In the News ~ Dec. 18
December 18, 2009 by IEA Communications
Below are links to news stories of interest from newspapers that came up during a search today. These links were active at the time of this e-mail, but should you want to save a story, printing it or cutting and pasting the entire article and saving it to your computer is recommended.
State News
Freeze wages, save jobs, school board tells union
PioneerLocal.com – District officials on Dec. 7 opened the door a bit wider for negotiations with the teachers union when it promised to use savings from reduced cost-of-living increases to save dozens of jobs. About 75 union teaching jobs are on the chopping block at Maine Township High School
U46 seeks state waivers to pare expenses
Elgin Courier News – at increasing its bilingual classroom sizes and dropping its driver’s education program. Both require permission from the Illinois General Assembly before either can be implemented. However, many teachers appeared at Monday night’s board meeting to oppose the plans, saying the savings are not worth what it will cost students. State regulations require school districts to staff bilingual class
Rights group outraged by U-46′s attempt to hike bilingual class sizes
Arlington Heights Daily Herald – group is speaking out against Elgin Area School District U-46′s attempt to get an exemption to state law on class-size caps for English language learners. The Mexican American Legal Defense and education Fund (MALDEF) Thursday afternoon submitted a letter to state board of education Superintendent Christopher Koch, urging him to deny the district’s request, and “vigorously monitor”
District 112 OKs additional $1.3 million for teachers contract
Highland Park News – North Shore School District 112 board members unanimously approved the teachers three-year contract extension Tuesday night, which will cost the district an additional $1.3 million for the current school year. The teachers negotiated annual raises, retroactive to the be
Teachers’ strike ends at Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144
Chicago Tribune -Victonia Smith says the end of the teachers’ strike at Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144 this week is good news to her daughter and two godsons. Smith, a single mom laid off from her job in March
State says Warren High violated federal law in not testing 150 juniors
Arlington Heights Daily Herald – Warren Township High School violated federal law by preventing 150 juniors from taking a state achievement exam last spring, according to Illinois’ education boss. Gurnee-based District 121 violated the law by using a dual system to exclude some juniors from the Prairie State Achievement Exam in April,
D-158 OKs drug policy for students in extracurriculars
Crystal Lake Northwest Herald – HUNTLEY – This spring, Huntley High School athletes – and mathletes – will be subject to random drug testing. The District 158 school board voted, 6-1, on Thursday night to approve a new policy that would allow checking students in all competitive extracurriculars for use of alcohol, controlled substances and
Kaneland to get early start on budget cuts
Beacon News – The Kaneland school board will vote on a budget reduction plan next spring to eliminate an estimated $2.6 million deficit in the 2010-2011 budget.
CPS unveils new rules for school closings, ‘Student Bill of Rights’
Chicago Sun Times – RELATED PDF Schools’ academic performance ratings During Wednesday’s school board meeting, Huberman also revealed that he would not close any high schools this school year. But he did not rule out using a “turnaround” model in which all staff at a school could
Parents slam special ed switch
Chicago Sun Times – In the north suburbs, a plan to shift all special education students into regular elementary school classes and no longer have a school dedicated solely to profoundly disabled kids has angered the parents of some of those kids.
Employee buyouts mentioned as one way to cut UI spending
Champaign News Gazette – “The university is exploring all the options we can, to try to mitigate the negative impact,” she said. “Our goal throughout is meet the challenge to make sure that we are keeping the quality of our education at its highest, while doing as much as we can not to impact our students and employees for worse.” Hardy said that many units suggesting different options may lead to a confused picture
Political News
GOP governor hopefuls cautious on ‘fumigation’ of past appointees One of the seven Republicans running to win the governor’s office back in 2010 supports the idea of immediately “fumigating” state government of hundreds of high-ranking appointees, the other six favor a generally more cautious approach. The Democratic candidates also support some form of the idea.
Congress can stop plans for prison, GOP rep says
Chicago Sun Times – accept the responsibility” for the detainees, Durbin wrote in a letter to McConnell. In Springfield, Attorney General Lisa Madigan answered GOP critics of the Thomson deal by declaring Thursday that Gov. Quinn has the authority under state law to close the prison and sell it to the federal government. Madigan’s opinion, which came in response to an inquiry from House Minority Leader Tom Cross
White backs Quinn with ‘back-pocket’ endorsement Chicago Current - Pat Quinn in the gubernatorial race yesterday, citing his “integrity and honesty” and work on school finance reform and veterans’ rights. “Gov. …
Schock to meet officials in Afghanistan this month PEORIA — U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock is traveling to Afghanistan later this month to meet with the top American commander there, the Afghan president and American military personnel.
Quinn: Violent criminals weren’t supposed to be let go Gov. Pat Quinn said Thursday he explicitly barred his prison director from including violent criminals in early release programs, while his Democratic primary opponent hammered the governor for the “bungled” situation.
Attorney general says governor may sell prison
Arlington Heights Daily Herald – Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan says the governor does not need approval from the General Assembly to sell a prison in Thomson to the federal government. Madigan’s legal opinion Thursday says Gov. Pat Quinn merely needs to follow state law requiring proper public hearings before turning over the mostly empty prison.
Bill would end pensions for legislators
Crystal Lake Northwest Herald – With talk of reforming Illinois’ bloated and underfunded pension system, a local legislator’s bill suggests that the General Assembly should take the first hit. House Bill 4720, filed Wednesday by state Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, would cut off new entrants into the General Assembly’s pension program effective Jan. 1, 2011, meaning that newly elected representatives and sen
National News
Teachers union raps Florida stimulus grant application that would require merit pay plans
Chicago Tribune – discouraged local affiliates from endorsing the state’s application for up to $700 million in federal stimulus grant money that would require the adoption of merit pay plans. Florida education association President Andy Ford called the proposal “fatally flawed” in an open letter to Education Commissioner Eric Smith that was published as an advertisement in the Tallahassee Democrat
State lawmakers reach ‘landmark’ education deal
The Detroit News - Michigan must enact fundamental education reforms to qualify for up to $400 million or more in federal Race to the Top funding. The legislation will allow …
Rep Garrison’s Bill to Enhance Education Receives Final Legislative Approval
Marietta Register Online - ? The language necessary for guaranteeing Ohio’s highly competitive position to access a share of the $4.35 billion “Race to the Top” fund initiated by the …
Calif. Senate passes new compromise education bill
The state Senate on Thursday approved legislation that would clear the way for California to compete in a $4.3 billion school funding competition from the Obama administration, but the state’s chances of securing a slice of the money remained in limbo. After late-night negotiations lasting several days, state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, introduced new legislation Thursday that attempted to forge a compromise between the two houses on education reform. Divisions remained, however, and Romero said she would work through the holidays to complete a bill with broad support and which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would sign.
A race to … what?
Niles Daily Star - … school districts – the Department of Education’s “Race to the Top” fund is turning out to be a tense competition for federal dollars for education. …
Word of the Day for Friday, December 18, 2009
diaphanous \dy-AF-uh-nuhs\, adjective:
1. Of such fine texture as to allow light to pass through; translucent or transparent.
2. Vague; insubstantial.
