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
D300, U46 could get funds to help struggling schools
Elgin Courier News – The ISBE announced that it will participate in a three-year, $75 million public-private partnership with five other states to develop long-term reform strategies for their lowest-performing schools. Illinois was selected to join the initiative, along with Colorado, Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts and New York, by Mass Insight Education and Research Institute, a Boston-based nonprofit education organization focused on closing achievement gaps.
Superintendent, unions spar over letter-writing campaign
Rockford Register Star – Several employees are afraid they’ll lose their job if they speak out.
U-46 may seek short-term loans
Arlington Heights Daily Herald – Elgin Area School District U-46 isn’t in a precarious cash flow situation just yet, but it’s getting close. Deeming the move a “payday loan,” the school board has signed off on a resolution that would allow the district to borrow up to $15 million to cover expenses as it waits for promised state aid and Cook County property tax revenues.
District 220: School Board planning to stockpile more cash
Barrington Courier-Review – “The majority of (comparative school districts) are at 25 percent at the minimum,” said Board President Brian Battle. Melanie Collins, president of the Barrington Education Association, spoke for the union during public comment. “We believe this is the wrong time to change the fund balance policy,” Collins said.
Agreement expected to save $1 million for city, schools
Lake Forester – The city of Lake Forest and School Districts 67 and Lake Forest High School District 115 are formalizing and expanding a partnership services and facility use agreement that has the potential to reduce costs by $1 million.
School officials look at budget cuts after referendum failure
Mattoon Journal Gazette – The district needs to cut.“I haven’t even talked with anybody about that,” he said. “Obviously, it has to be taken into consideration.”Littleford started talking with the school board last week about possible reductions and said he expects the board to vote on some cuts at its meeting on Feb. 17.Lilly said the Mattoon district expects about $1.3 million in savings
Shelby County voters say ‘no’ to school sales tax question
Journal&Gazette Times-Courier – would have received about $300,000 of the additional revenue, he said. Shelbyville would use the added funds to help pay off existing bonds and reroof a building. Stewardson-Strasburg’s school board had indicated it would have used some of its revenue to reduce the property tax levy. Some funds also would be used for maintaining existing facilities if the referendum passes.
Failed referendum means activities won’t return next year
Crystal Lake Northwest Herald – two-thirds of the high school’s students are Marengo Community Middle School graduates. In recent years, District 165 looked into a consolidation feasibility study, but the District 154 school board was not interested at the time. However, Bertrand said, that response could change, despite some of the negatives of consolidation.
Coles County voters say ‘no’ to 1-percent sales tax for schools
Journal&Gazette Times-Courier – with the three school districts all pledged to use half or more of the revenue from the sales tax to reduce their property tax levies.An opposition group, Coles Citizens Acting for Responsible education, argued that the schools’ pledges weren’t believable because there was no legal requirement to reduce property taxes, or to keep the schools from backing off the pledge later.
UIS sees record-setting enrollment for spring semester
Springfield State Journal Register – The University of Illinois Springfield has set a record for spring enrollment, following on the strength of a record-setting enrollment last fall. The university said Wednesday that 4,862 students are enrolled this spring, an increase of 327 over last spring. Spring 2010 enrollment topped a record set in spring 2007, when 4,613 students were enrolled
Teachers’ advocate
Alton Telegraph – Although his reign over Alton High School ended years ago, former principal Philip Robbins has made it to the top of another totem pole. At the beginning of the year, Robbins began his first term as state president of the Illinois Retired Teachers Association.
Chicago-area voters reject long list of referenda
Chicago WLS (ABC) 7 – The Strategy Group. Political strategist Pete Giangreco has advised the most powerful in a range of political races. He says getting local taxpayers to just say “yes” to what school boards and activists want to get done is just as challenging — especially in tough economic times. “You have to have stakeholders in it that are really motivated.
Political News
Emotional Hynes ends Democratic governor campaign Dan Hynes ended his Democratic governor campaign today, calling Gov. Pat Quinn and pledging his support in the fall campaign. “Well, the people have spoken, and the votes have been counted. And I’m here to report that we rose up but fell just a little short,” Hynes said at a news conference at his River North campaign headquarters. “And if democracy means anything, it means that the campaign with more votes wins.”
Quinn: Running mate Cohen should consider withdrawing Gov. Pat Quinn today said his new running mate, a pawnbroker with a 2005 domestic battery arrest, should consider withdrawing because his background could hurt the Democratic ticket.
New questions in 2005 arrest of Democratic lt. governor nominee Scott Lee Cohen, a pawnbroker who was a surprise Democratic winner Tuesday, insists his girlfriend was not telling the truth in 2005 when she accused him of putting a knife to her throat. Cohen was arrested, but a domestic battery charge was dropped. The account of his then-girlfriend, who has a record for prostitution, is detailed in police and court records.
Brady received big boost from downstate voters
Champaign News Gazette – Bill Brady’s apparent surprise win in the Republican gubernatorial primary on Tuesday is the talk of Illinois politics today. The man who spent so much less money than Andy McKenna, trailed in the polls throughout the campaign, ran to the right of most of the candidates and was the only of the seven GOP contenders to hail from downstate, slipped past all the DuPage and Cook County guys
Conservatives downplay Ill. results
Quincy KHQA (CBS) 7 – After watching tea party favorite Adam Andrzejewski finish fifth in the Illinois Republican gubernatorial primary and moderate Rep. Mark Kirk run away with the state’s GOP Senate nomination, conservatives are insisting Wednesday that there is nothing to read into Tuesday’s results. Scott Brown’s win in the Massachusetts Senate special election last month was trumpeted
John Kass: Pawnbroker and a hooker make for political tearjerker Tribune reporters David Heinzmann and Ray Long revealed details about Cohen’s 2005 domestic battery arrest in which Cohen’s then-girlfriend accused him of holding a knife to her throat. Court records show that the girlfriend was a prostitute. Cohen is insisting it’s all lies, and that he didn’t know his live-in girlfriend was a hooker. She told him she worked as a “massage therapist,” the Pawnbroker’s spokesman said.
Bernard Schoenburg: Cellini still ‘lending a hand’ to county Republicans
Springfield State Journal Register – BILL CELLINI stepped down from his longtime post as treasurer of the Sangamon County Republican Central Committee shortly before being indicted on corruption charges in October 2008. But Cellini, who insists he is innocent, met last week with the screening committee of the county GOP as it decided which candidates to endorse in Tuesday’s primary.
Eric Zorn: 3 reasons to eliminate the office of lieutenant governor We have seen this coming for so long: The prospect of an obscure, dubiously qualified starry-eyed citizen wannabe becoming Lieutenant Governor and being one tragic car wreck, one fatal disease or one grotesque scandal away from becoming the ultimate accidental governor.
Our View: Can Illinois get better leaders with so few voters?
Peoria Journal Star – Sometimes – OK, often – the money necessary to get your message out matters more than anything, more than experience, ethics, education, temperament, etc. Governing effectively really does require a pretty specific skill set. We sense the mood of the electorate has changed this time, but you never know.
Democratic Lawmakers Show Unease With Budget Plan
The Wall Street Journal – President Barack Obama’’s 10-year budget plan is off to a rocky start in Congress, where his Democratic allies have spent much of the past two days picking it apart. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D., Ark.) complained about cuts to farm subsidies. Rep. Mike Thompson (D., Calif.) was upset about a user-fee proposal that would force wineries and others in the alcoholic-beverage sector to fund
National News
A growth lesson from China Washington Post – George F. Will – ? But he especially stresses “the enormous investment China is making in education.” While China increasingly invests in its future, America increasingly invests in its past: the elderly. China’s ascent to global economic hegemony could be slowed or derailed by unforeseen scarcities or social fissures. America’s destiny is demographic, and therefore is inexorable and predictable, which makes the nation’s fiscal mismanagement, by both parties, especially shocking.
