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CCSD66 Notes

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Rumblings From Springfield

Just a couple of weeks after Governor Blagojevich's State of the State Address loaded with pleas for tax rebates for children and increased state spending with no signs of new revenue, the Illinois Senate seems to be supporting higher taxes. The Senate Education Committee passed SB 2288 to the floor of the Senate this week. This is a new version of a “tax swap” bill similar in some ways to HB 750 that has been floating about for the past three years. This new bill, sponsored by Senator James Meeks (D-Chicago), passed from committee to the floor on a 6-3 vote along party lines. This action may signal that change is coming even in an election year!

While there are and will be many questions about SB 2288 it signals a change in atmosphere in the Capital. Schools will continue to worry about any “tax swap” plans, seeking assurances that all revenues will return to local districts as property taxes are reduced and income tax increased. I find it curious that Senate President Emil Jones is listed as a co-sponsor of this bill. Last year he steadfastly supported Governor Blagojevich in his stand against higher taxes and supporting increased gambling and borrowing as a way to solve the state's fiscal crisis.

Now watch what happens! Perhaps legislators have become more “open minded” about funding reform and have grown increasingly allergic to the antics of the Governor. Perhaps it is just time for something to be done in 2008 even with elections coming in the fall. Maybe the potential for a Democratic landslide in the fall that could carry Democratic legislators to victory encourages them to move forward and try to improve the fiscal crisis we face. The prospect of a capital bill in the mix should entice some Republican support which will be needed for any significant change. Most legislators have debated school funding and support fixing the system but have been unable to agree on the methodology to accomplish this task. I think this legislative session will continue to be very interesting. Stay tuned!

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Highlights of Governor Blagojevich's State of the State and Budget Address 2008


The Governor's message to the citizens of the State of Illinois was unusually brief and relatively civil this year, although it was found by most audiences to be lacking in detail. Some of the highlights include:

Follow up the federal economic stimulus plan with an Illinois plan that would provide a one time $300 tax credit for children. Offer a one time corporate income tax rebate of 20%. This stimulus plan would cost about $1.2 billion and the revenue sources to pay for this benevolence are nebulous.

Develop a $25 billion capital plan for infrastructure, school construction and economic development. This cost would be about $11 billion and would be funded by the sale/license of the Illinois State Lottery. Some funding would also come from the school construction fund and matching local district dollars.

Plug the current revenue gap of $750 million by fund transfers and the closing of business tax loopholes which will be hard to do at this time of the year.

For 2009, the Governor's plan envisions $500 million in new revenue growth and $1.4 billion in new spending but no firm revenue sources have been identified. An additional $300 million in funds for public education.

Cut current state spending across the board in all areas except, education, healthcare, and public safety by imposing a 3% cut on what amounts to about 15% of the state budget.

Impose a payroll tax on employers with more than 10 employees that do not provide medial insurance for their employees to pay for additional healthcare expansion in Illinois.

Issue $16 billion worth of pension obligation bonds that would allow the current increase in pension fund payments to be reduced significantly.

As you can, see there is not a great deal of concern about what Governor Blagojevich wishes to spend state money on since education, healthcare and infrastructure are very popular items. The concern, as it usually is with this Governor, is how he proposes to generate funds to support his budget. This could be another hard year as the General Assembly and Governor work to develop a budget for FY09.

PTO Updates


Parents and students from Elizabeth Ide School enjoyed another successful “Snowflake Ball” this past Saturday evening. Although the snow will come tomorrow a great time was had by all. Volunteers decorated the gym and provided great refreshments. Music was provided by Paul Knight. It was terrific to see the students practicing the dances that they have been learning in PE class. Thanks to everyone involved with making this popular annual event a reality.


In other PTO News, Horton Hears a Who tickets are going fast. Order yours today by using the order form on the District web site at www.ccsd66.org. Information on raffle tickets will go home this week. This will be a great event!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Governor Blagojevich Delivers Budget Address???

Rumor has it that the Governor made his annual budget address to the General Assembly yesterday in Springfield. I was there and I must have missed the speech. The Governor did appear in the House Chambers at noon to a noticeably chilly and mostly silent reception. After a moment of silence in memory of the NIU tragedy, he spoke for 22 minutes. His speech was full of platitudes about the value and importance of the “family unit” and the need for tax cuts for some business interests and $300 tax rebates to children which will double the federal rebate program. All of this from the same man that last year proposed the largest tax increase in history with his GRT plan. To his credit, Blagojevich did make his presentation and rhetoric much more civil and conciliatory this year which was a big improvement over previous years.
In terms of a FY09 budget, details were scarce especially on the revenue side and there was no mention of the looming $750 million shortfall in the current FY 08 budget. It will take some time to distill what the Governor has in mind for this budget as details are revealed. The fact still remains that Illinois is in desperate financial shape and as the Chicago Sun-Times said today, now is the time for the Governor to lead! We will continue to track this issue and its impact on District 66.

