Madigan Fires Back at Blagojevich Lawsuit

Monday, September 24th a copy of House Speaker Michael Madigan’s Memorandum of Law In Support of Defendant Michael J. Madigan’s Motion to Dismiss was posted at www.housedem.state.il.us. This document will sicken you about how petty and acrimonious dealing have gotten in Springfield as the Governor and the General Assembly attempt to develop and pass a budget for FY 08. In this 59 page document, you will learn many interesting facts about the current dispute as presented by Speaker Madigan’s attorney. Among them are: Special legislative sessions this summer cost Illinois taxpayers almost $1 million in per diem payments to legislators. Governor Blagojevich has called 33 special legislative sessions in the last five years compared to 89 special sessions called by all other governors since 1918. If this information is to be believed, there has been a well established pattern by the Governor of using his political will to subvert the will of the General Assembly. This document supports the concept that actions by the Governor are attempts to remove the checks and balance system that upholds the “separation of powers” of the three branches of government; executive, legislative and judicial.

Without attaching blame it is obvious that this battle of political wills has paralyzed our state government and the efficient operation of all services provided by the state. This is a very sad state of affairs for our state and presents a very poor image of Illinois to the nation. What will it take to get Governor Blagojevich, Senate President Jones and House Speaker Madigan to do the work of the people of Illinois that they were duly elected to perform?

Democrats Still at Odds

The State’s leading three Democratic politicians continue their inappropriate shenanigans as we wait for a state budget. Highlights from the last few days include a court ruling from the Seventh Judicial Circuit of Illinois Sangamon County, Springfield, IL in the case of Governor Rod Blagojevich vs. Mark Mahoney, Clerk of the Illinois House of Representatives. This ruling dismissed the frivolous case brought by the Governor against Mr. Mahoney for failing to “enter a bill that was vetoed by the Governor and returned to the House of Representatives by the Secretary of State.” The court refused to rule on the suit saying, “That would essentially enable the ridiculous and embarrassing Hatfield and McCoy atmosphere at the State House to continue.” Read the full ruling at www.housedem.state.il.us. It is great to see our tax dollars wasted by such actions, especially when we don’t even have a budget!

Student Activities Abound

The next two weeks are full of activities for our students. The Marching Spartan Band will perform in two parades this weekend. Friday afternoon at 3:30 the Downers Grove South High School Homecoming Parade that begins on Springside Avenue behind the football stadium. Saturday the band travels to Plainfield for the Plainfield High School Homecoming Parade which steps off at 9:00 a.m.

Fall sports are in full swing with Girls Volleyball, Football and Boys and Girls Cross Country games and meets occurring almost nightly. Next week is the Washington D.C. Trip and Cross Country sectional meet. This is a busy time for Center Cass students. Check our calendars on the website at www.ccsd66.org for details.

State Budget Woes Continue

For those following the budget process this year you are aware that the General Assembly passed a budget several weeks ago and sent it to Governor Blagojevich. The Governor then promptly vetoed over $400 million dollars from the budget to use for his plan to provide increased access to health care for residents of Illinois. In the meantime, the BIMP (Budget Implementation Plan) that proposed an increase in funding for public education has not been passed. To further complicate the matter the Governor sued House Clerk, Mark Mahoney for not entering the veto message into the House minutes. Therefore, the question has become, will we ever see any of the funds that were included in the original budget or will it evaporate. Budget hearings called by Speaker Madigan continue around the state and have been well attended.

The dilemma for school districts is how to build a budget for FY 08, when you do not know what state revenues will be or when they might be received. School budgets must be adopted by September 25th. We will adopt a budget that does not depend on any increases in state support and be happy if any increases do come to fruition. Many school districts are not as fortunate and depend on funding from the state to operate. There has to be a better way to fund our schools!

Market Day Program

Did you know that the District 66 PTO sponsors a Market Day program? We have operated a Market Day program for over 20 years as part of our PTO fundraising program. Market Day is a shopping program that brings high quality food goods to the District on a monthly basis. Food is pre-ordered and then delivered to Lakeview Junior High School where volunteers sort it and pack your individual orders. Orders are picked up between 11:00 a.m. and noon on a Saturday morning. This is a great way to support the District PTO, get good products that you would purchase anyway and meet members of the community. Volunteers are always welcome. This is a great way to support your schools. Many people have ordered from this program for many years, long after their children have left the District.

Center Cass School District 66 PTO Donation

On Tuesday, September 11, 2007, the Center Cass School District 66 PTO donated $25,000 to the school district. These funds were raised during the 2006-2007 school year from the many activities sponsored by the PTO such as Carabba’s Night, Ease on Down the Road to Oz and Market Day to name a few. Volunteers from all three schools work throughout the school year to provide not only funding for our schools, but also to provide each school with special programs and activities for our students. We are fortunate to have such a fine supportive group to assist us in the operation of our schools. This year’s donation will continue to support the District Technology Plan. The District PTO has long been a supporter of technology in our schools and has provided many resources to help support our operation which includes three student computer labs, mobile lap top computer labs and over 600 desktops and assorted peripheral devices. Please support the work of the PTO.

Fall Athletic Season Begins

The fall athletic season is beginning! Last week tryouts were held and teams selected for our fall interscholastic sports program. Students in grades six through eight have the option to tryout and participate in Cross Country, Girls Volleyball, Football and Cheerleading. Teams have been selected and practices are underway. Most seasons will begin next week. Check the Lakeview website for dates and times for all games. Go Spartans!!

Budget News

No progress has been made in resolving the budget impasse in Springfield. The House met last week and failed to address the mass transit issues facing the metropolitan Chicago area. This bill failed by ten votes. The Senate was scheduled to meet on Monday and Tuesday of this week but those sessions were cancelled this morning. Allegedly they will meet next Monday to deal with the mass transit issue and other “capital” projects. The legislative calendar at www.ilga.gov now lists identical veto sessions for the Senate and House for the first two weeks of October.

The battle between Speaker of the House Madigan and our illustrious Governor continues with more name calling and posturing. Last week the Governor informed the State Superintendent that the budget impasse was due to the actions of Speaker Madigan and that local district would lose money that was authorized in his approved budget. Madigan has vowed to override the Governor’s budget cuts but has not taken action to do so at this time. Senate President Jones has vowed that there will be no consideration of any overrides in the Senate. Speaker Madigan has scheduled 19 budget hearings across the state to increase public awareness of the budget cuts made by Governor Blagojevich. They will begin this week in Decatur.

In the meantime, local schools are supposed to begin receiving state aid based on last year’s formula. No new funds that have been approved can be distributed until the legislature passes a Budget Implementation Plan (BIMP). HB 471, waiting in the House has not been voted on. As this debacle continues, local school districts will need to divert local tax monies that should be invested and earning interest to pay for current expenses that would be covered by normal state funding. It is sure that this crisis will be over later rather than sooner as districts need to finalize and approve FY 08 budget by September 25, 2007.

Marching Spartans Perform at German Day Parade

The Marching Spartans of Lakeview Junior High School performed with distinction at the annual General Von Stueben Day Parade in Chicago on Saturday, September 8th. The Spartan band under the direction of Brian Ohlsen and Tom Tedeschi was one of several bands that took part in this parade to honor German-American heritage. This was the first marching appearance by the band of the 2007-2008 school year. In the next few weeks, they will participate in the Plainfield Homecoming Parade, as well as the Downers Grove South High School Homecoming Parade. Be sure to come out and see the 2007 version of the Marching Spartans.

Budget Status

We are still waiting for final budget figures from the state. Although Governor Blagojevich signed a budget a couple of weeks ago, we have yet to receive any funds for the new school year from the state. It is likely that this will continue at least for another week since neither legislative body has met for a while. Without a BIMP (Budget Implementation Plan) in place, no moneys will flow to local school districts. General State Aide payments have been vouchered but will be issued at last year’s level until the BIMP is in place. This places public schools in a quandary, as our budget will need to be filed by the last Tuesday of September for the 2007-2008 school year. We have spent a great deal of time developing our budget for the coming year and have figures firmly in place in the revenue side of the budget. Due to the uncertainty of the level of new state funding, we have held funding for categorical aide at the FY 06 level, although we expect to receive modest increases in state funds should a BIMP be passed soon.

Hopefully, we will see renewed energy in Springfield this week. The House is scheduled to hold “perfunctory” sessions all next week so there is a potential for some legislative action. How much longer will the state accept this battle of wills as the Governor continues to attempt to move his personal agenda forward against the will of the legislative branch of government? Financially this posturing has put the state in a financial mess! Enough is enough!

Calendar Tools

In an effort to make calendar information more readily available to parents and community we have added a new electronic calendar for use by parents. This calendar is found on the Home Page of our website at www.ccsd66.org. You will find the link to the new calendar program under the Calendar heading on the left side of the page. This new calendar will allow you to access the yearly calendar for each building. You may also combine calendars from individual schools to view activities from multiple buildings at one time. This calendar is updated constantly and should provide parents and students with accurate information about activities at each school building. Please check out this new feature on our web page.

Curriculum Nights

Curriculum Nights begin this week! Over the next three weeks parents will have the opportunity to visit classrooms and meet their children’s teachers. This is an important part of “getting back” to school. At these curriculum nights parents will learn about school procedures and policies, meet individual teachers and learn about the curriculum that their children will experience over the course of the school year. Please try to attend these important meetings and take that first step in establishing that very necessary partnership with your child’s teachers. This partnership will insure a successful school year. See you there!