News Notes

Legislative Information

Useful Information

Legislative Information

Click here for a call to action on the residency bill.

Click here for a call to action on the voucher bill.

Legislative Update
Week of May 3, 2010

With help from CTU’s coalition partners, a sufficient number of legislators, both Democrat and Republican, were persuaded to vote against the Chicago Voucher Bill.  The vote was 48 yes, 66 no, 2 present, and 2 not voting.  Several legislators spoke strongly against the bill on the House floor.  Despite the success in voting the bill down, the sponsor has placed it on “postponed consideration,” a parliamentary move that allows the bill to be brought back for another vote at anytime.  We must keep the pressure on.  Continue contacting your legislators to tell them to vote “NO” on the Voucher Bill, SB 2494.

Remember, you can find your Illinois State House of Representative’s contact
information by clicking on Legislator Lookup on www.ilga.gov. 

Talking Points
There are many problems with the bill.  Several examples are listed below:

• Vouchers are unconstitutional.  ISBE will pay out money to the non-public school. Illinois constitutional language is very clear.  Article X, Section 3 says “Neither the General Assembly….shall make any appropriation or pay from any public fund anything in aid….to help support or sustain any school, (or) academy…controlled by any church or sectarian denomination…”
  
  
• This is supposed to be a pilot program, but there is no “sunset” date at which the pilot would end or when it would be “rolled out” to the remaining school districts in Illinois.
  
  
• The bill provides no way to collect data on student success or failure.  Longitudinal Data System is not in place.
  
  
• Once a child receives a voucher, he/she can continue to receive it as long as he/she lives in Chicago and there are non-public schools accepting the vouchers.
  
  
• Bill doesn’t address if a school’s status changes to performing or is no longer being overcrowded.
  
  
• Bill provides no definition of overcrowded.  CPS determines which schools fall under this category.  It could be five (5) or twenty-five (25) schools.
  
  
• Non-public schools will choose to participate in the voucher program and accept or deny students.
  
  
• Special Education services are ignored.
  
  
• No credible research shows that vouchers improve education for low performing students.
  
  
• Some legislators erroneously believe that smaller class sizes would occur.  However, CPS has closed schools for under enrollment.
  
  
• Transportation needs are ignored.

BILLS HEARD ON THE SENATE FLOOR

HB 6017         This is the bill that would add a PSRP to the LSC.  It passed on the Senate floor with a vote of 55-0-0.  Legislators understood that school personnel are an important part of the school community and need to also have input on important issues that affect the school.  The bill goes on to the governor to sign.

HB 6065            The Diabetes Care Act bill passed on the House floor 109-2-2.  This bill would allow non-licensed “volunteers” to assist with the management and care of students with diabetes.  This includes, but is not limited to blood glucose monitoring, counting carbohydrates, and administering insulin.  The bill now goes on to the governor to sign.  Opposition groups are currently working together to come up with acceptable amendatory veto language to submit to the governor.  If the bill is simply vetoed by the governor, both chambers would have enough votes to override it.  By having amendatory language, legislators would see that the opposition was willing to work with the proponents, but were left out of the process.  We would hope this language would be acceptable to the legislators and the sponsors of the bill.  Please continue to check back with the CTU website for further updates.

BILLS AWAITING FURTHER ACTION

HB 4711         This is a bill that would allow school districts to modify or eliminate unfunded mandates.  This does not apply to several areas including Special Education, Transportation, School Lunch, Race to the Top, and employment.  The bill was amended to provide that before discontinuing or modifying the mandate, a school district shall petition its regional superintendent of schools (CPS would petition the Illinois State Board of Education) on or before February 15 of each year to request to be exempt from implementing the mandate in a school or schools in the next school year.  The amendment also sets forth provisions concerning what the petition must contain, review of the petition, public hearings on the petition, and granting an exemption.  The amendment passed in the Senate, but now sits in the Rules Committee of the House.

HB 5836          The Asthma Inhaler Bill would allow students to self administer their inhaler medication without the physician’s note stating that the student is capable of doing so.  This bill was amended in the Senate, but it still didn’t include the physician’s note.  It must be heard on the floor of both chambers again.  It currently sits in the Rules Committee.

BUDGET
Lawmakers Leave Springfield Without a Budget
Lawmakers could return to work later this month to try to come to some sort of agreement on a budget.

Many members of the legislature did not favor skipping pension payments, or borrowing, or massive budget cuts to education and state services as ways to cobble together a budget plan. We agree. (More)

BIG LEGISLATIVE WIN FOR CTU!

On Thursday, March 25, 2010, CTU’s lobbying team, along with the collective help of IFT, IEA, and the Illinois AFL-CIO, was able to kill HB 5596 in committee. HB 5596 was a bill sponsored by Representative Suzanne Bassi (Palatine) that would have limited CTU’s ability to strike and would have allowed CPS to reopen our entire contract for the upcoming school year.

HB 5596 would have allowed CPS to determine that the contract should be re- opened based on their determination that they cannot financially meet the obligation as set forth in a contract that was mutually agreed to.   It would set up a three (3) member fact-finding panel in which each party would appoint one person each and then attempt to agree on a third person as the chairperson of the panel.  In the event the parties cannot agree, they can seek the assistance of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service or the American Arbitration Association.  Along with trying to resolve the financial issue, the panel would also consider seniority, residency, holidays, insurance, and anything CPS wanted to address in our contract.  If the parties could not come up with an agreement, the fact finding information would be put in all local newspapers.  This would be at the expense of both CPS and CTU

Current labor law allows a contract to be reopened based on the agreement of both sides or there may be a negotiated part of a contract that establishes conditions upon which a contract would reopen. Section 47-2.2 of our current contract addresses this issue. 

Click here for the April 26 legislative update.

Click here for the April 19 legislative update.

Click here for the April 12 legislative update.

Click here for the March 22 legislative update.

Click here for the March 15 legislative update.

Click here for the March 8 legislative update. 

Click hereto read an article from CTU contract lobbyist Mike Mannion.

Click here for the March 1 legislative update. 

Click here for the February 22 legislative update.

Click here for the February 15 legislative update.

Click here for the February legislative update.

2010 Legislative Agenda

CTPF 2010 LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS