{"id":331165,"date":"2010-02-17T13:06:05","date_gmt":"2010-02-17T18:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/illinoiseducationassociation.org\/?p=5937"},"modified":"2010-02-17T13:06:05","modified_gmt":"2010-02-17T18:06:05","slug":"in-the-news-feb-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/331165","title":{"rendered":"In the News ~ Feb. 17"},"content":{"rendered":"

Below are<\/strong>\u00a0links to news stories of interest from\u00a0newspapers that came up during a search\u00a0today.\u00a0\u00a0These 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\u00a0your computer is recommended.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

State News\u00a0\"\"<\/em><\/h2>\n

Responsible Budget Coalition Takes to the Capitol<\/a>\u00a0 The Responsible Budget Coalition<\/a> is taking to the capitol on Wednesday to advocate on behalf of social service providers and their clients who have taken a beating over the last few years as the state Democratic leaders refuse to deal with the budget because of the perceived electoral consequences (if only we could indefinitely suspend elections–maybe then<\/em> we can get some action).<\/p>\n

Plainfield schools point to state failure in education funding crisis<\/a>
\nChicago Tribune –\u00a0 Plainfield officials say they are owed $12 million by the state. Board members also are making a push for parents to join them and teacher union leaders at a lobby day, sponsored by the Illinois Education Association, in Springfield on April 21. It would be the first time parents have been asked to attend the event, which allows school boards and union leaders time\u00a0<\/p>\n

Educators huddle on state funding freeze<\/a>
\nDanville Commercial-News –\u00a0Fallout from the state budget crisis is hitting home hard at Triton College. Triton, which started the 2010 fiscal year with a budget already $6,231,866 short on the operating side, is struggling to absorb a $4 million shortfall in state operational funding. That threatens Triton’s Adult Education programs, likely to soon be cut entirely, and, in a worst-case scenario, could mean the River Grove college itself would be forced to close at the end of the 2011 school year.<\/p>\n

Dist. 47 to tap into cash reserves<\/a>
\nChicago Daily Herald – Crystal Lake Elementary District 47 will rely on its substantial cash reserves to cover a $6 million deficit next year, waiting until the 2011-12 school year to balance its budget. The school board on Tuesday approved $2.4 million in budget reductions, including leaving 15 teacher vacancies unfilled and slashing the cost of supplies, staff training and travel by 10 percent,\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

District 207: Union to vote on whether to negotiate<\/a>
\nPark Ridge Herald-Advocate – Members of the Maine Township Teachers Association are expected to vote early next month on whether to begin talks with the District 207 school board concerning the current teacher’s contract.\u00a0 “The question that will be posed to the membership is whether or not MTA should enter into discussions with the Board of Ed regarding opening the contract to make cost-saving modifications,” said MTA President and Maine South High School teacher Emma Visee.<\/p>\n

Our Opinion: Rochester schools face fiscal reality<\/a>
\nSpringfield State Journal Register \u2013 ROCHESTER’S public schools acknowledged on Monday what many other districts also are going to have to realize: State funding \u2014 fickle as it is \u2014 is likely to be a bigger problem this year than at any time in recent memory. The Rochester Board of Education outlined budget cuts for next school year that, at any other time in memory, would be considered draconian.\u00a0<\/p>\n

CHS holiday tournaments would be eliminated with budget cuts<\/a>
\nMattoon Journal Gazette – The latest CHARLESTON – Both the boys’ and girls’ Charleston High School basketball holiday tournaments would be eliminated with budget cuts the school board is scheduled to consider Wednesday. Superintendent Jim Littleford said the total reductions on Wednesday’s agenda come to about $457,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Deeper cuts ahead at Kaneland?<\/a>
\nGeneva Kane County – of teachers and other employees, eliminating a number of student activities and increasing fees. However, those cuts may be only the beginning. Tuesday, the Kaneland District 302 Board of education authorized administrators to proceed with laying plans for even deeper cuts in personnel and school services for the upcoming school year, should the Illinois General Assembly,\u00a0<\/p>\n

DeKalb administrators identify potential cuts<\/a>
\nDeKalb Daily Chronicle – will provide the same amount of funding the next fiscal year as it has this year. Frances said if Illinois lawmakers do not replace the $1 billion it used to bolster the state’s K-12 education budget for the 2009-2010 academic year that came through the stimulus package, then the district could see a $4.4 million deficit if no changes were made.\u00a0<\/p>\n

District 26 grade-level debate: ‘We don’t need to be saved’<\/a>
\nChicago Daily Herald – District 26’s two elementary schools are Euclid and Indian Grove. About half of Euclid’s student body is Hispanic compared to less than 10 percent of Indian Grove’s students. River Trails is the only middle school and wouldn’t be affected.<\/p>\n

Malta Elementary to close<\/a>
\nDeKalb Daily – The DeKalb school board voted Tuesday evening to close Malta Elementary School. The unanimous vote means Malta will close its doors after the 2010-11 academic year.<\/p>\n

