Distributed via Email: December 7, 2007

STILL NO BIMP; STATE AID CHANGES COMING?

Governor Rod Blagojevich took no action this week on the budget implementation bill (BIMP), SB 783, so the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) still cannot calculate school districts' General State Aid (GSA) payments using the $400 per pupil increase in the foundation level that was contained in the Fiscal Year 2008 budget. The bill was sent to the governor on Nov. 5; he has 60 days to take action on the legislation. The bill must be enacted to reflect the new foundation level amount before the ISBE can release the funds accordingly.

In State Superintendent Chris Koch's weekly message Wednesday, he indicated that some changes may be made to certain school districts' state aid payments. The ISBE has collected the updated information for the calculation of general state aid – equalized assessed valuation, average daily attendance, corporate personal property replacement taxes – so state aid amounts should have indicated the use of this new data starting in November. However, because of the delay of the BIMP bill, the agency put a hold on using the new data and the state aid amounts remained the same as they have since the beginning of the fiscal year, July 1.

But in this week's message, the superintendent stated: "We have received numerous questions recently regarding our capacity for continuing to fund general state aid to districts at the gross Fiscal Year 2007 levels. While we can maintain the vast majority of districts at this level, it has become necessary to begin making modifications with a limited number of districts that have experienced considerable changes to Equalized Assessed Valuation and/or attendance to the extent that their General State Aid would have substantially decreased. Our plan is to work individually with districts in those circumstances during each payment period and modify individual district payments as necessary. Of course, all districts have had sizable increases in Corporate Personal Property Replacement Taxes this year."

The Alliance is trying to delve deeper into this issue to determine what a "limited number of school districts" means and what is the resulting change in their GSA. If your district has been contacted by the ISBE concerning a change in your general state aid payments, please contact one of the Alliance lobbyists.

The governor signed into law on Aug. 13 the Green Cleaning Schools Act. This Act requires that by May 9, 2008, all school districts shall establish a green cleaning policy and exclusively purchase and use environmentally-sensitive cleaning products pursuant to the guidelines established by the Illinois Green Government Coordinating Council. The Council has submitted draft guidelines for public comment from Dec. 7 to Jan. 8, 2008.

The following comments provide an analysis of the draft guidelines and give school management officials information to use in their "public comments":

• The Alliance believes that the inclusion of cleaning equipment and paper products goes beyond the intent of the legislation, which was to encourage schools to use green cleaning solvents.
• The Alliance requests the inclusion of an exemption option that recognizes the human cost of implementing these guidelines (e.g., training costs).

A few points in the guidelines to highlight:

• Items in the required section are the only items school districts need to request an exemption from.
• The statute refers to schools individually when it mentions implementation and exemptions. The guidelines (p. 8) allow a school district to apply on behalf of the schools in the district – "An exemption must be sought for each school, although multiple schools in a district may apply together." This intent is reflected in the minutes of a meeting of the Council made by an attorney for the Lieutenant Governor.
• School districts need only notify the Council of any exemptions they are seeking (p.8). School districts do not need to seek approval of an exemption from the Council. This intent is also reflected in the minutes of a meeting of the Council made by an attorney for the Lieutenant Governor.
• There are no enforcement provisions written in the statute and the Council has not discussed this issue yet.
• Any training materials developed will be available on the Lieutenant Governor's website.

You are encouraged to review the entire text of the guidelines which can be found at www.standingupforillinois.org/green, click on "Comment on the Green Cleaning Schools Act", then click on "draft guidelines". Please submit public comments on the proposal accordingly. Please also send a copy of your comments to Susan Hilton at shilton@iasb.com.

The United States Congress is planning to reauthorize the "No Child Left Behind" Act in 2008. School districts are encouraged to pass a resolution urging members of Congress to make this a top priority on the Congressional agenda. The resolution should also ask them to support H.R. 648, The No Child Left Behind Improvements Act, which is a version of the reauthorization bill initiated by the National School Board Association (NSBA). H.R. 648 is a bi-partisan bill with 17 co-sponsors. A sample resolution can be found at www.nsba.org/site/docs/40300/40241.pdf. Additionally, please fax a copy of your resolution to Kathleen Branch with NSBA at 703/548-5613. NSBA will use these resolutions in their lobbying efforts on this important issue.

Though discussions continue among the governor and the four legislative leaders, no agreement has been reached on a statewide capital/infrastructure program, expansion of gaming, or financial aid for metropolitan mass transit districts. There have been rumblings about the legislature convening next week to address these issues, but no session dates have been announced as yet. The next scheduled time for the House and Senate to meet is Jan. 9, 2008.

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