The March 8, 2010,
Weekly Message from State Superintendent Christopher A. Koch is
available online in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format at
http://www.isbe.state.il.us/board/archivemessages/2010/message_030810.pdf.
A text-only version of
the message is below.
Also, all editions of the Weekly Message are archived on the Illinois State Board of Education's Web site at http://www.isbe.net/board/archivemessages/archivemessage.htm.
Message From State Superintendent Christopher A. Koch
Last week we
received notification that Illinois was selected as one of 16 finalists for
the federal competitive grant program, Race to the Top. Next week, a team of
five of us from Illinois will go to Washington to defend our application. We
will find out in April whether or not we receive the grant funding.
I believe that
making it this far is an important statement on behalf of our education
community and we could not have come this far without the commitments made
by our districts and stakeholder organizations. Our application is a
blueprint for where education should be heading over the next decade, and I
think it's because of this consensus that we were chosen as a finalist. If
we are selected to receive an award, we will send out notification to
"Participating LEAs" about next steps as soon as possible after the
announcement.
Last week I had the
opportunity to defend the Board's budget before a Senate Appropriation
committee, which essentially calls for level funding from FY 2010 to FY
2011. While the focus was to be on the Board's budget, members also asked
questions about legislation that would require cuts of 10 percent to all
FY10 state spending, including all of the ISBE lines.
I told the members
of the committee that because of the late date schools couldn't layoff staff
this year, so if 10 percent of the state funds going to districts were cut,
they would have to draw down reserves, borrow or find other non-personnel
reductions to make ends meet. While I hope that legislators do not follow
through with this 10 percent cut for FY 2010, Governor Quinn will introduce
his FY 2011 budget on Wednesday and the administration has already indicated
that it will include a recommendation for almost a billion dollars in cuts
to education. This proposed cut matches precisely the amount of federal
stabilization funds that have been or will be used in FY 2010 to pay for
General State Aid and other state funded education expenses. I told all of
the legislators, and I thank those of you who are also speaking with them,
that our schools cannot take these types of cuts without impacting classroom
instruction and services to our students, or draining reserves.
I presented
preliminary results from the Winter 2010 Reduction in Force survey which
showed about 13,000 layoffs will occur at Illinois schools based on the
Board's proposed FY11 budget. I emphasized that this 13,000 figure is based
upon level funding and if schools were to be reduced by 10 percent or more,
that figure would grow exponentially, possibly reaching 30,000 layoffs.
At points, the
interaction at the committee hearing grew heated because of certain cuts
that the Board had proposed; but this is an understandable, and healthy,
part of the process. Legislators need to know that the State's precarious
financial situation is having real impacts in schools, on students, parents
and teachers. I urge you to continue to communicate your district needs to
legislators, parents and community members.
I will testify this
week before the House Education Appropriation Committee.
I also had the
opportunity to testify about our state's testing system. As many of you
know, we have made some recommendations to discontinue two of the tests not
required by federal law. This was an opportunity to provide information to
legislators about what is required, what is not and why we administer the
tests. It also provided legislators an opportunity to hear about our work on
the Common Core of State Standards and the direction we want to go in the
future with developing new formative, interim and summative assessments.
Have a great week!
Chris
Upcoming Dates and Deadlines
·
2008-09 Study of School Level Expenditure Report deadline
- March 15
·
Preserve America History
Teacher of the Year Award nomination deadline - March 15
·
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable
Program Grant applications deadline - March 15
·
Part 180 (Health/Life Safety
Code for Public Schools) - Public comment period ends March 15
·
Truants' Alternative and
Optional Education Program (TAOEP) RFP deadline - April 14
·
Illinois School Wellness .
