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School Board News Bulletin
December 2001

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IASB delegates renew call for funding formula change, eliminate four Director-at-Large board positions

Author wows conference audience with tales of classroom experience

Newsbulletin Deadlines Set

69th Conference draws 12,000 to three-day event

Bureaucracy and politics, not under-funding, are main problems for superintendents and principals

LEGISLATIVE ACTION

Retired teachers insurance program (TRIP) funding compromise reached

Some relief granted to school districts

ILLINOIS SCHOOLS

Two high schools adopt pledge requirement

Educators, media brainstorm service-learning possibilities

RESEARCH REPORTS

Multiple killings at U.S. schools rare, rising

Polls show public attitudes support public schools

America’s 15-year-olds score average or below on literacy test

THE NATIONAL SCENE

Jailed Jersey teachers released after suspending strike

NSBA appoints successor to Hal Seamon

FEDERAL UPDATE

Graduation prayer case won't be heard; 'Official school prayer' approach stands

Rejecting a "flat grant" funding plan for Illinois schools, local board of education representatives voted November 17 to renew their call for adequate and equitable school funding reform. Board members instead agreed to reaffirm the Association's existing stance on the subject, position statement 2.40, adopted in 1990.

In other major policy setting action, IASB delegates approved a revision to the association's Constitution that eliminates the position of Director at Large from the IASB Board of Directors, effective in November 2002.

The delegate assembly, which registered representatives of 387 IASB member school districts, voted down a resolution seeking a state-level switch to a flat grant, to provide the same amount of funding for all but poverty-level students in Illinois public schools. The defeated resolution would have "deprived downstate schools of $221 million in state funding," according to Nancy Flouret, a board member from THSD 113, Highland Park.

Instead, delegates reaffirmed language calling for funding formula revisions to ensure "taxpayer equity and relief, including uniform tax assessment and procedures as well as tax relief for limited fixed-income and disabled citizens."

The IASB plan for reform of the school funding system also includes a call for the legislature to "place high priority upon achieving the goal of equity in providing financial resources to local school districts." It suggests that a new state funding formula should be developed to provide a "stable, reliable and predictable commitment of revenue."

Voting took place during the 69th Joint Annual Conference, November 16-18, in Chicago. The conference is sponsored by IASB, and the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA), and Illinois Association of School Business Officials (IASBO). For more information about the conference, visit the IASB Web site at www.iasb.com.

School funding matters aside, new resolutions adopted by the delegates to the IASB delegate assembly call for:

• Authorizing the use of Life Safety Funds to add air conditioning to classrooms
• Encouraging lawmakers to allow districts to employ retired certified staff to ease teacher shortages for as long as local districts need them
• Revising school ballot language to clarify how many votes by residency school board members can receive.

Eliminating the positions of at-large director, which has provided for four directors to offer statewide rather than divisional school district representation on the Association's board of directors, takes effect next November. The switch was adopted on a vote of 263-80, and required the formal adoption of an amendment to the organization's constitution. IASB nominating committee member Roger Pfister , a member of the DeSoto CSD 86 Board of Education, spoke in favor of the change, noting, "if one division has five members on the board of directors and another has one, I believe that is unequal representation."

Delegates also voted to require the treasurer's position on the IASB Board of Directors to be held by a current member of the board. The rationale for this constitutional amendment noted that "as with directors at large, the position of treasurer currently fosters, among some, the perception of unequal representation."

The delegate assembly also voted to amend existing positions on seven IASB policies. Amendments approved were aimed at: bolstering the language on local control of curriculum, broadening the local district role in residential placement for wards of the state, limiting the harm done to schools by property tax caps, opposing any new reduction in public school access to property tax revenue, seeking full federal funding for special education as specified by Congress in Public Law 94-142, and consolidating language in IASB position statements on collective bargaining control.

