Education Matters US

I an live blogging the responses from the school board community forum. Please check back for updates throughout the night. Currently there are approximately 75 community members in attendance. This excludes school board members and school administration. My comments in (parenthesis).

1). Many people in the community would like to become more involved with the School Board and the Schools in D46. Listed as one of the goals of the BOE, is reaching out more to the community. While presenting their SIP Reports, Administrators expressed a need for more parental involvement. Are the Board Members and Administrative staff aware that their demeanor, expressions, and tone, yield feelings of being “unwelcome” and “condescended to”? Would at least 1 Administrator and 1 BOE Member address this and help the Parents at the Forum understand how we can be more involved in discussions with the BOE along with the Administrators at their respective schools?

Ellen Correll - PTO, PTF, Ellen’s Brown Bag lunches, read to children, many opportunities at all of the buildings.
Mary Garcia - if you have problems, go to the Principal. She does. Want to have a good relationship with the community.

2). Would it be possible to review the policies currently in place for student conduct (and consequences) in the classroom, school-grounds, and buses? Would the Policy Committee consider meeting with members of the community and note their suggestions on policy modification?

Ellen - all policies listed in parent handbook and directly relate to Illinois state regulations. Start with principal and contact her if needed.

3). There are reports that the Education Fund has a “surplus”, a “rainy day fund” if you will, of somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 million dollars. What is the dollar amount in this fund? You have stated that some programs and personnel were eliminated due to low enrollment; what was the reason for not obtaining the balance of programs and personnel by utilizing a small portion of what is in the Education Fund?

Brad Goldstein - Surplus like a savings account used to pay day to day operations. Showed slide created by PMA showing 3 year spending. PMA, no affiliation with banks. Not in risky investments. 66% form local taxes. Sept. is the highest balance each year. 80% funds go to salaries. Recommnedation is to have 6 month cash on hand. Financial profile score of 4 (slide) showing 180 days on hand. May 4.4 million $ fund balance. Should be used for 1 time expenditure, not sustainable to use for saving jobs. Jobs are recurring revenue.
Shannon Smigielski - Why not take some of the money in savings to rehire some of the staff? PMA showing we are in the red 3 out 4 years except for 2010.
Ellen, Don’t want to spend too much so have to start borrowing.

4). With the State of Illinois in financial straits and D46 having $2.7 million dollars pending payment from the State, what provisions are being made should the monies not be provided as expected?

Brad - on target if State pays its bills. Would utilize fund balance if State did not pay.

5). We submitted the idea of moving toward more paperless options from the schools. The response we received is that paperless options are being looked at.
Please expand on that: Is the technology in place? Has a cost analysis been done to see how much it would cost to put a system in place? How much money will the district save? Have you considered using 1 school or a small group of parents to test a system on? How can the community help this become a reality?

Ellen - Technology is not yet, but are working toward that. Currently looking at virtual backpacks, started central registration, more flyers on website, emails at some schools, online report cards and grades. Want emails from community.
Mary - PTO flyer online for Meadowview.
Sue Facklam - striving to make sure how to reach parents without computers.

6). Have Band/Chorus fees been discussed further or decided on? If the BOE decides that fees for programs will be implemented, will it be in the ‘09/’10 year?

Ellen - tabled for next year, no new fees.

5). With 7 schools in our district, has any research been done on the impact of adding on to some current buildings and selling off other buildings to consolidate fees for property, building, teachers, staff, technology, etc.?

Ellen - ISC building is being emptied and could be sold. Tech moving into disctrict office. Special Needs and curriculum in Avon. Closing and selling a school not an option right now.

6). Are the Park Campus Buildings being used to capacity? If not, how much is not being used? Can you provide the approx. cost for maintaining the un-used portions? What are the plans for filling the buildings to capacity?

Ellen - following Kasarda report (population study). Park is experiencing student growth. May use some special needs to Park next year. All classrooms being utilized at Park.
Shannon - have parents been given opportunity to change schools if a school’s classroom size is higher than a parent wants?
Ellen - that has not been discussed yet.

7). Will you please provide an explanation for purchasing 258 Laptop computers? Could the purchase have been made utilizing less sophisticated laptops, in an effort to reduce cost?
a). We were advised that the BOE Members, Administration, and Tech Dept. have agreed that Tech Hardware Expenses will be way down in the next years to come in order to keep the Ed Fund money to pay for teachers salaries. Are the new Board Members aware of this and can we rely on you to follow through on this “promise”?

