Illinois Asbo Legislative Alerts Podcast

IASA hosted Illinois ASBO Executive Director/CEO Dr. Michael Jacoby to discuss the financial implications of the pandemic for Illinois schools.

Dr. Jacoby reviews the laws enacted in the 2019 Legislative Session that specifically apply to school business. Here are just a few of the bills that might affect your district: Salary History, HB 834, the Teacher Shortage Bill, HB 1472, a bill addressing the hiring of individuals with prior marijuana convictions, HB 2121 and also Senate Bill 1371 addressing the controversial Door Lock Devices law. For more information on all of the bills passed in the 2019 legislature download your PDF copy of the 2019 Digest of Bills Passed.

As the deadline for EBF reporting gets nearer, Dr. Jacoby revisits this topic with guest Sara R. Shaw, Senior Manager for Fiscal and Academic Solvency from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) about the latest on EBF. Sara shares key dates to be aware of for the EBF Spending Plan. She also gives links to valuable resources including information on how you can talk to ISBE directly about your EBF questions. ISBE EBF RESOURCES : Calendar of Key Dates for the EBF Spending Plan. Find EBF resources, including deep-dive webinars and data collection instructions on ISBE’s website. Talk to ISBE directly about your EBF questions through Calendly, office hours available every Thursday, 9am-noon, with sign-ups at: https://calendly.com/site-based.

The deadline for site based expenditure reporting submissions is approaching fast (8/15/19)! Join Dr. Jacoby as he interviews Sara R. Shaw, Senior Manager for Fiscal and Academic Solvency from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) about ESSA site based expenditure reporting (SBER) as well as the latest news on EBF.  Sara shares key dates to be aware of for both ESSA SBER and the EBF Spending Plan. She also gives links to valuable resources including information on how you can talk to ISBE directly about your EBF & ESSA questions.    ISBE EBF & ESSA RESOURCES : www.isbe.net/site-based - Find EBF & ESSA resources, including deep-dive webinars and data collection instructions on ISBE’s website.  www.iasbo.tools/SiteBasedGuide - Download a PDF Guide for Site-Based Expenditure Reporting.  Talk to ISBE directly about your EBF & ESSA questions through Calendly, office hours available every Thursday, 9am-noon, with sign-ups at: https://calendly.com/site-based.

Dr. Jacoby shares his final thoughts on this legislative season; some to celebrate, some to think about for the future. In this episode he discusses four big pieces of legislation important to school business officials, the 3% cap on end-of-career salaries for the pension system, the new minimum teacher salary, property taxes and construction  grant relief for school districts.

Dr. Jacoby discusses a bill that could impact schools and their communities the most, HB 3053 (Mayfield, D-Waukegan). Scheduled to be heard Wednesday, May 15, HB 3053 addresses forced school district consolidation. The School Management Alliance urges you to fill out a witness slip in opposition to this bill as well as contact your legislator and let them know how this bill will affect our school communities. Also on the table this week is SB 690, the proposed Property Tax Freeze as well as several new revenue packages for Illinois.  

The Illinois General Assembly took action on several major pieces of legislation this week. Bills regarding teacher salaries, compulsory school attendance age, superintendent sharing, charter schools, and pensions all advanced. Both chambers finished up their work on Friday and have now hit the half-way point of the session. When the Senate and House of Representatives resume again on April 30, the Senate will be taking up House bills and the House will be considering Senate bills. Illinois ASBO Executive Director and CEO, Michael Jacoby discusses the good news, the not-so-good news and the news you need to know in this week's Legislative Podcast.

Dr. Jacoby offers his perspective on three important pieces of legislation that will impact districts across Illinois.  SB 28 (Bertino-Tarrant, D-Plainfield) would reinstate the five clock-hour provision. Current law gives school districts the flexibility to address the needs of students, and allows learning to be the main factor in determining a school day rather than the clock.  House Bill 3053 (Mayfield, D-Waukegan) was approved by the House this week. It creates the School District Efficiency Commission and requires the commission to make recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly on the number of school districts in this State with the goal of reducing the number of school districts by 25 percent, the optimal amount of enrollment for a school district, and where reorganization and realignment of school districts would be beneficial in this State. The commission would consist of 20 members, and by a majority vote of its members, would have the ability to put consolidat

Senate Amendment 1 reinstates the five-hour classroom mandate but provides the flexibility many superintendents desired by carving out exemptions from the five clock hours requirement that includes:  Students enrolled in dual credit. Participation in internships. Students participating in youth apprenticeships. Students participating in blended learning programs. Also in this episode, Senate Bill 1838 is yet another effort to consolidate school districts in Illinois. It isn't the first and won't be the last. The Alliance is opposed to this bill, but it's possible it will be viewed by many legislators as a more measured approach they could get behind. Stay tuned on this because negotiations will undoubtedly pick up steam.

This week, the governor revealed a plan that would slightly lower the income tax rate for households making under $100,000 and keeps in place the current 4.95% income tax rate for households making between $100,000 and $250,000. The plan is estimated to provide a savings for 97% of tax payers and raise additional revenues of $3.4 billion per year. While the projected revenues would be a significant increase, to put it in perspective, earlier this year the Illinois State Board Education (ISBE) proposed an education budget increase of $7.2 billion to adequately fund all schools. For a more detailed breakdown, you can find Governor Pritzker’s plan here.  Senate Bill 10 (Manar, D-Bunker Hill) was advanced to 3rd Reading in the Senate earlier this week. Across the rotunda, a House committee approved the same minimum teacher salary language in HB 2078 (Stuart, D-Collinsville). With bills moving in both chambers, it is important for school board members and administrators to reach out

The Alliance Leadership Summit was held this past week; the impact that school leader advocacy had on the Capitol was significant and will continue to help shape the discussion on issues vital to schools going forward.  Also in this episode, two major issues impacted by the advocacy efforts of school leadership were the minimum teacher salary bill (HB 2078, Stuart D-Collinsville) and a weekly minute requirement for Physical Education (HB 2234, Harper D-Chicago). Both of these bills were scheduled for a committee hearing, but neither were called due in part to the strong resistance from local education leaders present in Springfield.  Hear Dr. Jacoby discuss these stories as well as the bill action from the previous week most relevant to school business officials.

In our first Legislative Alert Podcast Dr. Jacoby discusses Gov. Pritzker's budget address, the Alliance Leadership Summit as well as the bill action from last week most relevant to school business officials.