From A to Z Conference - May 4
·
Illinois Young Authors' Conference in Bloomington-Normal
- May 15
·
2009-10 Eye Examination Data Collection deadline
- June 30
·
Postmark deadline for
waiver applications to be considered by the General Assembly in Fall 2010 -
Aug. 13
·
Superintendents' Conference - Oct. 26-27
American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act
ARRA Reporting - SFSF Education Payments for General State Aid
In an e-mail dated Feb. 19,
information was provided regarding the distribution of the next three
General State Aid (GSA) payments on Feb. 19, March 10 and March 19 using
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) State Fiscal Stabilization
Fund (SFSF) Education funds. Federal rules require that the time between
receipt of federal funds and their expenditure must be minimized to avoid
excess cash on hand. To comply with this rule local education agencies
(LEAs) must fully expend these three payments on or before March 31.
To meet this requirement, local
education agencies (LEAs) need to keep in mind the following:
The ability to charge the SFSF
Education GSA payments for expenditures in the entire quarter should be
adequate for all LEAs to fully expend these funds by March 31, 2010. If
there are further questions regarding this issue, please contact Jim Mathes
at jmathes@isbe.net or Marj Beck at
mbeck@isbe.net or 217-782-5256.
LEAs are required to report
funded jobs that are in alignment with the new guidance as provided in the
ARRA Reporting Instructions. The deadline for reporting ARRA jobs and vendor
data to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) for the reporting
quarter ending March 31 is Monday April 5, 2010. ISBE has created a new ARRA
data collection system in IWAS for LEAs to report full-time equivalent (FTE)
jobs information as well as vendor payment data. Previously, LEAs submitted
ARRA jobs and vendor information as an addendum to the financial
expenditures reported via the Electronic Expenditure Reporting System in
IWAS. The new ARRA data collection tool is now a stand alone system.
Administrators are preapproved to access the new system. All other LEA users
will need to request access to the new system through the normal process
used when signing up for additional systems within IWAS.
Users begin this process by selecting "Want to Signup for Other
Systems?" on the lower right of the screen.
ISBE will conduct an ARRA
reporting Webinar on Friday, March 12, from 2 to 3 p.m. Register at
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/273347296.
New ARRA Jobs and Vendor Data Collection System
The Illinois State Board of
Education has created a new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
data collection system for local education agencies (LEAs) to report
full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs information as well as vendor payment data.
Previously, LEAs submitted ARRA jobs and vendor information as an addendum
to the financial expenditures reported via the Electronic Expenditure
Reporting System in IWAS. The new ARRA data collection tool is now a stand
alone system in the IWAS System Listing. Administrators are preapproved to
access the new system. All other LEA users will need to request access to
the new system through the normal process used when signing up for
additional systems within IWAS. After a user logs into their IWAS account
select System Listing and begin the process by selecting "Want to Signup for
Other Systems?" on the lower right of the screen.
LEAs that have not been able to
report ARRA jobs and vendor data for the period ending Sept. 30 due to
delays in application approval are now able to do so. In addition, jobs data
reported for the period ending Dec. 31 should be reviewed and amended
accordingly due to new guidance issued by the Federal Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) on Dec. 18, which can be accessed at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/memoranda_2010/m10-08.pdf.
The new guidance reflects two
significant changes:
ISBE will conduct a Webinar to
review these important changes on March 12 from 2 to 3 p.m. Participants may
register for the ARRA Reporting Webinar at
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/273347296. If you have further
questions, please contact the division of Funding and Disbursement Services
at 217-782-5256.
ARRA Jobs and Vendor Data Due April 5, 2010
American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs and vendor data for
the quarter ending March 31, 2010, is due at the Illinois State Board of
Education on or before April 5, 2010. ARRA jobs and vendor data must be
submitted by all local education agencies (LEAs) that have applied for
and/or received ARRA funds. Please note that the jobs calculation has
changed per new Federal guidance. Refer to the new ARRA Reporting
Instructions at
http://www.isbe.net/arra/pdf/arra_reporting_inst.pdf for more
information. ARRA data reporting includes two primary elements: the number
of jobs funded in the reporting quarter with ARRA funds and payments made to
a vendor that were $25,000 or more. ARRA data must be reported regardless of
whether any jobs were funded or a payment was made to a vendor of $25,000 or
more.
