CAT Tracks for January 23, 2004 WHAT GOES AROUND...

...COMES AROUND!

Remember last school year...when a representative of ISBE addressed District employees assembled in the Cairo High School cafeteria and spoke casually of shutting us down...that test scores clearly indicated that we were failing in our mission? ISBE was unmoved by our objections and would accept no excuses. Their mandate: Work a miracle by April or be released and/or reorganized!

In that context, it has been very interesting to read news reports of ISBE's response/reaction to Governor Blagojevich's State of the State Address this week in which he announced that he wants to reorganize education in the State of Illinois and effectively shut down ISBE. ISBE's reaction: Protest, denial, excuses...cries of foul!

Hmmmm...Been there; done that!

Below are a couple of articles on this topic which I thought you might find of interest...

Board of Ed says Blagojevich used 'props,' twisted facts

BY ROSALIND ROSSI Education Reporter
Chicago Sun-Times
January 22, 2004

Besieged State Board of Education members Wednesday accused Gov. Blagojevich of using phony "props" and twisted facts to attack the state board and deflect attention from a school funding gap that lawmakers have refused for years to fix.

In their first public meeting since Blagojevich skewered their agency in his State of the State address, all eight board members -- including the board's four Democrats -- expressed everything from serious reservations to outright anger at the governor's plan to put the bulk of the state board's responsibilities under his control.

Republican board member Gregory Kazarian contended that Blagojevich concocted "props" to illustrate his charge that the state board created red tape of "biblical proportions" in writing a State School Code that was longer than the King James Bible, the Torah and the Quran combined.

State board officials charged that the 1-1/2-foot version of the School Code Blagojevich pointed to dramatically during his Jan. 15 address had been printed off the Internet, creating hundreds of extra pages with only a few words on them.

Kazarian and others said the board merely writes rules, based on laws passed by the Legislature. The school code is only 790 pages "if you buy it in the bookstore," Kazarian said.

"[Blagojevich] created a prop," Kazarian said. "He just decided not to let the facts get in the way of a good story. ... The focus of the governor is a red herring and unsubstantiated by the facts."

Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff conceded later that the School Code Blagojevich had used was printed off the Internet, but added: "I'm not sure how that's phony. That's how many people would access the information."

Even "700 pages is still a great deal for schools to have to wade through," Ottenhoff said. In addition, she said, every law "doesn't necessarily need 100 pages of interpretations and requirements and forms. That's what we've seen and that's what is part of the problem."

Asked why Blagojevich didn't just get a bound School Code from the Springfield library, Ottenhoff said: "I suppose we could have. It doesn't change the argument."

After their attacks, board members took a break so state Education Supt. Robert Schiller could hold a press conference.

Schiller ripped into the governor, charging that "education was being hijacked by politics" and that Blagojevich's plan did nothing to improve education in Illinois. The governor's "headline-du-jour" approach was a "red herring" to deflect attention from the state's serious education funding problems, Schiller said.

Board members raised similar points Wednesday, and added that they feared putting the board's responsibilities under Blagojevich, a Chicago Democrat, would shortchange Downstate kids, strip school districts of local control over their own spending and rob local businesses of the economic engine that schools provide.

Democrat Judith Gold said she worried what would happen if Blagojevich was replaced someday with "a right-wing governor. Stranger things have happened."

Board member Janet Steiner, a Democrat whom Blagojevich appointed board chairwoman, said afterward she was "shocked" Blagojevich did not tell her in advance of his plans.

"I was totally blindsided," Steiner said. "I thought he would give me a heads-up and he didn't at all."

Ottenhoff said the governor's proposal would finally make one person accountable for the state's education system, and allow districts to save money by pooling their purchases. In reaction, Ottenhoff said, the state board "has done everything but accept responsibility and come up with ideas for making the system work."

UNIONS DEFEND PROPOSED EDUCATION REFORM

BY BECKY MALKOVICH
THE SOUTHERN
[Thu Jan 22 2004]

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS -- A spokeswoman for the State Board of Education criticized Gov. Rod Blagojevich for failing to seek the board's input on educational reform, yet seeking advice from two of the state's most powerful unions.

Teachers union leadership said Thursday Blagojevich was "in contact" with leadership from the Illinois Education Association and Illinois Federation of Teachers while he was formulating his educational reform package, which includes dismantling the Illinois State Board of Education. Blagojevich's plan calls for creating a new department of education.

During a teleconference Thursday afternoon, Anne Davis, IEA president, and Steve Preckwinkle, IFT director of political activities, said the unions had some say in the reforms.

"We have been giving the governor advice on education since the beginning of his campaign. It is important that teachers be involved in the deliberations," said Preckwinkle. "While we weren't given a lot of detail about what was going to be in the plan, we were certainly asked to reflect on the proposals and we did.

"We are in partnership with the governor, but it is their proposal. They wrote it, not us," Davis said.

Karen Craven, an ISBE spokeswoman, said state Superintendent Robert Schiller had no contact with the governor regarding his proposed reforms. "What is disturbing is that in the 18 months the governor has been in office, he has declined to meet with the (ISBE) superintendent repeatedly, yet these two unions were able to be at the table with him," said Karen Craven, spokeswoman for the ISBE. "Does the superintendent need to get out his checkbook to get a seat at the table? And, if that's the case, this is truly not about education, this is about satisfying the interests of your political contributors."

According to the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, the IFT gave the governor $642,588 during the 2002 campaign, while the IEA donated $536,671. Craven said there is nothing in the governor's plan to improve education. "This is just smoke and mirrors to distract people from the state's budget crisis and the governor is not in the position to fund education," she said.

But Davis said, "We believe that it's time that somebody stood up and said enough is enough, and we applaud the governor for recognizing the problem as well as proposing a commonsense solution."

Both Davis and Preckwinkle said the ISBE turns simple state statutes into obstacles for teachers.

Craven, however, said the ISBE is simply doing its job of enforcing laws passed by the legislature.

"Is there room for improvement? Always," Craven said. "But you are not going to improve education by taking apart the ISBE."

becky.malkovich@thesouthern.com 618-997-3356x15812