Ellen - a lot of new curriculum supplementals require computers. IEP’s must be done on computer, attendance is taken by teachers online.
Joe Nowak - Hadn’t bought computers in about 6 years. Only replaced computers that broke. Laptops for students being pulled out for teachers. 300 machines to labs with first round, 2nd round bought for teachers. They are in the service of students even if in hands of teachers. Joe shopped for computers. Will be training them over the next couple of years on the new technology.
Mary - As a teacher it is frustrating waiting for a computer to boot and be ready to use. Looked at other types of laptops as a part of the tech committee. Cheaper computers don’t allow students to do what they need to do because of less memory.
Sue - Had a tech committee that asked Joe questions. Benchmark needed a laptop 3 yrs old or newer. Joe asked for money to be used from FY09 budget. BOnd money bought from bond money for Frederick and Avon. Park money came out of furniture and supplies.
Shannon - money is still coming from our taxes, when cuts were getting ready to be made. All for getting teachers the needed equipment. Why 258, why not 150 to start? why not 100 to start when teachers are being cut?
Joe - 258 gave every certified teacher a laptop. Took the opportunity when the funds were available. Tech gets cuts when budgets are tough.
Brad - would needed new software, needed additional staff and training staff on if we bought $300 Dells instead of Macs.
Mary - didn’t want to come back in 3 years to buy more computers.
Ellen - NCLB has a goal of being computer literate by 8th grade. Digital Directions - China, India, Korea and Japan priority to make students literate to compete.

8). Will you please explain why the district opted to obtain 38 SMART Boards (when many districts have 1 or none)?
a). Currently, only 5 District Personnel have been formally trained on the SMART Board; What are the Districts plans for further training of those who have not been formally trained?

Mary - has a smart board in her classroom. Cannot do without it. Must have it get students engaged. Works with the education foundation with D46 Foundation. Prairie view has received smart boards from the foundation. It is just a tool allowing the teachers could not do before. can do “hide the answer” for the class. Training was phenomenal. It trained the trainers.

b). Cost of this training?

Ellen - 5 trainers in the district. they will now train

c). What is the lifespan of a SMART Board?

Mary - Software has the lifespan, the board is just a tool like a projector screen.

9). Have the Administrative Salary increases been determined?
a). If yes: By what % per individual?

No

b). If no: When does the BOE foresee this decision being made?

Mary - Hopefully July 8th board meeting

c). Has the BOE considered tying salary increases to CPI with a cap?

Mary - has not been discussed

d). What about Salary Freezes or Decreases?

Has been discussed

10). Is the BOE aware at this time of any upcoming cuts that to be made? (Can the BOE give us any idea on items or areas that will be looked at in the event that more cuts need to be made from us getting less revenues than we have expenses?

Ellen - believe they will have a balanced budget this year.
Sue - talked about cuts in spring, and expect FY10 budget to be balanced and will continue to monitor spending. In Dec, start looking at FY11 budget. Need to commend our Administration for working with the BOE in how these cuts could be made.

11). Why were we caught so completely off guard with the CPI? The economy has been in a recession since late 2007; did the PMA projections in 2007 & 2008 show this?
a). What provisions are being made to make sure we are covered when our housing assessments start to decrease and revenue declines as a result?

Ellen - currently planning on 0.1% CPI. (Assessments aren’t likely to go down - more later on this)
Brad - weren’t completely caught off guard. CPI based on December to December #. There tax $ based on CPI. Typically figure on 2.5%. Starting planning cuts in Decemeber when they knew CPI was 0.1%. 80-90 cuts made in non-human resource ways. PMA - utmost and respected company in school projects. IMRF going up 1% this year, will costs district $60,000. Tax bill did not go down this year. Rolling 3 year avg and hopefully go back up to 2.5%. Look 5 years out. Start talking in Oct. about what programs work or not. Too soon to start talking about next year. “We like status quo in school districts so we can monitor our growth.”

12). Is the Staff Development Budget being reduced for ‘09/10?
a). What % of the projected budget is for travel?
b). Have reductions been made in this area for everyone from administrators, teachers, to non-certified staff? If not, will reductions be made in this area?
c). How much of the Staff Development budget is allocated for Blue Ribbon of Excellence, Inc.? How much of the Superintendent’s Professional Development Account is allocated for Blue Ribbon of Excellence, Inc.?
d). Will any administrator, teacher, or staff member (certified or not) be attending the National Conference in Dec. 2009 @ Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Orlando Florida?

