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.
Rally Day is April 21. IEA has partnered with several other organizations and rally day is proving to be a fairly large event. We’re encouraging everyone to wear pink to the rally in support of those who have been RIF’d. Click here for a list of things to keep in mind as you’re planning your trip:
The tentative schedule of events for the day, which is subject to change:
9 to 11 a.m. Buses arrive at IEA HQ-visit legislators (time permitting)
11 to 11:30 a.m. Walk to rally staging point at 2nd and Capitol
11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. SOS rally speakers at 2nd and Capitol
12:15 p.m. Beginning of march
1 p.m. Visit legislators (time permitting)
(Lunch will be available at noon and served throughout the day. Members may eat at their leisure.)
State News 
Illinois Statehouse rally for tax increase could be largest in history
Quad City Times – The cost of hiring substitutes to fill in while the teachers are in Springfield will be covered by the Illinois Education Association at about $90 a day …
Springfield lobbying trip planned for final UI furlough action day
Champaign News Gazette – Clerical and service workers, graduate employees and union faculty at the University of Illinois will meet with thousands of teachers, parents and students in Springfield Wednesday to lobby legislators for adequate support of public education. The event is the last of four Common Furlough/Action Days planned
State has wide gap between high teacher pay and results Elementary students in Bannockburn had the fourth-highest test scores in Illinois last year, but that achievement wasn’t reflected in the pay of their teachers, whose average salaries ranked 242nd among elementary school districts statewide. The school district is one example of the wide disparity between teacher pay and student achievement.
New pensions: bane of teachers or needed reform?
The Courier News – The law increases the age of retirement for newly-hired teachers to 67 after 10 years of service, and caps the salary at which benefits are calculated at about $107,000. It also discontinues compounding cost-of-living increases and bases benefits on the highest eight consecutive years of salary of the last 10 years worked instead of the current four.
Lawmakers, don’t create pension loopholes Southtown Editorial – Talk already is emerging that some members of the General Assembly would support dropping the retirement age for teachers. Teachers, they believe, hold a special position and deserve an earlier retirement than, say, state office workers, highway maintenance workers or university employees.
High teacher pay no guarantee of results Chicago Sun-Times – It ranked third in teacher pay — averaging $92300 — even though students’ test scores placed the district 368th among high school districts statewide, …
Schools turn to voters, fundraising amid cuts
Chicago WBBM 780 Radio – School districts battered by state budget cuts are turning to referendums and even private fundraising to pay for the basics of public education. Several school districts have referendums on the May 4 primary ballot, and other districts are considering fundraising foundations as a way to preserve teacher jobs and programs
Forum: State tax increase would help preserve education, other key priorities
Peoria Journal Star – Bob Darling – President, Peoria Federation of Teachers – Illinois is facing the greatest financial crisis we’ve ever seen. Over 20,000 teachers and other school employees could be laid off. Tuition is skyrocketing in higher education. Our state budget projects a $12 billion-plus deficit.
Dance teachers’ pay soars over all others You might think that the highest-paid high school teachers would be in fields such as math and science — but that’s only partly correct. In Illinois, the top-paid high school subject is dance, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis found. Dance teachers make an average of nearly $79,000 a year.
District 45 one of many hurt by state’s payment delays
Wood Ridge Reporter – “We’re paying the things that have to be paid every month,” Henry said, and education funding has to compete with other state priorities, including debt payments, Medicaid reimbursements and a working state government.
Pontiac elementary parents trying to save sports, band programs
Bloomington Pantagraph – all extracurricular activities were among $2 million worth of budget cuts for 2010-11 approved by the school board last month. Graham said school officials previously met with the Pontiac Education Association to ask for cost-saving concessions, but the union declined to adjust the contract. These concessions would have included: reducing pay rate for coaches; forgoing pay for
High school suspensions up sharply in Springfield
Springfield State Journal Register – One of the goals the Springfield school board gave School Superintendent Walter Milton this year was to decrease suspensions. Milton said that requires a careful balance. “We want to send a message to our schools
OUR VIEW: Four-day school week is option that should be considered
Journal&Gazette Times-Courier – In Custer, S.D., where a four-day week has been in place for 15 years, about $50,000 to $70,000 has been saved annually — enough to hire two teachers.The proposal isn’t without its negatives, but neither are the other measures being adopted by local school districts to trim costs, such as cutting teacher and aide positions
School official: Withhold tax funds from state
Suburban Chicago News – Calling the state a “deadbeat entity,” the president of the Indian Prairie school board is proposing the district not send the state the money it withholds from its employees for income taxes as long as Springfield continues to be delinquent on the money it owes the district
Area school districts push for county sales tax vote in November
Springfield State Journal Register – A committee of representatives from area school districts has decided to push for a Sangamon County school sales tax referendum on the November ballot. However, the Springfield school board, representing roughly half of the county’s students, must back the initiative in order for the effort to move forward. Springfield school board President Art Moore,
St. Charles schools chief readies for busy summer of budget shuffling
Chicago Daily Herald – The only thing Schlomann said he feels he knows for sure is that it will be less state money than the district currently receives. “Even if we restore school funding, even at a flat level, you still have increased expenses,” Schlomann said. “So you are still losing money. Nobody is planning on state funding being at the same amount of money
‘This year, the forecast is worse’: Quincy School District, parents brace for cuts to pre-kindergarten, special education programs
Quincy Herald-Whig – budget includes a $54 million cut to preschool programs. Districts around the state are braced for drastic reductions, with some districts eliminating their pre-K program entirely. In Quincy, three teachers were reassigned to other schools, and one is retiring. Four paraeducators were released, as was one staffer who provides family support. The school’s only physical education teacher position
Local parents learn lesson on lobbying
Glen Ellyn Sun – We really didn’t know what to expect when we decided to make the trek to Springfield. Hundreds of parents around the state and locally have let us know they are supportive of our efforts. People have been thanking us in person and online.
Evanston Students Turn Cyber-Bullying Upside Down
WBBM TV CBS 2 Chicago – High school Students Launch ‘Evanston Mice’ Facebook Page Filled With Cyber-Praise To Counter Mean-Spirited ‘Evanston
Plains grad elected to student post with teachers’ group
Springfield State Journal Register – A 2005 Pleasant Plains High School graduate attending Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville will spend the next two years helping fellow students who plan to pursue a career in education. Michael Ruggless, 22, has been elected the Illinois Education Association’s Student Program Chair-elect. He will start his job in mid-July and will serve a two-year term.
U of I, SIU Presidents Speak at Capitol
WGIL AM Radio 14 (Galesburg) – as interim president following an admissions scandal. He and his Southern Illinois University counterpart, Glenn Poshard, said they are having to deal with financial stresses that include Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposed 6.2 percent cut in state funding. Ikenberry told representatives Illinois has a bright future but must prepare to cut expenses and increase revenues.
Report says targeted campus violence, such as Virginia Tech shootings, grew in last 2 decades
Chicago Tribune – violence on college campuses, from serious assaults to the mass shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007, is up sharply over the last two decades. The study by the FBI, Secret Service and education Department found that targeted campus violence is hardly a new phenomenon, citing for example a campus murder-suicide in 1909.
Few stand up for custodians in District 140 A public hearing Thursday to discuss the possibility of outsourcing custodial services in Kirby School District 140 was not attended by officials from the union that represents the district’s custodians. Only two of the district’s 37 custodians attended the meeting. They pointed out, however, that the majority of the custodians work nights and could not attend. Neither custodian could explain why representatives from Service Employees International Union Local 73 were not in attendance.
Political News
Quinn Says Legislature Will Take Up Tax Increase Proposal Chicago Public Radio – Illinois Governor Pat Quinn says he still expects lawmakers to take up a proposed income tax increase before the end of the current legislative session. …
Tax Increase to Save Education Not Gaining Steam WIFR – Governor Pat Quinn proposed an income tax increase from three to four percent to plug the $1.3 billion in cuts to education, but some local lawmakers don’t …
What Quinn should be doing, but isn’t Southtown Star – Pat Quinn may not be sending his Republican rival, Bill Brady, flowers. He’s not singing him love songs. “You hardly talk to me anymore when I come through
Statehouse Insider: Quinn’s managers not helping his cause
Springfield State Journal Register – Gov. PAT Quinn ought to consider taking executive action and giving a dope slap to some of the people around him. He needs to do something, because right now those people don’t seem to be thinking clearly
Talking Politics: Governor’s Race WSIL TV – ?The latest polls in the race for Illinois governor spell trouble for Pat Quinn. The Democrat incumbent trails Republican challenger Bill Brady by seven to …
Bernard Schoenburg: No Dem foes for 3 GOP county officials State Journal-Register – ?PAT QUINN ended that program, but had to defend it during the Democratic primary election for governor against Comptroller DAN HYNES. Delgado backed Hynes. …
Brady Unveils New Website
WGIL AM Radio 14 (Galesburg) – Republican candidate for governor Bill Brady is unveiling a new Web site that blasts Gov. Pat Quinn’s call for an income tax hike. Brady says the last thing Illinois needs is a tax hike, and says his plan to reduce state government spending by 10 percent over 10 years is a better idea
Boiling mad in Illinois
Chicago Sun Times – These two faces represent the fledgling Tea Party movement in Illinois. It is driven by disdain for deficit-riddled government, a love for Fox Television personality Glenn Beck and a hatred of if not the man, at least the policies of — President Obama, who ascended to the White House use last year with 3.3 million Illinois votes.
