Page 7 - Leadership Matters March 2013 issue.pub

7
Unfunded mandates leading
to educational disaster
The Illinois funding crisis has
been a focus of media, school
districts and taxpayers for the
past several years. This is not
surprising since Illinois is
reported to be in one of the
worst state financial situations
in America. This situation has negatively impacted the
finances of all state agencies including school
districts.
Included in this crisis is
the failure of the legislature
to address unfunded
mandates being imposed on
school districts. What can
IASA do? What can the local
districts do? In my opinion,
educators have to stick with
the facts and provide
evidence to all stakeholders
to formulate change.
IASA has supported
efforts in the past to deal with
the mandate issue. Former
Rep. Roger Eddy, now the
executive director of the
Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB),
submitted a bill in 2010 to give school districts the
option of ignoring some mandates unless fully funded.
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) did not
support the bill because of its concerns about the
negative impact on school curriculum (Galesburg, The
Register Mail, February 12, 2010).
Also, in their 2010 position statement, the Illinois
Education Association (IEA) found that “eliminating
mandates in order to save money for local school
districts is not an acceptable alternative” (IEA Fact
Sheet, 2010). There are some proposals being
brought forth in the current legislative session. Senate
Bill 3000, House Joint Resolution 74, House Bill 4711,
and Senate Bill 618 are on the docket -- all dealing
with the mandate question (UIS-Illinois Issues,
February 11, 2013). Maybe there is some hope.
What is acceptable? The arguments of the
negative impacts of programs being closed and the
impact on overall curriculum are frequently used.
These may have been acceptable arguments in the
past, but not in today’s financial environment with all
the additional state and federal bureaucracy that is
being imposed on local school districts. Programs are
being closed throughout the
state because of financial
reasons. Vocational, gifted,
physical education, fine/
practical arts and co-
curricular programs are in
peril.
Would it not make sense
to protect these programs
and limit some unnecessary
mandates in order to provide
Illinois students with a well-
rounded curriculum?
What is currently going
on? State Superintendent
Dr. Chris Koch now
recognizes that both Illinois Courts and the
Legislature have gone too far. Superintendent Koch
realizes the latest requirement of having Certified
School Nurses is not attainable and the 2009 court
ordered special education class size limit is putting
school districts in deep financial distress. The special
education directive is much more stringent than
current federal standards.
What are the results? In a conversation with Dr.
Darcy Benway, Superintendent of O’Fallon High
School District 203, she summed it up well: “To meet
our financial obligations, we will have to make major
(Continued on page 8)
Dr. James T. Rosborg
Director of Master’s
in Education
McKendree University