Ellen - (using flip chart) State has requirements for knowledge. $80,000 divided across buildings based on enrollment in each school. Some State funds to be used to PD, some special ed. Example - Title 2A. NCLB - all students must meet or exceed standards by 2014. Have curriculum needs in technology. “How do we move our district from good to great?” Need school improvement not just one student. Why Blue Ribbon - Ellen started it to move from good to great as a school improvement. Needed to know the good and the bad. 9 categories came out the effective schools research. Federal Blue ribbon program uses the same categories as the Blue ribbon schools we use. Listed the 9 categories. We did not go into this to buy awards as stated in the paper. It was worthwhile. Doesn’t feel bad about the expenses. Blue Ribbon information listed on website. Best use of PD money she has ever seen. Used PD money for new curriculum. Jeff Knapp (Woodview) - Blue Ribbon gave them a lot of information on what is working. Created a subcommittee to help go through it to improve. Using the Brain Research to improve. Gave us directions and pieces they needed for each school.
Laura - worked in the school district for 15 years. The evaluations helped us put our priorities in the right place. Very positive and beneficial.
Mary - gave out a gasp when saw the cost of Blue Ribbon. Looked at the Blue Ribbon website. Teachers brought back knowledge. Teachers want to host a Blue Ribbon conference here in Grayslake.
From Handout - Blue Ribbon Categories:

1. Student Focus and Support
2. School Organization and Culture
3. Challenging Standards and Curriculum
4. Active Teaching and Learning
5. Technology Integration
6. Professional Community
7. Leadership and Education Vitality
8. School, Family and Community Partnerships

13). What can the community do to help the Members of the Board? Superintendent? Administrative Staff? Schools?

Mary - need more community support at board meetings. Dry but give a lot of information.
Ellen - need more forums, email her. Do forums 2 or 3 times next year.

Audience Questions (I am paraphrasing):

Sabrina - 2 kids in D46. If a class gets larger, stick a new staff member or assistant in there. What is the difference in keeping staff in an additional classroom?

Lynn- Utilize staff wisely because they can’t do layoffs during the year.

Sabrina - Lost with some homework. Education has changed year to year. Can district provide sources to help with this?

Suggestion noted.

Colleen - Don’t question intent, but would like to know more of the decision process in making purchases like the laptops. Wants more transparency.

Mary - We’ve gone over the issues for many of the questions. What do you need from us to know what was on the agendas?
Colleen - will be more aware. Want to help but not sure where to go.
Keith - Need to be more clear on board agendas. Still your responsibility to look and see what is on the agenda.

Nadia - When are agendas put on website before meeting?

Ellen - posted the Wed. before. Meetings changing to Wed and agenda will be posted on Fri.

Nadia - Can there be feedback after public comment?

Mary - Frustrating to not get answers. Ellen made a committment will right down names and correspond directly.
Sue - try diligently to get back in touch about an issue. Contact us.

Sabrina’s husband - suggest answering question by posting on the website.
Lynn Barkley - Board meetings and agendas on the website.

? - use the individual school PTO as a resource.

? Springer - Have good teachers, but some have been let go. Kids switched classes. What is making schools parent friendly and how does it affect Blue Ribbons and improving schools.

Mary - tough decision, sat with administration to make these decisions. Will be wathcing and have already hired a floater.
Brad - there will be 2 secretaries at Prairie View

Sam - Any thought to getting community feedback in make cuts?

Mary - had several meetings open to the public, very poorly attended.
Sue - All board members here with administration for a special meeting to discuss this.
Shannon S - message did not get out to the community. They would have been here if they had known.
Mary -Will work on better communication with the community. Put it on website, on agendas, PTO presidents knew.

Mark - Business processing for many years. Important to measure for quality. Would you consider re surveying the community if they see the improvements? Can this survey be run yearly.

Mary - will redo survey. will look at the cost.
Karen - how do we get people to take the survey?
Mark - there is free or cheap software you can use.

Pam - will the video be on the site for an extended period of time for others to watch?

Yes

Pam - can we submit more questions for next forum?

Mary - Can email Ellen directly. Shannon can post answers on the Yahoo group. Group can aggregate questions and send on to Ellen

Note: all board members present except Mike Lindner. Ended up having about 80 people in attendance.

The Grayslake School Board has scheduled a community forum for this Wednesday night at 7:30 pm at Grayslake Middle School. Please attend and tell everyone you know about this forum. The more people that attend, the more likely it will be to have future sessions. Listed below are the final questions. Yes, there were more, but they had to be trimmed because of the time alotted for this forum.

1). Many people in the community would like to become more involved with the School Board and the Schools in D46. Listed as one of the goals of the BOE, is reaching out more to the community. While presenting their SIP Reports, Administrators expressed a need for more parental involvement. Are the Board Members and Administrative staff aware that their demeanor, expressions, and tone, yield feelings of being “unwelcome” and “condescended to”? Would at least 1 Administrator and 1 BOE Member address this and help the Parents at the Forum understand how we can be more involved in discussions with the BOE along with the Administrators at their respective schools?

2). Would it be possible to review the policies currently in place for student conduct (and consequences) in the classroom, school-grounds, and buses? Would the Policy Committee consider meeting with members of the community and note their suggestions on policy modification?

3). There are reports that the Education Fund has a “surplus”, a “rainy day fund” if you will, of somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 million dollars. What is the dollar amount in this fund? You have stated that some programs and personnel were eliminated due to low enrollment; what was the reason for not obtaining the balance of programs and personnel by utilizing a small portion of what is in the Education Fund?

