

Majority of Americans oppose vouchers, support public schools

RESEARCH REPORTS

Child poverty found to be most prevalent in America's rural areas

Study finds charter schools produce much lower scores

NEWS FROM IASB

Nominating committee slates IASB officers for 2003

Staff changes announced

IASB Web site updated with new court decisions

More fall division meeting plans listed

ILLINOIS DISTRICTS

ACT scores decline statewide

Education funding panel (EFAB) urges sweeping changes
State income and sales taxes would be swapped for property tax cuts

The State's Education Funding Advisory Board (EFAB) -- a group of educators, one former senator, and business representatives -- has proposed increasing the state income and sales tax in exchange for property tax abatements, as well as several other measures related to school funding.

At its August 27th meeting, the panel approved a preliminary report containing recommendations regarding school district organization, General State Aid, property tax relief, increased state revenues and categorical funding. Following three public hearings of EFAB in early September, the State Board of Education will meet on a date yet to be determined to finalize the report, which will be forwarded to the governor and General Assembly in January 2003.

"From everything we've seen, EFABis headed in the right direction in recommending the state ease off property taxes but increase the foundation level; and we're glad they would not mandate consolidation," said IASB President Christy Coleman.

Former State Superintendent Bob Leininger, chairman of EFAB, said his group's proposal ensures no school district would lose money, which wasn't true under some of the former proposals. The plan calls for abating a portion of a district's property taxes and replacing that with state money. The board wants to see the state income tax hiked and the sales tax broadened to apply to more services to pay for the abatements.

Even if a plan that included a tax hike passed the House and Senate, however, both major-party gubernatorial candidates, Attorney General Jim Ryan and U.S. Rep. Rod Blagojevich, say they won't support tax increases. Their solution for increasing money for schools is finding it within the existing state budget.

"They aren't going to find (additional funding for schools) by cutting out pork and reorganizing priorities," former state schools chief Leininger said.

EFAB proposes that local property taxes for education be cut by 25 to 50 percent and replaced dollar-for-dollar by the state. Illinois property owners pay about $9 billion in property taxes for education, so property tax relief would be between $2.25 billion to $4.5 billion.

No school would lose money or access to property tax support under the EFAB plan, because the state would replace the decreased property taxes dollar-for-dollar.

In addition, EFAB recommends that General State Aid be increased to support a Foundation Level within the range of $5,665 to $6,680 per pupil -- an increase from the present level of $4,560. The proposed level, according to EFAB, is based on studies of the spending practices of successful and efficient school districts.

A variety of revenue replacement options were suggested by the panel. Much of the money could be generated by raising the income tax rate, closing loopholes, and graduating exemptions, said EFAB. The sales tax rate could be reduced while providing additional revenue by broadening the tax base, the panel suggested.

In addition, the recommendations call for the elimination of hold harmless and reinstatement of the continuing appropriation to assure districts of funding stability. A Department of Human Services poverty count would be used for calculating poverty grants for districts, rather than the ten-year census count.

The combination of property tax relief and state revenue increases assures that the state would provide the majority of funding for elementary and secondary education.

Unit districts are the preferred school district organizational structure with high schools enrolling a minimum of 250 students, according to EFAB. Rather than requiring schools to consolidate, EFAB recommends expanding the incentives for reaching these targets. Presently, the state has 893 school districts, 407 of which are units, while 103 are high school districts, and 383 are elementary districts. Going to all unit districts would simplify the funding mechanism, increase equity among districts, and provide efficiencies in the delivery of services, according to EFAB.

To accomplish this reorganization, EFAB proposes that the current incentives be continued and additional incentives be added, and that feasibility studies be required in all districts. If consolidation results in the need for a new building, EFAB suggests that the state fund 100 percent of the cost of the building. In addition, a state implementation grant would have to accompany the reorganization and the new district would get a five-year exemption from the state designation system.

