Matters A U G U S T 2 0 1 3

IASA MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

Leadership

ARE YOU READY?

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2648 Beechler Court Springfield, IL 62703-7305 217.753.2213

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IASA Newsletter Editor Michael Chamness mchamness@iasaedu.org Assistant Editor Mary Ellen Buch mbuch@iasaedu.org

In this month’s issue

Volume 1, Issue 8

Additional Items IASA’s 5Essentials letter to

Dr. Koch P. 4

Vision 20/20 initiative seeks input from Illinois superintendents P. 11

Affordable Care Act leaves school districts in legal limbo P. 15

New state law mandates school shooting drill P. 16

Concentrate on improving teaching, not just getting rating P. 17

Enhanced P.E. Task Force offers webinar P. 18

Legislative Agenda: School funding formula, graduated income tax on radar P. 19

IASA Annual Conference features dynamic lineup of speakers P. 20

Registration being accepted for Joint Educational Support Professionals Conference P. 22

Do Federal school breakfast/lunch programs benefit districts? P. 23

2013-2014 Principal Evaluation Tool P. 24

IASA News in Brief P. 26

New SB Performance Rankings File available P. 27

Getting to know your IASA Board Members P. 28

IASA Calendar P. 30

Message from the new IASA President-Let’s try common sense approach

P. 6

New school year brings challenges P. 7-10

Common Core issues bubble up in state P. 12

ISBE unveils metric value tables P. 13

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‘Back to School’ edition offers info to take into new school year

It hardly seems like it could be time for school to start again, but here we are -- and clearly it will be another very challenging year for public education. It is our hope that this “Back to School” edition of Leadership Matters can supply you with some helpful

information to take into battle.

Working with the IASA Board of Directors, I have written a letter to State Superintendent Dr. Chris Koch asking him to consider delaying the public reporting of the 5Essentials Survey until next year and use this first year’s results to formulate a statewide baseline, and also to give ISBE time to improve the survey itself in order to make the results more relevant to school districts and to the public. That letter can be found on page 4.

Among the other topics included in this month’s newsletter:

New IASA President Dr. Steve Webb offers his thoughts and promises a common-sense approach for his tenure. I think Steve’s approach is a very good fit for IASA and for tackling the issues currently facing educators.

Several IASA Board members identify what they view as their main challenge going into the new school year and offer their plans to address those challenges. Dr. Nick Osborne, IASA Field Services Director for the Southern Super Region, also offers some practical tips for going into a new school year.

The Vision 20/20 initiative is in full swing, and this month’s update is about a survey of our superintendents that will be vitally important to the success of our goal to develop a road map for the future of public education in Illinois. The survey offers all superintendents a chance to express their views, and those views will help shape the agenda for the Vision 20/20 work groups. The more superintendents we hear from, the better and more reliable the data will be – and the more weight the final plan will carry.

Dr. Lindsey Hall, superintendent in Morton Community Unit District 709, shares her experiences regarding participating in a public meeting with members of the Morton-Tazewell Tea Party regarding their concerns and objections to the Common Core State Standards.

That story seems quite timely as the issue appears to be bubbling up throughout the state.

An update on the impact of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as “Obamacare,” on school districts that was co-authored by IASA Associate Director and Legal Counsel Sara Boucek and Barbara Erickson, an attorney who specializes in employee benefits, with an emphasis on state and federal pension laws and health insurance with Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer, Rodick & Kohn, LLP.

Diane Hendren, IASA’s Director of Governmental Relations/Chief of Staff, offers a glimpse of the main education legislative issues that likely will be on the General Assembly’s radar for the 2013-14 school year -- and notes that the next few weeks are really good times to make contact with your elected representatives while they are back in their districts.

Dr. Richard Voltz, IASA Associate Director for Professional Development, writes about teacher evaluation from the viewpoint that the observations and evaluations should be more about improving teaching than just coming up with a rating.

Noting that the Catlin School District has withdrawn from the Federal Lunch Program, IASA Field Services Director for the Northcentral Super Region, Dr. Bill Phillips – who also withdrew his district from the program back in the 1970s when he was serving as a superintendent -- writes about that federal program.

A story about the new School Safety Act changes recently signed into law requiring that an emergency response drill involving a shooting incident must be held annually at each school building that houses students. That story was written by Grace S. Park, a University of Chicago student who is serving as an intern at IASA this summer.

Grace is a fourth-year psychology and biological sciences major who was selected as a 2013 University of Chicago Metcalf Fellow in partnership with the university’s Institute of Politics. Grace was born in Mendota and grew up

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Message from the Executive Director Dr. Brent Clark

Grace Park IASA Intern

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IASA’s 5Essentials letter to State Superintendent Dr. Koch Friday, August 2, 2013

Dear Dr. Koch,

I am writing on behalf of the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA) Board of Directors to request that you consider delaying the public reporting of the 5Essentials Survey until next year and use this first year’s results to formulate a statewide baseline, and also to give ISBE time to improve the survey itself in order to make the results more relevant to school districts and to the public.

