Distributed via Email: April 23, 2010

LEGISLATURE FINISHES UP COMMITTEE WORK

Lawmakers in Springfield finished up a hectic week of deliberating on bills in committee today (Friday). Today is the deadline for House committees to discuss Senate bills and for Senate committees to dispatch with House bills. A few bills were exempt from the deadline as motions were approved to extend the deadline for those particular bills. Next week both chambers will be considering legislation before the full respective legislative bodies and any late amendments will be added.

Budget work continued in the various appropriations committees. No legislative proposal has emerged, however, to create any new revenue streams. Though Governor Pat Quinn has proposed a 1% income tax surcharge for education, no such legislation has been introduced. A tax initiative that passed the Senate last year, HB 174 (Miller, Dolton), languishes in the House Rules Committee. ( http://www.iasb.com/govrel/hb174analamend2web.pdf )

Meanwhile, there is a movement in Washington, D.C. in the United States Senate to provide funding for public education. The “Keep Our Educators Working Act of 2010” (S. 3206) is designed to help school districts and states avoid layoffs and budget cuts affecting core instruction, academic intervention and tutoring, school counseling, transportation, extracurricular services that help provide a well-rounded education, and other support services for students. It is estimated that this bill could bring $970 million to Illinois, with nearly $750 million of that amount earmarked for public K-12 education.

Please call your U.S. senators and urge support of this important legislation.

CHICAGO VOUCHER BILL APPROVED BY PANEL

The House Executive Committee Thursday approved a bill that would create a new program for parents of students in certain Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to receive a State voucher to be redeemed at private schools in Chicago. As currently drafted, a new line item in the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) budget would have to be established to pay for the program. General Revenue Funds (GRF) – funds that could be allocated to public schools throughout the state – would be needed to pay for the voucher program and some estimates claim that the cost could be as high as $100 million. SB 2494 (Meeks, D-Chicago), opposed by the Alliance, will be up for a floor vote next week in the House of Representatives.

Students would be eligible for the voucher if they attend a CPS K-8 school that has been identified as one of lowest 10% of CPS schools in student achievement. The amount of the voucher, which could be used at any private or parochial school in Chicago, would be “the lesser of (i) the foundation level of support amount specified in subsection (B) of Section 18-8.05 of the School Code or (ii) the actual qualified education expenses related to the qualifying pupil's enrollment.”

Now is not the time to take tens of millions of dollars away from public schools and transfer those funds to private schools. Please contact your state representative and urge a “NO” vote on SB 2494.

MANDATE RELIEF BILL ADVANCES

The Senate Education Committee this week unanimously approved a bill to provide mandate relief to school districts. HB 4711 (Eddy, R-Hutsonville) states 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. Current mandates already on the books would still be in effect. Exempted from the legislation are bills that relate to the “Race to the Top” program or any new funding requirement that falls under Chapter 820 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes relating to labor issues. The bill is now before the full Senate.

The final committee vote total, however, does not mean that the bill is guaranteed to pass the Senate. There is strong opposition to the bill from the teachers’ unions, special education advocates, the American Heart Association, and others. Please contact your state senator and urge a “YES” vote.

OTHER ALLIANCE SUCCESSES

Because of the grassroots involvement of school superintendents, board members, principals, and business officials, the Alliance was successful in stopping or stalling several onerous pieces of legislation this week. The participation from school managers in the district, along with the direct lobbying efforts of the six Alliance staff lobbyists, allowed for the derailment of the following bills:

SB 3566 (Delgado, D-Chicago) creates the Abusive Work Environment Act that creates liberal new violations of unlawful employment practices while attempting to protect against “workplace bullying”. The Alliance worked with the Governor’s office, State agencies, and other local government groups in opposition to the bill. The bill was defeated in the House Labor Committee.

HB 5126 (Pihos, R-Glen Ellyn) 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 failed to receive the requisite number of votes and was held in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

HB 5766 (Lyons, D-Chicago) created another insurance mandate, requiring all health insurance plans to cover $500 per employee for smoking cessation programs. The bill was held in the Senate Public Health Committee.

