Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Pritzker’s Rules of Order’ Category

How would legislation requiring full-day kindergarten affect suburban schools?

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Education Association, Countryside Elementary School, District 220 referendum, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Springfield, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on May 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Arlington Kin

Kindergarten classes in Arlington Heights Elementary District 25, like Kathy Riesing’s at Dryden Elementary School, would go to full-day beginning in August 2024 under a plan by the district that will add several new classrooms to most schools. (Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer)

If Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs a bill requiring full-day kindergarten in all elementary and unit school districts within four years, at least nine suburban districts would be forced to comply, even if voters rejected proposals in the past.

That’s according to a Daily Herald analysis of 80 suburban districts in five counties.

The percentage statewide is similar: About 11% of elementary and unit districts statewide don’t currently have full-day kindergarten, education officials said.

And the cost of changing that would be shouldered by taxpayers in those districts.

All nine of the suburban districts without full-day kindergarten offer half-day classes. Some of the districts are in the process of making the transition to full-day after recent voter-approved — and costly — tax hikes.

Both Palatine Elementary District 15 and Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 schools will soon have full-day kindergarten no matter the outcome of the proposed legislation that was sent to Pritzker last week.

District 25 is borrowing $75 million to make additions and renovations at six of the district’s seven elementary schools to accommodate the shift. They also estimate another $1.4 million is needed annually to cover operational costs for personnel and supplies.

In the suburbs, there are five other suburban elementary districts without full-day kindergarten: Des Plaines 62, Mount Prospect 57, Prospect Heights 23, Bloomingdale 13 and Glen Ellyn 41. Two unit districts in Lake County, Barrington 220 and Wauconda 118, also are without full-day kindergarten classes.

While District 220 offers an “enrichment program” for kindergartners that allows students to remain at school all day, changes to that curriculum would be needed for it to be considered full-day kindergarten, district officials said.

More here.

Read Full Post »

Pensions put Illinois’ 2024 budget in red by over $4B

Posted in Barrington Education Association, Deception, Ethics, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on May 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Budget Protest

Illinois state lawmakers shorted pensions by $4.1 billion and killed scholarships for low-income students, but gave themselves pay raises and a new office building. Their budget leaves no room for error as revenue projections drop.

Illinois state lawmakers approved a record-high $50.6 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2024 at 2:30 a.m. on March 27, despite no Republican support and three Senate Democratic caucus members voting “no” on the bill.

Lawmakers had originally anticipated passing the state budget and adjourning their spring session by May 19 but were hung up amid reported revenue declines and higher-than-expected costs.

Despite repeated claims by elected leaders that the budget is balanced, that claim ignores a massive unpaid bill: state pensions.

Appropriations to the five statewide pension funds will fall $4.1 billion below what the plans’ own actuaries have determined is required to actually begin paying off the state’s pension debt.

4b

While Gov. J.B. Pritzker has touted his administration’s handling of the state’s pension crisis – including making $200 million in additional pension contributions in the 2024 budget – state budgets continue to shortchange pensions by billions of dollars annually. The effects of year after year of paying in too little has resulted in massive growth in pension debt, which now stands at $140 billion, according to state estimates.

It is likely much worse: independent estimates put the figure at more than $300 billion, using assumptions that are more realistic than the state’s optimistic projections.  Refusal among elected leaders to consider constitutional pension reform or make full, actuarially determined contributions leaves the current budget inherently unbalanced and jeopardizes the ability of future budgets to deliver core services to Illinoisans.

Read more here.

Read Full Post »

Iowa schools to be required to notify parents if students ask to change pronouns or names

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Education Association, Countryside Elementary School, Ethics, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, The New Normal, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on May 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Classroom 1

Iowa teachers will be banned from raising gender identity and sexual orientation issues with students through grade six, and all books depicting sex acts will be removed from school libraries, under a bill Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Friday.

The new law is among similar measures that have been approved in other Republican-dominated statehouses around the country. As with many of those proposals, Iowa Republicans framed their action as a commonsense effort to ensure that parents can oversee what their children are learning in school and that teachers not delve into topics such as gender and sexuality.

Despite the opposition of all Democratic legislators, Republicans who hold large majorities in Iowa’s state House and Senate approved the measure in April and there was little doubt that Reynolds would sign it; she had made issues related to gender identity and sexuality a focal point of her legislative agenda this year.

“This legislative session, we secured transformational education reform that puts parents in the driver’s seat, eliminates burdensome regulations on public schools, provides flexibility to raise teacher salaries, and empowers teachers to prepare our kids for their future,” Reynolds said in a statement.

Under the new law, school administrators also would be required to notify parents if students asked to change their pronouns or names. Religious texts will be exempt from the library ban on books depicting sex acts.

