Distributed via Email: March 12, 2010

The House of Representatives met its deadline today (Friday) to consider bills in House committees. The Senate started the process of debating bills on the floor of the Senate and amending bills that still needed additional work. The Senate has one more week to dispense with Senate bills that are pending on the Senate floor. The House, then, has two weeks to consider bills on the House floor.

As reported in Wednesday's Alliance Legislative Report (96-49), Governor Pat Quinn delivered his Budget Address this week to outline his spending priorities for the Fiscal Year 2011 budget. Details of his proposed education budget can be found here.

DISCUSSIONS ON SCHOOL MANDATES CONTINUE

In the same week that the governor proposed that the budget for elementary and secondary education be slashed by 17% for the upcoming fiscal year, and while the meter that gauges the overdue state payments to school districts has climbed to over $850 million, the Alliance is still losing traction on efforts to lessen the impact of unfunded mandates on school districts.

In the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee this week, HB 4711 (Eddy, R-Hutsonville) was again amended. The bill originally would have provided relief to school districts regarding laws that place requirements on school districts but are not funded by the state. Because of objections to the original bill by the teachers' unions and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), the bill had been amended twice to add a laundry list of "exceptions" to the bill – mandated items that school districts would have to continue to provide even without any state funding.

A third amendment was added Thursday evening that now makes the bill prospective only. Now, no current mandates would be affected by the legislation; there will be no relief for school districts for mandated programs that are already in place, even if little or no state funding is provided. The bill does, however, state that a school district is under no obligation to comply with any new mandated program enacted after the effective date of this law (if this bill would be signed into law) unless the state provides a specific appropriation for the implementation of the new mandate. The teachers' unions and the ISBE removed their opposition to the bill with the amendment.

OTHER MANDATE LEGISLATION

The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee killed a bill this week that would have provided some relief regarding curricular mandates. HB 5889 (Pihos, R-Glen Ellyn) would have provided that, beginning July 1, 2010, public school districts are not required to implement instructional mandates if the state does not provide an appropriation for a longer school day or school year. A similar bill, SB 2980 (Maloney, D-Chicago), is pending in the Senate.

The same House committee approved a measure to study such mandates. HJR 74 (Eddy) establishes a Blue Ribbon Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education Mandates to make recommendations to the General Assembly on unnecessary and costly mandates in the School Code and the Administrative Code.

The House committee's Sub-Committee on Mandates, however, did hold in check many bills that proposed new unfunded mandates on school districts. The bills that would have added new requirements for school districts regarding trans fats, EKGs, recess, hand washing, conflict resolution instruction, published school lunch nutrition information, and mandatory kindergarten, were all defeated in the House Elementary and Secondary Education Sub-Committee on Mandates.

The bill highlighted in Alliance Legislative Report (96-48) that adds a list of new mandates on school district bullying policies is still pending in the Senate. A summary of SB 3266 (Lightford, D-Maywood) can be found here.

ACTION ON "HOT" BILLS THIS WEEK

SB 355 (Demuzio, D-Carlinville) moves back the date for Illinois' primary election. It changes the general primary election from the first Tuesday in February of even-numbered years to the third Tuesday in March of even-numbered years. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives and will be sent to the governor for consideration.

SB 3014 (Demuzio), an Alliance initiative, provides for the employment of assistant principals and addresses their duties, contracts, reclassification, and development and submission of an evaluation plan. The bill was approved by the Senate and will be sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.

SB 3117 (Garrett, D-Lake Forest), supported by the Alliance, extends the time period for allowing interfund transfers by three years (from June 30, 2010 to June 30, 2013). The bill was approved by the Senate and will be sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.

HB 4674 (Eddy), an Alliance initiative, provides an alternative method of accommodating transitional needs of students of military families. Discussions are ongoing with the proponents of having the State of Illinois entering into a national Military Compact. The bill was approved by the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

HB 4886 (Black, R-Danville) provides that a school district may, by board resolution, adopt an alternative school calendar for a 4-day school week, which must be approved by the ISBE. It sets forth requirements concerning the calendar for the school term, including requiring that it provide a minimum of at least 150 days to ensure 141 of actual pupil attendance. The calendar for the school term and any changes must be submitted to and approved by the regional superintendent of schools before the calendar or changes may take effect. The bill was approved by the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

HB 4992 (Ford, D-Chicago), opposed by the Alliance, changes the distribution of state Lottery proceeds. Instead of transferring lottery receipts into the Common School Fund for distribution through the General State Aid formula (about $650 million annually), the bill establishes a new fund that distributes the money to school districts based on the district's percentage of statewide lottery sales. The bill was approved by the House Executive Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

HB 5154 (Chapa La Via, D-Aurora), supported by the Alliance, amends the Personnel Record Review Act to provide that disclosure of performance evaluations under the Freedom of Information Act shall be prohibited. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives and was sent to the Senate for consideration.

HB 5188 (Hannig, D-Litchfield), opposed by the Alliance, provides that if a school district compensates its administrators, faculty, teachers, or other personnel at a salary more than the State Superintendent of Education ($190,000), the district is prohibited from receiving General State Aid. The bill was defeated in the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee.

HB 5450 (Nekritz, D-Northbrook) abolishes the Regional Office of Education in suburban Cook County and transfers those duties to the Educational Service Center. The bill was defeated in the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee.

HB 6042 (Eddy), beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, removes the requirement that the ISBE test pupils in the 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 8th grades in writing, and beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, students shall not be tested in writing as part of the Prairie State Achievement Examination. The bill was defeated in the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee.

HB 6065 (Cross, R-Oswego), opposed by the Alliance, requires a parent to submit a diabetes care plan for a student with diabetes who seeks assistance with diabetes care in the school setting and provides that a delegated care aide shall perform the activities and tasks necessary to assist a student with diabetes in accordance with that plan. Among many new requirements and mandates, it requires training for school employees and delegated care aides. The bill was approved by the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee with the understanding that the sponsor would work with the Alliance to amend the bill to address certain Alliance concerns.

HB 6073 (Fritchey, D-Chicago), supported by the Alliance, clarifies that a school bus must contain an operating two-way radio or a cellular radio telecommunication device while the school bus driver is in possession of a school bus. The bill was approved by the House Vehicles and Safety Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

HB 6205 (Currie, D-Chicago) requires all public schools to offer medically accurate, age appropriate, comprehensive health education as part of the health curriculum in the Critical Health Problems and Comprehensive Health Education Act. The bill was approved by the House Human Services Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

HB 6241 (Black), for manufactured homes purchased and installed after the effective date of this new law, provides that a manufactured home installed on a private property that is not in a mobile home park must be installed in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions and assessed and taxed as real property. The bill was approved by the House Revenue and Finance Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

OTHER BILL ACTION THIS WEEK

SB 2647 (Koehler, D-Peoria) makes changes for the Peoria School District regarding its use of the Public Building Commission. The bill was approved by the Senate and will be sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.

SB 3086 (Raoul, D-Chicago) requires that every bill that creates a new program or service that will be provided by the ISBE, or which expands the class of persons eligible for, or the level of benefits provided by any existing program or service provided by the ISBE, shall have prepared for it a brief explanatory statement or note which shall include a reliable estimate of the probable impact that bill will have upon the ISBE's annual budget. The bill was approved by the Senate and will be sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.

SB 3507 (Jones, E., D-Chicago) requires the Illinois Early Learning Council to make recommendations for the early childhood block grant appropriation needed to make available high-quality early childhood and family education programs and services to all eligible children. The bill was approved by the Senate and will be sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.

HB 4672 (Harris, D-Chicago) requires school social workers to attend the same in-service workshops as teachers regarding the instruction of the identification of the warning signs of suicidal behavior in teenagers. The bill was approved by the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

HB 4723 (Brady, R-Bloomington) extends the sunset allowing any taxing district to abate any portion of property taxes on a qualified historical society for assessment years 1998 through 2013. The bill was approved by the House Revenue and Finance Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

HB 4755 (Soto, D-Chicago) requires the ISBE to award 3 year grants to schools to facilitate the enrollment, attendance, and success of homeless children, subject to appropriation. The bill was approved by the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

HB 4797 (Mautino, D-Spring Valley) extends the sunset to 2016 for that section of the Property Tax Code governing the assessment of wind energy devices. The bill was approved by the House Revenue and Finance Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

HB 5126 (Pihos), opposed by the Alliance, prohibits specified information from becoming part of the pupil's record without the written consent of the pupil who disclosed the confidential information to the school counselor and provides that a school counselor may not disclose certain information deemed to be confidential. The bill was approved by the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee with the condition that the sponsor work with the Alliance to address some concerns about the bill.

HB 5322 (Currie, D-Chicago) removes the "sunset date" for preschool educational program grants. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives and will be sent to the Senate for consideration.

HB 5340 (Chapa La Via), in provisions concerning criminal history records checks, adds the Department of State Police or Statewide Sex Offender Database, or both (for clarification purposes) to the list of persons or entities to which the president of the school board or regional superintendent may transmit information concerning the record of convictions. The bill was approved by the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

HB 5483 (Kosel, R-New Lenox) amends the Open Meetings Act to require a public body to make proposed minutes of an open meeting available for public inspection within 8 business days (instead of 7 days) after the meeting to which the minutes relate and make approved minutes of an open meeting available for public inspection within 5 business days after approval. It also requires that any person be permitted an opportunity to address public officials at meetings subject to the Act under rules established and recorded by the public body. The bill was approved by the House State Government Administration Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

HB 5836 (Golar, D-Chicago) makes changes regarding the self-administration of an asthma inhaler or epinephrine auto-injector in school. It requires the parents or guardians of a pupil to provide to the school with the prescription label for the asthma inhaler or, for the epi pen, a written statement from the pupil's health care provider containing the specified information or containing a prescription label containing the specified information for use. The bill was approved by the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

HB 5838 (Burke, D-Chicago) delays the compliance dates for implementing the automated external defibrillators (AED) law for outdoor physical fitness facilities for those public entities that have more than four such facilities. The bill was approved by the House Executive Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration. More amendments are forthcoming.

HB 5981 (Fortner, R-West Chicago), supported by the Alliance, allows for an approved alternative program to the current Transitional Bilingual Education Article of the School Code. The bill was defeated in the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee.

COMMITTEES SCHEDULED FOR NEXT WEEK

HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS – ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Thursday, March 18, 8 a.m., Room 114, State Capitol

Subject Matter: Presentation of the governor's FY '11 budget for the State Board of Education

This 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 Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance.

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