Below are links to news stories of interest from newspapers that came up during a search today. These links were active at the time of this e-mail, but should you want to save a story, printing it or cutting and pasting the entire article and saving it to your computer is recommended.
State News
Group pushes for state inco
me tax hike
Crete Star – A group of politicians and pastors rallied Tuesday outside Lincoln School in Chicago Heights to urge state officials to pass a 33 percent income tax hike to help fund education. Gov. Pat Quinn called on lawmakers earlier this month to approve an income tax hike to help the state manage through its looming budget woes. Quinn proposed slashing funding for Illinois’ public schools by $1.3 billion in the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Permit 4-day weeks
Chicago Tribune Editorial – The Illinois House has sent to the Senate a bill that would allow local school boards to adopt a four-day week. Our first response: Bad idea. Shortening the school week is a move in the wrong direction. Illinois kids need more time in school, not less. They need a longer school day, and a longer school year. U.S. children spend far less time in school than their peers in Europe and Asia.
Illinois doesn’t need to save $72M
Kadner: I wrote Friday that abolishing the Illinois Education Expense Credit could save the jobs of about 900 teachers or 464 state troopers. Readers, however, have been overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the credit.
$400M prize worth education teamwork
Chicago Sun Times – It’s time for the Illinois State Board of Education to move into sales mode. The agency has come up with a strong plan for school reform in Illinois — good enough to rank fifth among 16 finalist states competing for a slice of $4 billion in federal education dollars. The plan includes many long-overdue reforms, including higher academic standards, tougher tests, a new system that factors student test results into teacher evaluations and more fixes for failing schools.
Ralph Martire: State needs to raise revenue to adequately fund core public services
Springfield State Journal Register – Say you’re a member of the Illinois General Assembly. Amid the legion of lobbyists tugging on your ear and the hundreds of bills being introduced covering everything from health care to horse tracks, there’s still no question about what your biggest challenge is this legislative session: finalizing a general fund budget for fiscal year 2011, which starts in just three, short months,
Lack of state funds hits schools hard
Quad Cities Dispatch Argus Leader – It seems like every day in the past month, schools have been in the news about financial issues and different cuts that have had to be made. I would like to talk about those financial issues in more detail to explain the breadth of the problem.
Champaign School Board votes to layoff 150 teachers and staff
Decatur WAND (NBC) 17 – believes the district tried it’s best to stay away from students in making cutbacks, but says whenever you cut teachers it hits the kids, too. Foertsch says it’s not yet clear how these RIFs will affect class size. On top of all this, the state is $1.7 million behind in payments to Champaign schools.
District 102 votes to lay off 18 teachers
La Grange Doings – The La Grange Elementary School District 102 Board agreed to lay off 13 full-time and five part-time teachers Monday in response to budget constraints. Superintendent Warren Shillingburg said he’s hopeful some of the teachers can be hired back before the start of the next school year,
Princeville School Board approves layoffs
Peoria Journal Star – A fourth- and fifth-grade teacher were laid off along with two teacher assistants. There are 52 teachers in the district. A week ago, members of the Princeville Unit District Education Association voted to not open up its contract with the district and consider a wage freeze of their salaries, a move that would have stopped the teacher layoffs.
Keokuk school cuts made final
Quincy KHQA (CBS) 7 – The Keokuk school board has made some tough decisions for the upcoming school year. The district will lose almost a million dollars next year because of state budget cuts and declining student enrollment.
Stark County schools approve budget cuts
Peoria Journal Star – will provide maximum savings without eliminating programs or causing reductions in service to core academic areas,” Klooster said. The cuts were deemed necessary even after the Stark County Education Association had agreed to a one-year base freeze on teacher salaries, Klooster said. While the specific impact of that varies with individual teachers’ seniority and circumstances,
District 113 cuts won’t be ‘massive layoffs’
Highland Park News – with the North Shore Special Education District, contrary to some of the rumors going around. The district may end up letting go of one or two support staff due to enrollment in certain programs. Teacher staffing decisions will be based on enrollment and program registration, the same as past practices, according to officials, who have promised no “significant reductions” next year.
Stark County schools approve budget cuts
Peoria Journal Star – a budget-cutting plan for next year in anticipation of losses in state funding. At a special meeting, the School Board voted 6-0 to approve $443,000 in budget reductions that will include both teachers and noncertified personnel, as well as trimming expenses in some nonstaff areas. They were spelled out in a list of 28 specific categories.
Decatur School Board continue to debate budget options
Decatur WAND (NBC) 17 – losses in tax revenue, and increased operating costs for the district. At one moment the discussion got heated after one parent suggested Superintendent Gloria Davis take a pay cut and questioned teacher salaries and pensions. The parent pointed out that Superintendent Davis’ $211,000 salary is higher than the Governor’s $150,000 salary.