HB 6112 (Flider, D-Mt. Zion) ends the Prevailing Wage Act exemption for a certain class of truckers and would significantly increase costs for public works projects/school construction projects by expanding the scope of the Act. The bill was held in the Senate Labor Committee as the sponsor decided not to call the bill for a vote because of the strong opposition.

The Alliance also supported several bills and was successful in helping to move those bills through the legislative process:

HB 5154 (Chapa La Via, D-Aurora) amends the Personnel Record Review Act to provide that disclosure of performance evaluations under the Freedom of Information Act shall be prohibited. This would apply to all school district employees (a law signed earlier this year extended this protection to teachers, principals, and superintendents). The bill was approved by the Senate Labor Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for further consideration.

HB 6041 (Eddy) allows school districts to increase, abate, maintain, abolish, and re-create working cash funds and provides that moneys in the working cash fund may be used by the school board for any and all school purposes. The bill was approved by the Senate Executive Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for further consideration.

HB 6241 (Black, R-Danville) , 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 Senate Revenue Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for further consideration.

“HOT BILL” ACTION THIS WEEK

SB 2537 (Maloney, D-Chicago) , an Alliance initiative, provides that an endorsement for a chief school business official endorsement must include the requirement that the certificate holder has 6 semester hours of internship in school business management. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives and will be sent to the Governor for his consideration.

SB 2980 (Maloney) , supported by the Alliance, allows a school board to waive, by resolution, any statutory or regulatory curricular mandate for which the school district does not receive a separate State appropriation through the ISBE or reimbursement by the State to extend the school day or year. Exceptions to the bill include curricula for physical education, drivers’ education, and courses required for high school graduation. The bill was defeated in the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee.

SB 3266 (Lightford, D-Maywood) originally required a new comprehensive policy and additional mandatory requirements in every school district regarding bullying. The Alliance was successful in removing all of the mandates and now the bill only contains provisions to define bullying and to establish a task force to study the bullying issue. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives and it will be sent to the Governor for his consideration.

HB 16 (Flowers. D-Chicago) was amended to abolish the Regional Office of Education that serves suburban Cook County and transfers those duties and powers to the Education Service Center. The bill was approved by the Senate Education Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for consideration.

HB 4886 (Black) allows a school district to adopt an alternative school calendar for a 4-day school week, under certain circumstances. The bill was defeated in the Senate Education Committee.

HB 5483 (Kosel, R-New Lenox) amends the Open Meetings Act to require a public body to approve the minutes of its open meeting within 30 days after the meeting or at the second subsequent regular meeting. It also requires the minutes to be made available within 10 days (instead of 7 days) after their approval and to post the minutes on the website within 10 days (instead of 7days) after their approval. Finally, the bill states that any person shall be permitted an opportunity to address public officials at

the meeting. The bill was approved by the Senate Executive Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for further consideration.

HB 6065 (Cross, R-Oswego) 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. The bill was amended and approved by the Senate Executive Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for further consideration. The amendment was the result of countless hours of discussions between the bill’s proponents and the Alliance in an effort to ease implementation of the new requirements and to provide additional protections.

HB 6419 (Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates ) creates the School District Intergovernmental Cooperation Renewable Energy Act to allow for school districts to form an agency for the purpose of providing electrical energy from wind sources. The bill was approved by the Senate Energy Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for further consideration.

OTHER BILL ACTION THIS WEEK

SB 615 (Holmes, D-Aurora) amends the Local Food, Farms, and Jobs Act to require the Department of Agriculture to establish, and make available on its website, an electronic database to facilitate the purchase of fresh produce and food products by schools. The bill was approved by the Senate Agriculture and Conservation Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for further consideration.

SB 2499 (Noland, D-Elgin) provides that, if a school district's boundaries span multiple counties, then the Department of Revenue shall send to the ISBE, for the purpose of calculating general State aid, the limiting rate and individual rates by purpose for the county that contains the majority of the school district's equalized assessed valuation. The bill was approved by the House Executive Committee and was sent to the House floor for further consideration.

SB 2507 (Wilhemi, D-Joliet) increases the debt limit for Wilmington 209U under certain circumstances. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives and it will be sent to the Governor for his consideration.

SB 2594 (Lightford) removes the “sunset date” for preschool educational program grants. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives and will be sent to the Governor for his consideration.

SB 2810 (Harmon, D-Oak Park) makes several changes regarding the awarding of contracts under the Local Government Energy Conservation Act. For the guaranteed energy savings contracts, it provides that energy savings may include energy reduction and offsetting sources of renewable energy funds including renewable energy credits and carbon credits. The bill was approved by the House Executive Committee and was sent to the House floor for further consideration.

SB 3332 (Cronin, R-Elmhurst) provides that all sex education courses that discuss sexual intercourse shall teach pupils about the dangers associated with drug and alcohol consumption during pregnancy. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives and it will be sent to the Governor for his consideration.

SB 3334 (Lauzen, R-Aurora) amends the Property Tax Code to provide that boards of review and the Property Tax Appeal Board shall consider compulsory sales of comparable properties for the purpose of revising and correcting assessments. The bill was approved by the House Cities and Villages Committee and was sent to the House floor for further consideration.

SB 3547 (Clayborne, D-E. St. Louis) allows for various sources of school funding to be used for the purchase of electronic textbooks. The bill was approved by the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

SB 3483 (Luechtefeld, R-Okawville) expands the debt limitations for the West Washington County Community Unit School District under certain conditions. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives and will be sent to the Governor for his consideration.

SB 3515 (Garrett, D-Lake Forest), an Alliance initiative, makes technical “clean-up” changes to the School Code. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives and will be sent to the Governor for his consideration.

SB 3608 (Demuzio, D-Carlinville) removes the provision requiring a consumer education proficiency test. The bill was approved by the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

SB 3609 (Demuzio) provides that the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), in consultation with the State Comptroller, may transfer line item appropriations for General State Aid between the Common School Fund and the Education Assistance Fund (instead of from the Common School Fund to the Education Assistance Fund) and removes the requirement that the salaries for regional superintendents and assistant regional superintendents of schools be payable from the Common School Fund. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives and will be sent to the Governor for his consideration.

SB 3610 (Demuzio) includes the ISBE’s technical "clean-up" changes in the School Code. The bill was approved by the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

SB 3706 (Holmes) provides that the ISBE shall develop and maintain a nutrition and physical activity best practices database and that the database shall contain the results of any wellness-related fitness testing done by local school districts, as well as information on successful programs and policies implemented by local school districts designed to improve nutrition and physical activity in the public and charter schools. The bill was approved by the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee and was sent to the House floor for consideration.

HB 4879 (Eddy) includes the number of pupils enrolled in early education programs in a school district’s transportation reimbursement. The bill was approved by the Senate Education Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for consideration.

HB 5132 (Eddy) provides that the Department of Human Services' Office of the Inspector General shall have the authority to investigate and report allegations of abuse or neglect of persons with a developmental disability or adult students with disabilities. The bill was approved by the Senate Human Services Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for further consideration.

HB 5234 (Bellock, R-Hinsdale) amends provisions of the Illinois Human Rights Act prohibiting sexual harassment in higher education so that they also apply to sexual harassment in elementary and secondary schools. The bill was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for further consideration.

HB 5322 (Currie, D-Chicago) removes the "sunset date" for preschool educational program grants. The bill was approved by the Senate Education Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for consideration.

HB 5481 (Kosel) allows for the funding of local gifted education programs by ISBE, through a request for proposals process, if funds are available for that purpose. The bill was approved by the Senate Education Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for consideration.

HB 5633 (Mitchell, R-Rock Falls) provides that for school districts that have consolidated or approved a cooperative high school within a prior fiscal year, the grant index for the School Construction Grant Program shall be calculated for each of those school districts that form the new school district or cooperative high school and the average grant index of those school districts shall be used as the grant index. The bill was approved by the Senate Education Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for consideration.

HB 5863 (Eddy) makes many changes regarding the portability of criminal background checks and certification of substitute teachers. The bill was approved by the Senate Education Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for consideration.

HB 6079 (Black) provides for the establishment of cooperative high schools or elementary schools. The bill was approved by the Senate Education Committee and was sent to the Senate floor for consideration.

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.

Bill Text/Status: Illinois General Assembly

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