4). With the State of Illinois in financial straits and D46 having $2.7 million dollars pending payment from the State, what provisions are being made should the monies not be provided as expected?

5). We submitted the idea of moving toward more paperless options from the schools. The response we received is that paperless options are being looked at.
Please expand on that: Is the technology in place? Has a cost analysis been done to see how much it would cost to put a system in place? How much money will the district save? Have you considered using 1 school or a small group of parents to test a system on? How can the community help this become a reality?

6). Have Band/Chorus fees been discussed further or decided on? If the BOE decides that fees for programs will be implemented, will it be in the ‘09/’10 year?

5). With 7 schools in our district, has any research been done on the impact of adding on to some current buildings and selling off other buildings to consolidate fees for property, building, teachers, staff, technology, etc.?

6). Are the Park Campus Buildings being used to capacity? If not, how much is not being used? Can you provide the approx. cost for maintaining the un-used portions? What are the plans for filling the buildings to capacity?

7). Will you please provide an explanation for purchasing 258 Laptop computers? Could the purchase have been made utilizing less sophisticated laptops, in an effort to reduce cost?
a). We were advised that the BOE Members, Administration, and Tech Dept. have agreed that Tech Hardware Expenses will be way down in the next years to come in order to keep the Ed Fund money to pay for teachers salaries. Are the new Board Members aware of this and can we rely on you to follow through on this “promise”?

8). Will you please explain why the district opted to obtain 38 SMART Boards (when many districts have 1 or none)?
a). Currently, only 5 District Personnel have been formally trained on the SMART Board; What are the Districts plans for further training of those who have not been formally trained?
b). Cost of this training?
c). What is the lifespan of a SMART Board?

9). Have the Administrative Salary increases been determined?
a). If yes: By what % per individual?
b). If no: When does the BOE foresee this decision being made?
c). Has the BOE considered tying salary increases to CPI with a cap?
d). What about Salary Freezes or Decreases?

10). Is the BOE aware at this time of any upcoming cuts that to be made? (Can the BOE give us any idea on items or areas that will be looked at in the event that more cuts need to be made from us getting less revenues than we have expenses?

11). Why were we caught so completely off guard with the CPI? The economy has been in a recession since late 2007; did the PMA projections in 2007 & 2008 show this?
a). What provisions are being made to make sure we are covered when our housing assessments start to decrease and revenue declines as a result?

12). Is the Staff Development Budget being reduced for ‘09/10?
a). What % of the projected budget is for travel?
b). Have reductions been made in this area for everyone from administrators, teachers, to non-certified staff? If not, will reductions be made in this area?
c). How much of the Staff Development budget is allocated for Blue Ribbon of Excellence, Inc.? How much of the Superintendent’s Professional Development Account is allocated for Blue Ribbon of Excellence, Inc.?
d). Will any administrator, teacher, or staff member (certified or not) be attending the National Conference in Dec. 2009 @ Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Orlando Florida?

13). What can the community do to help the Members of the Board? Superintendent? Administrative Staff? Schools?

There has been an ongoing discussion among parents, D46 administration and D46 school board members about whether to hold an open forum with the community. A discussion is on the agenda for tonights meeting. The Daily Herald is reporting on this effort this morning.

Smigielski said the possibility for further budget cuts and the recent reduction of 29 jobs to save money are two reasons for the heightened desire for a forum. She said she has questions about why the district laid off employees, but spent thousands of dollars on new classroom technology similar to an electronic chalkboard and laptop computers.

Another parent, Laura Yoder, said she wants assurance financial decisions are being made in the best interest of District 46 children.

“I just think it’s really important for the parents and the board to work together, especially in these hard times,” Yoder said.

At the Gurnee-based Woodland district, officials see the community forums as a good way to allow parents and others to informally discuss issues with board members.

I would encourage as many parents as possible to attend the forum if it does happen. Holding it during the summer in al likelihood decreases attendance. I would hope the board decides to continue holding regular forums during the school year. It is time for the district to be more open and actually listen to the residents.

If you are looking for information from the parents perspective, continue to read my blog and I would encourage you to join the new Parents Forum group started on Yahoo that is listed in the comments.

Only 27% of aspiring teachers could pass the math tests. If you have any doubts why fuzzy math, everyday math, new math or whatever name the education schools come up with. Money is not going to solve this problem. Competition, alternative certifications and real world experienced teachers will have the greatest impact.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released the results Tuesday. They say that only 27 percent of the more than 600 candidates who took the test passed. The test was administered in March of this year.

The teacher’s licensing exam tested potential teachers on their knowledge of elementary school mathematics. This included geometry, statistics, and probability.