While many categorical programs would remain unchanged, the recommendations provide for a new transportation formula and a study to combine special education funding sources. Combining some existing programs into block grants would increase the flexibility for local school districts while reducing the paperwork necessary to receive state funds.

Source: EFAB, August 27, 2002.

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U.S. Education Department issues proposed rules clarifying NCLB

Proposed regulations issued by the U.S. Education Department in August clarify Title I provisions under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, including adequate yearly progress, school choice, supplemental services, and qualifications for teachers and paraprofessionals.

The proposed NCLB regulations are not yet in effect, however. The department announced it would accept public comments until Sept. 5 and would issue final regulations sometime after that. Some say the regulations won't be final until January 2003, and state education agencies likely will be back before Congress in future years seeking changes to the act that they find unworkable.

NCLB requires each state to develop a single, statewide accountability system to ensure that all school districts and schools achieve adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward the goal of having all students meet standards of proficiency in reading/language arts and mathematics by the 2013-14 school year.

In addition, NCLB requires specific groups of students to meet AYP, including students who are economically disadvantaged, students from major racial and ethnic groups, students with disabilities, and students with limited English proficiency. At least 95 percent of the students in each subgroup enrolled in a school must take the state assessments in reading and math.

Key school choice provisions of the proposed regulations include the following:

• In providing public school choice, districts must give priority to the lowest-achieving students from low-income families.
• Affected districts are required "to offer the parents of each eligible student a choice of more than one school." Parents must be allowed, whenever possible, to choose "from among several options, the school that best meets the educational needs of their child."
• A supplemental services provider may include "a nonprofit entity, a for-profit entity, a public school, including a public charter school, a private school, or a local education agency." A school "identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring" cannot provide supplemental services.
• NCLB defines a "highly qualified teacher" as a teacher with at least a bachelor's degree and who has either obtained full state teacher certification or has passed the state teacher licensing examination and holds a license to teach in that state. The proposed regulations state that these requirements apply only to teachers of core academic subjects. They do not apply to vocational education teachers or employees of a third-party contractor or supplemental services provider.
• NCLB requires all paraprofessionals who work in Title I schools to have at least two years of study at an institution of higher education, to have obtained an associate's degree or higher, and be able to demonstrate knowledge of and the ability to assist in instructing reading, writing, and mathematics or readiness in those subjects. This provision applies to all paraprofessionals hired after Jan. 8, 2002. Paraprofessionals hired before that date have four years to meet these requirements.

Other highlights of the proposed rules include the following provisions that would take effect for the 2002-03 school year:

• If a state changes its academic assessment system or its definition of AYP, it "may not extend, beyond the 2013-14 school year, its timeline for enabling all students to reach proficiency."
• "The number of students in a subgroup must be of sufficient size to produce statistically reliable results for the 95 percent requirement to affect AYP," the rules state.
• The proposed regulations limit the number of students with the "most significant cognitive disabilities" who can take an alternative assessment to not more than 0.5 percent of all students assessed in a state or district.
• NCLB requires a district to identify for school improvement any school that fails to make AYP for two consecutive years and make public school choice available to all students enrolled in that school. If the school fails to make AYP for a third consecutive year, the district also must make available supplemental services to students who remain in that school.

Source: NSBA, School Board News, August 13, 2002.

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Code revisions draw fire from home-school advocates

In the fourth of six public hearings to discuss proposed changes to the Illinois School Code, it became clear that parents of home-schooled students believe some of the recommendations threaten their rights to privacy and choice.

In what has become a pattern of repeated debate at each hearing, home-school supporters are challenging provisions in Code Articles 26 and 27. One would reduce Illinois compulsory school age from 7 to 6; the other would require reporting all immunization records to public school districts.

At the outset of the Sept. 5 hearing, Hazel Loucks, chairman of the Governor's Commission on Revising the Illinois School Code, insisted that there was no intention to make any substantive changes to the code that would likely fail to win legislative approval.

