{"id":471797,"date":"2010-03-25T14:56:40","date_gmt":"2010-03-25T18:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/illinoiseducationassociation.org\/?p=6817"},"modified":"2010-03-25T14:56:40","modified_gmt":"2010-03-25T18:56:40","slug":"in-the-news-march-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/471797","title":{"rendered":"In the News ~ March 25"},"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\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

General Assembly passes state pension reform<\/a>
\nChicago Sun-Times – Will Lovett, a lobbyist for the Illinois Education Association, said surrounding states have much better retirement plans for their teachers, …\u00a0<\/p>\n

Illinois Assembly overhauls state pension system<\/a>\u00a0 Forbes\u00a0– By JOHN O’CONNOR – A bipartisan Illinois General Assembly handed Gov. Pat Quinn a victory Wednesday, …\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

Illinois lawmakers rush through pension reforms<\/a>\u00a0 Chicago Tribune\u00a0– Future government employees throughout Illinois would have to work longer to get full retirement …\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pension reforms zoom through General Assembly<\/a>\u00a0 Chicago Tribune (blog)\u00a0– Following years of calls for pension reform, changes that would raise the retirement age to 67 for government workers to collect full … \u00a0<\/p>\n

Illinois House passes major pension-reform package<\/a>\u00a0 Chicago Sun-Times\u00a0– ?The Illinois House overwhelmingly passed a sweeping pension-reform package this afternoon that would elevate the retirement age to 67 and restrict benefits …\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

Battle Brewing Over Public Pensions in Illinois<\/a>
\nChicago WFLD (Fox) 32 – \u00a0 As a drama teacher in Wheaton, Terri Tudor never thought she’d be following the theatrics in Springfield so closely. But with Illinois\u2019 public pensions now in the spotlight, she’s worried what will happen<\/p>\n

Pension plan primer<\/a>\u00a0 Chicago Sun Times – The sweeping pension-reform package would affect future government workers and teachers covered by 13 retirement systems — but not current employees or retirees. Here are the highlights:<\/p>\n

Don’t be fooled<\/a>\u00a0 Chicago Tribune\u00a0– ?House Speaker Michael Madigan offered numerous repetitions Wednesday of a line intended to calm public employee unions: “This bill does not affect anybody who works for a government today.”\u00a0 And that’s the problem. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Pension cuts a giant first step. Keep going.<\/a>\u00a0 Chicago Sun-Times\u00a0– ?Sweeping, radical change to the state’s pension systems finally came to Illinois on Wednesday, an important first step toward pulling the state back from …\u00a0<\/p>\n

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

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Lawsuit claims Illinois education funding unfair to taxpayers<\/a>
\nCrains Chicago Business – Two Illinois residents filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the State Board of Education and Gov. Pat Quinn, claiming that funding the state’s public school districts mostly through property taxes is unconstitutional and unfair to taxpayers. Illinois has more than 800 public school districts. The state sets minimum per student funding levels with specified tax rates for each district.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cash crunch hits more schools<\/a>
\nChicago Sun Times – school systems all over Illinois are in deep financial trouble. On Wednesday, the state Board of Education identified which ones are hurting the most. Twenty-nine school districts statewide landed on the board’s annual “financial watch” list, based on low scores they received on financial reviews in the 2008-2009 budget year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Illinois schools put on financial watch list<\/a>
\nChicago Tribune – Illinois education officials on Wednesday put more than two dozen school districts on the annual financial watch list that is reserved for the most cash-strapped school systems. In all, 3.3 percent of Illinois school districts had the lowest financial ranking.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

School districts flagged by state for shaky finances<\/a>
\nChicago Daily Southtown – The Illinois State Board of Education is warning several south suburban school districts to mind their checkbooks, according to a financial list released Wednesday. Several area school districts have been placed on the state’s early warning list, meaning the state will\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shorter school week isn’t for suburbs<\/a>
\nArlington Heights Daily – Daily Herald Editorial Board – Parents, school administrators and teacher unions are buzzing this week after the Illinois House of Representatives approved a measure to allow schools to operate on a four-day week. The legislation comes at the request of a downstate \u00a0<\/p>\n

4 school days a week? Some say no way<\/a>
\nGeneva Sun – ” The bill is in reaction to the school funding crisis, in which the state is behind $1.3 billion in payments to local districts. The budget Gov. Pat Quinn has proposed would slash an additional $1 billion from the schools next year. Chris Neidigh is principal of Somonauk High School, a rural district similar to the ones the bill was designed\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Homewood teachers union accepts pay freeze<\/a>
\nChicago Daily Southtown – from the pay freeze. “We’ve made other cuts where we can,” she said. “We needed to find money in salary in the form of a freeze or with (layoffs).” Based on the budget proposal Gov. Patrick Quinn made March 10, the district anticipates a budget deficit that’s $809,717 greater than an earlier estimate. Much of it is because of cuts in state payments,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

D204 parents say state to blame for situation :: Naperville Sun :: Local News<\/a>
\nSuburban Chicago News – Anger over the state’s education funding crisis needs to hit the right target, parents in Indian Prairie District 204 said during a packed board meeting this week.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

M-R board eliminates almost 90 positions<\/a>
\nMonmouth Daily Review Atlas – of the support staff would be called back after the logistics of transportation and school schedules are resolved for the fall. All layoffs were approved unanimously by the school board. Gov. Quinn’s budget Woehlke briefly addressed items of interest in the governor’s proposed budget, including: \u2014 A 30 percent cut in bi-lingual education \u2014 A 20 percent cut in special needs<\/p>\n

Dist. 46 to eliminate teaching positions<\/a>
\nGrayslake Review – The school board of Grayslake Elementary District 46 approved the elimination of five and a half teaching positions at its March 17 meeting, to help plug a projected $2.3 million budget deficit\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Board votes for staff cuts<\/a>
\nFreeport Journal Standard – state\u2019s inability to pay school districts. Last year, teachers took a voluntary freeze on base wages because of decreasing enrollment and revenue. Cathy Eberle, president of the Orangeville Education Association, was one of many people who appreciated the amount of time the public was given to address the board. Eberle voiced her concern to board members that cuts would jeopardize\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dundee-Crown teens rally to support teachers<\/a>
\nArlington Heights Daily Herald – before the District 300 school board is set to dismiss 10 high school and central office administrators as part of an ongoing effort to cope with delayed state payments. Because of expected cuts in education funding, the district, which initially targeted about $6.5 million in reductions, is now looking to trim $13 million to $15 million from next year’s budget, Superintendent Ken Arndt said.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Campbell: “Unprecedented” crises creates RIF of teachers<\/a>
\nHancock County Journal-Pilot – \u00a0late with $300,000 for the current fiscal year.The LaHarpe School board took their action after a RIF hearing on Tuesday, March 16.Joyce Crim presented the board with a letter from the LaHarpe Education Association expressing appreciation of the board’s support of teaching personnel, but giving concern for the impact reductions would have on students. Kristin Palmer addressed the board\u00a0<\/p>\n

Protesters march for Danville teachers<\/a>
\nChampaign News Gazette – union representatives said they hope the two sides will continue working to find a way to bring some of those people back. “That’s affecting our direct line to students,” Danville Education Association President Robin Twidwell said. “This will impact student achievement from the (pre-kindergarten) program all the way up to the high school. And it will have an impact for\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Teachers union finds way to ease Dist. 200 budget crunch<\/a>
\nArlington Heights Daily Herald – million budget deficit. Details of the agreement weren’t released. The contract must be ratified by both the union membership and the school board. Bryce Cann, president of the Wheaton Warrenville Education Association, said the union’s 1,082 teachers are expected to vote on the agreement Friday. “I am pleased that our combined efforts have brought us to a tentative agreement that functions as\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite state budget woes, Sullivan schools avoid cuts – for now<\/a>
\nJournal&Gazette Times-Courier – \u201cWe should have enough in the reserves for now. We\u2019ll be studying the situation over the course of the next year.\u201dPearcy credits the board of education with being frugal and keeping expenditures down. The board has been dealing with typical business items such as resignations and hiring.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moline High seeks waiver for driver’s ed program<\/a>\u00a0 SPRINGFIELD – Moline High School has a luxury for students learning to drive. \u00a0The school has its own range course at the school, letting new drivers learn the rules of the road and get their bumps behind the wheel in a safe and controlled area. But the school is having to beg lawmakers for special permission to keep its driver’s education training area.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Teachers must suffer with rest of us<\/a>
\nChicago Sun Times – Mayor Daley is absolutely right with his call for the teachers union to get into the real world. The union president’s comment that teachers “appreciate the real fiscal crisis facing Chicago Public Schools,” but do not plan to give up salary or benefit\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Supt. Flowers pleads innocent to theft, misconduct charges<\/a>
\nChicago Daily Southtown – Authorities alleged at the time that, in a span of about two years, he skimmed nearly $400,000 from the regional schools office, which 143 area school districts rely on for services such as teacher certification. The indictment was handed up late last month. He faces allegations he paid $340,345 in salaries and benefits to office employees out of a fund that was to be used only<\/p>\n

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

Quinn’s business tax credit advancing<\/a>
\nChicago Daily Herald – all businesses employing fewer than 50 people that add full-time jobs. The initiative was introduced last spring by Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi of Joliet, and was embraced in part by fellow Democrat Gov. Pat Quinn earlier this month. Passing the House without opposition, the legislation awards the $2,500 tax credit for every new hire so long as the employees have never been employed by the business\u00a0<\/p>\n

Report: State police plan massive layoffs, station closures<\/a>
\nArlington Heights Daily Herald – of an estimated $12 million in citation revenue for counties across the state.” Monken told a Senate appropriations committee the cuts are necessary due to the state’s budget crisis. In Gov. Pat Quinn’s latest budget, Illinois State Police will lose $32 million in general revenue fund appropriations, Monken said. Only half of the 10 officers now assigned to the Statewide Terrorism\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bernard Schoenburg: Demuzio at odds with old friend Quinn on closure<\/a>
\nSpringfield State Journal Register – gets bad enough, it\u2019s clear that even a longtime friendship can\u2019t avoid some potential pain. Take the case of state Sen. DEANNA DEMUZIO, D-Carlinville. Way back in 1974, a guy named PAT Quinn ran the successful first state Senate campaign of Demuzio\u2019s late husband, VINCE. Quinn even stayed at their home. But that didn\u2019t stop someone from the office of now-Gov. Quinn\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dirk Enger on list for lieutenant governor :: Glen Ellyn Sun :: News<\/a>
\nSuburban Chicago – \u00a0At least a dozen Democrats from Naperville and surrounding towns submitted nomination forms outlining their fitness to run alongside Gov. Pat Quinn and serve as Illinois’ next lieutenant governor. In the end, only one aspirant from this part of the state wound up on the short list. Dirk Enger, 49, currently a DuPage County Board\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

GOP urges AG Madigan to sue over health care<\/a>
\nQuincy KHQA (CBS) – letter Tuesday urging Madigan to join more than a dozen other state attorneys general who are claiming in court the law is unconstitutional. Madigan’s office says it isn’t filing a lawsuit. Gov. Pat Quinn, a fellow Democrat, says Illinois won’t do anything to try to block health care reform. The letter to Madigan was signed by U.S. Reps. Don Manzullo, Aaron Schock, Peter Roskam, Judy Biggert\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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

Gov. McDonnell wants more time for \u201cRace to the Top\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 WSLS.com\u00a0– The two-page letter to US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is dated March 16 and is signed by the governors of California, Connecticut, Kansas,\u00a0<\/p>\n

Political recriminations linger over health care<\/a>\u00a0 Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin is accusing Republicans\u00a0of engaging in a “political exercise” by slowing progress on a bill designed to complete congressional passage of the health system overhaul.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Social Security to pay more in benefits this year than it takes in<\/a>\u00a0 USA Today\u00a0– ? The Social Security system this year will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes, The New York Times reports, quoting the Congressional …\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Social Security is reaching its tipping point<\/a>\u00a0 Houston Chronicle\u00a0– The bursting of the real estate bubble and the ensuing recession have hammered jobs, home prices and now Social …\u00a0<\/p>\n

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

The Five Keys to Health Reform’s Success or Failure<\/a><\/p>\n

Will it work? And how will it work? A guide to what the new law will mean for costs, Medicare, doctors, the states \u2014 and you<\/p>\n

Netanyahu Heads Home, Still at Odds with U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n

Far from resolving the crisis in relations that began during Biden’s visit, the Israeli Prime Minister’s trip to Washington has highlighted the differences between the two sides<\/p>\n

Bailout Showdown: Greece and Germany Raise the Stakes<\/a><\/p>\n

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, says he will go to the IMF for emergency loans if the E.U. can’t agree on a bailout for his country. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel seems prepared to call his bluff<\/p>\n

The Costly F-35: The Saga of America’s Next Fighter Jet<\/a><\/p>\n

The jet was supposed to be the modest alternative to the even more expensive (cancelled) F-22. But off we go into the wild blue squander!<\/p>\n

Baby Sling Recall Highlights Moms’ Opposing Views<\/a><\/p>\n

News of the Infantino recall is further stratifying moms into two camps: sling-wearers and those who just don’t get the whole sling thing<\/p>\n

Word of the Day for Thursday, March 25, 2010<\/em><\/h1>\n

lucre<\/strong> \\LOO-kuhr\\, noun<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Monetary gain; profit; riches; money; — often in a bad sense.<\/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 General Assembly passes state pension reform Chicago Sun-Times […]<\/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-471797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471797","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=471797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471797\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}