{"id":393373,"date":"2010-03-05T13:35:59","date_gmt":"2010-03-05T18:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/illinoiseducationassociation.org\/?p=6225"},"modified":"2010-03-05T13:35:59","modified_gmt":"2010-03-05T18:35:59","slug":"in-the-news-march-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/393373","title":{"rendered":"In the News ~ March 5"},"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><\/p>\n

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

Illinois could get $500 million in federal education money<\/a>
\nChicago Tribune \u00a0– Koch said the state would implement nearly all of the proposed overhauls. But, he said, “It won’t happen as soon or as readily without the federal money.” The state’s largest teachers union, the Illinois Education Association, which helped craft and support the application, warned that instituting such mandates without money could be problematic. “There is a provision in the legislation\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Illinois one of 16 finalists for first round of Race to the Top …<\/a>
\nCatalyst Chicago – But Illinois was able to get signed letters of support from the Illinois Education Association as well as the IFT. The unions also played a major role in …\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Illinois schools superintendent warns of massive cuts<\/a>
\nMurphysboro American – Ken Swanson, president of the Illinois Education Association, said the General Assembly missed its chance to avoid “this Armageddon situation” last spring …\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fast Facts on Race to the Top<\/a>
\nQuad Cities Dispatch Argus — $4.5 billion in the first round — to states with specific plans to improve education. — Goals include building data systems to measure growth and success, retaining effective teachers and principals, and turning around the lowest achieving schools. A controversial condition attached to the money is that states must link student performance with teacher job evaluations\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Money is nice, but state leaders say it’s no solution<\/a>
\nQuad Cities Dispatch Argus Leader Illinois will likely need every penny of the money the state could receive from Race to the Top.\u00a0 The state is facing a billion dollar hole in the education budget from the loss of last year’s federal stimulus money. And Gov. Pat Quinn is talking about $1.5 billion in further cuts for schools and universities.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Experts warn pension reform politically toxic but necessary for Illinois’ solvency<\/a>
\nMedill Reports: Chicago- \u201cIf the state had made the payments they were supposed to make, like the teachers did, we wouldn\u2019t have any problems now.\u00a0 Pension benefits have been underfunded for 30 years, and it\u2019s wrong to punish the participants for the bad behavior of the policy makers,\u201d said Charlie McBarron, a spokesman for the IEA.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Letters to the Editor: Teachers help fund their own pensions<\/a>
\nSpringfield State Journal Register \u2013 Cinda Klickna\u00a0 – Instead of Social Security, teachers and administrators receive a pension through the Illinois teachers\u2019 Retirement System, established by the state in 1939. Instead of paying 6.2 percent of salary into Social Security,<\/p>\n

Schools stress over ISAT, hope students don’t<\/a>
\nChicago Tribune – \u00a0bells don’t ring between periods and little homework is assigned. Then there are the precautions taken to secure the integrity of the tests and detailed in a 68-page manual on the state board of education’s Web site. Teachers are instructed not to add classroom displays leading up to the test and to remove anything attached to the top of a student’s desk other than name tags.<\/p>\n

Rockford’s school service workers ratify contract<\/a>
\nRockford Register Star – Both unions are in mediation talks today at the Illinois Education Association office. Secretaries union representatives meet from 3 pm to 5 pm, …\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

D203 union to vote on contract is today <\/a>
\nSuburban Chicago News – Naperville School District 203 and its teachers could have a signed contract by Monday night. Earlier this week it was announced the district and Naperville Unit Education Association had reached a tentative contract agreement. The details of the agreement were presented Thursday night to the 1,350 members of the NUEA. Union members will vote Friday\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cuts still coming at School District 113A<\/a>
\nLemont Reporter- special meeting, the Lemont-Bromberek Combined School District 113A\u00a0 Board of Education approved a staffing plan and six resolutions by a vote of 4-2 that will eliminate the employment of 42 teacher positions, 12 paraprofessional\/secretary positions and four administrators, effective at the end of the school year. School Board members Janet Hughes and Karen Siston cast dissenting votes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hundreds speak out on proposed Dist. 200 cuts<\/a>
\nChicago Daily Herald – Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 school board members got an earful Wednesday from parents, teachers and students worried about more than $6.7 million in suggested budget cuts. More than 400 people attended a meeting about the district’s plans to address a projected $8.6 million deficit\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

D300 will let 151 teachers go<\/a>
\nElgin Courier – includes 112 teacher layoffs directly due to the District 300’s budget problems. The board continues to cut costs while the state leaves money owed to the district unpaid and threatens more cuts to education funding. Breakdown of D300 layoffs Where the teachers to be released taught this year:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

District 158 goes from surplus to deficit, so board says we must cut<\/a>
\nChicago Daily Herald –\u00a0 In an indication of the worsening prognosis for Illinois education funding, Huntley Unit District 158’s draft budget for the 2010-11 school year has gone from having a $707,000 surplus to projecting a $627,000 deficit. The change is a reflection of signals\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Layoffs, cuts on way in D-158?<\/a>
\nCrystal Lake Northwest Herald – and cut salaries, which account for about 70 percent of the operating budget. However, if layoffs were chosen, Burkey said they would need to be prepared in the next few weeks. About 600 certified teachers work with the district, he said. The school board directed the administration Thursday to create a plan to remove another $2 million from the proposed budget, with class sizes and reduced\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dave Bakke: ‘Chili’ Baker is school’s custodian … and counselor<\/a>\u00a0 In a school building, not all of the teachers stand at the classroom blackboard. \u201cHow you doin\u2019?\u201d says William \u201cChili\u201d Bryant. He turns to a visitor and explains, \u201cGotta touch base with everybody.\u201d Yes, he does. Chili meets and greets students, parents and teachers alike as he walks the halls of Harvard Park Elementary School.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bleak Financial Condition for SIU<\/a>
\nHarrisburg WSIL (ABC) 3 – Poshard addressed the media Thursday and laid out the bleak financial condition of the university. Some of the issues addressed: – The state owing SIU $145 million – Governor Quinn’s expected $100-million cut to higher education – New legislation to take away another 10% of funding – Legislation supported by SIU that would allow the university to borrow funds\u00a0<\/p>\n

Divided IECC board approves RIF list<\/a>
\nOlney Daily Mail – to make it through the calendar year with current salaries. The special meeting followed a public meeting in February in which the board took no action but gave the Illinois Eastern Colleges Education Association time to make a list of revenue and expense reduction possibilities. IECEA Representative Dr. Gary Adams, a chemistry instructor at Wabash Valley College,\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trustees first review faculty union’s proposals<\/a>
\nPrinceton Daily Clarion – Also addressing the board was Bob Blade, vice president of the Illinois Education Association. He said that no other Illinois community college system is …\u00a0<\/p>\n

UIC students, staff rally against cuts<\/a>
\nChicago WLS (ABC) 7 –\u00a0 informed that this is the first of two or three rounds of layoffs this spring, and this is the smallest,” said Joe Iosbacher, UIC office support specialist. Union leaders said the job cuts and teacher furloughs are unnecessary and the University of Illinois has sufficient cash reserves and borrowing power. Meanwhile, U of I said it has no choice because the state is half a\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hundreds protest tuition increase on U of I campus<\/a>
\nDecatur WAND (NBC) 17 –\u00a0 Hundreds protested outside the Administration Building on the University of Illinois campus Thursday afternoon. Students and teachers called for better public funding for all levels of education. They want freeze tuition instead of wages, and for the administration to put an end to layoffs and furlough days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

U Of I Faculty March To Protest Dwindling Funds<\/a>
\nWBBM TV CBS 2 Chicago – About 200 people marched through the University of Illinois’ campus in Urbana to protest holdups in state payments to the school. Professors and graduate assistants carried signs and chanted slogans during Thursday’s march. Similar events were planned on campuses around the country to protest dwindling government\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Chop, chop from the top!’<\/a>
\nMedill News Service – ready, not when you want me to!\u201d \u00a0 Dotson is one of many veteran employees losing their jobs at the university after years of employment. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In celebration of the \u201cAction for Affordable Higher education Day,\u201d UIC students and staff gathered Thursday at the student center to debate and plead with the administration for better solutions to the financial crisis that has left the\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our Opinion: U of I board should rethink Ringeisen deal<\/a>
\nSpringfield State Journal Register – IT’S A SWEET DEAL, no doubt, for a university president signing off from a lengthy career in higher education. University of Illinois Springfield Chancellor Richard Ringeisen gets $273,000 after he retires to serve as an adviser to the president of the University of Illinois.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The billion-dollar race<\/a>
\nChicago Tribune – That’s the deficit the Chicago schools face in 2010-2011. Last week, CEO Ron Huberman outlined spending cuts that have been made and sent out a plea for help. The response from teachers, through their union? Forget it. Don’t look at us. “I want to make it clear that we will not agree to any proposal that either destroys our contract or fails to maintain the integrity<\/p>\n

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

Brady wins official vote for GOP nomination<\/a>\u00a0 Results compiled by the State Board of Elections show Bill Brady has won the Republican nomination for Illinois governor. Brady beat Kirk Dillard by a margin of 193 votes. The board voted Friday morning to declare the results from the Feb. 2 primary official.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brady declared winner in GOP governor’s race<\/a>\u00a0 Herald & Review\u00a0– ? Brady now heads into the general election to face off against Democrat Pat Quinn and Green Party candidate Rich Whitney. In another close race, …\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Breaking: Dillard confirms he’ll concede<\/a>\u00a0 Chicago Current\u00a0– Pat Quinn. Quinn has consistently polled better than Brady \u2014 much better than he would if he were running against Dillard. While polls show the incumbent …\u00a0<\/p>\n

GOP gov’s race recount possible<\/a>
\nQuad Cities Dispatch Argus Leader – seek a recount, he’d be challenging a fellow Republican. That means creating dissent within his own party and probably making it more difficult for the eventual nominee to defeat Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. He’d have to decide whether that risk is worth the possible reward. The last time a candidate called for a recount in a major statewide office was 1982,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brady’s attempt to link Quinn, murder suspect falls short<\/a>
\nChicago Daily Herald – State Sen. Bill Brady, the likely GOP nominee for governor, unsuccessfully attempted Thursday to link Gov. Pat Quinn’s botched early prisoner release program with a downstate man arrested on a charge of murder. Brady, a Bloomington Republican, suggested the release of Jonathon Phillips, a 21-year-old Springfield man who was later charged with murder,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

House GOP chief douses tax increase<\/a>
\nChicago Sun Times – “We’re not going to have any discussion about revenue until we look at all these approaches that I’ve talked about,” Cross said. The House GOP leader’s comments came less than a week before Gov. Quinn is scheduled to lay out his plan to dig the state out of a $12.8 billion budget deficit. The governor is widely expected to renew his call for a state income tax increase.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

GOP, Democrats describe legislative goals<\/a>\u00a0 Chicago Daily Herald\u00a0–\u00a0 Pat Quinn’s budget address next week, when he’ll outline his plan of attack for addressing the state’s budget deficit of roughly $13 billion.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

Illinois House GOP unveils ‘economic reform agenda’<\/a>\u00a0 Crain’s Chicago Business (blog)\u00a0\u00a0 As Gov. Pat Quinn prepares to release his proposed state budget next week, Illinois House Republicans are offering their own agenda for economic reform. …\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Doomsday: New Report Spells Out Looming Budget Cuts<\/a>\u00a0 Progress Illinois (blog)\u00a0– ? Pat Quinn’s preliminary budget figures to deduce exactly how the potential cuts would impact education and social service programs.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

How to save our state: Don’t surrender the flat tax<\/a>
\nChicago Tribune –\u00a0 we do in the effort to balance the state’s budget. Right now, Illinois residents send 3 percent of what they earn to Springfield to pay state individual income taxes. Last year, Gov. Pat Quinn unsuccessfully proposed increasing the tax rate by 50 percent. We’re likely to see him repeat his request for an increase this year. Others, including state Sen. Michael Frerichs\u00a0<\/p>\n

Group pushing for ‘Fair Map’<\/a>
\nChicago Daily Southtown –\u00a0 Brad McMillan, executive director of the Institute for Principled Leadership in Public Service, said the plan is based on recommendations from the Illinois Reform Commission that Gov. Pat Quinn formed after taking office. For more information, visit www.ilfairmap.com. “The bottom line is our current system is so badly broken,” said McMillan, who was part of Quinn’s commission.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0Blago the Apprentice still a real doofus<\/a>
\nKadner: Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich waits tables on the opening episode of “Celebrity Apprentice.” He spends so much time telling customers he’s innocent that he forgets to deliver their meals.<\/p>\n

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

Protests target cuts on campuses BERKELEY,<\/a>
\nCrystal Lake Northwest Herald – Students staged raucous rallies to protest education funding cuts on college campuses nationwide Thursday. Some demonstrations got out of hand as protesters threw punches and ice chunks in Wisconsin and shut down a major freeway in California \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0MEA’s pay scale grows<\/a>\u00a0 After two years without a contract, Leslie teachers settled last fall for a 50-percent cut in so-called step increases, or annual raises for increasing seniority.\u00a0 But some staffers and officials of the Michigan Education Association got pay boosts last year ranging from 6.8 percent for the mailroom coordinator to nearly 15 percent for president Iris Salters.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Student suspended over Facebook may get clean slate<\/a>
\nOak Forest Star – But he does not characterize the meeting as a “negotiation” with the family, nor was there a “deal” struck, he said. Unclear legal territory Sonja Trainor, senior staff attorney for the National school board Association, said such situations put school administrators in a trick bag. There isn’t a U.S. Supreme Court decision that deals with free speech and how off-campus activities pertain\u00a0<\/p>\n

TIME.com Today’s Top Stories<\/a><\/em><\/h2>\n

The White House Scrambles to Tame the News Cyclone<\/a>\u00a0 Obama’s advisers are trying to rewrite the rules of presidential p.r. to stay ahead of an unforgiving, 24\/7 news swirl\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rangel, Paterson and the Fall of a Harlem Dynasty<\/a>\u00a0 The near simultaneous implosion of two prominent New York politicians could signal the end of an era\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Iran Sanctions, Is the U.S. Spinning Its Wheels? <\/a>\u00a0 Washington finds the going tough in its efforts to persuade skeptical partners to raise the pressure on Tehran. And while U.S. efforts focus largely on sanctions, Iran retains the initiative \u00a0<\/p>\n

Google’s Acquisition Binge: Why It Bought Picnik<\/a>\u00a0Google is snapping up a handful of small tech companies as it prepares to launch its new Web-based operating system. The newest buy, online photo editor Picnik, fills some special needs \u00a0<\/p>\n

Cruise Ship Disaster: How Do ‘Rogue Waves’ Work?<\/a>\u00a0 For centuries, mariners have told tales about sudden stories-high waves that emerged out of the open ocean without warning, strong enough to topple even large ships. Fact or fiction?\u00a0<\/p>\n

2 officers shot at Pentagon’s main entrance<\/a>
\nAn armed man walked up to an entrance to the Pentagon on Thursday evening, approached two police officers, calmly pulled a gun from his coat pocket and opened fire, wounding the officers before they shot him. The suspect later died, the Associated Press reported early Friday.
\n(By Allison Klein, Clarence Williams and Martin Weil, The Washington Post)<\/p>\n

Obama aides near reversal on 9\/11 trial<\/a>
\nMilitary tribunal may be urged for Mohammed and four others
\n(By Anne E. Kornblut and Peter Finn, The Washington Post)<\/p>\n

Scathing federal report dissects safety at Metro<\/a>
\nInvestigators fault transit agency leaders, monitoring committee
\n(By Lena H. Sun and Joe Stephens, The Washington Post)<\/p>\n

Salmonella prompts processed-food recall<\/a>
\nTainted flavor enhancer poses low risk to public health
\n(By Lyndsey Layton, The Washington Post)<\/p>\n

Health bill’s backers walk a tightrope on abortion<\/a>
\n(By Alec MacGillis, The Washington Post)<\/p>\n

Word of the Day for Friday, March 5, 2010<\/em><\/h1>\n

fealty<\/strong> \\FEE-uhl-tee\\, noun<\/em>:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Fidelity to one’s lord; the feudal obligation by which the tenant or vassal was bound to be faithful to his lord.
\n2.<\/strong> The oath by which this obligation was assumed.
\n3.<\/strong> Fidelity; allegiance; faithfulness.<\/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 State News Illinois could get $500 million in […]<\/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-393373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393373","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=393373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393373\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}