Superintendent's Archived Messages

2003

December 19, 2003--2003 Condition of Education report; Regional Certification Office Closing; Changes in Current Open Meetings Act Law Effective January 1, 2004; Newsclips.

December 12, 2003--State school voucher law ruled unconstitutional; Teacher background checks not enough; School district put safety, kids first; Nevada attendance policy hurts sick kids; National effort emerging to halt bullying; House Approves Vouchers For D.C.; Generating Synergy With English and History; Governance Notes; A Buddy System for Educators; Focus of federal education law too narrow, educators say; State ruling lets more schools pass; Consistent Instruction Said To Improve Schools; Newsclips.

December 5, 2003--Downstate Schools Earn “Spotlight”; Lincoln Foundation for Performance Excellence Recipients; Regional Middle Grades Reading Conference; Panasonic Academic Challenge Accepting Applications; Summer Institute Scholarships Available; School Breakfast Conference; Newsclips.

November 21, 2003--Legislative Update; Board Meeting Summary; Report Card Update; Teacher Salaries Request; Certification Rulemaking; Alternative Learning Opportunities Program; More Spotlight Schools Recognized
SIU-E Closure and Property Sale; TECH 2004 Conference; Meeting the Challenge XIV Conference; Dinosaur Expedition Notice; Newsclips.

November 14, 2003--Cert Board - North Greene (Keller settlement and Knox hearing); Notice of Completed Rulemaking; State Board of Education Meeting; AC/heating unit advisory; Those Who Excel Application; Newsclips.

November 7, 2003--Veto Session; Report Card Update; School Bus Security Flyer Available; Certification – Proposed Rulemaking; Seven Chicago area schools in the “Spotlight”; Illinois Students Receive National Recognition; Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Events; Update on Math and Science Partnerships.

November 3, 2003--Update on Illinois State Report Cards.

October 31, 2003--Statewide Clean School Bus Program Begins; Invitation to Comment on Rules; Release of State Assessment Pools; Title I Comparability Report Reminder; Update on Competitive Grant for Schools; Illinois Art Council Showcase; Newsclips.

October 24, 2003--Report Card Update; FYO5 Budget Input Sought; Other ISBE Board Meeting items; Standard Certificate Revisions; Administrators’ Academy List; Newsclips.

October 17, 2003--October Board Meeting Details, Venice FOP Removes School Board Members; FY05 Budget; Report Card Status; Deciding Which Students Should take the IMAGE assessment; Notice of Completed Rulemaking; Newsclips.

October 10, 2003--School Report Card Status Update; Deciding Which Students Should Take the IMAGE Assessment; Policy options for issuing “subsequent” teaching certificates; Newsclips.

October 3, 2003--State Board meeting in Rock Island; Pooled Warrant Program Announced; NCLB Appeals Advisory Committee Meeting Set; Receipts=Educator's Deduction; Newsclips.

September 26, 2003--Update on Federal Relations/NCLB; Update on General State Aid and Hold Harmless; Impact of the 2004 Budget and Budget Implementation (Education) Act on Gifted Education; Driver Education Cost Claim Due; Changes to Driver Education Blue Slips; Certification Update: Initial to Standard Certification; RFP for Mathematics and Science Partnerships; Annual Financial Report Calculation of Profile Score and Designation; Illinois Alliance for Administrators in Special Education Conference; Announcing ‘Wild About School Meals’ Workshop; Newsclips.

September 19, 2003--Prairie Crossing Charter School Renewal; State Board Hears District Presentations; State Board Announces Important New Resource; Fall Data Collection Update; Special Needs Transportation; RFP Issued; Safe and Drug Free Prevention Resources; Federal School Breakfast Program; National School Lunch Week; Nutrition Grants; Newsclips.

September 12, 2003--New AYP Web pages Offer Information and Answers; Assessment Test Dates Set; Phycial Education Waivers for Cheerleading; Teacher Service Record Electronic Reporting Package; Newsclips from National Association of State Boards of Eduation.

September 10, 2003--Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s proclamation of 9/11 as Patriot Day in Illinois.