We are not calling for a repeal of the survey. We are simply asking for time to allow stakeholders and ISBE to work together to make the survey a product that would yield more credible data, thereby making the information more valid for school districts to consider going forward in an attempt to make improvements.

We appreciate your decision to re-score the survey using statewide data as a benchmark instead of trying to compare all schools throughout the state to the Chicago Public Schools. In terms of demographics -- including size and socio-economic status – one simply cannot compare CPS to all other schools in our very diverse state. Our representatives on the advisory panel questioned from the start that approach by the statisticians from the University of Chicago, and we are encouraged by ISBE’s decision on this issue.

While having a more reliable benchmark would be an important improvement, our Board and other superintendents have identified some other issues from this first round of surveys that we think merit further consideration. Those issues include:

The security of the survey. We are aware of instances where the percentage of responses was greater than 100 percent – even after corrections were made to the number of potential respondents. Unless the survey is secure in terms of who was able to fill them out and how many times a particular person could fill out the survey, the results are simply not credible. The approach that individual districts could invalidate its results if it could prove some sort of fraud places the burden on the wrong party. Those who are conducting the survey should have the responsibility to prove that their survey is secure because they are the ones who know how the security for the survey was designed. School administrators are not trained to be investigators and they have far too many other items on their plate this time of year to be investigating security issues with this survey.

The scoring of results. The conclusions do not appear to match up with the actual results. For example, in many instances cited, a very high percentage of responses (above 85 percent and even 100 percent in some cases) were “Strongly Agree” or “Agree” – both positive answers – but because not enough

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in Wisconsin. She said she considers education as one of the most important pursuits in this world, and wants her work at IASA to reflect the importance and priority she places on constantly improving the education agenda.

A story about ISBE’s new Value Table for Growth Metric, an attempt to provide school districts with a tool to show growth rather than just the pass/fail data that gets reported regarding AYP.

IASA stands ready to assist you throughout the school year and to continue our advocacy for public education in Illinois. Our Annual Conference is scheduled for October 9-11 in Springfield, so please mark those dates on your calendar. We have an outstanding group of speakers lined up, and we plan to feature the upcoming conference in the September issue of Leadership Matters.

I again want to thank you for all that you do to offer top-notch educational opportunities for the children of Illinois. It’s not easy work. It can be thankless work in terms of public perception and feedback, and often it’s made even more difficult because of budget cuts and additional mandates. But your work is vitally important to the future of your community, state and nation because that’s what your students represent – and those students are the bottom-line reason we all chose this profession.

Dr. Clark’s ‘Back to School’ message ———————————————————— (Continued from page 3)

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responses were in the “Strongly Agree” category the end result was a school being labeled “Neutral” or “Weak” in a category.

We are told that probably is the result of scoring on a bell curve, which inherently creates “winners” and “losers.” Regardless, the results are undermined and become invalid when “Agree” ends up being counted as a negative response because the respondent clearly was “agreeing” with a statement not knowing that “Strongly Agrees” actually was the only answer that would count as a positive response.

Some of the survey questions are unclear or set up for failure. For example, questions about parental visits to classrooms simply do not apply in many cases, especially in high schools. For that matter, given today’s safety concerns do we even want lots of parents in the school buildings when many schools already are struggling with security concerns?

Some schools, like Pittsfield High School, operate on a Block 8 system, meaning classes meet every other day. How is a math question where the best response is “We do this most every day” valid for a class that doesn’t even meet every day?

Similarly, as Dr. Chris Clark of Zion-Benton Township High School District 126 mentioned in her letter to you, how can a principal of a very large school be expected to know what’s going on in every classroom? The question refers only to the principal and fails to refer to any other type of administrator who might be the principal’s designee, such as an assistant principal, department or division chair. How are teachers supposed to answer that question in a case where other administrators have visited their classrooms regularly?

Those are three general areas of concern that remain even after the issue of comparing all Illinois schools to CPS schools. We believe that ultimately this survey could be a useful tool, but not as it is currently constructed and administered. The premature release of this first-year data very likely will paint a distorted picture of many schools and be one more weight placed on school districts and administrators, who will be left to try and explain the flaws in the survey when all the media and the general public will focus on will be the summative conclusions.

Why rush to release data that may not be reliable, especially in the form of comparative summative ratings? As I said earlier, it would seem to be a more prudent approach to sit down with stakeholders, take a look at all of these issues with an eye toward improving the survey and use this year’s results to start forming a benchmark.

If these first-year results must be made public for some reason, then we believe those results should be reported as the percentages for each response (for example, 25 percent “Strongly Agree,” 70 percent “Agree,” 3 percent “Disagree,” and 2 percent “Strongly Disagree.”) It is simply too early to try and use comparative data and make a summative evaluation based on norms that are not yet well established.

In summation, due to the inaccuracies because of the invalidity and unreliability of the survey results, the consequences of the release of information from this survey as it currently exists could be very hurtful and harmful to school districts. We do not believe that is the goal of ISBE. Thank you for your consideration of this letter. As a statewide association, IASA stands ready to assist you in a good-faith effort to review and improve the 5Essentials Survey.

