Education Matters US

There are several education related bills that have been introduced this Legislative Session. Here is a brief rundown of the ones I know about so far. If you know of others please let me know.

• HB 382 (Flowers, D-Chicago) requires the Chicago Board of Education to adopt policies and rules requiring that all students wash their hands with an antiseptic soap before consuming any meal at school. The bill also requires that nationally accepted standards be adopted, supervision given, and materials provided for this purpose.
• HB 232 (Davis, M. D-Chicago) prohibits the State Board of Education and school boards from establishing, maintaining, or in any way supporting any virtual schools or virtual classes for elementary and secondary students.
• Education and Fiscal Responsibility Act, Senate Bill 750 introduced by Senator Meeks:
  • Increased funding for Illinois’ “foundation level,” the minimum amount of per-pupil funding guaranteed by the state;
  • Greater support for special education, poverty grants, early childhood programs, and higher education;
  • Measures to improve teacher quality and training;
  • A new “education venture pool,” providing additional funds for struggling schools to implement proven education improvement strategies;
  • A placeholder for new fiscal and academic accountability measures;
  • Property tax relief and new tax credits for low- and moderate-income families;
  • New revenue sources to improve the state’s fiscal health and protect important health and human services vital to children’s learning.

  Read more about the attempt to pass this bill last session here.

• A constitutional amendment abolishing school property taxes would go into effect three years after its approval, leaving state legislators with the daunting task of fixing educational disparities — in both funding and tax burdens — they haven’t been able to successfully address to date.
• HB 115/SB 10 – HPV PREVENTION – a female student who is 11 or 12 years of age may not enter any grade of a public, private, or parochial school unless the child presents to the school proof of having received a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination.
  [This was already mandated in Texas. In this report you will notice the following quote:
  
  

  Merck is bankrolling efforts to pass state laws across the country mandating Gardasil for girls as young as 11 or 12. It doubled its lobbying budget in Texas and has funneled money through Women in Government, an advocacy group made up of female state legislators around the country.

  
  Is Merck doing the same here in Illinois? ]
• SB541 – Beginning with the 2007-2008 school year, lowers the compulsory school age from 7 years to 5 years;
• HB249 – It is a violation of this Act to play a prerecorded message placed by an autodialer unless a live operator requests and obtains without the consent of the called party immediately before the start of the prerecorded message. [In other words it will limit the use of automated phone calls for grassroots organizations.]

Please contact your Illinois House and Senate Member in regards to these issues.

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For those of you in the Grayslake area:

Republican House Leader Tom Cross has also setup a website (www.102IllinoisIdeas.com). The site is setup for you to give your ideas on how Legislators should make Illinois better. I have already left him my thoughts on education. You should all do the same on education or on your favorite area or disagreement with our state government.