District 102 cuts 13 full-time, five part-time teachers
Stickney Life – Elementary School District 102 has announced a reduction in staff by 13 full-time teachers and five part-time teachers for the 2010-11 school year. The decision by the Board of Education March 29 comes within 45 days before the end of the school year to notify teachers of dismiss
Pension reform should include current workers
Chicago Sun Times – Last week in Springfield, the hole swallowed up the doughnut. Both houses of the Legislature enacted pension reform for Illinois workers, but they created exemptions so the reforms do not apply to any sitting legislator or any current Illinois worker. The left hand giveth and the right hand taketh away. It was first-rate sleight-of-hand, but it is terrible policy.
Moffitt miffed over rushed pension reform bill
Galesburg Register Mail – Cost of Living Adjustment is reduced. Teachers unions also do not like how the final average salary is calculated or that the maximum pensionable salary is $106,800. In a prepared statement, the Illinois Education Association called the bill a “tsunami.” “Those of us who are advocated for public education were hit be a tsunami of seismic proportion,”
School cuts discriminate, hold students ‘hostage’
Beacon News – I recently dropped in on Mike Chapin at West Aurora School District 129 to talk about the school funding crisis. For those of you who don’t know, Mike is director of community relations for the district. These days, it takes moxie to direct anything associated with public education.
Student expelled after showing knife in class
Journal&Gazette Times-Courier -displayed a knife in class and threatened to harm a classmate has been expelled from Neoga Community Unit School District No. 3 for two years, according to meeting minutes from the district.Neoga school board members on Friday evening discussed the incident in closed session before returning to open session to vote on the matter.
If your student pays for school lunch, they’re in the minority
Quincy WGEM (NBC) 10 – The Quincy Public school District will serve about 5,300 lunches in the average school day, and 53 percent of those will be free or reduced price. “If you are a paid kid you’re in the minority,” says Jean Kinder,
Durbin Says More Money Should Be Available for Pell Grants
WGIL AM Radio 14 (Galesburg) – of the nation’s 45-year-old student loan program. Speaking to students at Roosevelt University in Chicago, U.S. Sen. Durbin (D-Ill.) said the provisions, which were included in the Health Care and education Reconciliation bill, force commercial banks out of the business of administering federally guaranteed student loans. Durbin says cutting out the middlemen will save money for students.
Higher Education Seen as Job Security
Rockford WIFR (CBS) 23 – “In today’s workforce, if you don’t have higher education, a bachelor’s degree is just not enough anymore,” Rockford College Student Aria Ruotsi said. Ruotsi is getting a Bachelor’s in business administration
Political News
Quinn optimistic after “Race to the Top”
Chicago WBBM 780 Radio – Although Illinois lost out in the initial round of applications for federal “Race to the Top” education funding, Gov. Pat Quinn remains optimistic that it will receive money in the second round of applications. Illinois ranked fifth out of 16 finalists in the initial round of applications,
Quinn Now Says Income Tax Hike Could Save State Police Layoffs
WGIL AM Radio 14 – Gov. Pat Quinn says the state trooper layoff plan might be averted, if state lawmakers approve his income tax plan. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Quinn said the same thing about teacher layoffs.
Quinn Has Busy Day Of Campaigning, State Work
WBBM TV CBS 2 Chicago – Just days after officially getting a new running mate, Gov. Pat Quinn and lieutenant governor nominee Sheila Simon have busy schedules packed with campaign stops and official state duties. Quinn speaks Wednesday morning at a Chicago breakfast
Sheila Simon: Learning About The Democrats’ New Lieutenant Governor Nominee Huffington Post (blog) – Sheila Simon, the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor, shredding it on the banjo with her band, Loose Gravel. As you probably know, Sheila Simon won …
Sheila Simon still has to prove herself Chicago Sun-Times – ? It annoys us slightly that the Democratic Party in Illinois has slated Sheila Simon for lieutenant governor in large part because her father was Paul Simon. …
Turner not picked Chicago Defender – Illinois Democratic leaders gave the nomination for lieutenant governor Saturday to Sheila Simon, daughter of an …
Little downstate support and Rickey Hendon doomed Art Turner’s chances of … Chicago Reporter – ?In that election, Turner won only one county, Cook County. It was a major feat considering that nearly 63 percent of the votes in the primary came from Cook …
State Capitol Q&A: Halftime in the General Assembly
Springfield State Journal Register – It’s almost Easter. For state lawmakers, that means it’s halftime. Legislators wrapped up the first half of their session last week and are on a two-week spring break. As usual, they’ve shuffled a lot of measures around, but there’s still a long way to go. This week’s State Capitol Q&A takes a closer look at what legislation lawmakers have moved so far
Tea Party Express III coming to state fairgrounds The Tea Party Express III, a national bus tour of the tea party rallies, includes a stop at the Illinois State Fairgrounds on Monday.
National News
Obama says students, community colleges to benefit from loan changes he signed into law
Chicago Tribune – Community colleges, which enroll more than 6 million students and are growing fast, will receive $2 billion over the next four years for a competitive grant program to provide training and education programs. The grant program was created in the economic stimulus bill enacted last year, but never funded. Q: What about funding for institutions that serve mostly
Teacher Who Inspired ‘Stand And Deliver’ Dies
Chicago WBBH (CBS) – Edward James Olmos played Escalante in the film based on his story. Olmos says Escalante proved that inner city students can perform at the highest levels, and left an important legacy for American education.
Obama takes care in sizing up ‘tea party’ movement
Boston Globe – President Barack Obama stepped carefully when talking for the first time about the conservative tea party movement, acknowledging it has legitimate concerns about federal reach and spending, but he contended the core of the loose anti-government network is “on the fringe.” The latest political phenomenon, barely a year old, has leaders on both sides of the political spectrum puzz
Eric Holder’s Trials and Tribulations The Attorney General wanted to prosecute a top terrorist in New York City. Plan B, anyone?
Travel Snafu: The Stumbling Search for a TSA Chief The President’s two attempts at getting an appointment in have come crashing down dramatically. That’s only O.K. until something horrific happens
Not So Pretty in Pink: Are Girls’ Toys Too Girly? Tired of seeing only pink toys and clothes being marketed to little girls, two British sisters have launched a drive to try to break the shopping stereotypes
Judging American Idol: The Final Ten It was “soul and R&B night” on Idol last night, which brought Usher on to mentor — and to spend several minutes selling his new album with Ryan Seacrest. Did he work some of that Justin Bieber magic with the final ten?
Chávez’s New Tactic Against Dissent: Anti-Defamation Law Has the Venezuelan President miscalculated by using a less than savory law against an otherwise unadmirable opponent?
Most Viewed Articles on washingtonpost.com
1) At U.S. dinner tables, food may be a fraud
The expensive “sheep’s milk” cheese in a Manhattan market was really made from cow’s milk. And a jar of “Sturgeon caviar” was, in fact, Mississippi paddlefish.
2) With health bill complete, Obama allows himself a moment of celebration
Is the spring back in President Obama’s step? On Tuesday, with audience members shouting “fired up!” and not a protester in sight, Obama signed a sweeping higher education funding overhaul into law along with the last portion of his health-care bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Jill…
3) Vatican defends Pope Benedict amid Catholic Church sex abuse scandal
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican on Tuesday dismissed any notion that Pope Benedict XVI should take personal responsibility for the child sex abuse scandal rocking the church, defending his management of such cases and vowing the crisis would not interrupt what historians view as his conservative agen…
4) Where the rhetoric of rage can lead
There is a good reason to worry about right-wing anti-government extremism.
5) School staffs face tough questions on bullying
BOSTON — A gay teenager in New York wins $50,000 from a school district that failed to stop taunts about his sexual orientation. The Justice Department investigates complaints that administrators ignored racial bullying in a Philadelphia school.
6) High court restricts whistleblower lawsuits
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday placed limits on existing whistleblower lawsuits alleging local governments misused federal money, in a decision that produced newcomer Sonia Sotomayor’s first dissenting opinion.
7) Girlfriend charged in death of man known in D.C. goth scene
The girlfriend of Dirk Smiler, the gourmand Goth and D.C. club scene fixture, was arrested Tuesday and charged in Fairfax County with his murder.
8.) This Final Four has it all
There may not be such thing as a perfect Final Four, but the one that will begin on Saturday in Indianapolis comes pretty close.
9) Celebritology: ‘Twilight’ stories keep coming
Here’s the reason why we refer to “Twilight” as a saga. Because it’s never going to end.
10) Is it ethical to Google a patient? Or to read his Facebook page?
As his patient lay unconscious in an emergency room from an overdose of sedatives, psychiatrist Damir Huremovic was faced with a moral dilemma: A friend of the patient had forwarded to Huremovic a suicidal e-mail from the patient that included a link to a Web site and blog he wrote.
Word of the Day for Wednesday, March 31, 2010
bedizen \bih-DY-zuhn\, transitive verb:
To dress or adorn in gaudy manner.