To learn more about everyday math read the following links:

• Illinois Loop Math Program Reviews
• Math Curriculum by Town (Grayslake District 46 uses everyday math)
• DANCE OF THE MATH LEMONS
• MATH VIDEOS
• NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF MATHEMATICS: TEACH THE BASICS
• SUCCESS: TEST SCORES NOT DROPPING
• EVERYDAY MATH

Several District 46 parents have been asking the school board to hold a community forum. The Daily Herald is finally reporting this story:

District 46 resident Shannon Smigielski said she and other parents want elected board members to host a proper forum so there can be give-and-take on major issues such as spending. Smigielski said the effort has been unsuccessful so far.

“We don’t want to have a ‘their side’ and ‘our side.’ We don’t want there to be such a great divide between the district board and us,” said Smigielski, who estimates she now has about 50 parents involved in an online group for District 46 issues.

District 46 Superintendent Ellen Correll said officials aren’t against having a board forum. Board members tabled discussion on the idea at a meeting Monday, but it may arise in June.

——————————————-
District 46 resident Sharon Hetz said spending and budget cuts would be areas she’d like to address in depth with the school board. Hetz also said she has questions about Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Awards given to two schools by a South Carolina education consultant hired by District 46.

More information on the Blue Ribbon awards the district paid for can be found at the following:

• GRAYSLAKE DIST. 46 PAYS FOR AWARDS
• DISTRICT 46 PAID FOR AWARDS
• DISTRICT 46 SUPERINTENDENT ELLEN CORRELL DEFENDS PAYING FOR CONSULTANT WHO GAVE AWARDS

• RT @ILBlogger Should kids accused of crimes be kept out of school? http://bit.ly/j7Mmi #
• RT @ILBlogger Lake Villa pastor hopes to start Christian school: http://bit.ly/MHQr1 #
• L.A. Unified pays teachers not to teach: http://bit.ly/Hfu2g
  #tcot #education #
• Even if pension is cut, teachers get good deal: http://bit.ly/15KV7F
  #education #
• Illinois schools: Schools across Illinois freeze salaries for top administrators: http://bit.ly/H5U1f #

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This coming Friday, May 8th, there will be a blogger meetup at Carlucci’s Restaurant in Downers Grove, IL.  This event is sponsored by the Sam Adams Alliance and Illinois Review.  The event runs from 10 am - 4 pm and will feature Award Winning Investigative Journalist, Trent Siebert.  Trent, now of the Texas Watchdog, is the reporter who exposed Al Gore’s hypocrisy of his Mansion’s energy usage.

Please join other Illinois Bloggers and community liberty leaders Friday.  Register here or contact Emily Zanotti, Director of Web Strategies for the Sam Adams Alliance, at 312-920-0080 ext 314 or Email her at emzanotti@samadamsalliance.org.

There is a school board meeting tonight at Grayslake Middle School. One topic being discussed is the Superintendent’s contract. Please attend if you want your voice heard.

I’d like to suggest that the school board freeze pay or at least tie ti to CPI during these economic hard times. Woodland District 50 just froze the pay of their administrators.

Facing revenue declines similar to other suburban school systems, Gurnee-based Woodland Elementary District 50’s top administrators and managers agreed they should take the lead in a cash-conservation effort.

District 50 board President Bruce Bohren announced at a meeting Wednesday night that administration and middle management staff salaries will be frozen at current levels for the 2009-10 academic year. The freezes, and not replacing a departing administrator, are projected to save about $194,600.

“The board of education thanks the district’s leadership team for bringing forth this proposal,” Bohren said. It is appreciated.”

Bohren said the administrators and middle managers also won’t be eligible for bonuses, merit awards or other additional cash compensation for the next school year. He said the lone exception to the salary freeze is an assistant superintendent of support services who will receive a pay hike of less than 1 percent under a special retirement contract.

For more information on recent job cuts in the district, please read GRAYSLAKE ELEMENTARY CUTS 29 JOBS – WHO’S TO BLAME

• Help out a Christian School, buy your Mother’s Day presents at http://tinyurl.com/dxebab #christian #homeschool #

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There is a website that allows students and parents to rate their teachers. It is RateMyTeachers.com. Here are direct links to Grayslake schools that had a listing:

• Avon
• Grayslake Middle School
• Meadowview
• Grayslake High School
• Illinois Schools

The Grayslake Elementary District 46 Schools is preparing to have an energy review to see if solar or wind power can help them save money.

Energy costs are the latest area where Grayslake Elementary District 46 officials want to make significant cuts.

District 46 isn’t alone in trying to hold the line or reduce its electricity tab. School districts based in the Mundelein area, Hanover Park and Carpentersville are among those looking at wind turbines and other ways to slice expenses.

—————————————
Michael Linder, District 46 board president, suggested the district solicit three companies to perform “first-class” energy audits and then offer a contract to the one offering the best price for services.