Sincerely,

Brent Clark, Ph.D., Executive Director Illinois Association of School Administrators

(Continued from page 4)

“In summation, due to the inaccuracies because of the invalidity and unreliability of the survey results, the consequences of the release of information from this survey as it currently exists could be very hurtful and harmful to school districts. We do not believe that is the goal of ISBE. “

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Let’s try common sense approach

As the busy summer of a superintendent draws to a close, please allow me to say how much I appreciate the job that each and every one of you do. I know it is extremely difficult to maintain a positive attitude in the politically charged and always complex Illinois public education system, but now more than ever the thousands of children we serve every single day need us at the top of our game.

As I reflect on the many various situations we have traversed the past several years, with education reform at the top of the list, I find myself looking for a beacon in a sea of perpetual change – much like a lighthouse guides us from darkness to destination. Although our destination seems to be a moving target, we still open the doors daily to our future. We still love and nurture those students, and we still strive to provide a first-class education to the children of Illinois no matter what might be the political agenda of the day.

The Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA) serves as that beacon of light to help guide school administrators through the perils of the

unintended or even the untenable. I have found that the IASA staff and Board of Directors work very hard to assist us in our duties and, possibly most importantly, provide focus to our state leaders and the general public on the real issues we face.

When I accepted my first superintendency, a colleague once reminded me of the old adage that it was truly “lonely at the top” and added that as a school superintendent, friends can quickly become enemies and your enemies multiply. In my 20 years as a school administrator, I have found those words both frightening and highly accurate.

I am very proud to be a part of IASA – the only statewide organization that is always there for us and works tirelessly to aid in our quest for educational excellence. I am very humbled and honored to be President of this association and hope that I can contribute some common sense when helping our state leaders deal with issues that are certainly “common” over time, but where the problems are due largely to a lack of “sense”.

Thank you again for all you do for our children. I truly hope your summer was restful as well as peaceful, and that the coming year is full of great and powerful achievements. Lastly, never lose sight of the destination, and may God bless us in our endeavor to shape a better future.

Message from the IASA President Dr. Steve Webb

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“Implementation of the Common Core Standards and the PARCC Assessment are the biggest challenges.

We have been planning for this for over a year and hope it goes smoothly.”

Tim Buss Wabash District 348 Wabash Valley Region

“The biggest challenge I see

for this coming year is not one of the specific legal or technical issues we face with increasing regularity, but the challenge of keeping our school community focused on the positive attributes of our educational system. While we always take a hard look at areas we need to improve on, and develop plans for those improvements, I believe the glass is half full and we need to be proud of our students, staff and families.

We are a popular, and too often easy, target for those that want to blame schools for anything they are concerned about, and we need to remind them that we know what we are doing and that good things are going on in our schools.

“I plan to address this with consistent regular communication to our community in a variety of ways about the good things happening in our schools.”

Dr. John Correll Salt Creek 48 Du Page Region

New school year brings challenges IASA superintendents offer their views

“Our biggest challenge for this year is keeping up on all of the new requirements — Common

Core, new teacher evaluation systems, new reporting systems from the state, etc. I truly feel like there is not enough time in the day to do everything that is being asked of our teachers, schools, and districts. “How to address it? I can’t create time. I can only work with the time I have, keep my staff calm, and hope that my administrators and teachers don’t go crazy in the process of addressing everything that is being asked of them. I am starting to see burnout in even my very youngest teachers, and it is very concerning.”

For this “Back to School” issue of Leadership Matters, we posed a two-part question to superintendents who are serving on the IASA Board of Directors. The questions were:

What do you see as the biggest challenge heading into the new school year? And How do you plan to address that challenge?

The responses we received covered a variety of topics and are listed below and on the following pages.

“My challenge is to maintain focus on our local goals and real reform in a time of many distractions. I remind myself that I was hired to lead. Each day I give the distractions their due, set them aside, and then bring myself back to the real work of concentrating on teaching and learning in our district.

It would be possible to fill my days doing what others say is important. My job is to concentrate on the work that will best serve our students' needs as we move forward toward our district's goals.”

Dr. Jonathan Heerboth West Prairie CU 103 Western Region

Paula Hawley Pikeland Community Unit District 10 Two Rivers Region

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“In my view, the biggest challenge for school personnel heading into the 2013-2014 school year is meeting the needs of all children while coping with education

reform initiatives of outside, political groups.

We plan to focus on meeting students’ needs based on local community needs, and pay attention to, but not be distracted by, the ebb/flow of reform initiatives so that when our local goals align with reform initiatives, we can benefit from the larger dialogue.”

Dr. Jason D. Henry Sesser-Valier Comm 196 Egyptian Region

“Since I have a property poor school district that is very dependent on General State Aid, having the finances to maintain our programs and keeping staff employed is an ongoing challenge for my district. We have spent down our fund balances rather than cutting teachers and programs and now face the tough decisions that come as the fund balances are reaching critical levels that would not support another deficit budget year.

We cut two staff positions and are not replacing two other retiring teaching positions. We are also planning to borrow the maximum possible in the Working Cash Fund in order to supplement the inadequate revenue in the Ed Fund. We have already cut back in spending on supplies and other discretionary areas. We are changing to self insurance for our Major Medical insurance in order to save additional dollars. We continue to advocate for full funding of the General State Aid formula.”

