Leadership Matters - February 2013

Spring legislative outlook —–—————————————————————————

-related decisions involving the education of a special education student. Technically, this would not be a new rule, just more stringent enforcement of one that has been on the books for a long time. The sheer expense of hiring CNs would seem to

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might have to choose between firing teachers or hiring SROs. We believe any decisions of that magnitude need to be handled at the local level by elected school board members. IASA and the Alliance did put on the table a couple of suggestions to offer some districts

be enough to stop implementation of this mandate given today’s fiscal climate for Illinois schools. There are other exacerbating circumstances, including difficulty in finding enough CNs in some parts of the state and laying off RNs who cannot get certified by ISBE in time to meet the mandate. The good news, if there is any, is the State Superintendent Chris Koch has agreed to meet with a group of superintendents to discuss this issue. Other ISBE issues include raising the cut scores for the Illinois

some more flexibility while not costing the state, including: Changing the

language regulating the use of the 1 percent school sales tax so that school districts in those counties that have or will have the school sales tax could use those funds to pay for SROs or to make other school security enhancements that currently are not allowable. Allowing districts in tax-capped counties to offer a “front-door” referendum to go outside the cap for very narrowly defined school safety improvements. This would allow for citizens in a community to determine locally whether they are willing to go outside the cap for this issue. Unfunded mandates, reform measures pile up Unfunded state and/or federal mandates – now totaling more than 100 in Illinois – and a laundry list of reform measures are burying school districts at a time when resources are dwindling. For example, the latest unfunded mandate scheduled to go into effect July 1 is the one that would require school districts to employ a Certified Nurse rather than a Registered Nurse to be part of any health

Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) when the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is coming down the pike in just a couple of years, implementation of Common Core Standards and rolling out the 5Essentials Survey of school climates at a time when budget cuts, layoffs and public bashing of teachers are destroying morale. Unity is important With all that is being pushed onto already heavy laden school districts, reaching out to individual legislators and speaking with unity is more important than ever. We have strength in numbers, and we need to use that as well as our first-hand expertise when it comes to public education. You can find contact information for your legislators at www.ilga.gov .

IASA & IASBO team up to offer seminar on communicating with legislators IASA and IASBO are co-sponsoring a seminar March 19 titled “Communicating and Lobbying with Legislators: How to Make Your Views Known and Affect Change.” The day-long seminar is approved for Illinois Administrators’ Academy Credit (AAC #781). It will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:20 p.m. in Room 413 of the Stratton Building in the Capitol complex. Lunch will be provided. Participants will have a chance to become more familiar with the Capitol, visit with legislators, sit in on a Committee Hearing and create a personalized action plan. As a result of taking this workshop, participants will understand and be able to work effectively with legislators. The registration fee is $155. Click here to access the registration form and additional information.

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