September 5, 2003--Teacher Certification Updates;House Bill 1180; Claims Deadline for Driver’s Education; New Blue Slip Procedures; News Clips.

August 29, 2003--Online Teacher Information Service (OTIS); recent results of the SAT and AP tests; information about Choice; Deadline for State Test Data Corrections; Assessment Update; FY04 Expenditure Reports; Teacher Salary Study; Fulbright Memorial Fund; Certification Through Entitlement; Be Real; Newsclips.

August 22, 2003--Waiver Procedures; Test State Data Corrections; State Board Delays Action on GED fees; NCLB Appeal Process; FY2004 Expenditure Reports; Bills signed into law; Register for Superintendent’s regional conferences; News stories of interest.

August 15, 2003--HB1180; Changes in Certification Processing; Waivers of School Fees; E-Report Card Data Due; State Superintendent’s September Regional Conferences; State Assessment System and the North Greene School District; Non-public school recognition program; Thomas Jefferson Charter School; News Articles.

August 8, 2003--A delay in Hold Harmless payments; Date and location change for the State Board’s August meeting; Potential changes to waiver procedure; Completed rulemaking (Certification).

August 1, 2003--Elimination of phone service; Status of certification processing; Eigibility for the Standard Teaching Certificate; Certificate renewal for administrators; Identifying applicable certificate renewal requirements; Administrators’ Academy; Highly qualified teachers; Subsequent certificates and endorsements; Citizenship requirements for certification; Guidance counselors; National Board of Professional Teaching Standards; Professional development providers.

August 1, 2003--RFP Issued for System of Support – Mandatory bidder’s conference August 4; State assessment results; State and federal grant policy guidelines; Status of non-public school recognition process; K–8 Youth essay and map making contest – entry deadline September 1, 2003; Notice of completed rulemaking; Reminder regarding the Superintendent’s six regional conferences in September.

July 25, 2003--Detailed description of the effect on agency programs; Graph of the agency headcount from FY85 to FY03.

July 15, 2003--ISBE Veto Update.

June 27, 2003--An update on the status of the state’s education budget; Information about a memorandum that clarifies Child Find roles and responsibilities; Information about procedures governing the creation of tax-exempt foundations for the use and benefit of schools (a memorandum from our general counsel is appended to this message).

June 20, 2003--Proposed criteria for highly qualified teachers; Intermediate goals for adequate yearly progress; Deadline for submitting data for school report cards – June 30, 2003; District financial profiles and historical data now available on the ISBE Web site.

June 13, 2003--GSA payments, teacher certification, June Board Meeting; proposed conference agenda for Superintendent's Regional Conferences.

June 6, 2003--Key Education Bills Await Governor’s Signature; June Board Meeting; National Board Certification; Fullbright Teacher.

June 2, 2003--Budget.

May 30, 2003--House and Senate Consider Revenue Proposals; ISBE-sponsored Professional Development – Activate Now.

May 23, 2003--House and Senate Pass Education Budget, End of the Year report must be submitted via IWAs; ISBE's new Web-based system for processing application is being piloted; Click It or Ticket" car safety-belt mobilization is underway.

May 16, 2003--Deferred acceptance on the proposed “Illinois Criteria for Meeting NCLB Requirements for Highly Qualified Teachers; approved a proposal to make comprehensive changes in the SYstem of Support; Updated the list of providers of Supplemental Educational Services; processing certification and endorsement; teacher credendtials; Demographic data for NCLB; reimbursement for services for children with disabilities; federal and state entitlement grants.

May 9, 2003--May State Board meeting, update on the FY 04 Budget; summary of the proposed Illinois Criteria for being considered a "highly qualified" teacher unt NCLB; two notices of completed rulemaking, one for certification and one for special education, information about a tool kit for school boards to support efforts to prevent HIV infection.

May 2, 2003--Changes suggested by the State Board of Education regarding the FY04 budget; my testimony this week and next before House and Senate Committees; Announcement of Illinois Rural Bond Bank (IRBB) Application Deadlines; Information about the Illinois Community Involvement Model School Program; summary of Special Education legislation (H.R. 1350) recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives; Correction: Last week’s message erroneously stated that “Administrators and Master Certified teachers.