Dan Marenda La Salle Elementary District 122 Starved Rock Region

“I feel the biggest challenge I face heading into the

new school year is finding time and resources to provide meaningful professional development for teachers. In the past, we used Block Grant funds to help provide this training to our staff. Now, without those funds, combined with the number of mandated changes we are trying to implement, it places further stress on both the budget, and our teachers.

To address this challenge, we attempt to train our best teachers, and ask them to present what they learn to their colleagues. This gives these teachers ownership when they are either asked to attend a workshop, or they request to attend one. They also understand that it is sort of a privilege to get to attend a conference, and not a ‘right’ as perhaps it once was. We also will use many of our own ‘experts’ to train their colleagues, as well as utilizing our Regional Office of Education. In simpler terms, it all boils down to time and money!”

President-Elect Scott Kuffel Geneseo Community Unit District 228 Blackhawk Region

“The biggest challenge for 2013-14 is continuing down the path towards student growth for principal and teacher evaluation, particularly in those areas that are not as easily ‘quantifiably calculated.’ It seems self-evident to me that a teacher of a Building Trades house with 20 students, who successfully completes an 1800-square-foot house, without incident, and high student engagement, and can sell it for a profit, has demonstrated student learning and value-added growth, but we're never quite sure if that meets the letter of the evaluation regulations. Likewise with that choir teacher or art teacher, who typically are more performance- or product-based in their teaching and assessment, but who do not have the same metrics that a math teacher may have available.

I plan to address the challenge by being as resourceful as possible in working with our faculty, administration and with those colleagues from IASA who have great answers and experience in these areas.”

Ron Jacobs Riverdale Comm Unit District 100 Blackhawk Region

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Dr. Kevin O’Mara Argo Comm 217 Cook South Region

“I feel that our biggest challenge remains the funding uncertainty surrounding the state's support for teaching and learning. The proration was kept constant, but is still woefully inadequate to meet the needs of our schoolchildren. The looming pension ‘fix’ that will almost certainly demand that school districts either wholly or partially fund the normal costs going forward will only serve to exacerbate the situation. I just don't see it getting better in either the short or long term.

I will continue to be fiscally conservative, budgeting for less than I hope for on the revenue side and working with our staff and Board of Education to minimize negative effects on our kids.”

“The biggest challenge is to continue to implement and maintain, with integrity, mandated as well as local initiatives and services designed to promote student achievement in a climate of uncertain financial

stability. These include but are not limited to: Common Core State Standards, PARCC, RTI, Early Childhood, School Safety, Continuous Staff Professional Development, Transportation, PERA Requirements and Personnel.

Continue the cautious, thoughtful, and conservative allocation of human and fiscal resources. Working individually and in collaboration with IASA, emphasize to the ISBE and Legislature the critical importance of a reliable and sufficient revenue source to adequately operate and maintain these programs. “

Cliff McClure Paxton-Buckley-Loda CU 10 Corn Belt Region

Victor White, III Prairieview-Ogden CCSD 197 Illini Region

“In a word: finance. We did RIFs and most likely will have to do it again. Also we are putting an education referendum for vote in March 2014. Along with the new teacher evaluation, lunch rules, loss of transportation funds, the list can go on and on.”

“Balancing budgets while maintaining top tier education excellence with potentially drastic increases in costs due to the state legislature’s attempts to transfer their responsibilities onto local school districts and, thus local taxpayers. These

“moving targets” expenses and “prorations” (cuts) in promised anticipated revenue are causing us to increase class sizes and decrease offerings without a firm grasp on what we are actually going to need in revenues to support our program

expenses.

We are making minor cuts in many areas in hopes of staving off the seemingly inevitable total programming cuts.”

Dr. Steve Webb Goreville Comm Unit 1 Shawnee Region

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Here we are once again, families are returning from summer vacations, students are returning from summer camp, teachers are decorating and preparing classrooms, and the annual “Back to School” advertisements are popping up in the local newspapers and on the radio and television airways. The

much anticipated summer vacation is quickly coming to an end. Yes, here it comes…another school year!

The start of a new school year is a special event; some even consider it a holiday. It is an exciting time for the students, parents, faculty, staff and administration. For the school superintendent, it is an excellent opportunity to engage the district stakeholders, reinforce the districts values, and communicate goals, beliefs and strategic initiatives. The “Back to School” environment is also an excellent opportunity to promote all that is good about public education.

There are a number of activities a school superintendent should pursue to secure a successful beginning of the new school year. The following list represents some of the approaches that are considered important in focusing on the launch of a new school year:

Focus on communications

Develop a list of “Back to School” talking points, including things such as a brief review of the previous year’s accomplishments, goals and strategic initiatives for the new school year, challenges and opportunities, and special events for the new school year.

Develop a “Back to School” news release for your district and distribute via your local media contact list to stimulate and promote the local media’s interest in the district’s return to school. Utilize your talking points. This is a great opportunity to advance a positive message about your school district and to also promote the value and importance of the public education systems.