Democrats and LGBTQ groups argued that the restrictions would hurt children by limiting their ability to be open with teachers about gender and sexuality issues and to see their lives reflected in books and other curriculum.

The law’s passage was not a surprise, said Keenan Crow, director of policy and advocacy at the LGBTQ equality group One Iowa. “But we are still very disappointed by it.”

Read more here.

Read Full Post »

Illinois lawmakers face two choices on Invest in Kids Act: support schoolchildren or support teachers unions

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Education Association, Deception, Elgin Community College, FUBAR, Harper College, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Unions on May 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Illinois-graduates-most-students-even-though-a-vast-majority-arent-reading-or-math-proficient

Thirty-two state lawmakers have stepped up their efforts to save the Invest in Kids Act, Illinois’ tax credit scholarship for more than 9,000 students.

The House members, all Republicans, have signed a letter indicating their support for the program, which, as we’ve reported, is in danger of being killed by anti-school-choice lawmakers. Lawmakers will decide this month whether or not to extend the program as part of the budget negotiation process.

Those who’ve signed the letter support the hopes and dreams of the scholarship students from low-income, working-class families. For details of the program, see Empower Illinois’ 2022 Impact Report.

Those who refuse to show their support are effectively giving in to the teachers unions, which strongly oppose Invest in Kids and are actively pushing to end the program (see IEA’s stop vouchers in Illinois).

That refusal includes House Democrats who were asked to sign the letter but wouldn’t. Given Democrats’ lockstep support of the teachers unions, it’s unlikely any would sign anyway.

The refusal also includes eight Republican House lawmakers who have not signed: House GOP leader Tony McCombie, as well as Jeff Keicher, Dave Severin, Charles Meier, Norine Hammond, Wayne Rosenthal, Michael Marron and Amy Elik. (Wirepoints is unaware of any similar letter making the rounds in the Senate.)

These unsupportive legislators should be called out because school choice should be a slam dunk for both Republicans and Democrats. As the WSJ reported Tuesday, “The program is popular with voters. In May 2021, an ARW Strategies poll showed 61% of Illinois voters approved the tax-credit program, including 67% of state Democrats. 71% of black voters and 81% of Hispanics statewide approved of the plan.”

Not to mention, states around the country like Indiana and Iowa are greatly expanding their school choice programs and making them universal.

Read more here.

Read Full Post »

Full-day kindergarten could soon be required in all Illinois districts as bill heads to Pritzker’s desk

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Education Association, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Springfield, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on May 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »

220 K

A measure that implements full-day kindergarten throughout Illinois is now awaiting to be sent to Gov. J.B. Pritzker for his signature.

State Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, filed House Bill 2396. It passed the House in March. After several amendments in the Illinois Senate last week, the House voted to concur Friday.

State Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, said the bill better prepares the state’s youth for the future.

“Full-day kindergarten has shown to boost academic gains and prepare children for the social and emotional demands of early elementary,” Lightford said. “This can provide students and their families with sufficient support and opportunities in their early education career.”

During Senate committees, state Sen. Dan McConchie, R-Hawthorn Woods, asked about the potential costs on lower-income school districts.

“For them, it’s just an issue of having space,” McConchie said. “They are going to have to build eight classrooms to be able to do this. That is not something they will be able to do in short order. Plus, it will be a million dollars a year to fund this, and they want to make sure they are doing it in a responsible manner.”

The measure phases the policy in over two years so schools can garner funding for the change, which is more than half the state’s schools, according to state Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Harrisburg.

More here.

Read Full Post »

Lawmakers advance bill that would allow non-citizens to be police officers in Illinois

Posted in FUBAR, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Public Safety, Springfield, Taxes, Unions, WTF on May 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

GETTYRF_101422_PoliceBelt_Thinkstock20Images765572534

Lawmakers have advanced a measure that will soon be sent to the governor’s desk that would allow certain immigrants to become police officers in Illinois.

Current federal law prohibits a non-U.S. citizen from becoming a police offer throughout the country. House Bill 3751 looks to change that law in Illinois.

The measure states that any immigrant who the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has deferred under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals process is allowed to apply for the position of a police officer, deputy sheriff or special police officer.

The measure was amended by the Senate on Thursday and received pushback from Republican lawmakers.

State Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, criticized the idea of a non-citizen being able to arrest a U.S. citizen in Illinois.

“To hand the power to arrest and detain a citizen of this state, or a citizen of any state in the United States, to a non-citizen is a fundamental breach of democracy,” Rose said. “It is antithetical to the police power of any state.”

Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, supports the bill and said during debate that history shows people from different backgrounds have been law enforcement officers for a long time.

More here.