Quinn dumps plan to hire aide as $85K kayaking czar
Bloomington Pantagraph – Gov. Pat Quinn quickly dumped a plan Wednesday to hire a longtime aide as the state’s $85,000-per-year canoe czar. Just hours after the hiring of Claude Walker was made public in a story
Our View: How can Illinois go on without a canoeing czar?
Peoria Journal Star – when he talks about the cuts he’s making in the budget? The relentless drip, drip, drip of things like this simply undermine what little confidence people have left in state government. What was Quinn thinking? Sure, DNR is recovering from years of neglect under Rod Blagojevich, who was notoriously disdainful of Illinois’ state parks and other recreational opportunities.
National News
Status Quo 1, Kids 0
Chicago Tribune – Florida Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday vetoed an education reform bill that would have eliminated tenure protection for teachers and based their pay on student achievement. From all the backslapping and breathless relief that followed, you’d think Crist had spared the children of Florida like Gretel saved Hansel.
TIME.com’s Top Stories
David Cameron: Britain’s Next Prime Minister?
Britain’s Conservative leader, David Cameron, is ahead in the race for 10 Downing Street. But the electorate still isn’t sure who he is or what he stands for
Thailand Tourism Devastated by Political Unrest
The country’s key foreign exchange earner faces massive losses as the battle between the authorities and protestors show no sign of abating
Built for Blahniks: A Chevy for the High-Heel Crowd
Chevy tweaks its SUV for the stiletto crowd
Who Will Get the Stevens Seat?
After a 35-year run, John Paul Stevens gives Obama a second chance to reshape the court
How Not to Raise a Bully: The Early Roots of Empathy
State laws and school-district rules may help curb bullying on campus, but many researchers suggest a better way is not to raise a bully in the first place
Apollo 13 at 40: Houston, We Have a Miracle
There’s a reason that during training the astronauts never simulated the kind of emergency they encountered — because everyone assumed you’d surely wind up dead
Iceland Fallout: Why a Minor Volcano Causes Major Disruptions
The eruption in Iceland hardly compares with some of the major ones in history. But in our interconnected modern world, the impact can be massive
Why Pakistan’s Military Is Holding Back in North Waziristan
Islamabad’s forces aren’t pursuing the Taliban in North Waziristan, despite American pleas, because it says it is heeding the lessons of Iraq
Let Me Eat Cake: A Night of Culinary Luxury
What better time than a recession to explore the heights of culinary luxury. Pass the caviar, please!
Dems Prepare for Election-Year Health Care Fight
The party now realizes health reform is not going to sell itself. It’s not going to become instantly popular, even with the immediate benefits Democratic leaders have been touting.
How the Goldman Case Sheds Light on Hedge Funds
The SEC suit against Goldman Sachs accuses the firm of working with a huge hedge fund to create a toxic security that defrauded investors, generating new questions about the largely unregulated hedge-fund industry
Ahmadinejad Struts His Stuff in the Nuclear Showdown
Unmoved by threats of new U.N. sanctions, Iran’s leaders try to turn the tables on Washington with a nuclear summit of their own
From Poland’s Tragedy, Hope for Better Ties with Russia
The death of many Polish leaders in a plane crash may yet lead to a reconciliation with Russia
Heeding the Warnings of Another Oklahoma City
Many liberals and analysts believe a mass continuous loop of antipathy and anti-Washington vitriol has created an environment ripe for the creation of another Timothy McVeigh
Box Office: An Old Dragon Rises to Nick Kick-Ass
Labor groups break off from N.C. Democrats
RALEIGH, N.C. — A political rebellion is brewing inside an old funeral home near the state Capitol here. Frustrated liberals and labor organizers are taking aim at the Democratic Party, rushing to gather enough signatures to start a third party that they believe could help oust three Democratic…
(By Philip Rucker, The Washington Post)
With W.Va. coal politics, a new edge
In southern West Virginia, it used to look as if three Democrats, who have served in Washington for a combined 115 years, had figured out the delicate, occasionally violent politics of Appalachian coal.
(By David A. Fahrenthold, Frank Ahrens and Steven Mufson, The Washington Post)
Armed and angry, and demonstrating on the capital’s edge
Daniel Almond, a three-tour veteran of Iraq, is ready to “muster outside D.C.” on Monday with several dozen other self-proclaimed patriots, all of them armed. They intend to make history as the first people to take their guns to a demonstration in a national park, and the Virginia rally is…
(By Ann Gerhart, The Washington Post)
Europe’s aviation officials urged to drop flight bans
LONDON — Civil aviation authorities in Europe came under heavy pressure Sunday to ease flight restrictions as airlines and government officials sought to limit the economic fallout from a crisis that is disrupting the global trade in goods as varied as precious gems and tropical fruit.
(By Anthony Faiola and Karla Adam, The Washington Post)
Word of the Day for Monday, April 19, 2010
scapegrace \SKAYP-grayss\, noun:
A reckless, unprincipled person; one who is wild and reckless; a rascal; a scoundrel.