Develop “Back to School” welcome letters for staff and faculty, administration, the Board of Education, parents and students.

Utilize your talking points to develop the “Back to School Welcome” for the district’s website.

Contact local, civic, fraternal and professional organizations to schedule opportunities to make a presentation regarding the new school year for the district. This is also a great time to include a message about the merits of the public education system.

Keep in mind that local groups are always looking for presentations for their weekly or monthly programs. Plan on scheduling an opportunity each month to deliver a message about your school and the importance of the public education system. It is time for us to recapture the conversation regarding the merits of the public school system.

Develop the all-inclusive “Back to School” agenda. Share this agenda as part of your communication activities.

Plan ‘Back to School’ events

Hold an annual “Back to School” meeting and engage your staff in the planning of the meeting. Keep the focus of the meeting positive and upbeat.

Provide refreshments and pre meeting time for socialization.

Provide a formal “Welcome Back to School” message. Include representation from the Board of Education and the staff/faculty unions, and clearly set out the district goals for the new school year and emphasize the upcoming opportunities and challenges. Also talk about statutory and funding changes, new policies, or updates to your district’s regulations.

It is essential to share the district’s key vision, priorities and successes with staff at the start of the school year. Staff can serve as communication ambassadors who carry key messages to a wider audience.

Recognize any retirements and resignations that would have occurred over the summer and formally introduce all new staff members.

Encourage each school to establish “Back to School” events that provide for the students, parents and staff an energetic and exciting return to school.

Schedule “Back to School” visits. Visit each of the schools during the first two days to welcome back the students and the staff. It's important to acknowledge all of the faculty and staff in your district, you are all working together as a

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Dr. Nick Osborne Field Services Director, IASA

Back to School: Tips for thriving, not just surviving

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IASA’s Vision 20/20 initiative is entering a new phase by conducting a survey of Illinois school superintendents and other school leaders regarding their thoughts about public education and specifically about areas on which the Vision 20/20 committees are focused.

“It’s really important to tap into the expertise and insights of the real education leaders, the people on the front lines throughout the state,” said IASA Executive Director Dr. Brent Clark. “I encourage all school superintendents to take a few minutes to offer their thoughts regarding what public education ought to look like. The information gleaned from this survey will help guide the work of the Vision 20/20 committees, and your voice could have a lasting impact on the future of public education in Illinois.”

Following the conclusion of the school administrators survey, a survey invitation will be sent to the broader community. The survey of the general public is scheduled begin on August 19 and run through September 15. IASA members will be asked

to disseminate the survey link to their community by using their school district communications lists and websites.

“The data from both surveys will be extremely important to the work of the Vision 20/20 committees,” said Dr. John Gatta, president and chief operating officer of ECRA Group, Inc., a Rosemont-based national research, leadership and strategic planning firm whose role will be to manage, facilitate and document the project. “The institutional knowledge and expertise of superintendents throughout the state can be a powerful tool in the development of this strategic plan for the transformation of public education in Illinois.”

Vision 20/20 initiative seeks input from Illinois superintendents Survey of school leaders ends August 16; to be followed by community survey

community and you want to assure that the new school year is a positive experience for all of your students and their families."

Meet with your administrative cadre to discuss the “Back to School” agenda and provide an opportunity for engaged conversation regarding the new school year. Encourage each administrator to embrace the “Back to School” holiday/event concept.

Meet with your facility management team and schedule a facility walk-through for each site to inspect all facility maintenance and construction projects and to inspect the condition of each building to determine readiness for the opening day of school.

Establish a formal meeting with all new staff members. Use this time to provide your own personal welcome to the school district. Make sure

they walk away with a strong sense of “meaningful existence.”

Provide a “Back to School” theme for the school district’s board of education meeting.

The start of a new school year is an important time for the educational community. It is a time to instill an excitement about learning and a time for communicating to all individuals the mission and vision for your school district. It is also an opportunity to bring a renewed awareness of the importance of the public school system.

Successful school superintendents tend to approach “Back to School” as a holiday event that provides opportunities for reflection, renewal and stimulation to promote new energy for the purpose of focusing on establishing a quality educational opportunity for all students.

Best wishes for a great “Back to School” coupled with another excellent school year!

(Continued from page 10)

Back to school tips ————————————————————

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Common Core issues bubble up in state

By Michael Chamness

IASA Director of Communications

With everything else that is swirling about public education, some school leaders in the state are being asked to explain the Common Core State Standards Illinois and 44 other states have adopted.

Dr. Lindsey Hall, Superintendent of Morton Community Unit District 709, Assistant Superintendent Craig Smock, and Troy Teater, director of curriculum and technology, recently spoke at a meeting of the Morton-Tazewell 9.12 Tea Party. They presented factual information about Common Core and then answered questions from the more than 40 attendees.

“We just shared the facts about Common Core, the sources of our information, and our experiences as school administrators,” Hall said. “One of the main points we tried to make is that curriculum and instruction is still under the control of the local school board. No one is telling us what books to read in English class.”

Hall’s experience in Morton is hardly unique. There is a website called “Stop Common Core Illinois” (www.stopcommoncoreillinois.org), and questions about Common Core persist not just in conservative political groups, but also in Parent Teacher Organizations (PTOs) and in the general public. Issues raised by the group in Morton were pretty much in line with opinions expressed on the website referenced above, including concerns about standards being too low and too much government intervention, ranging from a perceived federal control of curriculum to the gathering of personal information about students.

Hall said she distributed a CCSS Informational Sheet, encouraged the group to read the standards themselves, and pointed them to websites that contain pros and cons about Common Core. She also shared some of her concerns about Common Core with the group.

“One of my big concerns is that Common Core is another unfunded mandate, but in the world of public schools that is not unique. Mandates get passed all the time with no money to fund them,” said Hall, noting that her district is fortunate to have the hardware, software and bandwidth capacity needed to conduct the Common Core assessments, but that many other school districts might need to upgrade or add those capabilities.

Other Common Core issues Hall cited included

the time spent conducting the assessments and the resulting loss of instruction time as well as questions about the assessments themselves. But she has no objection to the standards themselves.

“We didn’t go to the meeting to make a sales pitch for it,” Hall said. “But we made the point that having learning standards is not a new thing for us. Illinois enacted state learning standards back in 1997, and those were preceded in 1985 by the Illinois State Goals. We can’t blame everything on Common Core.

“Collecting data about students is also not a new activity for public school districts, but ‘data mining’ is definitely a concern of groups like the Tea Party. The people we talked with, I believe, were receptive to our message because we did balance the positives with our concerns, and openly answered questions.”

Hall said she was glad to have been able to meet with three of the Morton group’s leaders prior to the public meeting. She said setting parameters for the public discussion and requesting submission of questions in advance paved the way for the public discussion about Common Core to be efficient, respectful and productive.

She also said she emphasized that standards are not the determining factor in a child’s education.

“The single most important factor remains the teacher in the classroom. It doesn’t matter what standards we adopt if we don’t have great teachers.”

“One of the main points we tried to make is that curriculum and instruction is still under the control of the local school board. No one is telling us what books to read in English class….

The single most important factor remains the teacher in the classroom. It doesn’t matter what standards we adopt if we don’t have great teachers.”

—Dr. Lindsey Hall

Morton Community Unit 709

Dispelling myths with facts, and sharing concerns is approach that resonates

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ISBE unveils growth metric value tables

By Michael Chamness IASA Director of Communications

In an attempt to go deeper and provide a more nuanced look than No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is unveiling Value Tables as a Growth Metric to provide schools and school districts another way of demonstrating progress.

“We wanted something that could help measure growth instead of just the pass/fail standards used in the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) reports,” said Mary O’Brian, ISBE’s Director of Assessment. “We wanted to try to create something that was valid, reliable and fair from the standpoint that results do not favor one type of school district over another. AYP does not provide a nuanced look at the performance of schools or districts.”

The Value Tables (see table below) award points based on a student’s growth from one year to the next. Some of the features used to go deeper than AYP’s measurements include:

Dividing the AYP categories of “Exceeds

Standards,” “Meets Standards,” “Below Standards,” and “Academic Warning” into “A” and “B” categories, in effect creating eight categories instead of just four, and awarding growth points for moving from the lower to higher subdivision within a category.

Recognizing that it is more difficult to show growth for high-performing students and awarding significant points for maintaining the performance of top students.

“The goal is to show growth even among the highest-performing students, and the Value Table acknowledges that the room for growth is less among top performing schools and districts,” O’Brian explained.

The accompanying Value Table uses color coding to help interpret the results. The gray cells represent students who have maintained their performance from year to year, while the green cells represent students who have achieved a higher level of proficiency and the red cells represent students whose performance has declined.

(Continued on page 14)

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The vertical axis is the performance in Year 1 and the horizontal axis is the Year 2 performance. The intersection represents the points awarded for growth. A school’s or district’s growth is computed by taking the total number of students’ growth points and dividing them by the number of students. For this year, the Year 1 axis will represent new performance levels applied to last year’s scores.

The concept and the final points in the Value Table are the result of meetings with an advisory panel that included ISBE personnel, statisticians and representatives from stakeholder groups such as IASA, the Illinois Principals Association (IPA), the Regional Offices of Education (ROE), the Illinois Education Association (IEA), the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT), and Illinois universities.

“The first meeting was kind of contentious,” said Dr. Steve Webb, Superintendent of Goreville Community Unit District 1 and President of IASA. “There were lots of positive comments about the direction ISBE was attempting to go, but very little agreement among practitioners and statisticians. Concerns were raised about things like the effects of small class size and the issue of fairly representing the growth of high-performing students and districts.”

Webb said the meeting had to be continued to another date of which he was unable to attend, but said the proposed Value Table that ISBE and the panel came up with seems to have addressed those concerns.

“We identified the need for individual progression data decades ago and although there are many other factors that our schools use to gauge progress than just the ISAT, it appears we are finally going to move

a step closer to real data at the state level that we can use to make sound educational decisions for our students as they progress from year to year and hopefully better informed decisions regarding the overall performance of our schools.”

In addition to Webb, other superintendents on the panel included Dr. Thomas Leonard of Barrington and Brad Hutchison, who recently retired as Superintendent of Olympia District 16 after a distinguished career of more than 30 years in public education.

O’Brian said the range of points (0-200) and the values assigned to maintaining, progressing or regressing in the eight categories were determined collaboratively with the stakeholders on the panel.

Another factor that comes into play especially for the coming school year is the elevation of the bar for the ISAT test administered to students in grades 3-8. The “meets” bar has been raised significantly and, applying the new performance levels to last year’s scores, could result in up to 25 percent more students failing to meet standards statewide.

That -- and the fact that so many schools and districts nationwide are failing to meet the unrealistic AYP standards of NCLB (only 17.7 percent of Illinois districts met AYP in 2012) -- is precisely the reason for implementation of the Value Table as a Growth Metric in Illinois.

“The Value Table was chosen as Illinois’ growth metric because of the relative transparency of this metric,” O’Brian said. “It provides another measure of the effectiveness of school and district programs and adds to the AYP picture in a way in which schools and districts can show growth.”

(Continued from page 13)

ISBE unveils growth metric value tables——————————

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Affordable Care Act leaves school districts in legal limbo

It has been a common practice in Illinois school districts for school administrators to receive greater health insurance benefits than other school district employees. Usually, the Board of Education pays the full cost of the administrator’s health insurance premiums for both single and family coverage while the other employees only receive paid or partially paid single coverage. With the passage of the Affordable Care Act (“Act”), school boards could be forced to end this practice.

Specifically, the Act now prohibits employer-sponsored, fully insured group health plans from discriminating in favor of highly compensated individuals with regard to eligibility to participate in the health plan and the level and type of benefits provided. Thus, a health plan where school administrators have their insurance premiums paid at a higher rate than other employees runs a potential risk of being found to be discriminatory under the Act. If an insured health plan is found to be discriminatory, the penalty to the employer is equal to $100 per day, per individual discriminated against, as well as

possible injunction.

Although the nondiscrimination provision of the Act was to take effect against non-grandfathered, insured plans as early as 2010, fortunately the IRS announced that it would not enforce the nondiscrimination

rules on group insured plans until the release of further guidance. Accordingly, because enforcement of this nondiscrimination provision on group insured plans is delayed, with what we know right now, a school district could continue to provide administrators with district-paid insured plan premiums that exceed that of other employees. Please note, the law is not clear on whether the disparate payment of premiums for highly compensated individuals will even be part of the test for nondiscrimination. It is anticipated that the IRS will answer this question in future guidance.

Still, several third-party administrators and insurance companies are advising school districts to

act immediately to equalize the employer-paid insurance premiums of all employees. As a result, many school districts are not waiting for further guidance and are heeding this advice and acting now. It is vital, however, that school districts and administrators proceed with caution when attempting to equalize the payment of premiums. Such adjustments can have long-term TRS and IRS implications. For example, decreasing non-TRS creditable employer-paid insurance premiums could be considered conversion by TRS and result in a significant impact at the time of retirement. As an alternative, some districts are simply adding re-opener language to administrator contracts -- but this approach also could be problematic due to pending pension reform legislation.

It is important to note that even prior to the passage of the Act, this nondiscrimination rule applied to self-insured health plans and, unlike the Act’s nondiscrimination provision, the self-insured rule’s enforcement has not been delayed. If a self-insured plan is discriminatory, the penalty is full taxation of the employee of the benefits received under the plan. Thus, it is critical that school districts find out if they are self-insured or fully insured. If the plan is a self-insured plan and is discriminatory, contact with legal counsel should be initiated immediately to discuss options.

In the end, consultation with legal counsel on behalf of the school district and impacted employees is not only highly recommended, it is crucial.

SARA BOUCEK, IASA Associate Director/ Legal Counsel and BARBARA A. ERICKSON, a partner at Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer

Rodick & Kohn LLP, represents school districts, municipalities, and park districts in all areas of the law. Ms. Erickson’s primary concentration is on employee benefits, with an emphasis on state and federal pension laws, health insurance, including the implications of the Affordable Care Act, and deferred compensation.

“It is vital, however, that school districts and administrators

proceed with caution when attempting to equalize the payment of premiums.”

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New state law mandates school shooting drill

By Grace S. Park, IASA Intern

In the aftermath of the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the General Assembly amended the School Safety Drill Act to mandate that a school shooting drill must be conducted annually at each school building containing students. Governor Pat Quinn signed Senate Bill 1625 on July 1.

During the academic year, schools are to conduct six school safety drills. Three of the drills must be fire evacuation drills, including at least one in which the local fire department participates. The other three drills must include a bus evacuation drill, a severe weather and shelter-in-place drill and, per SB 1625, a law enforcement drill involving a shooting incident. Previously, schools could include a shooting incident, but were not mandated to do so.

The amendment to the School Safety Drill Act was the result of the discussions that arose from Governor Quinn’s School Safety Summit. The summit was facilitated by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and included law enforcement, fire service, public health and education representatives among its invited attendees.

