John Asplund's Blog Page
Recently, one representative in the
Illinois House, Mr. Roger Eddy (who is the only member of the Illinois House
who is also a school district superintendent), has submitted a law that would
call for the repeal of all unfunded mandates that Springfield has foisted upon
public school districts. What is
an unfunded mandate? It’s a
directive to create a new program, or provide a new service, without any new
money to pay for that creation. Representative Eddy’s Bill, HB 4711, has received some support from
fellow members of the House, but not everyone has backed his proposal, as some
legislators fear the public backlash of being perceived as someone who voted
for an unfunded mandate in the past.
I am not sure how this would directly impact Lake Bluff, as there are too many specifics to be ironed out before the bill could ever be passed into law, but I did compile a list of reports for which the administration is forced to send to Springfield on a monthly or annual basis (depending on the report). The list is below:
Special Education Room and Board Claim, General State Aid Claim, Orphanage Tuition, Parent/Guardian Transportation Reimbursement, Special Education Authorization, Special Education Summer School State Aid, ARRA – IDEA Part B Flow-Through, ARRA – IDEA Part B Preschool, English Language Learner Enrollment Summary and Ceiling Calculator, IDEA Part B Flow-Through, IDEA Part B Preschool (Which is not to be confused with ARRA – IDEA Part B Preschool…they are two different lengthy reports), No Child Left Behind Consolidated Application, Preschool for All – Continued 0-3 Early Childhood, Preschool for All – Continued 3-5 Early Childhood, Reading Improvement Block Grant, Application for Recognition of Schools, Child Lures Prevention Program Curriculum Survey, Class Size Survey, Health Life Safety Survey, Reduction in Force Survey, Title I Status Survey 2009-2010, Unfilled Positions Survey, Winter 2010 Reduction in Force Survey, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Reporting, AYP Status Report – 2009, District Special Education Profile, Electronic Expenditure Reports (there are six of these that require monthly attention), Entity Profile System, Equipment Deletion/Transfer, Physical Education Exemption Report, Special Education Database System, School Incident Report System, Student Information System – Statewide, Bilingual Education Program Delivery Report, District Financial Report, E-Report Card, Early Childhood – Parent Evaluations/Demographics, End of Year Report, Estimated Best Three Month Average Daily Attendance, Fall Housing Report, Gender Equity in Athletics Waiver Application, NCLB Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program, NCLB Monitoring Instrument, NCLB Performance Report – Fiscal Year 2009, NCLB Title I Comparability Documentation, Noncertified Staff Salary Study, Public School Calendar, Reading Improvement Annual Performance, Student Health Data – Dental, Student Health Data – Immunization, Student Health Data – Vision, Supplemental GSA Expenditure Plan, Teacher Salary Study, Teacher Service Record (TSR), Illinois Textbook Loan Program.
I’m sure the list above would be more readable in bullet point form, however, that would take up far too much space. So, I apologize for the consolidated view, but I felt it pertinent to share a glimpse of what reporting has to be done on a monthly and yearly basis. This does not include any other reporting that the federal government may need from year to year. So, while I would like to see the details fleshed out in Rep. Eddy’s bill, I wholeheartedly support its intention.
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