"The commission acknowledges that there are issues that would never make it through the approval process," she told the audience of 75 people at Carl Sandburg Community College. "Our intention was to remove arcane language, wordiness, and expired statutory references, and to organize subject matter in order to make this a user-friendly document.

"But several issues have emerged in previous public hearings that we now recognize as being best left to the governor and the General Assembly ... such changes, if left in, would certainly kill the Code revision."

Even with that verbal assurance, a bevy of parents and teachers of home-schooled children stood to express their opposition to substantive Code changes regarding school age and immunization.

Reciting poetry, holding signed petitions and even a baby, the parents one by one told the Commission members present that it was not up to public schools or the state "to hold onto kids as long as possible."

Others challenged the intention of the changes, "not as benefits to children or parents, but to public schools."

Commission members for the most part remained silent during the testimony. There were several occasions, however, when they discussed the definitions and intentions of language changes when referring to qualified professionals, students, English language learners, and transitional bilingual programs. Commission members agreed that some additional work was needed to clarify terms or phrases that would have changed the meaning of the Code.

Loucks said additional changes to the final draft of the Illinois School Code, which is now 41 years old, would be reviewed at the conclusion of the public hearings later this fall. The current draft can be found on the Web site at www.isbe.net, under "Illinois School Code Re-Write Recommendations."

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Illinois' funding inequities draw national concern as gap grows

Funding inequities in state and local support of school districts exist in most states, separating the rich from the poor, and only one state in the nation has a wider funding gap than Illinois. So says a new analysis of government financial data released in August by the Education Trust.

In Illinois, according to the study, state and local funds available per student for educational purposes varies by $2,060 between the quarter of school districts with the lowest child poverty compared with the quarter with the highest poverty. That gap is exceeded only in New York State, where it is $2,152 per student.

Also, the study notes, Illinois is one of only nine states where the gap has grown by more than $100 per student over the past five years.

For more information, see the study "The Funding Gap: Low-Income and Minority Students Receive Fewer Dollars," online at http://www. edtrust.org.

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NEWS HEADLINES

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Children in at least five states -- Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, and New Jersey--will be heading back to school this fall even though many students might not have received their required immunizations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced that a two-year shortage of childhood vaccines--one for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis or whooping cough (DTP); and the other for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR)--is mostly over, but parts of the country are still experiencing shortages (School Board News, August 13, 2002) ... Rod Blagojevich and Jim Ryan have little disagreement about how they would like to improve public education. The two major parties' candidates for governor don't offer much detail about how they would pay for their education platforms--other than saying they will spend existing resources differently, eliminate legislator's "pork" projects and promote economic growth. But Ryan, the Republican attorney general from Elmhurst, and Blagojevich, the Democratic congressman from Chicago, both have said one thing: They oppose any new state taxes to benefit the state's 2 million children in public schools (State Journal-Register, Springfield, August 26, 2002).

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FEDERAL UPDATE

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A renamed No Child Left Behind--Blue Ribbon Schools Program will honor public and private schools "based on student achievement results, not [the educational] process," says Education Secretary Rod Paige.

The program will reward public and private K-12 schools that either demonstrate impressive gains in student achievement or that are academically superior in their states.

The new criteria for the program call for Blue Ribbon Schools to: 1) have at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds showing improvement in achievement or 2) score in the top 10 percent on state assessments.

The revised program will allow both elementary and secondary schools to be recognized in the same year. In addition, because the education department will not usually conduct site visits of individual schools, it will rely on the recommendations of state superintendents, among others.

The secretary of education will invite state superintendents to submit recommendations for Blue Ribbon Schools beginning Nov. 4. Applications from schools are due March 7, and the winners will be announced May 21.

Sources: U.S. Department of Education, press release, July 28, 2002; and NSBA, School Board News, August 13, 2002.

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LEGISLATIVE NEWS

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Governor George Ryan recently signed legislation to allow students to use cell phones in public schools for the first time since 1990, provided that local school boards agree.