Linder said the district might even be able to make extra money by renting roof space to a company that’s interested in producing solar power.

District 46 already has taken steps toward cutting its energy costs by lowering temperatures to 70 degrees early each evening. That move is projected to save about $9,000.

My first suggestion to save on costs is actually bid on services instead of the no-bid processes used in the past for energy, waste management and healthcare. To read more about the No-bid energy process see the following:

• Illinois Energy Consortium
• IUPC ENERGY CONSORTIUM UPDATE
• UPDATE ON NO-BID ENERGY CONTRACTS
• ILLINOIS ENERGY CONSORTIUM
• D46 AND D127 NO-BID ENERGY CONTRACTS
• ENERGY CONSORTIUM UPDATE
• SCHOOL ENERGY CONSORTIUM COLLECTING MILLIONS

To read about other spending cuts recently see: GRAYSLAKE ELEMENTARY CUTS 29 JOBS – WHO’S TO BLAME

The MacIver Institute has the video of 17 year old homeschooler, Melika Willoughby speaking at the Madison, WI tax Day tea Party. Watch for yourself and listen to her words. She did a great job representing homeschoolers and calling all people to action.

There are 4 candidates running for 3 positions. The Daily Herald has endorsed Tom Meskel and Thomas G. Halloran.

Incumbent Tom Meskel is a strong member of the board who is both fiscally conservative and an innovator willing to explore creative ideas, such as a wind farm that can generate revenue and be a learning tool used in science classes.

———————————————–
Halloran has two sons at Grayslake Central and has been heavily involved in the Colts football organization.

Halloran is endorsed because, as more of students’ education needs are linked to technology, the board would benefit from his technical expertise. Halloran also is a fiscal conservative who is dedicated to finding ways to bring more technology into the classroom without asking for more taxpayer money. Neither Russell Chamberlin nor Suzanna Swanson, the two remaining candidates, chose to participate in the endorsement process so they cannot be endorsed.

You can read more about current board member, Tom Meskel in past articles here. I would not consider Meskel a fiscal conservative given past votes for exceeding voter approved referendums, debt limits and the high bid for artificial turf.

Grayslake Elementary is cutting 29 jobs to help alleviate a budget deficit. The District did not get as much of a revenue increase from property taxes due CPI being only 0.1 %. Since around 80% of the district’s expenditures are for salaries the only place to make up the $2.3 million deficit is to cut salaries or positions.

Declining tax revenue caused by the recession was cited as the main reason for eliminating 29 positions at Grayslake Elementary District 46 for the 2009-10 academic year.

————————————————-
Board members voted 6-1 in favor of the staffing reductions, with Mark Hannan as the lone dissenter.

District 46 officials have taken a number of measures to plug a budget deficit of at least $2.3 million for next school year. The staff reductions were part of an overall budget-reduction package tentatively pegged at $2.8 million.

————————————————-
Among the 29 full- and part-time positions eliminated were general and special education teachers, clerical staffers, a psychologist and program assistants.

Last fall the district signed a contract giving teachers somewhere in the neighborhood of 4% raises. By giving into the teachers’ union demands for such large raises in these poor economic times the district had no choice but to make these cuts to personnel. This was a sound financial district instead of going to the taxpayers to gouge them in a referendum. The problem though was self inflicted and could have been prevented last fall by standing strong and only allowing raises that matched CPI. If they had done so, nearly every one these jobs could have been saved. If you want to complain about the cuts, remember it was caused by the teachers’ unions demands for raises that far outstripped CPI.

• RT @edupreneurRt @rpagesc @SCRG Report: SC has 11 of the top 25 worst public schools in the nation: http://tinyurl.com/der2yp #edreform #
• NC Judge Ordered Homeschool Mom to Place Kids in Public School http://tinyurl.com/anmfzq #hsc #education #tcot #

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A North Carolina Judge ordered a homeschool mom to place her kids in public schools. [Emphasis mine]

A judge has ordered a mom to place her three home-schooled children in public school – even though the kids were excelling.

North Carolina Judge Ned Mangum told Venessa Mills, who was in the middle of a divorce battle, that public school will “challenge the ideas you’ve taught them.”

Robyn Williams, a fellow homeschool mom and former public school teacher, is frustrated by the judge’s order and worries about the rights of other home-schooling families.

“The judge clearly disregarded all of the evidence and decided to legislate from the bench,” she said. “My friend, Venessa Mills, just had her right to home school stripped away.

This is just the beginning of many more attacks on home schooling. Each year, there are more and more attempts at regulations to make the choice of home schooling nearly impossible for many. Without a diligent home school community and people who believe in parental rights, these attacks will become more successful. Watch your legislators; find local and state wide homes school groups; signup for alerts from the Home School Legal Defense Association; find parental rights groups like ParentalRights.org; get involved protecting your rights.

