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.    

Entire Daily Herald Series – PENSION CRISIS  Illinois teacher pension system in debate

 Part I

• Pensions for 131 school retirees top $150,000 each annually [04/25/10]
• Pension crisis took decades to create, one day to ‘fix’ [04/25/10]
• Financial problems not unique to the teacher pension fund [04/25/10]
• Editorial: Springfield’s costly and broken pension promise [04/25/10]

Part II

• The hidden cost of inflated pensions: Schools forced to pay up [04/26/10]
• Editorial: School boards part of pension problem [04/26/10]
• Guest opinion: ‘We may soon pass the tipping point,’ civic organizer says [04/28/10]
• Guest opinion: ‘Stop looking for scapegoats,’ teachers representative says [04/28/10]

Part III

• Pension argument pits ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ [04/27/10]
• Editorial: Now is time for resolve, reason [04/27/10]

Part IV

• Ideas on how to fix the pension crisis [04/27/10]
• Editorial: First steps to solve pension crisis [04/27/10]

Related data

• Average teacher and administrator salaries
• Highest pensions paid in Illinois for public school administrators and teachers

 

State News  

Vouchers for CPS students advances in House
Chicago Tribune (blog) – Jim Reed, spokesman for the Illinois Education Association, said today the bill violates the Illinois Constitution by giving state money to private schools, … 

LeRoy teachers approve 3-year contract
Bloomington Pantagraph – LeROY — The LeRoy Education Association has approved a three-year contract, which would go into effect on July 1 if the LeRoy school board ratifies it May 10. 

U46 one step away from $20+ million
Elgin Courier News – “Absolutely.” “We’re very upbeat; we’re very positive,” he continued. “This is relief.” Farnham echoed similar sentiments and added that it brings the state one step closer to reforming education funding. The Illinois State Board of Education, as well as many legislators, “wanted a global fix, but they see it as a step in that direction,” Farnham explained. 

Is District 300 cutting too much?
Arlington Heights Daily Herald – 300 have publicly questioned whether the district is aiming for the right target. As I’ve reported, the district is trying to trim $15 million from its 2010-11 budget. This goal is based on Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget proposal, which most see as a transparent gambit to pass a tax increase by placing a disproportionate burden of state cuts on public schools. 

Late state payments force District 200 to borrow
Chicago Daily Herald – With the state owing it more than $6 million, Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 must do something it hasn’t done in a long time: borrow money to pay its bills. District 200 school board members on Wednesday agreed to take out $6 million in tax-anticipation warrants, essentially using future revenue to pay for expenditures in the month of May. 

Special education payments lagging behind
Peoria Journal Star – Already struggling school districts now are being asked to foot the financial responsibilities for their special education students. Special Education Association of Peoria County, the special education cooperative that serves some 2,500 students countywide, hasn’t seen a dime from the state for mandated special education services 

Bill would cut tuition on extra college years
Chicago WBBM 780 Radio – A bill now on Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk would give a tuition break to students at public universities who spend a fifth or sixth year working on bachelor’s degrees. The Illinois House approved the bill 66-42 on Wednesday. 

Des Plaines teacher wins hero award
Chicago Tribune –  More than 9,000 people have won the Hero Award since its inception in 1904 — including, last year, Elgin High School teacher Walter “Mike” Gannon, who came to the rescue of colleague Carolyn Gilbert when she was stabbed by a student in January 2008. The Carnegie Hero Commission has distributed more than $32 million 

High school to give students laptops
Arlington Heights Daily Herald – balance, and using technology as an enhancement,” said U High Principal Jeff Hill. “It’s not technology for technology’s sake.” “We’re not taking away Homer’s ‘Odyssey’ or calculus. This just allows teachers to expand teaching,” said Dean. Kurz pointed to math teachers using plug-in writing tablets for student calculations; foreign language teachers using the technology to converse with students 

Meridian considers $40 million in school improvements
Decatur Herald and Review – school construction grant program, for which the district applied for several years ago; bonds, which could provide $1.3 million; and a referendum to cover the remaining $9 million. Decatur’s school board passed a resolution Tuesday to ask the county board to put a sales tax increase on November’s ballot. The work could be done in phases, so that selling bonds 

Unit 5 eyes earlier school starts
Bloomington Pantagraph –  “We’ve lived through the storm. We’ve not as late now as we were at the beginning,” said Wes Caldwell, transportation supervisor for the Normal-based district. school board President Meta Mickens-Baker said she still sees a problem, noting that children miss out on learning when they are regularly late to class. Board members asked for information on whether 

Saluting new group of Master Teachers
Quad Cities Dispatch Argus Leader – Added together, the 12 educators being recognized tonight as Master teachers by The Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus have taught kids for more than 226 years. It also raises the number of teachers recognized by the newspapers for educational excellence to 330. 

Sterling School Board wants Illinois to stay in Race
Dixon Telegraph – bid to win up to $400 million in funding in the second round of the federal government’s Race to the Top initiative. The Department of Education program provides money to improve schools, teacher evaluations and student assessments. The federal grant aims to improve students’ learning skills and prepare them for the workplace. 

Teacher tenure a worn out tradition?
Daily – Tenure is being pulled into question in many states as to whether it is necessary or if teachers can feel safe in their position without it. Colorado, Florida and Washington D.C. are looking to eliminate tenure for teachers. Washington, Maryland and Ohio are working to extend 

A new dorm on the horizon for NIU
DeKalb Daily – a “cluster” complex with an arrangement similar to the Northern View Community. Built in 2007, Northern View is for undergraduate students who are at least two years out of high school, graduate students, law students, or any student who has a dependent, partner or spouse. Northern View was also built by a private company but is managed by the university.

Political News  

State senate pushes for $1 per pack cigarette tax hike to pay for education
Decatur Herald and Review – the Illinois Senate are calling on their colleagues in the House to approve a $1 per pack boost in the state cigarette tax. The move, they say, would help raise money to offset Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposed cuts to local school districts. In a statement, Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, acknowledged that a cigarette tax hike would be a short-term fix for the state’s 

House Democrats polling members on budget options
Springfield State Journal Register – extensive emergency powers for more control over how money is spent in the next budget. With adjournment looming on May 7, Democrats also are asking where cuts should be made while sparing education funding. They also want to gauge support for a series of smaller tax hikes (like a cigarette tax increase), but not the income tax increase sought by Quinn. 

Plan to let schools bypass voters on building projects clears the legislature
Chicago Tribune – a bill that will make it easier for school districts to sidestep referendums and use working cash bonds for building projects. The bill had passed the House in March and now goes to Gov. Pat Quinn for his consideration. If signed into law, the bill will permit school districts to transfer working cash bond money to any school fund. Critics have said the legislation will make it easier 

Brady: Democrats have failed Illinois  The State Journal-Register – “Do we want to continue kicking the can down the road, follow Governor Quinn’s plan to raise revenues by increasing your tax rate, building a bigger, … 

Brady blasts Quinn over state’s fiscal woes
Streator Times-Press – the legislative session looming and few substantial budget solutions in the works, GOP candidate for governor Bill Brady used the state’s problems to launch a series of political attacks on Gov. Pat Quinn. Talking to local Republican supporters, the Bloomington state senator said Quinn was out of touch with Illinois voters. “When you’re criticized by Gov. Quinn for not having the courage 

Evaluation shield bill goes to governor
Springfield State Journal Register – have a right to know about the public employees and the about the work that they do,” said Dennis DeRossett, executive director of the organization. The organization will ask Gov. Pat Quinn to veto the measure. Quinn spokeswoman Annie Thompson said the governor will review the measure, while noting he’s an advocate for open government. 

Chipping away at law that helps the public
Chicago Daily Southtown –  threaten to scuttle a bill that would bring Illinois millions of dollars in federal money for education if they don’t get what they want. So the Legislature says the performance evaluations of teachers, principals and school superintendents no longer are covered by the Freedom of Information law. Well, every other government employee now wants the same type of protection. 

Senate passes FOIA changes
Crystal Lake Northwest –  the General Assembly weeks after the new FOIA took effect, which exempted performance evaluations of teachers and school administrators so Illinois could compete for federal Race to the Top education funding. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, with the help of public watchdog and news media groups, drafted a new FOIA last year to replace one that critics long have accused of being 

State lawmakers cloud over sunshine laws
Arlington Heights Daily Herald – Lawmakers sent Gov. Pat Quinn a sweeping change to the state’s open records law that would keep all public sector employees’ performance evaluations secret. The vote was 45-9 with one member voting “present.” Local senators 

They’re hiding key records from you
Arlington Heights Daily Herald Editorial – A strong majority of Illinois senators, including many from our suburbs, sent Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn a bill Thursday that would make it much more difficult for taxpayers to evaluate the public employees whose salaries they fund. 