Milton proposing school budget cuts; details to be released later<\/a>
\nSpringfield State Journal Register – , including possible teacher layoffs, for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Milton revealed few other details about the cuts Tuesday, when he discussed them in generalities with the Springfield school board. The board agreed to hold a public meeting to receive feedback about the cuts at 6 p.m Feb. 25 in the Grant Middle School gymnasium.<\/p>\n

New Trier vows new facilities plan<\/a>
\nGlencoe News – In the first school board meeting since voters rejected a referendum proposal to finance a $174 million facilities plan for New Trier High School, Superintendent Linda Yonke announced plans to move forward\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

OTTAWA: Plans move ahead for new OES building<\/a>
\nOttawa Daily Times – The Ottawa Elementary school board confirmed Tuesday that union labor \u2014 preferably local \u2014 will be employed for the construction of the new building, recently approved by voters\u00a0<\/p>\n

Parents fear Evanston school for severely disabled students in danger<\/a>
\nChicago Tribune – While other parents talk in similarly glowing terms, some worry about the school’s future. A five-year strategic plan for Evanston\/Skokie School District 65 calls for the inclusion of students with disabilities into general education classes “to the maximum extent appropriate.” Park parents worry it could eventually lead to the school’s closure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Axed state funds put Triton College in crisis<\/a>\u00a0Fallout from the state budget crisis is hitting home hard at Triton College.\u00a0 Triton, which started the 2010 fiscal year with a budget already $6,231,866 short on the operating side, is struggling to absorb a $4 million shortfall in state operational funding. That threatens Triton’s Adult Education programs, likely to soon be cut entirely, and, in a worst-case scenario, could mean the River Grove college itself would be forced to close at the end of the 2011 school year.<\/p>\n

ISU programs prepare teachers for urban schools<\/a>
\nChicago Tribune – A student-led organization at Illinois State University hopes to change the way education is taught for urban schools, thereby having a greater impact on issues such as high dropout rates. “Our nation’s cities need good teachers,” said Dakota Pawlicki, 23, director and founding<\/p>\n

Lawmakers call for study of college affordability<\/a>
\nSpringfield State Journal Register –\u00a0funding problems and rising costs, some lawmakers say keeping college affordable for students and their families must be a priority. The General Assembly last fall directed the state\u2019s higher education agencies to study how to make going to college more affordable. A summit scheduled for Chicago Feb. 26 is supposed to dig deeper into the problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s Save Public Education: A Five-Point Plan<\/a>
\nThe Open Press – Bruce Price, founder of Improve-Education.org, says that improving public schools is easier than many people think. For one thing, we definitely don\u2019t need more money. Here are five concrete steps for making our schools more successful: ignore the official experts; get rid of their bad ideas; rescue reading; save math; emphasize facts and knowledge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Study: Chicago teens get too little exercise<\/a>
\nChicago WLS (ABC) 7 – That helps improve bone strength, reduce fat and increase mental health. Chicago Public School teens were asked about the time they spent on the computer, watching TV and in physical education class. The study found just 19 percent of the Chicago 12th graders got the recommended amount of physical activity.<\/p>\n

Some U of I Faculty Take First Furlough Days<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 WCIA-3 News\u00a0–\u00a0 Some University of Illinois faculty members took the first of their mandatory furlough days yesterday. The time off was instituted as a way to …<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Political News <\/em><\/h2>\n

State Capitol Q&A: Lawmakers file thousands of bills; few will become law<\/a>
\nSpringfield State Journal Register – It\u2019s that time of year again, a legislative fanboy\u2019s dream come true. State lawmakers have just finished filing hundreds and hundreds \u2014 and hundreds \u2014 of bills they want considered in the spring session. Few will actually become law, with the focus on the budget and upcoming elections. But that\u2019s not keeping interest down, especially for ideas to change the state\u00a0<\/p>\n

GOP uncertainty continues in Illinois governor’s race<\/a>\u00a0 Illinois moved a step closer to learning the winner of the Republican primary for governor Tuesday with the deadline for local authorities to finish counting absentee and provisional ballots, but it will still be days before final totals are available. State Sen. Bill Brady (pictured)\u00a0still held onto a slim lead.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dillard not yet ready to give up on gov race<\/a>
\nChicago Sun Times – State Sen. Kirk Dillard said Tuesday he won’t decide about folding up his GOP gubernatorial candidacy for at least another week — even as he admitted he has little chance of winning. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, the Hinsdale Republican trailed Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) by 420 votes out of at least 765,534 votes cast Feb. 2 in the six-way GOP gubernatorial\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dillard still down, not conceding in GOP Gov. race<\/a>
\nArlington Heights Daily Herald – All the votes should be counted, but a winner in the Republican primary for Illinois governor is still not certain more than two weeks after voters went to the polls. State Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale said Tuesday he is catching up to state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, but he believes he remains about 220 votes behind as he continues to hold out. “We want to ensure that all votes\u00a0<\/p>\n

Illinois Republicans see unique chance for victory<\/a>
\nJacksonville Journal Courier – The last decade was lousy for Illinois Republicans. They lost a Senate seat, their party’s last governor went to prison and they were shut out of every statewide office. But the recent surprise win by Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senate race and a string of setbacks for Illinois Democrats have Republicans giddy about their chances to claim the next big election prizes:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bulk of Stimulus Spending Yet to Come<\/a>
\nThe Wall Street Journal – The Obama administration’s economic-stimulus program has delivered about a third of its total $787 billion budget during its first year, much of that to maintain social services and government jobs and to provide tax cuts for workers. Now, the pace and direction of stimulus spending are about to change. Infrastructure spending is set to step up in the second year of the stimulus<\/p>\n

GOP sees possible upside in health care summit<\/a>
\nBoston Globe – Congressional Republicans see a chance for political gain in President Barack Obama’s televised health care summit next week, even though the president will be running the show. Obama and the Democrats are certain to highlight a crucial element of their health care plan — extending coverage to more than 30 million Americans — at the one-of-a-kind event. By comparison,\u00a0<\/p>\n

Obama to Appoint Deficit Commission<\/a>
\nFox News – Determined to have a deficit commission with or without Congress’ backing, President Obama plans to announce on Thursday that he is establishing a panel similar to — although weaker than– the one lawmakers rejected. Former White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles and former Republican Senate Whip Alan Simpson would lead the panel, a senior administration official said Tuesday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

One year later, stimulus has mixed record<\/a>
\nWashington Times – A year after it became law, the stimulus package costs more than promised, has failed to keep down the unemployment rate and has faced charges of waste and abuse. But the federal spending – all of it borrowed – has helped many states avoid painful budget cuts to their education and public safety budgets, and according to official estimates has helped the gross domestic product grow faster than\u00a0<\/p>\n

Poll: Most Americans think Congress should start over on healthcare<\/a>
\nThe Hill – In a brutal assessment of the Democratically authored healthcare reform bills pending in Congress and the party’s approach to healthcare, more than half of the respondents to a new Zogby International-University of Texas Health Science Center poll said that lawmakers should start from scratch.<\/p>\n

Stimulus funds going to slashed programs<\/a>
\nUSA Today –\u00a0 More than $3.5 billion in economic stimulus funds are going to programs that President Obama wants to eliminate or trim in his new budget. The president’s budget released this month recommends getting rid of Army Corps of Engineers’ drinking-water projects, which got $200 million in stimulus funds, and a U.S. Department of Agriculture flood-prevention program, which received $290<\/p>\n

The Green Politics Behind Obama’s Boost for Nuclear Power<\/a>
\nTime Magazine – one of President Obama’s signature ideals is the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons. He’s spent diplomatic capital trying to negotiate a new nuclear-arms-control agreement with Russia, and in his Nobel Peace Prize speech in December, he called atomic-weapons control “the centerpiece of my foreign policy,” asking all nuclear countries to work toward disarmament.\u00a0<\/p>\n

White House to issue progress report on anniversary of economic stimulus<\/a>
\nWashington Post – President Obama’s signing of the massive, politically contentious economic stimulus package. The $787 billion bill was a classic rendering of the precepts of economist John Maynard Keynes: With employers laying off workers, credit drying up and consumers battening down, the theory went, the government needed to do all it could to inject demand.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

National News\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/h2>\n

Secretary Duncan, Congressman Connolly Visit Riverside Elementary for One Year …<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 U.S. Department of Education (press release)\u00a0–\u00a0 Today, US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and US Rep. Gerry Connolly highlighted the positive impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) …\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sallie Mae backs core of overhaul<\/a>\u00a0 USA Today (blog)\u00a0– ?The student loan reform alternative that we support has much more in common with the administration’s proposal than Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s …\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

TIME.com Today’s Top Stories<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Haiti: What to Do with a Nation of Amputees<\/em><\/a>\u00a0 Amputees already suffered terrible discrimination before the quake. Now, as the country tries to recover, almost 2% of its population may need artificial limbs and therapy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The Military’s New Surge in Accountability<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0In a break with the past, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is firing, not rewarding, his top military leaders if they fail. And that focus on accountability is filtering through the ranks\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The Green Politics Behind Obama’s Boost for Nuclear Power<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 By spending billions to back the Republican-friendly nuclear industry, will the White House get some GOP support for the floundering climate-and-energy bill?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The Case for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Opponents have some arguments worth considering, but they don’t outweigh the need for a new agency to protect consumers against the banks\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Biden’s Stimulus PR Fears Confirmed \u2014 Sort Of<\/em><\/a>\u00a0 We can say this for Joe Biden: He saw the Stimulus backlash coming\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Word of the Day for Wednesday, February 17, 2010<\/em><\/h1>\n

hypnagogic \\hip-nuh-GOJ-ik; -GOH-jik\\, adjective:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Of, pertaining to, or occurring in the state of drowsiness preceding sleep.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Below are\u00a0links to news stories of interest from\u00a0newspapers that came up during a search\u00a0today.\u00a0\u00a0These 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\u00a0your computer is recommended.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 State News\u00a0 Responsible Budget Coalition Takes to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4160,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-331165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}