LM February 2016

State of the State: Poetry or Prose?

saying “it’s something we can work on.” The timing would appear to be perfect to include the evidence- based funding model that was part of Vision 20/20 and was co-sponsored last year by Republican Senator Jason Barickman and Democrat Senator Manar. Perhaps a blended approach combining the best elements of both plans could emerge and resolve this issue. The impact of Vision 20/20 also seems evident in another of Rauner’s goals that calls for developing a “comprehensive, consistent, objective student growth measure, not necessarily based on the PARCC system, so we can track our students’ progress in each grade towards college or career, holding our schools accountable for results while eliminating unnecessary testing and bureaucratic mandates.” Vision 20/20 promotes educating the whole child, less emphasis on standardized tests, the importance of vocational education and a new way in which to evaluate the effectiveness of schools called the Illinois Balanced governor last summer. It would give schools the flexibility to also include in their assessment unique programs and characteristics -- such as excellent agriculture, vocational or entrepreneurial programs – that are important to their students and communities. The recent passage of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) likely will require some fine-tuning of IBAM to make certain that Illinois is in full compliance with federal regulations. Our Legal Counsel Sara Boucek already is working with ISBE and the U.S. Department of Education and we are confident that those things will be resolved. Other parts of the Governor’s 10-point plan that would be hard for anyone to argue with are to provide proper funding for early childhood education and supporting partnerships between high schools and community colleges with local employers to provide Accountability Measure (IBAM). IBAM, which was designed to reduce the weight given to standardized tests and compliance checks, was signed into law by the

My reaction to Governor Rauner’s State of the State speech in which he outlined a 10-point plan for education could be summed up as being impressed with the “What” but wondering about the “How.” Parts of the plan certainly seem to align with our Vision 20/20 blueprint for the future of public education in Illinois. But, as many people have wondered, are we campaigning or

Message from the Executive Director Dr. Brent Clark

governing? The first point in Rauner’s plan is to work with Senate President John Cullerton on a new school funding formula. I don’t think it is a coincidence that this goal is listed first. Not only is it vitally important to revamp the formula, this proposal, along with Rauner

embracing Cullerton’s pension reform plan, may be the first signs of thawing in the budget Cold War – at least where Cullerton is concerned. House Speaker Michael Madigan adopted a wait-and-see stance after the speech and no budget deal gets done without his stamp of approval. Cullerton has characterized school funding reform as his “Turnaround Agenda.”

Still, there were a few sound bites and intangibles that left me with some optimism. The “How” was not explained in detail (the governor’s Budget Address is scheduled for February 17one week after President Obama will have addressed the General Assembly), but the fact that education was front and center in Governor Rauner’s address was encouraging and many of the points listed above certainly seem to be items we can work with going forward.

While the Senate President supports the formula fix proposed by his former chief of staff, Senator Andy Manar, Governor Rauner’s goal included the caveat that state support for low-income and rural districts would be increased “without taking money away from any other districts.” That hold-harmless clause would remove many of the political obstacles that have prevented fixing the formula that was last revised 19 years ago. It’s the approach that appears to be politically doable. Of course, that’s where the “How” becomes critical because that goal cannot be accomplished without investing additional dollars in the public school formula, a fact Cullerton acknowledged,

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