Delegates also approved IASB officers as nominated to lead the Association in the coming year. Christy M. Coleman, of Geneseo C.U. District 228, was elected to serve as president; Ray W. Zimmerman, of Flanagan C.U. District 4, was elected to serve as vice president. Elected directors-at-large were: Milton H. Koppenhoefer, of Metamora C.C. District 1; Michelle Skinlo, of Mattoon C.U. District 2; Frances Roll, of Cary C.C. District 26, and Mark C. Metzger, of Indian Prairie C.U. District 204.

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If teachers want students to follow them on a learning journey, they need to act like leaders, according to LouAnne Johnson (see photo at right), author of My Posse Don't Do Homework. Unfortunately, teachers learn everything in college except how to get kids to listen to them, she said.

Johnson said stricter entrance standards and exit qualifications at teaching colleges, as well as more psychology and anger management training, coupled with two-year internships for all beginning teachers, would do more to improve the learning levels for all students.

Her admonition to "stop the testing frenzy" drew hearty applause during Saturday morning's second general session at the Joint Annual Conference, November 17, in Chicago. John son wowed a capacity audience with tales from her classroom experience as well as stories about her strict upbringing in a small Pennsylvania community, where dancing was sinful and unmarried pregnant girls "disappeared and were never heard from again."

"I was too naïve for college, so they sent me to the military," Johnson said, after relating stories about a series of firsts: a slumber party where she learned about chips and soda pop; slow dancing with a boy, which her best friend assured her was a way to get pregnant; a lecture class which was larger than the community she came from; and a fraternity party, where she actually wrestled her way out of an intimate encounter using tactics she'd learned by wrestling with her brothers.

Military experience, however, is what prepared her to handle difficult students. It also helped her realize that students who act like they don't care probably are just scared of being ridiculed. And that there is a reason for everything a child does.

"The kids who really don't care, don't come to school," Johnson said. Those who act up at school are seeking attention.

Teachers need to get to the root of behavior problems, like trouble at home or situational fears, and stop being afraid of their students, which can be psychologically and emotionally damaging. "Kids will rise or fall to meet our expectations," she said.

Johnson also cautioned those in attendance to watch for signs of scotopic sensitivity in students with reading difficulties. This condition, also known as Irlen Syndrome, is a hypersensitivity to the contrast created by black print on white pages, which is worse under fluorescent lighting. "Half of the people who are learning disabled may suffer from this," she said.

After touching slightly on the "scary" number of children on Ritalin as well as the effects of caffeine, sugar and NutraSweet on student behavior, Johnson listed three "platforms" to justify her election as "Queen of Education in America."

First, no classroom should have more than 20 children.

Second, every elected official should have to spend two weeks in a public school classroom as a teacher, following the curriculum and living on a teacher's salary. And they should have to consider sending their own children to public school.

And her third platform plank, which drew extended applause: "Stop this testing frenzy."

"Remember," Johnson said, "there is no such thing as net profit in Hollywood," a reference to the contract when her "Posse" book became the movie "Dangerous Minds" in 1995. "But there is a reason for everything a child does."

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Monthly deadlines for submitting information to the Illinois School Board Newsbulletin in 2002 have been tentatively set for January 10, February 11, March 11, April 10, May 10, June 11, July 10, August 12, September 11, October 11, November 12, and December 11.

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At a time when the state and nation are coping with a lingering recession, recovering from and responding to terrorist attacks from home and abroad, local school board members and administrators who attended IASB's 69th Joint Annual Conference discovered that quality public education is still Job One for their districts and hometown constituents.

Nearly 6,000 board members and administrators representing 794 Illinois school districts attended the 2001 IASB/IASA/IASBO Joint Annual Conference held November 16-18 in Chicago. Those in attendance included 4,044 members of local boards of education and 1,552 school administrators, with 697 local school district superintendents numbered among the throng. Total conference attendance was 11,994, including 2,072 individual exhibitors of school goods and services, making it one of the largest state education conferences in the nation.

Subjects ranging from basic governance to advanced boardmanship, from school law to finance, and from technology to facilities, were presented in three general sessions, seven pre-conference workshops, 115 panels, 220 exhibits, and at a variety of other venues.

Conference attendees, for example, were able to express their feelings about the adequacy and equity of the state's school funding formula. To renew the Association's push for sweeping school funding reform, the IASB Delegate Assembly rejected a simple "flat grant" funding proposal and chose instead to reaffirm the Association's existing position on changes needed in state financing for public education.

School finance was also the subject of nine different panels, including one on Friday afternoon that drew an audience of more than 150 people. The session featured James M. Rajchel, superintendent emeritus of Ridgeland District 122, Oak Lawn. Rajchel explained how the Oak Lawn district used creative approaches to gain voter approval of a $24 million capital project the first time the referendum was put before local voters.

Attendance for the 115 panel discussions over the three-day period included 8,355 board members, administrators and guests, up from last year's total of 7,923. Some panel sessions drew audiences of up to 230 people each, with an average attendance of 73. Eighty-five of the 115 panel sessions were sponsored and arranged by IASB.

Another vital session saw IASB Director of Policy Services Cathy Talbert and IASB Director of School Board Development Angie Peifer describe a new approach to school district governance and the work of local boards of education. They explained that the hottest governance approach limits board work to three broad areas: clarifying the district's purpose or ends, connecting with the community to determine what the public wants from its schools, and employing a superintendent to achieve the vision of the board and the community.

"We believe the superintendent hires staff and the board holds the superintendent responsible for achieving the ends specified by the board," Talbert told a Sunday morning audience. "There are clear mutual expectations of what the board wants and what the superintendent is expected to provide."

Panelists also screened an IASB-produced video and an accompanying workbook developed by IASB staff. Two members of suburban school boards from the Chicago collar counties also testified that their boards have adopted this new governance approach with excellent results.

In between the non-stop panel discussions, visitors heard from three prominent speakers at the Friday, Saturday and Sunday general sessions.

At Friday's opening session, speaker Eric Chester (right) explained where today's "Generation Why" is coming from, and the many challenges these young people born after 1980 present to schools. Chester told assembled school leaders there is both good and bad news about the 68 million Generation Why Americans, most of whom are now enrolled in America's public schools.

Saturday's speaker LouAnne Johnson - the author of "My Posse Don't Do Homework" - said stricter entrance standards and exit qualifications for teaching colleges, as well as more psychology and anger management training, coupled with two-year internships for all beginning teachers, would best improve the learning levels for all students.

The final general session featured Jim Burgett, last year's Illinois Superintendent of the Year, who implored school leaders to "Dream, Dance and Make a Difference." Burgett wove stories of heroism and leadership, personal experience, and humor into his inspirational message.

When not attending these sessions, guests could also browse at the IASB-staffed bookstore, which offered nearly 1,500 titles, and sold thousands of books, as "apparently more items were sold this year than ever before," according to conference bookstore manager Diane Cape. Equally popular are the exhibits of school goods and services, where 220 vendors allowed visitors to hear about or see the latest products available to educational institutions.

Before the opening bell Friday, 834 school leaders participated in one of seven pre-conference workshops. "The pre-conference workshops drew extremely good crowds, especially in light of the fact that three were held at the Fairmont, a new hotel for our conference events," said Pat Culler, IASB Assistant to the Executive Director. The workshops, and their attendance figures: Win At the Polls, where 91 attended; The high performing board or governance beyond the basics, 122; Myers-Briggs type indicator - A tool for board excellence, 80; "Can we talk?" (media and public engagement), 111; Board president, 104; New board member/governance, 174; New board member/law and finance, 152.

This year's conference was also the opportunity to recognize school leadership-related activities of individuals and organizations. At the first general session, two school districts and one architectural firm were presented with awards of distinction for the Exhibition of Educational Environments (EEE Awards) in school design.

Another school district received the Risk Management/Binotti Award from IASB's Workers Compensation Self-Insurance Trust, for reducing costs associated with Workers' Compensation insurance. Saturday's general session saw the recognition of this year's Superintendent of the Year and a special presentation to Harold P. Seamon, former IASB executive director, who will retire as deputy executive director of NSBA on Jan. 1, 2002.

On Sunday, two board presidents were named co-recipients of the Thomas Lay Burroughs Award, which honors the state's top school board presidents in Illinois. The winners were: Roy Midgett (above), who served the Robinson C.U District 2 Board of Education for 35 years, and Darell Bellm (right), of Highland C.U. District 5.

A new event at this year's conference, similar to the traditional Cracker Barrel format, was the "Carousel of Panels." Here, visitors could choose three different panels from among 22 offered in 30-minute blocks. About 250 school leaders heard about subjects such as teacher mentoring, character education, block scheduling, teacher technology training, fingerprinting employees, improving math skills, and school violence prevention.

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A majority of school administrators nationwide believe giving them the ability to reward good teachers and fire ineffective ones would improve school leadership. And most say that good leadership can turn around even the most troubled schools.

But bureaucracy and politics too often stand in the way, according to a new study released in November by the nonpartisan, nonprofit research and polling organization Public Agenda. The study is titled Trying to Stay Ahead of the Game: Superintendents and Principals Talk about School Leadership.

There is overwhelming agreement (superintendents 79%; principals 69%) that finding a talented principal is the first step in turning around a troubled school. But large majorities of superintendents and principals say they need more autonomy to reward good teachers and fire ineffective ones.

What's more, over half of superintendents (54%) say they have to work around the school system to get things done, and one in 10 say the system actually ties their hands. Over half of principals (57%) say that in their own district even good administrators are "so overwhelmed" by day-to-day management that their ability "to provide vision and leadership is stymied."

Among superintendents, the vast majority (81%) point to politics and bureaucracy as the main reasons superintendents leave the field. Almost seven out of 10 superintendents (69%) say their school boards sometimes interfere with their ability to do the job.

Among administrators' top concerns:

• Nearly nine out of 10 superintendents (88%) say mandates are increasing "without getting the resources necessary to fulfill them."
• More than eight in 10 superintendents (84%) say they have to use a disproportionate amount of money and resources on special education.

Public Agenda's Web site (www.publicagenda.org) includes a summary of the findings, data charts and other information related to the report. A print copy of the report is also available from Public Agenda for $10, plus $2 shipping and handling.

For more information contact: Leslie Gottlieb or Michael Darden at 212/686-6610 at Public Agenda. Source: Public Agenda Press Release, November 14, 2001.

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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

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The legislature has overwhelmingly approved legislation to provide a short-term solution to the budget deficit in the Teachers' Retirement Insurance Program (TRIP). SB 1174 (Sen. Thomas Walsh, R-LaGrange Park) won approval in the Illinois House of Representatives the evening of November 28, and the Senate approved it the next day.

The bill would require local school districts to pay a new tax - 0.4% of their TRS payroll - to the Teachers' Retirement Insurance Program (TRIP) beginning January 1, 2002. School districts would pay the same amount in fiscal year 2003 and would pay 0.5% of TRS payroll in fiscal year 2004. The plan would allow school districts to levy a tax for retired teachers' health insurance by front door referendum but it would be subject to the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law.

The statewide cost of this new unfunded mandate on local school districts in fiscal year 2003 would total $27.6 million, rising to more than $36 million in fiscal year 2004.

In the proposal originally advanced, the state would have paid an additional $7 million in fiscal year 2002, roughly $26 million in fiscal 2003, and an estimated $36 million in fiscal 2004.

Due to the intense grassroots lobbying effort of Alliance members, however, legislators led by Sen. Tom Walsh, looked to find a way to spare school districts from making a new TRIP contribution beginning January 1, 2002. Legislators learned that making such a mid-year budget cut would have been disastrous for local schools.

