State News
‘Impact bargaining’ coming soon to School District 113A
Suburban Life Publications – Amid a budget deficit in Lemont-Bromberek Combined School District 113A, two committees are forming to work with unions representing school employees — but not everyone on the school board is willing to participate in the process. The lack of participation is sparking criticism from the board president.
Editorial: State needs to raise taxes, fund education
Galesburg Register Mail – It’s time for our dysfunctional state government to function. First, it needs to pay its bills on time. Second, it needs to fulfill its constitutional charge to fund education. Due to the down economy, the state is bringing in less revenue from its bread and butter sources: income tax and sales tax. Illinois is not alone in feeling the economy’s pinch, but it certainly had not prepared for the downturn.
East Richland board approves $1.5 million in cuts
Olney Daily Mail – Teachers who are affected by the cuts will be paid through August. The district is providing support groups and workshops and has been working with East Richland Education Association, Holt said. “We will do everything we can to help them,” she said of those affected by the cuts and added that, “We have awesome teachers.
Hoopeston schools see bleak finances
Danville Commercial-News – “There are a lot of unfunded mandates by the state,” said Hornbeck. He added every school district is feeling the pinch of finances. Hornbeck and the school board would meet with Hoopeston Education Association representatives next week to discuss the budget and the financial situation. “At the March board meeting, we will make the final decision of what cuts will be made,”
Kaneland teachers facing massive layoffs
DeKalb Daily Chronicle – Thus, the workforce reduction plan proposed by administrators is, at this point, a worst-case scenario, Schuler said. Linda Zulkowski, president of the Kaneland Education Association, said the teachers union did not have a response to the proposal at this time. “We obviously did not anticipate that the state was going to pull a last-minute surprise
‘The public should be concerned’
Waukegan News Sun – Increased class sizes and corresponding cuts in the number of teachers needed to staff them were among the options aired Thursday as Waukegan school officials discussed a potential $9.8 million revenue shortfall estimated for the 2011 fiscal year.
Eldorado board cuts 17 positions
Harrisburg Daily Register – Supertintendent Gary Siebert has been warning the school board for a few months there would likely be a need for staff cuts in advance of troubling predictions for state funding next year. The board voted unanimously for each of his recommended cuts Thursday.
East Richland board approves $1.5 million in cuts
Olney Daily Mail – Superintendent Marilyn Holt presented the board with nine recommendations regarding dismissals, a reduction in force (RIF) and Reduction in Time (RIT). No names were mentioned by the board because Holt said the district wants to respect the privacy of those affected.
Hoopeston schools see bleak finances
Danville Commercial-News – “There are a lot of unfunded mandates by the state,” said Hornbeck. He added every school district is feeling the pinch of finances. Hornbeck and the school board would meet with Hoopeston Education Association representatives next week to discuss the budget and the financial situation.
Jasper schools outline $1 million in cuts
Effingham Daily News – student athlete would pay was increased by $15 per student and the maximum limit a family would pay was increased by $10 to $15. Additional athletic reductions are still under consideration by the school board. The total amount saved as a result of the retirements and reductions is approximately $1,073,824. According to Superintendent Ron Alburtus, there may be additional reductions
Hundreds turn out to protest U46 budget cuts
Elgin Courier News – Hundreds of Elgin School District U46 parents, students and employees rallied at a budget forum Thursday evening at Bartlett High School to object to cuts ranging from teacher layoffs to elimination of high school electives. Even though the intention of the meeting was to outline budget reductions, it turned out to be a rally against budget cuts.
Knoxville schools face $650K shortfall
Peoria Journal Star – Knoxville schools could be out nearly $650,000 next year, chopping 16 teachers from the district. Knoxville Superintendent Larry Carlton delivered that news Wednesday to the District 202 school board. The board discussed ways to battle for funds during the state’s budget woes, including involving public pressure. Board members discussed getting information to the public
D300 superintendent modifies cuts to budget
Elgin Courier News – Since mid-January, Superintendent Kenneth Arndt has sought public comment on $6.4 million in proposed cuts to Community Unit School District 300’s 2010-2011 budget. The superintendent and school board have invited district residents to board and committee meetings. They’ve held a work session to discuss the budget during a board meeting for the first time.
District 204 says signs served their purpose
Chicago Daily Herald – The signs were up for less than a week but Indian Prairie school officials say that’s all they needed. Beginning last Friday every sign at each of the unit district’s 33 schools told anyone who passed that “The state of Illinois owes District 204 $7.8 million.”
School board makes tough cuts
Plainfield Sun – Staring into a deep $16 million budget hole, the Plainfield school board took action last week on a plan some believe will balance the budget in two years. The board voted 5-2 to approve the plan, which will save more than $21 million, school officials say.
Lack of state payments have STHS looking at cuts
Ottawa Daily Times – Financial projections have Streator Township High School Superintendent Kevin Myers looking at budget cuts. Myers said the state legislature is looking for ways to account for $922 million in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars that will not be available in 2011. If the state legislature does not account for the federal ARRA dollars, schools will be funded at hundreds of dollars less per student than last year.
Orion schools look at $320K loss
Quad Cities Dispatch Argus Leader – School board members are likely to votenext month on a plan with $320,000 worth of spending cuts for next school year. Superintendent David Deets told board members and about a dozen teachers Wednesday night that the state’s fiscal crisis means it’s prudent for the district to plan on having 10 percent less in state aid — a loss of $320,000 — next year.
‘Plan for the worst, hope for the best’; Decision on reduction of school staff postponed until March 3
Quincy Herald-Whig – The Quincy school board put off a vote on whether it will prepare to reduce staff until a special meeting to be held at 5 p.m. March 3. The board was to have voted at its meeting Wednesday on reducing assignments
Teachers union president urges Lemont community to attend BOE meeting
Lemont Reporter/Met – Teachers Local 604. “I encourage people to attend the meeting to hear what is being presented.” The staffing plan including the elimination of 70 staff positions will be presented to the school board for a motion at its next meeting Wednesday, Feb. 24, said Superintendent Tim Ricker. The cuts are expected to save the district an estimated $3.17 million next school year.
CPS goes back to the drawing board
Austin Weekly News Chicago – ” That’s what CPS student Andrew Comier had in mind by attending the rally. The 13-year-old is hopeful that his efforts will persuade the school board to remove his school, Guggenheim Elementary, from the closure list. “We’re trying to keep Guggenheim open so we don’t have to transfer,” Comier said.
Political News
Quinn has asked Tammy Duckworth to be his running mate Chicago Breaking News – Pat Quinn today said he has encouraged Iraq military veteran Tammy Duckworth to pursue the vacant Democratic lieutenant governor nomination. …
Quinn Back in Public Chicago Public Radio – Illinois Governor Pat Quinn Friday is making his first public appearances in 11 days. For Quinn, that was a rare break from reporters.
Brady Must Make 2010 a Referendum on Quinn Chicago Daily Observer – Governor Pat Quinn (D) won the 2010 primary with 50.4 percent, beating Dan Hynes by 8.090 votes. A pre-primary poll put his “disapproval” at 55 percent.
Chuck Sweeny: ‘Illinois Politics’ tells you the messy details
Westchester Herald – The very readable book provides information you just don’t find every day, such as who were the largest contributors to statewide and legislative candidates in the 2005-06 cycle, and in the 2007-08 cycle. Guess who wins the top two positions in both cycles? It’s the dynamic duo of the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation/Chicago Teachers Union. In the 2005-06 cycle, they gave a combined $4.56 million; in 2007-09 it was nearly $3 million.
Illinois legislature and governor clash on prison sale
Medill News Service – “The sale of the facility to the federal government is wrong, and it’s a mistake the state doesn’t have to make,” Lindall said. “We’re not giving an inch on that.” Last December, Gov. Quinn lobbied for the prison sale in Washington during a meeting with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, prison officials, and Obama’s national security advisor. If the bill makes its way to Quinn
Don’t buckle to terrorism fears
Chicago Sun Times – the sale of major state assets — was proposed amid debate over the wrong reason — to keep the feds from running a prison for suspected terrorists on Illinois ground. State officials, including Gov. Quinn, hope to unload the mostly unused Thomson Correctional Center to the federal government. That would give the feds a safe place to stash prisoners — including Guantanamo Bay detainees
National News
The Hill: Fire the teachers union
(Armstrong Williams, Blog, National) “The cold-hearted and self-centered unions showed no compassion or commitment to improve the condition of their students. In fact, they rejected and refused to enact any of Gallo’s recommendations. This is where Gallo’s conviction and commitment to the well-being of her students took precedence; she fired nearly 100 teachers and administrators. Wow, thank you so much for your needed example of boldness!”
San Francisco Chronicle: Obama to students: See you at graduation
(Julie Pace, News, National) “The White House and the Education Department are giving public high schools the opportunity to compete to have the president speak at their commencement ceremony this spring. The winning school must demonstrate how it’s helping prepare students to meet Obama’s goal of the U.S. having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.”
Fox News: Panel on What the Recovery Act Has Accomplished So Far
(News, National) “But there are a couple of good things about this. First, the education department used half a of $100 billion dollars so far not only to pay teachers to keep teaching kids in school who otherwise might have been laid off because the states couldn’t afford to pay them, but also to stimulate some real education reform.”
U.S. Department of Education: Massachusetts to Receive More Than $268 Million in Additional Recovery Funds
(Press Release, National) “U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that an additional $268,390,060 is now available for Massachusetts under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. To date, Massachusetts has received over $1,601,406,470 through the Recovery Act. The state recently reported that recovery dollars have been used to provide funding for over 3,200 education jobs from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2009, while also supporting programs that drive education reform.”
U.S. News & World Report: Bigger Tuition Bills and Student Loans Coming in 2011
(Kim Clark, News, National) “Some of the nation’s wealthiest and most generous colleges are asking their students to earn and borrow more to pay for college. Of the more than 2,600 four-year colleges in the country, fewer than 70 are committing this year to meet the full financial need of every student using only grants and reasonable amounts of student work and federal debt.”
Washington Post: House announces bipartisan effort to rewrite No Child law
(Nick Anderson, News, National) “Last month, the Obama administration launched talks with lawmakers on an overhaul of the 2002 law, which mandated an expansion of standardized testing and established a national framework for school accountability. This month, President Obama’s budget proposed eliminating the standard of “adequate yearly progress” for schools to close test-score achievement gaps, a key element of the law.”
Atlanta Journal Constitution: Mandates cheat students, educators
(Mari Ann Roberts, News, Georgia) “Take one flawed, underfunded federal education improvement act, like No Child Left Behind, add increasing pressure on individual schools to meet “Adequate Yearly Progress,” include some inane expectations that teachers can work miracles, sprinkle liberally with furlough days, suspended raises and budget cuts dating back to 2003 that will total more than $2.8 billion through the fiscal year ending next June.”
Motion Picture Editor’s Guild: One Year Later, the Recovery Act Is Working
(Labor News, National) “National Education Association (NEA) President Dennis Van Roekel agreed, saying Congress must pass a jobs bill that will maintain and create jobs to keep school doors open after the Recovery Act expires.”
Why the Tea Party Movement Matters It’s not a political party; it’s a grass-roots movement that expresses a vast discontent unsettling Americans. What the Tea Partyers share — and why they’re a potent force
Is the U.S. Hotter on Bin Laden’s Trail? The recent capture of the Taliban’s military commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, as he was leaving a seminary in the Pakistani seaport of Karachi may have given investigators several leads in tracking down the the fugitive al-Qaeda chief
To Quad or Not to Quad: For U.S. Gold Medalist Evan Lysacek, Never a Question Where was the sense of daring and anxiety-triggering anticipation in men’s figure skating final on Thursday? Not on the ice in the Pacific Coliseum, where American Evan Lysacek cinched the gold with a clean — but safe — program
Does Obama Help or Hurt Dems on the Trail? Where Democrats see the President’s visits as a way to build up a flagging campaign, opponents are working to tether the Democratic candidates to a President who looms as the most visible face in a virulently anti-incumbent cycle
China to Obama: Hurt, but Not Breaking Up After the U.S. President held an hour-long talk on Thursday at the White House with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, the reaction from Beijing was relatively muted
Word of the Day for Friday, February 19, 2010
gastronome \GAS-truh-nohm\, noun:
A connoisseur of good food and drink.