Monday, February 18, 2008

FY 09 Budget


The Chicago Tribune had a great editorial this past Sunday about the failure of our state elected officials (both legislative and executive branches) to work together for the common good of the State of Illinois. Many demands are being brought forth on the state due to past years of neglect in repairing and stabilizing the financial integrity of our state. Over the past five years, Governor Blagojevich has plundered the state treasury, neglected required pension payments and created new expensive programs without legislative approval. We are in a mess that will not be solved or even improved without the cooperation of all branches of government and all political parties. It is not an exaggeration to say that Illinois is at a crisis level in terms of finances. The good of the people has been ignored for too long and the necessities of solid infrastructure, medical care, public safety, communications, education, and long term capital programs are sorely lacking.
Governor Blagojevich makes his annual budget address to the Illinois General Assembly on Wednesday, February 20th at noon. Listen in at
www.ilga.gov or on your favorite radio station to see what leadership he might demonstrate to move us forward from the brink of pending disaster. We need to demand that our elected officials begin to act in our behalf rather that for special interest groups and political parties. Stay tuned as the development of the FY 09 budget is going to be a very difficult task.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Guns, Violence, Safety?

The latest shooting tragedy last week at NIU makes me long for the good old days when doors were never locked and children and young adults roamed freely without a thought for their personal safety. I am afraid that those days are gone forever. People will analyze and conjecture about the whys and hows of this latest senseless tragedy but nothing will change the fact that innocent people are dead and lives have been disrupted by injuries, grief and fear. My sympathy goes out to the thousands of people impacted by this act. I had a parent ask me this past Friday if we had plans for such an event in our schools because her 8th grade child had asked her what he should do if there was a shooting at our middle school. The fact is that we do have plans and do practice them in the hope that if we are ever challenged that we will respond in a routine and rehearsed manner to safeguard our children.
Tragedy, such as we have just experienced, is the reason that we have established security procedures and crisis plans to respond to the unexpected in the school. I am aware that some security arrangements are inconvenient and cumbersome but they have been put in place to protect our most precious resource, our students. We appreciate your support as we continue to develop and refine these crisis plans with the first responders of our community.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Iowa Tests Begin

Students attending Lakeview Junior High School and Prarieview School will begin the annual administration of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills this week. Elizabeth Ide students will begin their testing in a few weeks due to a publishers delay in providing the required testing materials for grades K-2. This testing is an important part of our student assessment plan. The Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) is one of the oldest group administered achievement tests in use in America today. This test has been used successfully for over 80 years after being developed by the University of Iowa in the 1920s. The ITBS is a norm referenced test which means that it compares individual student performance to peers. In the case of the ITBS, it is designed to measure student knowledge and achievement in the basic content areas. We use this test to assess students in the areas of reading, language arts, mathematics and science. This allows us to compare the achievement of District 66 students to those of peers and thus provide us with a global picture of how our students compare to a larger national group by showing the relative location of a student's achievement when compared to the larger norm group. This allows us to judge the general effectiveness of our curriculum. The other advantage of this instrument is that it can be used to track individual student growth over time. ITBS data is also used as a component for class placement decisions.

During the month of March students in grades 3-8 will take part in the annual ISAT tests that serve a different function. The ISAT test is a criterion referenced test which measures a student's performance based on a pre-determined level of acceptable performance. The ISAT is a measure of how students have mastered the curriculum as described by the Illinois Learning Standards at a level that increases each year. This test is used by the federal government to assess whether or not students and school have made adequate yearly progress (AYP) as required by the No Child Left Behind Act. Our schools and students have done an excellent job of meeting AYP over the past several years. We have concerns about the ability of all children to master standards at the required 2014 standard of 100%. Nevertheless, the ISAT allows us to identify students that do not meet standards and plan remediation programs for them to improve their academic performance. While it is laudatory to strive to insure that all children will learn, it is naive to expect that all students regardless of disabilities and ability will master all standards at the 100% level.

Budget Falling Short

The saga of the FY 08 budget continues. You remember: no budget passed by the adjournment of the Illinois General Assembly last May; a budget bill finally passed in August; after a veto by Governor Blagojevich the budget was enacted in October; a BIMP was finally approved in January. Word is coming from Springfield that there is a shortfall in the current budget and many appropriations may not be enough to cover costs. We have heard just this past weekend about declining gambling income attributed to the “smoking ban” that became law in January. This is the revenue source that the Governor has been targeting for all of his increased funding plans.
The Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability has warned that state revenues may fall $600 million short of what we need to balance the state budget for FY 08. The complete report can be found at: http://www.ctbaonline.org.
This will result in delays in State payment of bills especially in the area of health and social services. Schools will also feel this pinch. General State Aid hold harmless funds will be pro-rated to 88.1%. The School Safety and Educational Improvement Block Grant will also be reduced since a provision in the BIMP allows NON-PUBLIC schools to access these funds for the first time in FY 08. The Governor vetoed the $10.1 million appropriated for this program which means that all public school will see a reduction in these funds as they are now shared with NON PUBLIC schools. These ADA Block Grant funds are the only truly discretionary funds that public schools receive and their loss will be hard felt.