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S.B. 1174 allows a school district to offset the new TRIP contribution (.4% of TRS payroll) for 18 months from the current mandatory school district contribution to the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS). This will allow a district to make the same monetary payment as it is making currently, except the funds will flow to the TRIP program instead of the pension system. The total diversion of the funds from schools in fiscal year 2002 for TRIP would be roughly $13 million, but none of this would be new money.

This offset is allowed for the remainder of fiscal year 2002 and for all of fiscal year 2003. In fiscal year 2004, the school district's contribution level will increase to .5% of TRS payroll and there will be no TRS credit available, and no other revenue source. The other change in SB 1174 from the earlier draft is that the provision for a specific tax levy and fund has been deleted. Nothing, however, would prohibit a school district from going to referendum.

This, of course, is not a perfect solution and the Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance has serious concerns about the fiscal year 2004 funding. It was obvious, however, that some bill was going to pass in the veto session to address TRIP, and this bill avoids the disastrous effects of mid-year budget cuts.

As for the pension offset provision, these funds will be made up at some point. The General Assembly must continue to fund the pension system to meet specified statutory requirements by the year 2045. Out-year pension funding will be adjusted to make up any shortfall created during this 18-month period.

The bill also creates a task force charged with finding a long-term solution for the retired teachers' insurance funding crisis. The IASB, IASA and IASBO each will have a representative appointed to the task force, which will begin working next month. The entire bill will expire at the end of fiscal year 2004 in order for a new health insurance program to be put into place.

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ILLINOIS SCHOOLS

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The Pledge of Allegiance is now recited in all classrooms at two schools in Community High School District 99, in Downers Grove. The new policy to provide the opportunity for saying the pledge was adopted at a time when the legislature was considering a bill (H.B. 2077) to require Illinois high schools for the first time in 20 years to set aside time for the pledge. The bill stalled in the House after winning approval in the Senate.

The pledge recital is required at all Illinois public grade schools each day. While many high schools recite the pledge during special events and athletic contests, few make the pledge a daily practice.

Not everyone on the District 99 board was in favor of adopting the pledge policy.

"I am not opposed to the pledge being recited as an expression of patriotism, but I think such expressions are personal things," said Bruce Beckman, a school board member in District 99, which includes Downers Grove North and South.

A school board statement mailed to parents noted that "reciting the pledge is an individual and voluntary decision. ... Those individuals who decline to participate must do so in a non-disruptive manner, and ... may not be subject to reprisals."

The board's statement added, however, that there are benefits in reciting the pledge. "It is another element of the district's many activities to instruct students about citizenship, patriotism, and the principles of democratic government."

Source: Chicago Tribune, "Two high schools institute pledge," November 26, 2001.

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Sharing research and anecdotal information to substantiate that engaged learning increases student achievement, possibly through a "clearinghouse" agency. Using the Internet to facilitate programs between urban post-secondary schools and rural areas. Offering more opportunities for educators and the public to learn how service learning goes beyond community service and can be related to learning standards.

Those were a few of the recommendations from a December 10 brain storming session at State Farm Insurance in Bloomington, designed "to discuss service learning as a component of a seamless system of education" from pre-school through college and beyond. Nearly 40 people, representing education and the media, spent three hours exploring the barriers and opportunities that exist for service learning in Illinois.

After a hands-on program helping sixth graders make tray favors for shut-ins, the participants heard first-hand from teachers who currently use service learning in their classrooms. But the most telling story came from Tashona Marshall, a senior at North Central College.

"I knew what it meant to be a volunteer," Marshall said of her high school experience, "but I didn't know how to make it a part of my learning." Once she made that connection, she said, it opened up a whole other range of possibilities, not only for her own learning, but for those students she plans to reach as a teacher.