March 31 ARRA data must be
reported for the following ARRA programs if your LEA has been awarded or
received funds:
Special Education Services
State Board Seeks Public Comment on FY 2010 Draft IDEA Part B Application
The Illinois State Board of
Education's Special Education Services division has completed the grant
application under Part B of IDEA as amended in 2004. Upon receipt and
approval of the required assurances, certifications and information in the
application, the state is eligible to receive Part B funds.
The General Education Provisions
Act (GEPA) requires that states must publish their Part B Application for at
least 60 days and accept public comment for at least 30 days. The plan can
be reviewed at the ISBE Web site through May 3 at
http://www.isbe.net/spec-ed/pdfs/IDEA_PartB_app_FFY10.pdf.
The plan includes a checklist of
assurances that Illinois has policies and procedures in effect to comply
with the requirements of the December 2004 amendments to IDEA. Where
Illinois is not in compliance with the IDEA amendments of 2004, a date is
given by which Illinois assures that policies and procedures will be in
effect. The plan for expenditure of state-level IDEA funds by category is
also a component of the state plan.
Written comments will only be
accepted April 1 to May 3. To submit a written comment, go to
http://www.isbe.net/spec-ed/pdfs/IDEA_PartB_app10_comment.pdf.
In addition, public comments may
be e-mailed to
PartBapplication@isbe.net or mailed to:
David Andel, Division Administrator, Illinois State Board of
Education, Division of Special Education Services, 100 North First Street -
N-253, Springfield, Illinois 62777-0001.
Interested persons can review a
copy of the plan and comment form at the Illinois State Board of Education
office at 100 N. First St., Springfield, IL in the Information Center
located on the first floor in 1 South.
Nutrition
FDA Working on Recalls for Flavor Enhancer Used in Variety of
Foods
The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) is working on several recalls involving hydrolyzed
vegetable protein (HVP). HVP is a common ingredient used most frequently as
a flavor enhancer in many processed foods, including soups, sauces, chilies,
stews, hot dogs, gravies, seasoned snack foods, dips and dressings.
At this time, there are no known
illnesses associated with this contamination and there have been no recalls
connected with USDA-purchased commodities.
The FDA recommends consumers:
If you have questions, call the
FDA at 888-463-6332.
Department of Defense Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Unused Funds
For the current
school year, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) allowed participation in
the program to all schools that requested to participate subject to a $500
allocation floor. The Illinois State Board of Education allocated the money
we could spend with the DoD amongst all schools that selected yes under
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Participation on the Annual Order Forms menu
option on the Illinois Commodity System (ICS).
Recent reports from the DoD indicate many schools that have money
allocated to them have yet to place any orders for fresh fruits or
vegetables. Schools can see how much money has been allocated to them by
selecting Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Participation on the Annual Order
Forms menu option on the ICS.
Those schools
that have not spent any of the money allocated to them are advised to
contact the Department of Defense at 215-737-5573 to begin placing orders or
risk having the money used by other schools participating in the program.
Unused funds will be available for use by other schools participating in the
program beginning March 15. Funds for this school year will be available
until the yearly allocation of funding for this program is expended.
Rules and Waivers
Notice of Completed Rulemaking
Please be advised that three
sets of rules recently adopted by the Illinois State Board of Education are
in effect. These rules have been posted on the agency's Web site at
http://www.isbe.net/rules. Please
choose "Rules Currently in Effect" and scroll to the applicable Part number.
Part 1 (Public Schools Evaluation,
Recognition and Supervision)
Among other updates, changes the
correction window for the Prairie State Achievement Examination, conforms
school fee waiver provisions to P.A. 96-360, adds new curricular
requirements resulting from recently enacted legislation, and updates a
cross-reference to bilingual education requirements.
