State Superintendent Message
Last week was a
very busy legislative week for the Illinois education community. The
House sent to Governor Quinn what is one of the most important
pieces of education reform to ever come out of Springfield and the
budget process hit full stride as members work to complete an FY
2012 budget prior to the end of May.
Members of the House voted to pass Senate Bill 7 with only one
member voting against it and one voting present. The legislation
continues the momentum for education reform that has been building
during the past couple of years, which included the establishment of
the Illinois Longitudinal Data System, passage of the Performance
Evaluation Reform Act, and adoption of the internationally
benchmarked, new Illinois learning standards.
SB 7 impacts all aspects of the education system in Ill inois,
requiring training for board members, providing teachers and
students with an opportunity to give input on the instructional
climate in buildings and allowing for greater transparency in
contract negotiations. In addition, it makes performance a primary
criterion in layoffs, ties tenure and certification to performance
and streamlines the process for tenured teacher dismissals.
SB 7 has gained national attention for the sweeping changes it makes
and for the way the legislation all came together - as a cooperative
process with all parties at the table. It's truly amazing and
something that would not have been imagined just five years ago. It
now goes to Governor Quinn for his signature. You can read the full
text of SB 7 at
http://www.ilga.gov
/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=7&GAID=11&GA=97&DocTypeID=SB&LegID=53964&SessionID=84.
Also last week the House and Senate continued their work towards
developing a new FY 2012 budget by passing their own, competing
versions. We have concerns with the budget from each chamber. The
Senate version of the FY 12 budget contains a reduction in Mandated
Categoricals that could jeopardize some of our federal funds, and
the House version reduces General State Aid by $150 million. We will
continue to work in the coming weeks with legislators and their
staffs to try to minimize the overall repercussion to schools in the
final version that passes as session comes to an end. I encourage
you to reach out to your local legislators so that they understand
how their schools will impacted in their districts back home. You
can access the House budget proposal at
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=327&GAID=11&GA=97&DocTypeID=HB&LegID=56109&SessionID=84
and the Senate's proposal at
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=2458&GAID=11&GA=97&DocTypeID=SB&LegID=59664&SessionID=84.
Finally, last week the local school board in East St. Louis voted to
accept an intergovernmental agreement with the State Board to cede
much of its authority to the state. This district has been failin g
its students for years and drastic steps had to be taken. This is
the second such district intervention this year (the other being in
the Lake County district of North Chicago) and as we move forward
and build capacity to intervene in failing districts, I anticipate
developing more of these types of agreements. I am interested in
hearing your thoughts on this and may be asking for expertise and
assistance in the future.
Have a great week.
Chris
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