9486 in the collection  

Illinois State School Board Fires Back; Accuses Governor of Power Grab

Ohanian Comment: As outrageous as the governor's power grab is, it's hard to feel much sympathy for people who keep talking about education as "raising the bar."

Meeting for the first time since Gov. Rod Blagojevich made his education reform proposal, Illinois State Board of Education members charged Wednesday that the governor's plan to usurp their power is a ruse meant to stifle discussion on the fundamental issues facing schools.

Board members accused the governor of ducking the problems of education funding--nearly 80 percent of local school districts are in deficit spending--and focusing instead on the "less-pressing issue" of who will control the state's education system.

"This plan is a smokescreen," said board member Greg Kazarian. "We are open to discussions about all things that will make schools in Illinois better, but frankly the focus on governance is a red herring."

Blagojevich used his annual State of the State address to the legislature last week to rail against the state education agency, which he called unresponsive, wasteful and a "Soviet-style bureaucracy." The governor blamed the board for a host of problems, including limited dollars flowing into classrooms, lagging student test scores and rules and regulations that he says have buried school administrators.

To remedy these problems, the governor wants to strip authority from the state board and shift it to a new Cabinet-level agency under his direction.

The state board oversees an $8 billion annual budget and sets broad educational policies on student testing, teacher certification and curriculum matters. The nine members of the panel, all gubernatorial appointees, select the state superintendent of education. All of the current members--who serve terms of six years--were in place when Blagojevich took office. One position has been vacant since May, but Blagojevich has not yet filled it.

Board member Judy Gold called on the governor to convene a meeting with board members to discuss his proposal.

"Any one of us would be willing to step aside if the governor can show us that the State Board of Education is standing in the way of raising the bar on education in Illinois," said Gold, of Chicago. "My heartfelt wish is that we set all personal and political problems aside and sit down and look at the plan and couple that with a budget analysis."

The governor's office rebuffed that idea.

"We are not interested in sitting down to have yet another meeting to hear excuses," said spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff. "We are interested in making changes to get our school system back on track."

At the beginning of the regularly scheduled meeting, each member spoke in defense of the board's record and assailed Blagojevich's plan. Six audience members, including two local superintendents and a bilingual teacher, took the microphone to offer support.

Caliz Gil, a representative of the Spanish Ministry of Education, thanked the board for its continued support for numerous programs the ministry runs, including training for bilingual teachers, summer grants for teachers who want to travel to Spain to improve their Spanish, and the International Visiting Teachers program.

"You have a friend in the government of Spain," Gil told the board.

Jerry Roper, from the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, commended the board for its hard work and chastised the governor for his public flogging.

"I apologize on behalf of the business community for this public display," Roper said, referring to the governor's speech. "Your agency has done a tremendous job."

Board members contended that the governor's plan would politicize education in Illinois. Pointing out that the eight-member board is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats and includes appointees from across the state, Supt. of Education Robert Schiller said Blagojevich's proposal would politicize education in Illinois.

"Education is being hijacked by politics," he said. "This is an opportunity for one person to control education in Illinois, instead of nine people from around the state. This is about power, and him getting more of it."


— Stephanie Banchero
State school board fires back Governor accused of a power grab
Chicago Tribune
2004-01-21
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0401220116jan22,1,4219303.story?coll=chi-news-hed

---

INDEX OF OUTRAGES

Pages: 380   
[1] 2 3 4 5 6  Next >>    Last >>