Nothing Is More Important Than Keeping Kids Safe in School Huffington Post (blog) – Immediately after our hearing last spring, Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced plans to encourage states’ to review their policies on seclusion and …
The Big Picture on School Performance Huffington Post (blog) – ?Mr. Obama and education secretary Arne Duncan have repeatedly criticized the No Child Left Behind Act for keeping the “goals loose but the steps tight. …
How the Democrats Could Lose the Senate
It may still be a long shot, but with recent retirements, worrisome poll numbers and the entrance of some strong GOP challengers, Senate Dems are genuinely worried about the possibility of losing control of the Senate
Toyota’s Recall: When the Automaker Focused More on Quantity Than Quality
Recalls, repairs and a chiding from the U.S. Transportation Secretary all point to a precipitous decline in Toyota’s fortunes. But some saw this day coming many years ago
Iran’s Secret Obsession: Getting Lost in Tehran
The denizens of the capital of the Islamic Republic are as excited about Season Six of the U.S. TV show as fans elsewhere. Perhaps more so
Obama Calls Out GOP, But Nobody’s Home
Obama is showing a welcome new taste for political combat. Too bad his opponents aren’t serious
Why Didn’t HIG Question the Undiebomber?
When the new mobile team of interrogators was announced in August, the idea received wide praise. So why isn’t it operational yet?
Most Viewed Articles on washingtonpost.com
1) Google to enlist NSA to ward off attacks
The world’s largest Internet search company and the world’s most powerful electronic surveillance organization are teaming up in the name of cybersecurity.
2) Biden, off message and spot-on
A defense of stimulus programs turns up the big hidden issue for the 2010 elections.
A Nobel laureate economist points out a terrifying truth regarding age and health care.
4) Beneath the ‘vegetative state,’ scientists find some alert minds
Many of the patients were labeled with the same grim diagnosis: “vegetative state.” Their head injuries, teams of specialists had concluded, condemned them to a netherworld — alive yet utterly devoid of any awareness of the world around them.
5) Criticism of Obama on national security likely to remain big issue
The Obama administration is aggressively pushing back against Republican criticism of its handling of terrorism suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, sharpening a partisan debate about national security policy, which is likely to be a major issue throughout the midterm election year.
6) Rand Paul lights a fire under Kentucky GOP
LOUISVILLE — Rand Paul believes he was born to lead the anti-establishment movement sweeping the GOP.
7) Tai Shan leaves the zoo for China
Tai Shan, the adolescent giant panda who has been a beloved symbol of Washington for the past four years, left town Thursday morning for China after a week of farewells and tearful goodbyes.
8.) Obama’s spirituality is largely private, but it’s influential, advisers say
Every morning, sometimes as early as 5:30 a.m., a short religious passage comes across President Obama’s BlackBerry, sent by one of his aides.
9) Children of dead CIA officers try to learn about their work
John F. Sullivan had always wondered about his mother, Leonor E. “Lee” Sullivan, a CIA secretary and translator who died in December at 70, and especially about the strange telephones in their Reston home in the late 1970s and ’80s. The Spy Phones, as the family called them, looked like ordinary …
10) Toyota problem surfaced in 2007
Federal regulators uncovered stark evidence that some Toyota cars accelerated unexpectedly more than two years ago. But neither the government’s safety agency nor the automaker apparently recognized at the time how broad the dangers would turn out to be.
Word of the Day for Thursday, February 4, 2010
pecuniary \pih-KYOO-nee-air-ee\, adjective:
1. Relating to money; monetary.
2. Consisting of money.
3. Requiring payment of money.
Schools, child care providers and other public services are facing massive budget cuts due to the state budget crisis.
The Board of Directors for the 133,000 member Illinois Education Association (IEA) voted to recommend Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes for the Democratic nomination for governor and State Sen. Kirk Dillard for the Republican nomination.