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. 

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: 

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 to General Assembly members to urge opposition. For additional information on minimum teacher salary language, click here.