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 
Daily Herald Pension Series
Reducing benefits, raising taxes among proposed pension fixes Imagine borrowing money to pay your mortgage every year. That’s right, actually going deeper into hock to pay your debt.
First steps to solve pension crisis This could be the year Illinois legislators make their payment to the state pension systems, rein in pension excesses and demonstrate their commitment to carving away at a $78 billion debt they’ve spent decades ignoring.
D-26 lays out new options for teachers
Crystal Lake Northwest – The outlook for District 26 teachers is more grim than once thought. For the fourth time, the school board formally has requested that the union make concessions to help alleviate the pain of recent budget cuts and layoffs.
Some teacher jobs saved in Kaneland
Beacon News – The Kaneland School Board has authorized the hiring back of teachers previously pink-slipped under a plan that could have eliminated as many as 30 staff positions. The jobs are being saved as a result of the teachers union’s acceptance of a salary freeze,
Illinois school bias task force tussles with time
Alton Telegraph – A task force assigned to study why black students are suspended and expelled from Illinois schools at much higher rates than whites is in danger of missing the deadline to hand in its assignment. The panel, created by an Illinois Senate resolution,
Letter: Quinn, Madigan: Get some guts, stop the cuts
Quad Cities Dispatch Argus Leader – I marched in Springfield last Wednesday with my two sons. I am not a teacher or a state trooper or a state employee. But I am also no fool. We cannot cut our way out of this crisis. What we need is enough revenue to pay for services our state provides! We must pass House Bill 174!
Unit 5 to discuss another $7.1M in cuts
Bloomington Pantagraph – $86 million for 2010-11. “We’ll have (everything) we actually have to implement set and ready,” Getty said, noting the board is trying to make “flexible, thoughtful decisions.” Gov. Pat Quinn has proposed cutting the per-student foundation grants by $450 in the state budget that will begin July 1. That would reduce that key source of school revenue to $5,769 per student.
Parents, teachers object to multi-age classroom proposal The majority of parents and teachers at a Tuesday meeting about implementing multi-age classrooms at the new Marquette Academy gave the concept a failing grade.
None of your business
Chicago Tribune Editorial – One measure would remove a provision awarding attorneys’ fees to citizens who have to sue to obtain documents that are illegally withheld. Lawmakers began this assault in January by exempting teacher evaluations, in exchange for teachers union support on a bill that was supposed to help Illinois qualify for federal Race to the Top money.
Plainfield school board in turf war
Plainfield Sun – Plainfield School Board agreed Monday night to investigate installing artificial turf at its four high school stadiums despite budget concerns. While board member Mike Kelly likes the idea of turf, he said it wasn’t the right time to conduct a feasibility study.
Finances may force pay-to-play at Mercer County schools
Quad Cities Dispatch Argus – “The revenue shortfall will cause us to use our cash reserves. That, in turn, will make us vulnerable to future revenue shortfalls.” Last month, the school board cut 16 staff member and eliminated 21 positions to save the district an estimated $589,000. The board is seeking to cut $1.2 million from a roughly $14 million budget next year.
PHOTO: Stepping out
Alton Telegraph – The Alton High School A-Town Steppers performed this past month in front of 1,500 educators for the Illinois Education Association Conference in Rosemont. The A-Town Steppers opened the conference with a performance that received a standing ovation from the educators and government officials.
SIUE students return to Springfield to ensure MAP grants
Edwardsville Alestle – He said Gov. Pat Quinn will not cut huge amounts of funding in an election year, but something will need to be done about the money situation. Currently, the 2011 budget has a $1.3 billion cut in education funding, but a 1 percent income tax increase may take the place of the funding cut. State Senator Bill Haine said SIU has made some great improvements to its campus
WIU asks Governor for funding schedule
Quincy KHQA (CBS) 7 – the university’s annual income…putting stress on the school to pay their own bills and payrolls. Now University leaders, including WIU’s President Al Goldfarb, have sent a letter to Governor Pat Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes asking them to set up a regular payment schedule to enable public universities to stay afloat. Goldfarb said, “It’s unprecedented. We spend every month wondering
Political News
State lawmakers plan to leave Springfield with no budget
Streator Times-Press – Illinois lawmakers expect to be home at the end of next week, even if it will take a little longer to finish the new state budget. Legislators expect their last day in Springfield to be on or about May 7, the scheduled adjournment date — and about three weeks earlier than usual. But few if any legislators say the state will have a budget by that time.
Illinois lawmakers send sexting bill to governor
Chicago Tribune – post online racy pictures of their underage classmates would get juvenile court supervision that could result in mandatory counseling or community service, under legislation sent to Gov. Pat Quinn on Tuesday. The measure aims to educate teens about the dangers of “sexting” while modernizing state statutes for the Internet age. Under current Illinois law, teens caught with nude photos
Quinn responds to Civic Federation criticism of his budget proposals
necessary this legislative session to move Illinois toward budget and fiscal stability. Budget cuts in discretionary spending made by the Quinn administration both last year and this year must continue, and new revenues are needed to restore fiscal balance. One without the other cannot do the job. Both are necessary
Redistricting proposal advances to House floor A Democratic-backed redistricting plan is just one step away from legislative approval. But it still lacks the crucial support from Republicans in the Illinois House to clear that final step.
Jil Tracy throws her support behind bill to stop unfunded mandates
Quincy KHQA (CBS) 7 – State Representative Jil Tracy is co-sponsoring a bill that hopes to put an end to unfunded mandates for Illinois school districts. QUINCY, IL — Every year schools are forced to follow new guidelines about one thing or another. But many times these mandates do not come with additional funding
NEW: Senate nixes taxpayer-funded Blagojevich portrait
Alton Telegraph – A proposal that would keep tax money from funding a statehouse portrait of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich is headed to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk. The bill passed Tuesday on a 52-1 vote with state Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, casting the only dissenting vote
Giannoulias at financial reform rally in Chicago Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is calling on lawmakers in Washington to pass financial reform, and he says those who don’t supp rt it will have a fight on their hands.
Emanuel: No Subpoena From Blagojevich’s Lawyers
Chicago Public Radio – White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel says lawyers for Rod Blagojevich have not subpoenaed him to testify in the ex-Illinois governor’s corruption trial. Blagojevich’s attorneys have asked the judge to subpoena President Barack Obama. They say Mr. Obama’s public statements contradict statements from other witnesses, and they want him to take the stand
National News
17,000 NJ Students Use Facebook To Organize Statewide Walk-Out
Chicago Tribune – Last week, students in Edison and Teaneck protested their failed budget. 58 percent of school budgets in the Garden State were recently defeated in a vote. The NJ Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, say they do not endorse Tuesday’s mass student walkout. “I think the best outcome would be for the students to be in
Bill would put new ND employees into 401(k) plans
Belleville News-Democrat – Newly hired government employees and school teachers in North Dakota should have their own retirement savings plans instead of a pension that’s guaranteed by taxpayers, a state lawmaker says
Wall Street Journal: Teacher Absences Plague Schools
(Barbara Martinez, Op-Ed, New York)
“One-fifth of New York City teachers missed work for more than two weeks last school year, with absenteeism most acute in some of the poorest districts, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.”
Politics Daily: Utah to Consider Elimination of 12th Grade
(Elizabeth Schiffman, News, Utah)
“We don’t want to rush students’ learning experience,” Alexis Holmes, policy analyst in the National Education Association’s Department of Education Policy and Practice, said. “There is a reason for allowing students to have the time to naturally mature academically as well as emotionally. . . . To encourage students to leave school in 3 years and provide them with no support, we don’t see that as being a successful proposal.”
Capping Career, Dodd Relishes Fight For Financial Reform
Some observers speculated that the Connecticut Senator might move the bill more to the right. But instead he has doubled down on Main Street
Is Netanyahu Quietly Freezing Jerusalem Settlements?
Publicly, the Israeli government remains defiant of U.S. demands to halt building on occupied land, but the bureaucratic mechanism for authorizing new construction appears to have ground to a halt
The Derby: Is Kentucky Losing Its Horse Supremacy?
Behind the undiminished pageantry of Saturday’s Run for the Roses, the state’s defining industry is in trouble
Greek Crisis: It’s Gut Check Time for Europe
So now Europe may have a real crisis on its hands. It’s been clear to financial markets for months that the debt woes in Greece could spread to the Eurozone’s other financially unsound PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain).
American Idol: A Little Bit Country
American Idol introduced megaselling mentor Shania Twain as the woman who “made country pop”
Word of the Day for Wednesday, April 28, 2010
pellucid \puh-LOO-sid\, adjective:
1. Transparent; clear; not opaque.
2. Easily understandable.