April 25, 2003--Additional information about obtaining subsequent certificates; Illinois National Board candidate subsidy application now online; Professional Development – An ISBE resource for Illinois Master Certificate teachers, teachers seeking National Board certification, and administrators.

April 18, 2003--Requirements for Subsequent Illinois Teaching Certificates; Illinois Definition of highly qualified teacher; Test Preparation for Paraprofessionals; Certification Test Fees.

April 11, 2003--Announcement of rescheduled dates for May and June State Board of Education meetings; A report on the April 9 meeting of the Assessment and Accountability Task Force; Explanation of how pending legislation will affect noncitizens who apply for a teaching certificat; Announcement of release of the FY04 request for proposals for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program Grant.

April 4, 2003--Announcement of a date change for the April State Board meeting; Announcement of changes in data collection for the School Report Card and school enrollment; Call for presenters to the Illinois Education & Technology Conference; Invitation to comment on proposed rules; Announcement of adopted rules.

March 28, 2003--Announcement of an April 2 education rally in front of the state capitol; A reminder that accuracy in reporting school enrollment is critically important because of NCLB accountability requirements; A reminder that the Annual Financial Report verification deadline is April 15; Notice of a change of address for returning instructional materials for students who are blind or visually impaired.

March 21, 2003--State’s Financial Profile for School Districts; Amendment of the Academic Early Warning and Academic Watch Lists; A request for schools to report local actions that may disrupt state testing; Homeland Security; Extension of the deadline for return of the Illinois Rural Bond Bank Survey.

March 14, 2003--GSA Payments; Illinois Rural Bond Bank; Qualified Paraprofessionals Under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001; Illinois Poverty Counts; FY2004 Budget and Annual Report Available; TECH Fair.

March 7, 2003--General State Aid Data; Committee Action on State Assessment Changes; House Appropriations Committee Hearing; College Preparatory Core Curriculum; Supplemental Service Providers; Spanish GED Students; Local Superintendent Joins ISBE Leadership.

Clarification to March 7, 2003--The fact sheet on student assessment changes that was included in the message I sent earlier today contained an error.

February 28, 2003--Time-sensitive Alert for Teachers; House Education Appropriations Committee; 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grants; Reading First Grants
Constitutionally Protected Prayer Certification Process; Poverty Counts – Federal and State.

February 21, 2003--Administrative alerts: waiver deadline and parent/guardian claims; Legislative presentations; State Board decisions on NCLB accountability issues; State Board officers and committees; Appointment of Interim Certification Board Secretary; Education License Plate; Cairo Financial Oversight Panel Appointments; Constitutionally protected prayer.

February 14, 2003--Homeland Security Information; Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) and Title 1 Funding; Public Comment Period on Administrative Rules for Induction and Mentoring.

February 7, 2003--House Education Appropriations Committee; Cairo School District to create a Financial Oversight Panel; Preliminary 2000 Census Data; Complete FY04 RFP Schedule; Statewide Tornado Drill and Severe Weather Preparedness Week.

January 31, 2003--Special State Board Meeting on February 6, 2003; Assessment and Accountability Task Force; Legislative Hearings on ISBE FY04 Budget; Survey for Superintendents.

January 24, 2003--General State Aid Payments; NCLB Discussions with Federal Officials; Assessment and Accountability Task Force; Charter School RFP; Illinois State University - Alternative Route to Secondary Certification; Information Meetings: Alternative Learning Opportunities Program; Information Meetings: Making Rural Illinois Safer.

January 17, 2003--Options for meeting NCLB requirements for paraprofessionals; Development of a comprehensive accountability system; Legislative recommendations to the General Assembly as part of the Annual Cumulative Waiver Report; Action on proposed rulemaking; 2002 Educator Supply and Demand Report; State Board response to the draft Medicaid School-Based Administrative Claiming Guide; Forum on middle level endorsement requirements.

January 10, 2003--FY04 Budget for Elementary and Secondary Education; State Board Members; ISU Alternative Route to Secondary Certification; Financial Oversight Appointments; Quality Counts Report; Death of Kim Knauer.

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