Affected Sections: 1.30, 1.60,1.245,
1.420, 1.445, 1.705
Effective Date: Jan. 18, 2010
Part 151 (School Construction)
Adds provisions pertaining to
application for energy efficiency grants; provides for an electronic
application process for school maintenance grants.
Affected Sections: 151.20, 151.50,
151.100, 151.110, 151.120, 151.200, 151.210, 151.220, 151.230, 151.235,
151.240
Effective Date: Jan. 18, 2010
Part 252 (Driver Education)
Changes references to Section
27-23 of the School Code [105 ILCS 5/27-23], which was repealed, to the
School Code sections into which applicable requirements were incorporated.
Affected Sections: 252.10, 252.25
Effective Date: Jan. 18, 2010
Funding and Disbursement Services
Public School Calendar Coding for Holidays Affected by PA 96-0640
As proposed public school
calendars are being prepared and submitted for the upcoming 2010-11 school
year please be reminded of important changes per the enactment of Public Act
96-0640 on Aug. 24, 2009.
The public act added language to
Section 24-2 of the School Code and allows a school board or other entity
eligible to apply for waivers and modifications under Section 2-3.25g to
hold school or schedule teachers' institute, parent/teacher conference or
staff development on five legal school holidays, namely Martin Luther King
Jr.'s Birthday (Third Monday in January); Abraham Lincoln's Birthday (Feb.
12); Casimir Pulaski's Birthday (first Monday in March); Columbus Day
(second Monday in October) and Veterans' Day (Nov. 11) provided that:
NOTE: Use of one or any of these
five legal school holidays for anything other than a holiday is prohibited
without completing the above process.
It is the responsibility of the
public school district or other eligible entity to ensure that the required
process is complete prior to manually changing the Holiday calendar code
(HOL) to the modified calendar code (X, TI, FPT, XHPT, FI, XHI, XHS) on the
Public School Calendar via IWAS. The district is required to keep local
documentation of the public hearing, including testimony taken, for
compliance and audit purposes.
If you have questions regarding this information please contact your Regional Office of Education or Marj Beck at 217-782-5256 or mbeck@isbe.net.
Innovation and Improvement
Truants' Alternative and Optional Education Program FY 2011 RFP
The State Board has release a
Request for Proposal (RFP) for TAOEP, which offers supplemental services
and/or optional education to dropouts, truant, chronic truant or potential
dropouts.
Eligible applicants are public
school districts, Regional Offices of Education, community college
districts, public university laboratory schools, charter schools and area
vocational centers. Bidders' Conferences were scheduled for March 4 and
March 12. The entire Request for Proposal with the details for the bidders'
conferences (Page 2) is available at
http://www.isbe.net/grants/html/taoep.htm.
The deadline is April 14. For
more information, contact Sally Veach, Innovation and Improvement Division
at sveach@isbe.net or 217-524-4832.
Request Addresses Tier II Schools, 'Persistently Lowest-Achieving
Schools'
ISBE has applied to the U.S.
Department of Education (ED) for a waiver of the definition of "persistently
lowest-achieving schools" and the identification of Tier II schools.
Specifically, ISBE is requesting a waiver of paragraph (a)(2) of the
definition of "persistently lowest-achieving schools" in order to capture,
among its persistently lowest-achieving Tier II secondary schools, Title I
secondary schools that are lower achieving than one or more Tier II schools
but do not qualify as Tier II schools because they are receiving Title I,
Part A funds and do not qualify as Tier I schools because they are not among
the lowest-achieving 5 percent of such schools (or lowest achieving five
such schools) in the state. Any Title I secondary school that is identified,
through this waiver, as being among the persistently lowest-achieving
schools in the state would be identified by Illinois as one of the state's
Tier II schools.
ISBE encourages interested
parties to review ED's School Improvement Guidance for additional details
available at
http://www2.ed.gov/programs/sif/index.html. A copy of the letter
submitted to ED and updates will be posted at
http://www.isbe.net/sos/htmls/sip_1003.htm
ISBE encourages all interested parties to comment on this request via
e-mail to sip1003g@isbe.net by
Monday, March 15.