"The governor can't mandate a program like this," said Hazel Loucks, deputy governor for education and workforce. "It has to come from someone seeing the light."

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RESEARCH REPORTS

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Crimes in U.S. schools in which multiple victims are killed are quite rare, but on the rise, according to new research. The study found that in a slight majority of cases, however, the killers gave some kind of warning.

Multiple-victim murders associated with schools have risen from 0% in 1992 to 42% in 1999. Meanwhile, the rate of single-victim student homicides has declined, the study revealed.

"(Often) school-associated violent deaths are preventable," according to lead researcher Mark Anderson of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's division of violence prevention. Anderson and his colleagues reported their findings in the December 5 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

The report notes, "most deaths occurred during the transition times around the start of school, the lunch period, and at the end of the school day." Thus, the researchers suggest, "efforts to reduce crowding, increase supervision, and institute plans for handling disputes during these intervals may reduce the likelihood that conflicts will occur and injuries will result when they do."

Source: Reuters, "Multiple murders at schools rare, but on the rise," December 4, 2001.

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Public Agenda, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research and polling organization says recent research shows most Americans are unwavering in their support for the nation's public schools. Note, for example, the following survey findings:

• Most Americans say the public school system needs major changes, but only a third say they support finding an alternative.
• Most voters say they want the federal government to provide more alternatives to parents who want to send their children to private or charter schools, but they oppose cutting funding to public schools.

Source: Education issues page, Public Agenda Web site, at http://www.publicagenda.org/.

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U.S. 15-year-old students score just average or below in reading, math and science competence compared to their peers in industrialized nations.

Those findings come from the Program for International Student Assessment, which last year tested fifteen-year-olds from 32 of the world's most developed countries. The exam looked at how well the tested students could apply knowledge acquired in and out of school.

Students from 14 nations outperformed their U.S. peers in overall literacy, with Finland, Canada and New Zealand leading the world. Combined scores on the exam reflect the capacity to interpret and reflect on written material and retrieve information.

Source: The Associated Press, "Average Scores for U.S. 15-year-olds," December 4, 2001.

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THE NATIONAL SCENE

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More than 200 striking New Jersey teachers jailed for ignoring a judge's order to return to work were freed December 7 after they agreed to return to work, ending a six-day strike. Attorneys said the Middletown Township district and union agreed to enter non-binding mediation.

The teachers struck over a proposed increase in their health care premiums of up to $600 per person each year. Currently, the teachers are required to pay $250 a year.

This was the largest group of striking teachers locked up since 1978, when 265 teachers were jailed for 18 days in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Source: The Associated Press, "N.J. teachers agree to return to work," December 7, 2001.

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Joseph Villani has been appointed Deputy Executive Director of the National School Boards Association (NSBA), replacing former IASB Executive Director Harold P. Seamon, who retires December 31.

Before his appointment, Villani was Associate Executive Director for Federation Member Services at NSBA. His primary responsibility was to provide training, information, and research services for NSBA members. Villani's background also includes 26 years in Montgomery County, Maryland, public schools as a teacher, principal, area director, and associate superintendent.

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FEDERAL UPDATE

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Graduation messages led by students, an idea some call official school prayer in thin disguise, may continue in Jacksonville, Florida, high schools. The U.S. Supreme Court announced December 10 the high court won't review a lower court ruling that found the policy constitutional. The case is cited as Adler v. Duval County School Board, 01-287.

Several parents and students had sued to block the Duval County school policy, which permits graduating seniors to choose "chaplains" to deliver some inspirational words at graduation. The district labels these addresses "messages," and adds that they can be entirely secular.

"The clear purpose of the challenged policy is to preserve a tradition of prayer at graduation," opponents stated in urging the high court to step in.

Source: The Associated Press, "Court won't hear graduation prayer," December 10.

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IASB ARCHIVES HOME

Illinois Association of School Boards

2921 Baker Drive
Springfield, Illinois 62703