The new law empowers school boards to set policies about cell phone use in their schools. That is, local boards can either regulate or prohibit student use of cell phones.

"Parents use the phones to stay in contact with their children," Ryan explained. "Incidents involving school violence have also pointed out the importance of having access to cellular communication. It is important that we allow an avenue of communication for these parents and children."

The legislature banned cell phones from public schools in 1990, primarily because teachers were concerned that drug deals would be negotiated on cell phones and that ringing phones would disrupt their classrooms.

The latest edition of IASB's policy updating subscription service, known as PRESS, includes a sample policy containing student handbook language permitting cell phone or pager possession and use. The policy basically regulates the use of all electronic devices in schools in order to prevent disruption of learning, but allows their use in emergencies or as teachers permit.

Sample student handbook language will be included in the September Policy Reference Education Subscription Service (PRESS) update. If any district--regardless of whether it is a subscriber--requests a copy, however, IASB's policy staff will send it immediately.

Subscribers to the service are allowed online access to the legally referenced School Board Policy Manual that is the main part of PRESS. With recent improvements, the online version now includes links to the full text of legal citations, including statutes and court decisions. The manual is updated regularly to keep subscribers abreast of changes in the law that affect school board policies. For more information visit the IASB Policy Web site at www.iasb.com/policy/policy1.html .

Source: Chicago Tribune, "Ryan cites benefits in signing bill," August 10, 2002.

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THE NATIONAL SCENE

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A majority of Americans (52 percent) oppose the idea of permitting parents to choose private schools for their children at public expense. That is one finding of the 34th Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools.

Public belief in the quality of the public schools as evidenced by the yearly poll has reached an all-time high. In fact, almost half of Americans assign a grade of A or B to the public schools in their communities, and 71 percent of public school parents give A's or B's to the school their oldest child attends.

"The Phi Delta Kappa poll showing an all-time high public approval rating for the public schools should take the wind out of the sails of opponents of public schools," said Sandra Feldman, President of the American Federation of Teachers.

The importance the public assigns to the public schools is evident in that nearly three-fourths of poll respondents oppose reducing state spending for education as a means of dealing with the budget crises that many states face. Indeed, 58 percent of Americans would increase state taxes to avoid such cuts, while 78 percent would avoid cuts in education spending by making cuts in other areas.

The major problem the public sees for local schools is lack of funding, with overcrowded schools and discipline tied for a relatively distant second.

For more information or a complete copy of the results, contact Phi Delta Kappa International, P.O. Box 789, Bloomington, IN 47402-0789, phone 800-766-1156, fax 812/339-0018. A copy also is available at http://www. pdkintl.org.

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RESEARCH REPORTS

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A new study by Save the Children finds that one in six children living in rural areas of the United States is in poverty and enduring both inadequate health care and deficient education. In all, nearly 2.5 million children are living in poverty in rural America.

Other findings include the following:

• Of the 200 U.S. counties facing persistent poverty, 195 are in rural areas.
• Rural kids are half-again more likely to go without health insurance than their urban cousins.
• More than 50 percent of all rural kids living in poverty are minorities.

A copy of the study "America's Forgotten Children: Child Poverty in Rural America," is available online at http://www.savethechildren.org.

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Students in charter schools score far worse than public school students in basic math and reading skills, a Brookings Institution study indicates.

Charter students scored between half a year behind public school students to a full year behind, the study found after examining 1999-2000 math and reading achievement exam scores of charter schools in 10 states. Illinois charter schools were not included in the research project.

The study, which was the first independent review of the effectiveness of charter schools across the nation, looked at 376 schools in 10 states. The researchers discovered that 59 percent of students at traditional public schools scored better than charter school students during the period studied.

Source: "Study: Charter Students Score Lower," The Associate Press, September 3, 2002.

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NEWS FROM IASB

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The IASB Delegate Assembly will elect officers at its annual meeting, which is to be held Saturday, November 23, from 10:30 until noon at the Joint Annual Conference. Here is the slate of officers to be placed before the delegates by the IASB Nominating Committee: Christy Coleman, Geneseo C.U. District 228, for President; and Ray Zimmerman, Flanagan C.U. District 4, for Vice President.

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Michelle Boonaerts, IASB's Springfield receptionist, bid farewell to the Association on Friday, August 30. She has decided to go to school on a full-time basis, and has accepted a job with AmeriCorps. Tami Valtierra replaced Michelle as receptionist beginning Tuesday, September 3. Tami has worked part-time for the Association in various departments for 13 years.

In addition, Linda Cala also began full-time employment on Tuesday, September 3. Linda has been working (through a temp agency) with the policy department for about nine weeks.

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Several recent court decisions have been added to the IASB Web site under the large heading "School Law" on the Association's home page. Among the court decisions now listed under a link to "Recent Court Decisions" is one that is of particular interest to school boards. It can be found under the general area of "board and district issues," under the subheading "open meetings agendas," and it reads:

Rice v. Board of Trustees of Adams County, No. 4-01-327, (Ill.App., 4th dist., 1-24-02). The Open Meetings Act prohibits a public body from acting on an item that was not on the body's public meeting agenda. The court found that voting on an item is not the same as considering it. Thus, the provision of the Act allowing the "consideration of items not specifically set forth in the agenda" does not authorize taking action on an item not on the agenda. Here, the meeting minutes provided that, under "NEW BUSINESS," a Mr. Heidbreder stated, "there is another resolution to present." The resolution, providing for an alternative benefit program was read aloud, and Mr. Heidbreder "moved to adopt." The court found that the item "NEW BUSINESS" did not provide sufficient advance notice of the resolution and thus voided the resolution.

IASB's General Counsel Melinda Selbee has stated that this ruling may bar school boards from voting on matters that do not appear on their published board agendas. The ruling applies to boards of education, although it does not specifically mention them, and the Policy Reference Education Subscription Service (PRESS) -- IASB's legally referenced policy update service -- suggests school boards located "in the Fourth District [of the Illinois Appellate Court] should limit board action to published agenda topics." PRESS adds that other districts may want to follow suit: "Your district's lawyer can provide guidance."

The Fourth District includes the following Illinois counties: Adams, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Champaign, Clark, Coles, Cumberland, DeWitt, Douglas, Edgar, Ford, Greene, Jersey, Livingston, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Mason, McLean, Menard, Morgan, Moultrie, Piatt, Pike, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott, Vermilion, and Woodford.

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As mentioned in the August News Bulletin, a wide variety of hot topics--ranging from No Child Left Behind Act requirements to November election concerns--will be featured at this year's fall dinner meetings in IASB's 21 divisions. In addition to the program details listed below, Leadership and Development (L&D) awards will be given out at these meetings. The latest information on division meetings can be found on the IASB Web site at http://www.iasb.com/calendar .

Members of IASB boards are encouraged to attend one or more of these fall division meetings. Choose the meeting or meetings that most interests you from the Web site list, including the following:

Two Rivers Division
Tuesday, September 24
Winchester Elementary, Winchester C.U. District 1

Program: School Funding Issues and Solutions, Presenter: Cal Jackson, Consultant, Livingston/McLean Regional Office of Education, Alliance Lobbyist, IASBO; and Board/Superintendent Relations Roundtable, Facilitators: Sandy Gundlach, Director of Field Services, IASB, and Herb Jackson, Board President, Quincy District 172; and The Policy Challenge, Facilitator: Cathy Talbert, Senior Director, Policy Services, IASB.

Kishwaukee Division
Wednesday, September 25
Westfield Community School, Professional Development Center, Algonquin

Program: No Child Left Behind: How Will It Impact Your District?, Presenters: Marilyn McConachie, Member, Illinois State Board of Education; Gail Lieberman, Illinois State Board of Education staff member; Donald Englert, Regional Superintendent; John Mannix, IASB Associate Executive Director; and Michael Kiser, Attorney.