Curriculum and Instruction
Updated Adolescent Sexual Health Toolkit Released
The Illinois State Board of
Education is pleased to announce that our HIV prevention contractor, the
Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, has just released the fourth edition
of the Adolescent Sexual Health Toolkit. This updated toolkit is filled with
current information, cutting-edge approaches, and effective policies and
practices that can support your work with adolescents.
To view this update of more than
40 new resources from highly reputable resources, visit the ICAH Web site at
http://www.icah.wagn.org. If you have not yet signed up for a
membership to access there site, the process is quick and easy. Simply click
on this link,
http://icah.wagn.org/account/signup and fill out the Web form. Note that
they will only use your personal information to provide you with updates to
the toolkit and upcoming events. For those of you who already have a full
copy of a previous edition, you will find instructions on how to update your
existing toolkit on the site as well.
Educator Certification
NASDTEC Annual Conference to be Held in June in Indianapolis
This year's National Association
of State Directors of Teacher Education & Certification conference will be
held June 13-16 in Indianapolis.
Featured speakers at the 82nd
annual NASDTEC conference include Tom Carroll of the National Commission on
Teaching and America's Future, Julie Ewart from the U.S. Department of
Education, Dennis van Roekel of the National Education Association and many
more.
Visit
http://nasdtec.com for the conference
agenda and hotel and registration information. Call 508-380-1202 or e-mail
rje@nasdtec.com for additional
questions.
Professional Development
Program Sends Educators to the Galapagos Islands
Full-time classroom teacher or
teacher-librarians for grades 6-12 are eligible to apply for the 2010 Toyota
International Teacher Program to the Galapagos Islands.
The program, which is funded by
Toyota Motor Sales USA, is administered by the Institute of International
Education and will be held Nov. 20 through Dec. 4. Applicants must have at
least three years of full-time teaching experience by the program start
date.
On online application and
frequently asked questions are available at
http://toyota4education.com. For
more information, e-mail
toyotateach@iie.org or call 877-832-2457. The deadline to apply is May
26.
Nominations Sought for Annual Rolland J. Van Hattum Award
Do you know an individual who
demonstrates exemplary commitment and contributions to the delivery of
audiology and/or speech-language pathology services within a school setting?
The 2010 nomination period for the American Speech-Language-Hearing
Foundation's Roland J. Van Hattum Award for Schools-Related Professionals is
open, and you are invited to nominate a professional who meets the criteria
for selection.
In addition to the national
recognition, the winner will receive $1,000, and the school system
represented by the recipient will receive $500.
The deadline for nominations is
April 15. To obtain nomination applications and to learn more about other
ASHFoundation awards, visit
http://www.ashfoundation.org/grants.
Student Opportunities
Illinois Youth With Disabilities Leadership Summit Coming Up
The Statewide Independent Living
Council is gearing up for the Illinois Youth With Disabilities Leadership
Summit, which is set for July 25-28 at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign.
This summit aims to empower
young leaders by learning from each other and from successful adults with
disabilities who are recognized leaders and role models.
Youth who wish to apply should have a disability, be between the ages
of 17-24, live in Illinois and have a strong desire to learn and grow as a
leader. The summit is free including travel to and from the event, lodging,
meals and any personal care attendant services/interpreters that may be
needed.
For further information, please
review the Web site at
http://www.silcofillinois.org/summit.html or call the Statewide
Independent Living Council of Illinois at 217-744-7777.
National Institutes of Health Scholars Program at Elgin Community College
High school seniors interested
in science, medicine and cutting edge fields in biomedical research are
invited to apply for the National Institutes of Health Scholars Program at
Elgin Community College.
The program is a partnership
with Roosevelt University and is federally funded through the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. Ten students will be selected for
the two-year program that consists of two paid summer research experiences
at Roosevelt University's Schaumburg campus along with regular meetings and
activities during the fall and spring semesters at ECC.
To be eligible, students must
plan to be enrolled full time at ECC in the fall 2010 semester. The
application deadline is April 2. For more information, visit
http://www.elgin.edu/nihscholars
or e-mail Daysi Diaz-Strong at
dstrong@elfin.edu.
Deadline for Radon Video Contest Scheduled for Friday
There's still time to enter the
2010 Illinois High School Radon Video Contest. The deadline is Friday, March
12. The contest encourages high school students to create a 60-second
YouTube video that addresses the health hazards of radon and urges people to
test their homes for the radioactive gas.
The contest is sponsored by the
Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and the American Lung
Association in Illinois (ALA-IL) in an effort to increase public awareness
about radon, which is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S.
The video can be created by an
individual student, group of students or classroom. The winning entrants'
school will receive a $2,000 prize to be used for curricular activities, and
the winning student or students will receive a $1,000 prize. The winning
video will also be featured on the IEMA and ALA-IL Web sites.
Video entries will be judged by a combination of a panel from sponsoring organizations and public online polling. For full details about the contest, including entry and release forms, visit the ALA-IL Web site at http://www.lungil.org.
Entries Sought for Annual World Schoolchildren's Art Exhibition
The 41st World Schoolchildren's
Art Exhibition is scheduled for Aug. 26 to Sept. 19, with the deadline for
entries set for April 20. The exhibition is organized by the Association for
Education Through Art and the Association of Formative Art Education of the
Republic of China (Taiwan).
In previous years, more than 70
countries and territories have participated in the annual event. Students
ages 6 to 15 are eligible. For more information, call (312) 616-0805 or
e-mail info@edutw.org. The rules can be
downloaded at
http://ed.arte.gov.tw.
CollegeWeekLive's Online College
Fair
Scheduled for Next Month
CollegeWeekLive's next online
college fair is set for March 24 and 25. The Web site,
http://www.collegeweeklive.com, offers students a chance to
explore hundreds of colleges and universities.
The site features live video
presentations on such topics as scholarship and financial aid. In addition,
admission experts and student representatives also will be available to
answer questions. Visit the Web site to register.
CollegeWeekLive's partners
include the U.S. Department of Education, ACT, the United Negro College Fund
and Hispanic Colleges and Universities.
National Financial Capability Challenge Ready to Kick Off
The U.S. Department of the
Treasury and the U.S. Department of Education are teaming up for the
National Financial Capability Challenge, which aims to teach high school
students personal finance.
Educators are asked to register
and get their students prepared for an online exam. The registration
deadline is March 14, and the test is to be completed by April 9. Visit
http://challenge.treas.gov to sign up. The site includes a free
educator toolkit and printable awards for high-scoring students.
Serve Illinois Commission
Application Process Under Way for Governor's Volunteer Service
Awards
Take note, students and
educators with strong community service and volunteerism resumes. The Serve
Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service is presenting the
new Governor's Volunteer Service Awards.
The award program will recognize
individual volunteers of all ages from across the state. There are three
categories: youth (18 and under), adult (ages 19-54) and retiree/senior (55
and above). One person from each age category will be recognized from five
regions in the state.
Nominations are due by March 19,
and winners will be announced by April 2. The governor and Serve Illinois
Commission will hold a luncheon at the Executive Mansion in Springfield
on April 12 to recognize award recipients. For more information and
an application, visit
http://www2.illinois.gov/serve/Pages/Volunteer-Awards.aspx.
Employment Opportunities
ISBE External Vacancy List
An External Vacancy List for the Illinois State Board of Education is available at
http://www.isbe.net/hr/Default.htm.
In the News
Weekly News Clips
ISBE has posted highlights from last week's education news clips at http://www.isbe.net/news/2010/newsclips/100305.htm.
You can access Illinois
State Board of Education web site at :
http://www.isbe.net/