There will be a rally at the State Capital on March 24 in support of home schooling. Please share this with other North Carolinas homes schoolers.

The Illinois Legislature has introduced 2 bills that could affect homeschooling in the state. Hat tip: Susan at Home Education Magazine and Illinois Review for both of these bills.

The first is HB 3743, “ILLINOIS VIRTUAL SCHOOLS”:

Synopsis: Creates the Illinois Virtual School Act. Establishes the Illinois Virtual School as a statewide virtual school to serve Illinois students in kindergarten through grade 12 and Illinois teachers and other educators, to be funded through an annual State appropriation to meet the operation and capital needs of the Illinois Virtual School. Sets forth provisions concerning fees, accountability, online courses, access and equity, a Board of Trustees, the powers of the Board, and the transition from the existing State Board of Education program. Effective immediately.

This bill has language specifically stating home schoolers. This is a dangerous step for home schoolers since they are classified as private or non-public schools in all other state laws.

The second bill is HB 2248 allows a school district to have a remote education program.

Amends the School Code. Allows a school district, by resolution of its school board, to establish a remote educational program. Defines “remote educational program” as an educational program delivered to students in the home or other location outside of a school building that meets specified criteria. Provides that days of attendance by students in a remote educational program may be claimed by the school district and shall be counted for general State aid purposes in accordance with the State aid formula provisions of the Code. Effective immediately.

The troubling part of this bill below:

(6) The remote educational program is at all times under the direct supervision of a parent, guardian, or other responsible adult identified in the approved remote educational plan. The parent, guardian, or other responsible adult may engage only in non-teaching duties not requiring instructional judgment or the evaluation of students. The parent, guardian, or other responsible adult shall be designated by the school district as non-teaching personnel or volunteer personnel.

If you see these bills as a danger to home schools please contact members of the
Elementary & Secondary Education Committee.

Lake Villa Christian Academy is accepting registrations. You can request more information by contacing Bob or Mary Parikh at 847-245-7471 or 847-356-1031. More information is below:

• The Bible will be taught, faith will be shared and children will be encouraged to receive the life transforming message of the Gospel and Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
• Teaching Biblical values, morals, standards, and Biblical world-view
• Christian standards – dress, conversation, conduct – on and off campus
• Christian-Bible based education
• Quality education in a loving, safe environment
• Working with parents
• Non-denominational
• Open for Christians and non-Christians
• K-8th grade
• Christian, born-again, Bible believing, qualified teachers
• We will hire teachers based on enrollment / need.
• If teachers are not certified, they will be working towards it. However the emphasis will be on their ability to love, relate and teach and not on State certification.
• Tuition will be $4,800/year
• Class room size, student/teacher ratio, mixed or single classes will be determined by the enrollment.
• ABEKA curriculum will be used across the board which prepares kids to be able to read before they finish kindergarten and academically keeps an average child a grade or two ahead of the average student. We KNOW this is a good curriculum because we have used it successfully to put our own two children through high school with very satisfying results.

The News-Sun is reporting about how Grayslake High School District is planning on spending $1.6 Million dollars on capital improvement projects. The largest of these projects is approximately $1.1 million to put artificial turf at the new North High School.

The board set aside $500,000 for classroom improvements for art and the band-choir students at Grayslake Central, and plan to convert a surplus classroom into a science lab at the Grayslake North campus.

School Board President Mike Hutchins said the district is soliciting bids to install synthetic turf on the Grayslake North football field, estimated to cost $1.1 million.

Mike Zelek, associate superintendent for business affairs, said the natural- turf field at Grayslake North has a severe drainage problem that makes the field unsafe, and even unusable at times after heavy rain.

About two years ago, the board spent about $1 million on synthetic turf for the Grayslake Central football field. That project was deemed a huge success.

It will be interesting to watch the bidding process for the synthetic turf. When the district purchased for Grayslake Central they manipulated the standards to ensure awarding the contract to the highest bidder.

Secondly, why are there drainage problems at Grayslake North. Whoever designed the field just a few short years ago appears to have been derelict in their duties or at least not very good at engineering design. Why was there no warranty when the field was put in? Is the same architect firm handling this bidding process?

Excess space will also be turned into a science lab. Again, this is a new school. Where was the planning? What was the architect firm doing? Why are we taxpayers having to pay for work a second time due to poor planning by the school district and/or the architects? It is obvious our taxpayer money is being wasted.

Grayslake schools are estimated to receive just over $1.1 million dollars from the stimulus package. The breakdown of IDEA, Part B funds are as follows. Neither district will be receiving Title 1 monies in this estimate.

Grayslake Elementary $813,000
Grayslake High School $336,000

These estimates can be found on page 13 of the pdf found at the Education and Labor website. You can find your Illinois school district estimate there as well. Estimates for other states can be found here.