Budget Falling Short - Part II

If anyone is interested in the complete report from the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability you will find it at: www.ctbaonline.org.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Cold Weather Returns

The return of bitterly cold weather makes life more interesting for our school system. During this past weekend, we have checked each building each day to be sure that we have no heating failures or frozen pipes. Parking lots and sidewalks have been checked to be sure that they are free of ice and clear. School buses were checked each day to insure that the “block heaters” were plugged in and operating so that buses will start on Monday morning. Under extreme cold weather conditions we occasionally override heating controls to let the heating system operate all night to insure a safe and warm environment for students in the early morning. This eliminates the need to be up on the roof in the dark at 5:30 in the morning re-setting or re-starting a furnace when the temperature is below zero and the wind is howling! While these activities add wear and tear on employees and the Superintendent they do help insure a smooth start of a new school week for our students and teachers. I hope spring is just around the corner! Stay warm.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Legislative Session To Resume

The Illinois General Assembly is set to return to work next Wednesday, February 13, 2008 after a long break for the election held today. When they return, they will face many challenges all of which involve MONEY! The future of public education will continue to depend on how our legislators respond to these fiscal challenges.

One important item demanding attention from the legislature is that of developing a “Capital” plan. Such a plan would include money and programs for infrastructure work thorough the state including school construction projects. It is hard to comprehend that there are still school districts in Illinois that were awarded construction grants to repair or build new facilities in 2002 that have not been paid. In the meantime, local taxpayers are borrowing money to pay for loans to cover the shortages caused by the failure to get the promised funds. Several of these impacted districts are right here in DuPage County. There is also a large amount of federal matching funds that will be lost to our state if the legislature fails to act in time.

The Illinois State Board of Education adopted its 2009 budget recommendation last month which may signal a slowing of funding for public education. It is expected that Governor Blagojevich will address the legislature on February 20th and support this plan which does not increase the General State Aid formula as dramatically as in the past, but does increase funding for mandated categoricals by a substantial amount. This increase would be beneficial to most DuPage County schools.

How the General Assembly will fund these requests is another issue. This year's budget was funded, in part, by line item budget cuts and veto reductions made by Governor Blagojevich. The real pressure point is that of funding pensions for state employees. Legislators will need to find and additional $1.4 billion to make pension payments before any other budget increases are possible. This will be a session filled with pressure and tension as our representatives try to work through these serious issues.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Let is Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!


In case you haven't heard we are once again expecting a substantial snow fall tomorrow. As this storm is being currently described by weather forecasters, it seems to be a very similar scenario to the storm that brought so much snow to the area last Friday. That storm was categorized by snow falling very early in the morning at a high rate of accumulation with some drifting and blowing. This scenario is troubling for schools because it dramatically compresses the time we have to clear parking lots, get buses out and operating, get teachers and support staff into the school buildings, and navigate snowy roads.
Tomorrow morning, I will be up early to check the weather conditions and communicate with neighboring superintendents. Most of the local high school superintendents have a conference call about 5:00 am to discuss school status. If our high school closes we generally follow their lead. On Friday, District 99 and several large school districts decided that the prudent action to take was to close school and the rest of the school districts followed their lead. These decisions are never easy and seldom please everyone, but are always made based on the safety of the students!
Stay tuned in the morning to your local radio or TV station for the school closing list if the storm does develop. Center Cass residents will receive additional information of a school closing decision in three ways; a recorded phone message, an email message and the District web page will also list school closing information
www.ccsd66.org.
Hopefully, the storm will miss us and we will be safe and warm at school learning new things as we do each day. To alleviate congestion we have canceled all before school activities for tomorrow, Wednesday, February 6th.

Monday, February 04, 2008

Teacher Institute Tuesday, February 5th

School will be closed tomorrow for a Teacher Institute Day. During the day, teachers will be immersed in experiences to acquaint them with new technologies to enhance learning in the classroom. Some parents have inquired if this day off was a change in schedule from the original calendar adopted in January 2007. When the Illinois General Assembly voted to move the general primary election from March to February 5th so that Illinois could play a role in “Super Tuesday” our school calendar was amended and the new version placed on the web site and published as part of the PTO Directory. The Center Cass School District 66 Board of Education has taken to the position to close schools for student attendance during major elections. This is done to further insure the safety of our students. It is very difficult to do this when the building is open as a polling place and hundreds of people have open access to the building.

This change in election days is also the reason why we have a previously scheduled School Improvement Day this Thursday. I am sorry that the change in the election day has created a rather choppy week for our students and families.

Friday, February 01, 2008

Steak and Shake Night


What a great night we had last night having dinner at our local Darien, Steak and Shake! It was great to see so many families out on a cold wintry night enjoying a warm meal. I don't think there was a table in the restaurant that was not filled with District 66 families. Best of all, the PTO will reap some monetary benefits for our students from the costs of our dinners. What a surprise this morning to get up early and see that the snow had continued to the extent that school was canceled for today. We will spend the day cleaning up and making sure that all sidewalks, parking lots and emergency exits are cleared and ready for Monday morning. Have a good weekend!