Read Full Post »

Bill to redesign Illinois’ state flag awaits governor’s signature

Posted in FUBAR, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield, Taxes on May 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

illinois_flag-Illinois-StateFlags

“It’s dumb. We’ve got so many things to worry about, and we’re worrying about the flag.”

 

Illinois’ state flag could be headed for a makeover.

A bill that would form a commission to determine whether the flag should be redesigned and potentially pick a new design is awaiting Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signature after being approved by the Senate in March and the House late last week.

“I think if you asked anyone outside the state to identify our flag, not many could,” said state Rep. Daniel Didech, a Buffalo Grove Democrat who co-sponsored the original Senate bill in the House. “There’s an opportunity to market our state and a side opportunity to engage young people in government, and there’s not many times we’ve had legislation that could do that.”

However, the initiative is not without detractors. Votes in both chambers were largely along party lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed.

“I think this is a great example of the misplaced priorities we’re seeing this year from our colleagues across the aisle,” said state Sen. Seth Lewis, a Bartlett Republican. “Instead of focusing on really pressing issues like ethics reform … we’re talking about a new state flag.”

Russell Middleton, an architect from downstate Normal who testified against the bill during committee hearings, was more blunt: “It’s dumb. We’ve got so many things to worry about, and we’re worrying about the flag.”

More here.

Read Full Post »

Disgraceful Illinois budget process on full display as even a draft hidden from rank and file lawmakers in both parties

Posted in Deception, Ethics, FUBAR, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on May 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

illinois-springfield-capitol-and-sky

With no real understanding what’s in it, so far not having seen even a draft, Illinois lawmakers will soon vote on a budget spending about $50 billion of your money.

This portion of Hanna Meisel’s Friday column from Capitol News Illinois is a must-read:

During House floor debate, Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, renewed his request for an estimate as to when a draft copy of the budget might drop – or at least a revenue estimate for the state’s fiscal year that begins July 1.

“You’re asking me?” replied Rep. Jay Hoffman, a Democrat from Swansea who was presiding over the House chamber at the time. Hoffman’s quip elicited laughs from members, and Keicher broke into a smile.

“Funny story,” Keicher responded. “After I made my inquiry last night, I had eight members of the other side of the aisle suggest to me that they hadn’t seen one either.”

The Republican superminority is routinely cut out from budget formation, but that’s a Democrat acknowledging that most of his party, too, is shut out.

And they laughed about it.

Read on here.

Read Full Post »

Illinois measure would require ‘gender neutral’ bathrooms to remove ‘offensive’ urinals

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield on May 18, 2023| 1 Comment »

Insanity

Lawmakers continue crafting a measure to allow public restrooms in Illinois to be converted to gender neutral multi-occupancy facilities.

The House narrowly passed House Bill 1286 in March. The measure allows for public restrooms to be converted to gender neutral as long as there are stall dividers with a locking mechanism, vending devices for menstruation supplies and a small trash receptacle in each toilet stall.

The Senate is poised to amend the bill to require stalls be fully enclosed in such facilities and that urinals are removed.

State Sen. Neil Anderson, R-Andalusia, asked bill sponsor state Sen. Celina Villanueva, D-Chicago, about one particular part of the bill.

“Can you explain why there’s no urinals,” Anderson asked during a committee hearing.

“So we took into consideration the concerns of several members who voiced that concern in terms of again, people who walk into a restroom and might be offended by a urinal so what we are trying to do is to make sure that we are addressing those concerns,” Villanueva said. “Urinals are just as good as a toilet.”

“Are they going to be offended if I leave the toilet seat up,” Anderson asked.

“I mean, I might be offended,” Villanueva said.

More here.

Read Full Post »

Census 2022 results: Did the place where you live gain or lose residents? Search Chicago-area counties.

Posted in 220, 300, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes on May 18, 2023| 1 Comment »

VBH Change 1

According to the Chicago Tribune report, Barrington Hills lost 87 residents between 2020 and 2022 representing a change of -2.1%.

People constantly come and go, but new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show that Chicago lost about 81,000 people, or just under 3% of its population, from 2020 to 2022. Despite the decline, the city retained its position as the nation’s third most populous city, after New York City and Los Angeles, in 2022. Houston was ranked fourth.

Chicago’s population as of July 1, 2022, was estimated at 2,665,039, with changes calculated from the estimated base of April 1, 2020.

The census also estimates that Illinois lost more than 230,000 people, or about 1.8%, in that time. Much of the reported decline — about 176,000 — came in the Chicago metropolitan area, which covers 14 counties including Cook and the collar counties, and extends into Indiana and Wisconsin.

Read the Tribune’s county by county report here, but know that the numbers they reported are constant for all four counties in Barrington Hills.

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »

%d bloggers like this: