The members of the Illinois State Board of
Education will meet Wednesday and Thursday this week in
Springfield. First and foremost, they will be tackling their
budget recommendation for FY 2013. The forecast for state
spending continues to be grim in 2013, with predictions showing
that nearly all growth in revenue will be absorbed by increased
pension and Medicaid costs and the cost of paying down existing
debt.
During the past three years we have seen a decrease in state
education funding of $650 million. The Governor's office has
indicated that many agency budgets will be reduced during the
coming fiscal year, however, earlier this month they noted their
commitment to education and indicated they would like to
maintain le vel funding. You can listen to the budget discussion
at the agency's website (http://www.isbe.net)
at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
In addition to the budget discussion, the Board will be updated
on our efforts to develop and submit a successful waiver
application to the U.S. Department of Education, due in
mid-February, to relieve Illinois school districts from some
requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. Our focus as we're
developing the waiver proposal is on the Board's goals,
especially in advancing college and career readiness. While
accountability will remain high, schools will also receive
credit for closing the achievement gap and making progress based
on a growth measure to be approved by the Board. Board
discussion on the wa iver request will follow their discussion
of the budget Wednesday afternoon.
Finally, I know many of you are interested in participating in
our Race to the Top grant. Under Illinois' plan, local districts
will serve as "reform exemplars" and share in the $21.4 million
that has been set aside specifically for local districts. We
will provide more information about how you may become a
participating district tomorrow via IWAS and will post that
information on our Race to the Top page on our website at
http://www.isbe.net/racetothetop/default.htm.
Have a great week!
Chris