In addition, districts can apply for innovation grants. There is $5 billion dollars available. Below is an overview:

The innovation fund is part of the $5 billion from the state stabilization fund that will go to the education department and Secretary Arne Duncan, who will award incentive and innovation grants. The innovation fund is worth $650 million. The recipients of the innovation funds will be local school districts, or a partnership between a nonprofit and one or more school districts or a nonprofit and a consortium of schools. These awards will be given out based on districts or other eligible entities that have made gains in closing the achievement gap, according to the law. School districts must also have met annual state performance measures for at least two years in a row, demonstrate academic achievement improvement for all groups of students, and make progress in a host of other things (graduation rate, high-quality teachers.) The districts must also demonstrate that they can get matching funds through partnerships with the private sector. Secretary Duncan has said he wants to use these awards, and the entire $5 billion fund, to push the “reform agenda.” If you want to read the language, go to page 438 of this very large PDF of the stimulus bill.

I received notice today that there is a community interest meeting for a new Christian Elementary School in Lake County. It would be located in Lake Villa for K-8 students. See details below and please attend and pass this information below along to your friends and neighbors.

We have some exciting news to share with you. After praying for several years about it, we feel like God is leading us to start a good, solid Christian school (K-8th grade) where the children can receive a good, quality education in a safe, loving, Christian environment. We love children and would like to partner with you in investing in them, teaching/training them Biblically and preparing them for real life, for the future. This will be a non-denominational school, open to ALL. As we try to discern God’s will and the level of interest in the community, we will have a -

Community Interest Meeting

SUNDAY - MARCH 1st - 3 p.m
LINDEN VILLA BAPTIST CHURCH
38869 N Deep Lake Rd
Lake Villa, IL
(847) 245-7471

I received the following email about House Bill 643 and House Bill 1097. Please call the representatives listed below and voice your opinion. The hearing is scheduled for tomorrow Feb. 26, at 10 a.m. in the Capitol Building, Room 122B if you would prefer to attend in person.

House Bill 643 and House Bill 1097 are scheduled to be heard in the Revenue and Finance Committee tomorrow. If these bills pass, it would increase the education expense credit to 50% (instead of 25%) of qualified education expenses. In addition, the bill increases the maximum amount of the education expense credit that home educators can receive from $500 to $1,000.

Your calls to the Revenue and Finance Committee members are needed to get these bills passed.

Action Requested:

1. Please call the committee members and give them this message:

“Please vote for House Bill 643 and House Bill 1097, both of which increase the maximum education expense credit from $500 to $1,000. It will empower parents to choose the best education for their children.”

Revenue and Finance Committee Member list:

Chairperson John E. Bradley (D) - 217-782-1051
Vice-Chairperson Frank J. Mautino (D) - 217-782-0140
Bob Biggins (D) - 217-782-6578
Suzanne Bassi (R) - 217-782-8026
Mark H. Beaubien (R) - 217-782-1517
Linda Chapa LaVia (D) - 217-782-1002
Barbara Flynn Currie (D) - 217-782-8121
Roger L. Eddy (R) - 217-782-1040
LaShawn K. Ford (D) - 217-782-5962
Careen M. Gordon (D) - 217-782-5997
Ed Sullivan, Jr. (R) - 217-782-3696
Arthur L. Turner (D) - 217-782-8116
Michael J. Zalewski (D) - 217-782-5280

VoicesForSchoolChoice.org have a video of students in DC asking President Obama to continue the Opportunity scholarships in Washington, DC.

GrizzlyGroundswell provided the image below. This was sent out by the Chicago Teachers Unions members today.

I received an interesting link about candidates for school board in Palatine District 15. Watch for yourself below and you can see why it so hard to get fiscally responsible candidates elected to school boards.

The largest Home School Conference in the midwest takes place in Cincinatti, OH April 16^th-18^th. For more details click the links below:

• Huge vendor exhibitors
• Schedule
• Incredible speakers
• Sessions & Workshops - there will even be a Teen Track this year.
• Affordable Registration Costs

The News-Sun has a story about the Big Hollow School Board creating a job for one of their own. Their story is a result of me sending them a copy of my story entitled Big Hollow Taxpayer Pressure Forces A Little Transparency.

You will also notice in the job postings that the district has finally added the responsibilities of the Directory of technology position. Click Show/Hide beside Additional Information. There is still no pay range or qualifications posted. The board is continuing to hide details from the public and can easily still hire Mr. Wright at a later date. I will reiterate my suggestions for ensuring transparency and the new director does not have a cloud of suspicion on them:

• Post all candidates resumes on the district website
• Interview all candidates in public
  • Have a first round of written questions/answers open to the public
  • Hold all second round of interviews on 1 day
  • Seclude candidates so they cannot hear the others answers
  • Interview each candidate in open session