Distributed via Email: April 16, 2009

SPRING SESSION PROGRESS REPORT

As was reported in the last Alliance Legislative Report, we are at the half-way point for the approval of legislation. For most bills, the deadline has passed for them to have been sent to the second chamber for consideration. So legislators will now be dealing with about one quarter of the nearly 7,000 bills that have been submitted. The Alliance lobbyists are now tracking just over 300 bills as opposed to the nearly 800 bills that were once on the "bill user file".

Many bills opposed by the Alliance have gone by the wayside. Some were never considered in committee; some were not called for a vote on the chamber floor; and some were defeated on votes either in committee or on the floor. Of course, any proposal could resurface again through an amendment to another bill or through a parliamentary procedure.

Many other bills opposed by the Alliance are still "alive", but have been amended to address Alliance concerns. Several bills opposed by Alliance lobbyists were approved by a committee only on the condition that the bill sponsor work with the Alliance to improve the bill through amendments. Often times the Alliance was the only organization opposing a bill that would have a detrimental affect on school districts.

Below is a list of some of the legislation that the Alliance was involved in. No bills could be stopped or amended if not for the participation and advocacy of Alliance members in the field. The Alliance lobbyists truly appreciate all of the school board members, superintendents, business officials, principals, and other administrators that have contacted their legislators on bills and that have provided the necessary background information to the Alliance lobbyists.

Additional information on legislation can be found on the websites of the respective Alliance organizations. A new "Hot Bills List" can be found at: http://www.iasb.com/govrel/hotbills.cfm

A list of "live bills" that contain proposed new mandates on school districts can be found at:

http://www.iasb.com/govrel/mandates09.cfm

BILLS AMENDED BY THE ALLIANCE

The following bills were amended to address Alliance concerns:

HB 16 (Flowers, D-Chicago) originally would have allowed 4 year olds to begin kindergarten if they had previously been in a pre-school program. The bill was amended to address Alliance opposition and now only applies to Chicago Public Schools. The bill passed the House and is pending in the Senate.

HB 21 (Flowers) originally would have mandated that school boards require all students who participate in an interscholastic athletic program to undergo an electrocardiogram (EKG) test. The bill was amended to address Alliance opposition and now only applies to Chicago Public Schools. The bill stalled in the House of Representatives.

HB 281 (Bellock, R-Hinsdale) and SB 152 (Garrett, D-Lake Forest) originally required comprehensive and burdensome requirements for school districts relating to the accommodations of students with life-threatening food allergies. The bills were amended to address Alliance opposition and the changes will make the bill easier for school districts to implement. The bills passed their houses of origin.

HB 628 (Osterman, D-Chicago) provides that the parent, an independent educational evaluator, or an expert retained by a parent must be afforded access of sufficient duration and extent to educational personnel, facilities, classrooms, and buildings and to the child in order to conduct an evaluation of the child, the child’s performance, the child's current educational program, placement, or environment, or any proposed educational program, placement, or environment. Amendments have been added to address some of the Alliance concerns.

HB 744 (Ryg, D-Vernon Hills) contains "school accountability" language designed to be added to any new school funding bill. Still a work in progress, it currently includes provisions for increased school district financial reporting, mandatory school board member training, and an "Education Inspector General". The Alliance is in negotiations on the bill and the mandatory training provision and the inspector general provision are expected to be removed from the bill.

HB 806 (Fortner, R-West Chicago) originally would have allowed children to enter first grade early (at the age of 6 years on or before Dec. 31). The bill was amended to address Alliance opposition and now allows such, but according to the school district’s assessment of the child’s readiness. The bill passed the House of Representatives and is pending in the Senate.

HB 973 (Chapa La Via, D-Aurora) originally would have required a unit of instruction on teen dating violence. The bill was amended to address Alliance opposition and now allows schools to include such instruction in health class. The bill passed the House and is pending in the Senate.

HB 2386 (Hernandez, D-Cicero) originally would have mandated all high schools to require that students perform community service before receiving their high school diploma. The bill was amended to address Alliance opposition and now only applies to J.S. Morton High School District 201. The bill passed the House and is pending in the Senate.

HB 4223 (May, D-Highland Park) originally would have required each school board to have all schools annually test for the presence of radon. The bill was amended to address Alliance opposition and now recommends that schools be tested for radon every 5 years. The bill passed the House of Representatives and is pending in the Senate.

HB 4318 (Verschoore, D-Milan) and SB 1665 (Jacobs, D-East Moline) originally would have required a unit of instruction on testicular cancer and would have required school districts to enforce a policy that school health exams require hernia checks for boys. The bills were amended to address Alliance opposition and they now include cancer instruction as part of the health class and require the IHSA to include on its athletic forms a question about any family history of cancer. The bills both were approved by their houses of origin.

SB 95 (Harmon, D-Oak Park) creates the Care of Students with Diabetes Act to require that the Department of Human Services and the State Board of Education develop guidelines regarding the care of students with diabetes and requires school boards to adopt a policy based upon those guidelines. Alliance recommendations were included in the amendment to the bill.

SB 1557 (Delgado, D-Chicago) originally required a new unit of instruction on the history of Mexican-American U.S. citizens. The bill was amended to address Alliance opposition and now includes the instruction as part of the current history curriculum. The bill was passed by the Senate.

SB 1718 (Clayborne, D-E. St. Louis) further defines "weapon" for student discipline and suspension/expulsion purposes and provides school districts more flexibility in the area of discipline for students violating weapons policies. The Alliance is in the midst of negotiating changes to the bill.

SB 1769 (Steans, D-Chicago) originally included burdensome new requirements regarding a school district’s notification of the application of pesticides on school grounds. The bill was amended to address Alliance opposition and now includes the opportunity for school districts to have a policy addressing the notification and compliance procedures with the various pesticide acts. The bill was passed by the Senate and is pending in the House of Representatives.

SB 1828 (Steans), a State Board of Education initiative, creates the P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act. It requires the ISBE, the Illinois Community College Board, and the Board of Higher Education to jointly establish and maintain a longitudinal data system by entering into one or more agreements that link early learning, elementary, and secondary school student unit records with institution of higher learning student unit records. Alliance legal staff and executive directors have been heavily involved in the shaping and drafting of this legislation.

SB 1885 (Hultgren, R-Winfield) provides that a "disruptive student" includes suspension or expulsion eligible students and students against whom juvenile or criminal proceedings alleging the commission of a felony are pending. This makes the student eligible for an alternative school. The Alliance is in the midst of negotiating changes to the bill.

BILLS THAT HAVE STALLED IN THE PROCESS

The following are bills opposed by the Alliance that have been stalled and did not receive approval before the deadline:

HB 17 (Flowers, D-Chicago) would have added commemorative holidays for school districts and required the study of Black History to include the Gettysburg Address, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s "I Have a Dream Speech", and President Barack Obama’s victory speech. The bill was defeated in the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee.

HB 90 (Ford, D-Chicago) deletes the provision of law that requires public health officials to give notice to a principal of a school in which a child is enrolled when a school aged child has acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The bill was not called for a vote on the House floor.

HB 166 (Coulson, R-Glenview) and SB 67 (Silverstein, D-Chicago) would have required all new school buses to be equipped with seatbelts. The bills were not considered in their assigned committees.

HB 205 (Leitch, R-Peoria) would have required the use of dilating drops for the internal and external examination for children receiving their eye examination before enrolling in kindergarten. The bill was not considered in its assigned committee.

HB 326 (Pihos, R-Glen Ellyn) would have changed the confidentiality requirements for school social workers, school counselors, school psychologists, or interns working under the direct supervision of such titles. The bill was not called for a vote on the House floor.

HB 374 (Turner, D-Chicago) created the Abusive Work Environment Act that would have created significant, new legal hurdles for employers in situations where an employee alleged an "abusive work environment" existed in the workplace. The bill was not called for a vote on the House floor.

HB 401 (Davis, M., D-Chicago) would have required all Charter School teachers and paraprofessionals to meet State certification requirements and federal NCLB requirements. The bill was not considered in its assigned committee.

HB 449 (Ford) would have established one statewide student expulsion policy for all school districts. The bill was not considered in its assigned committee.

HB 495 (Mathias, R-Buffalo Grove) would have prohibited regional superintendents from inspecting school buildings and new school construction plans and would have required the use of independent third parties with at least 6,000 hours of relevant training to do the inspections. The bill was not considered in its assigned committee.

HB 538 (Jefferson, D-Rockford) would have required that certain schools (low-income/high violence areas) to employ at least one full-time social worker, have at least one gymnasium available for recess, provide at least one recess period per day, and offer at least one course in art. The bill was not considered in its assigned committee.

HB 618 (Ford) would have required that all receipts from the Illinois Lottery are to be distributed to each school district based upon the proportion of lottery sales in that school district in relation to statewide lottery sales. The bill was defeated on the House floor.

HB 765 (Howard, D-Chicago) would have created burdensome new requirements for employers regarding the consideration of hiring job applicants who may have had a criminal arrest or criminal charge without being convicted, or who had a criminal conviction expunged. The bill was not considered on the House floor.

HB 788 (Rita, D-Blue Island) would allow for State takeover of school districts that are in "school management difficulty". Administrators and school board members could be removed from their positions. The bill was not called for a vote in its assigned committee.

HB 835 (Coulson) provided that the determination of eligibility for special education must be made and the IEP must be completed within 60 calendar days from the date of written parental consent for both pre-kindergarten students and for all other special education students. The bill was not called for a vote on the House floor.

HB 987 (McCarthy, D-Orland Park) would have required school districts to provide transportation to students who reside within 1 mile (instead of 1½ miles) of the school. The bill was not considered in its assigned committee.

HB 990 (Ford) and SB 102 (Trotter, D-Chicago) would have prohibited school cafeterias from using trans fats in cooking. The bills were not considered in their assigned committee.

HB 2291 (Miller, D-Dolton) and SB 1645 (Delgado) would have required each school board to perform an annual assessment of the physical fitness levels of all students in grades 5, 7, and 9 which shall be reported on the school district's school report card. The bills were not approved by their assigned committees.

HB 2508 (Pihos) would have required a unit of instruction on Pontian Greek Genocide. The bill was not called for a vote on the House floor.

HB 4323 (McAsey, D-Lockport) would have made vocational education joint agreement entities eligible for grants under the School Construction Grant Program. The bill was not called for a vote on the House floor.

SB 299 (Noland, D-Elgin) provided that if an education support person (ESP) was in the service of more than one school district, then the sick leave days from all such employers shall be credited for pension service (currently only sick leave days from last employer). The bill was sent to a sub-committee for further study.

SB 2048 (Kotowski, D-Park Ridge) required school districts to adopt a medication management plan for all students who were in need of medication during the school day. The bill was not called for a vote in its assigned committee.

SB 2268 (Lauzen, R-Aurora) provided vouchers to parents of autistic children to be used at private schools. The bill was held in the Senate Education Committee.

OTHER BILLS HALTED

There were also dozens of bills that were introduced that proposed to add new State income tax credits or local property tax exemptions. The Alliance took blanket opposition to all such bills that would erode either the State’s revenue stream or the local property tax revenue stream. Most of the bills failed to advance, though a few are still viable.

Likewise, several bills were submitted that would have required all health insurance plans to provide coverage for specific health conditions. As employers, school districts would have incurred the burden of higher insurance costs as these new coverages would be automatically added to the plans. The Alliance also took blanket opposition to all such bills. Again, most of the bills were halted, but a few are still making their way through the legislative process.

ALLIANCE BILLS ADVANCE

HB 493 (Pritchard, R-Hinckley), an Alliance initiative that authorizes an additional statement to be added to the Truth in Taxation Notice regarding PTELL and CPI, passed the House.

HB 737 (Smith, D-Canton) and SB 235 (Lightford, D-Maywood), containing this Alliance initiative that updates the school principal mentoring program, each passed their house of origin.

SB 187 (Maloney, D-Chicago), the Alliance initiative regarding the chief school business official endorsement, was approved by the Senate.

SB 1276 (Demuzio, D-Carlinville), the Alliance initiative that establishes a superintendent mentoring program, was approved by the Senate.

SB 2051 (Crotty, D-Oak Forest), the Alliance initiative regarding PTELL limiting rates, was approved by the Senate.

*The legislative report is written and edited by the lobbyists of the Illinois Association of School Boards to provide information to the members of the organizations that comprise the Statewide School Management Alliance.

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