Redistricting Not In The Cards For State Chicagoist –  Quinn broke party ranks on the issue, saying, “I’m not excited about that. It’s awfully complicated. I’m not sure it’s a reform or not, to be honest. … 

Democrat remap plan fails in Ill. House
Chicago Daily Southtown – the Legislature more power to draw the political map. Republicans say lawmakers shouldn’t draw their own districts. They want an independent commission to handle redistricting. Earlier, Gov. Pat Quinn threw cold water on the Democratic plan. At an appearance in Glenview on Thursday, the Democratic governor said he’s not sure the plan amounts to real reform. 

House rejects Dem redistricting plan; Fair Map petition dropped
Springfield State Journal Register –  it should be the electors choosing the legislators,” he said. House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, said the measure was a step backwards. Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn even said Thursday he wasn’t sure the Democratic measure was true reform. Cross said Quinn’s opposition “speaks volumes” about allowing legislators to draw their 

Governor wants retirees to share larger burden of financial problems
Decatur Herald and Review – wouldn’t be necessary for me – the state had me covered for health insurance. I believed what I was told and later retired with no Social Security or Medicare. Fast forward some 48 years. Governor Quinn now wants to renege on those long past promises. He now says the state can’t afford health insurance for its retirees. He also says those retirees not eligible for Medicare must start paying up 

Blagojevich case back in court on defense motions
Arlington Heights Daily Herald – Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s lawyers are headed back to court with just over a month before his corruption trial is due to get under way and a number of issues still undecided — including whether the judge will issue a subpoena for President Barack Obama. Federal Judge James Zagel who is to preside over the Blagojevich trial may have something to say about the request for the Obama subpoena 

National News

 

TIME.com Today’s Top Stories

 

Worst Case Scenario: Fighting the Spreading Gulf Oil Spill

The spreading oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico threatens major environmental and economic disaster as it moves toward shore

 

Arizona Law Enforcement Split on Immigration Crackdown

The controversial new law has divided the police as it has the rest of the population

 

China’s Alarming Spate of School Knifings

Violent crime is rare in the People’s Republic because of a ban on guns but that has not stopped a recent string of assaults on children

 

Behind Crist’s Exit From the GOP: The Hand of Jeb Bush?

The Florida governor is about to bolt the Republican Party in an effort to salvage his race for Senator. How big a role did his predecessor play?

 

Chrysler and Fiat: A Marriage That’s Working?

Though many challenges remain for the post bankruptcy Chrysler, the combination with Fiat is starting to show promise

Crist leaves GOP in bid for Senate
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. — Florida Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday declared himself a man without a party, launching a desperate bid to save his once seemingly invincible Senate campaign.
(By Karen Tumulty, The Washington Post)

Ariz. measure puts police in tight spot
TUCSON — Every day, as Sgt. Russ Charlton patrols the south side of Tucson, he encounters a wide range of this city’s residents — legal, illegal, native-born, naturalized, just passing through. To him, their immigration status is largely irrelevant. “People are just people,” Charlton said.
(By Peter Slevin, The Washington Post)

 Gulf Coast oil spill could eclipse Exxon Valdez
VENICE, La. — An oil spill that threatened to eclipse even the Exxon Valdez disaster spread out of control with a faint sheen washing ashore along the Gulf Coast Thursday night as fishermen rushed to scoop up shrimp and crews spread floating barriers around marshes.
(By CAIN BURDEAU and HOLBROOK MOHR, AP)

Gulf of Mexico oil spill reaches Louisiana coast
The worsening oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday threatened not only the shores of five states but also President Obama’s plan to open vast stretches of U.S. coastline to oil and gas drilling.
(By Steven Mufson and Michael D. Shear, The Washington Post)

Goldman case sent to Justice
The Securities and Exchange Commission has referred its investigation of Goldman Sachs to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution, less than two weeks after filing a civil securities fraud case against the firm, according to a source familiar with the matter.
(By Zachary A. Goldfarb, The Washington Post)

Paying respects to Miss Dorothy
In the movement, there was Thurgood. There was Martin.
(By Wil Haygood, The Washington Post)

Poll affirms a vote for judicial know-how
Some Senate Democrats and legal activists are advising President Obama to look beyond the “judicial monastery” to find a replacement for retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, but the public does not seem to share that view.
(By Robert Barnes and Jennifer Agiesta, The Washington Post)

Word of the Day for Friday, April 30, 2010

doula \DOO-luh\, noun:

A woman who assists during childbirth labor and provides support to the mother, her child and the family after childbirth.