Southwestern Division
Thursday, September 26
Fulton Junior High, O'Fallon C.C. District 90

Program: Superintendent Evaluation, Presenter: Larry Elsea, Superintendent, and John Coers, Board President, O'Fallon C.C. Dist. 90; No Child Left Behind, Presenter, Rosella Wamser, Regional Superintendent, St. Clair County; Planning for Improved Student Learning; and Hot Topics in Policy, Presenter: Cathy Talbert, Senior Director, Policy Services, IASB.

Lake County Division
Monday, September 30
Mundelein High School

Program: Legislative Candidate Comments (on No Child Left Behind, tax cap exemptions, graduation requirements, and on-time payments to school districts), Presenters: Local state legislators and legislative candidates.

Shawnee Division
Monday, October 7
Carbondale ESD 95, Carbondale Middle School

Program: Legislative Candidate Forum, facilitated by Ben Schwarm, Associate Executive Director, IASB

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ILLINOIS DISTRICTS

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The average composite ACT score for 2002 graduates in Illinois was 20.1, with 99 percent of students taking the test, compared to a score of 21.6 the previous year when the test was taken on a voluntary basis by students considering college. The national average composite score for 2002 graduates was 20.8, with an average of 39 percent of students taking the test in each state.

ACT results for the Class of 2002, the first group required to take the ACT exam as part of the Prairie State Achievement Examination, show that nearly 129,000 Illinois students took the ACT. That represents an increase of 40,000 students from last year. More than 25,000 of these 40,000 students did not take a college-preparatory curriculum in high school.

Illinois students who took a college preparatory curriculum scored much higher (22.4 average composite score) than their peers who did not (18.4). Thus, as expected, the group of students who did not take a college prep curriculum pulled down the scores of their college-bound peers.

Yet many individual students surprised themselves, according to ACT President Richard L. Ferguson. "Thousands of Illinois students in the class of 2002 who did not consider themselves college-bound earned ACT scores that indicated they were, in fact, ready for college-level coursework," said Ferguson. "As a result, many of those students have been encouraged to change their plans and consider entering college in the fall. This shows the farsightedness of state education officials who decided to give all students the ACT."

ACT defines the college prep, or "core" curriculum as four years of English and three or more of mathematics, social sciences, and natural sciences. State statutes require Illinois graduates to take three years of language arts, two years of mathematics and social studies, and one year of science. Local school boards set additional graduation requirements.

"Rigorous coursework that was once reserved for the college-bound is necessary for success in the 21st Century," said State Superintendent of Education Robert E. Schiller.

"As schools continue integrating the Illinois Learning Standards into their curricula, students will be getting more of the advanced knowledge provided in core courses," Schiller said. "We will continue doing what we can to encourage and assist schools in their efforts to help students achieve the rigorous targets set by the Illinois Learning Standards."

As expected with the increased population of test takers, a smaller percentage of 2002 graduates taking the ACT reported having taken the core curriculum: 45% compared to over 54% of those tested in the Class of 2001.

Illinois and Colorado began requiring all students to take the ACT in 2001 as 11th graders; composite scores in both states plummeted to the same level, 20.1. This is the first ACT report of graduating seniors that reflects the scores for that increased population. In all other states, the ACT is taken only by college-bound students who choose to participate at national test sites and pay the required fee.

Nationally, the number of 2002 graduates taking the ACT increased by 46,000, and nearly 40,000 of those increased test takers were from Illinois schools.

"Thousands of students who had not considered college as a possibility took the ACT as a required part of the PSAE," explained State Superintendent of Education Robert E. Schiller, "and many of these students found they had college potential. Opening these additional opportunities for future educational and life successes makes it well worth the adjustment in average test scores."

In past years, about 70% of high school graduates in Illinois took the ACT.

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IASB ARCHIVES HOME

Illinois Association of School Boards

2921 Baker Drive
Springfield, Illinois 62703