Another change in the law is that local law enforcement is now required to participate in the school shooting drill, much like the local fire department has been mandated to participate in school fire evacuation drills. School administrators and local law enforcement are expected, by mutual agreement, to set a date for the on-site drill during each academic year. If a mutually agreeable date cannot be compromised between the school administrator and the appropriate local law enforcement agency, the school shall still hold the drill without participation from the agency.

Upon the participation of a local law enforcement agency in a law enforcement drill, the appropriate local law enforcement official shall certify that the law enforcement drill was conducted and notify the school in a timely manner of any deficiencies noted during the drill.

IEMA Director Jonathan Monken said he thinks one of the benefits of the new law is that it will help set a common baseline for schools to be prepared to respond to a shooting incident.

“When you look at a state like Illinois, there are 864 school districts, and almost 5,000 secondary and primary schools. So when you look at that number of institutions, that number of facilities, it stands to reason that you will see differences from school to school,” said Monken, who previously served as interim director of the Illinois State Police before being named director of IEMA in 2011. “Some

already integrate well with law enforcement, but we wanted to raise that lowest common denominator to make sure we have a better baseline for what schools are doing in terms of preparedness.”

Ron Ellis, who became director of the state’s school and campus security training program after serving 19 years with the Illinois State Police, said that while the change in the School Safety Drill Act will help, there remains a need for consistency.

"The problem we have found in going around the state is that everyone is doing it a little bit differently," said Ellis, whose training program is funded by the Illinois Terrorism Task Force (ITTF) and is in partnership with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System (ILEAS). “The School Safety Drill Act says you will do certain types and numbers of drills. It does not say how to do them."

Another issue confronting school administrators regarding the new law is whether children should be included in the school shooting drills. The law does not specifically require that students be a part of the shooting drills, leaving that decision up to individual districts.

Dr. Gary Niehaus, Superintendent of McLean County Unit District 5, where a student brought a gun to a classroom and fired shots into the ceiling last fall, believes the benefits outweigh the concerns when it comes to involving students of all ages in the drills.

“I think it is a major mistake not to include kids in the drills,” said Niehaus, whose district includes 13,600 students and 17 elementary schools, four junior highs and two high schools. “We are certainly sensitive to the age of the students, but still feel strongly that students, regardless of age, should be involved with drills. Prior to drills we notify parents as to what is happening and ask them to talk with their children about the situation.”

Photo by David Proeber courtesy of The Pantagraph Matt Chapman, a teacher at Normal Community High School, evacuates students to Eastview Christian Church after gunfire at the high school Friday, September 7, 2012. No one was injured.

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Concentrate on improving teaching, not just getting rating

Traditionally, most teacher evaluators I have interacted with view teacher observation as a compliant duty that results in a teacher rating. The evaluator meets with the teacher in the Pre-Conference and the teacher does all the talking,

describing the lesson they will teach, describing their students, describing how the lesson relates to the district curriculum and recently the Common Core State Standards. The evaluator observes and takes copious notes of what is occurring in the classroom. The evaluator then prepares the summative evaluation, including the teacher rating, and does all the talking in the Post-Conference.

What really occurred in the above scenario that will result in teacher change of behavior? Probably nothing, as the teacher likely went directly to the summative rating in the Post-Conference and then listened politely to the evaluator if the teacher received a perceived “good” rating, or the teacher would prepare their objections to the rating and try to tell the evaluator what they missed and why the rating was not accurate if the rating is below their personal interpretation of what it should be.

In my opinion, teacher evaluation should be retitled “Teacher Observation” -- and the goal should be professional development not summative rating. Sure, the evaluator will need to eventually rate the teaching (notice I wrote “teaching” not “teacher”)

because that is required in the law. However, what the evaluator and the teacher should really want is to improve the teaching performance and subsequently student achievement.

So how do we change this paradigm? I would suggest that we change this process by not concentrating on the “rating” and instead focusing on the reflective questions the evaluator asks the teacher in the “reflective conference.” This reflective questioning process should occur following all observations of teaching, both formal and informal evaluator observations.

Illinois law requires that the teacher reflect on his or her own teaching. I am suggesting that districts add a fourth required component of the summative formal evaluation process. This fourth requirement would be a reflective conference that would be placed after the formal observation but before the Post-Conference.

The evaluator will prepare for this reflective conference by forming reflective type questions based on the evaluator’s observation notes. By thinking about forming open-ended reflective questions the evaluator will stay away from interpretation, judgment and bias until the evaluator has given the teacher a chance to explain why he or she did what they did in their teaching.

Below are some examples of evaluator-scripted notes followed by possible reflective questions the evaluator could ask the teacher in the reflective conference:

(Continued on page 18)

Dr. Richard Voltz Associate Director of Professional Development

Evaluator Notes Reflective Questions

Teacher asks 15 questions in a 45-minute lesson. All 15 questions use knowledge-level verbs such as describe and define.

How could you have asked higher-level questions in this lesson?

Of the 15 questions asked in this class, the teacher answered 5 of the questions, 7 questions required one-word answers, and 3 questions required explanation.

How could you have asked questions so that students an-swered all the questions?

Three students asked questions during this lesson and the teacher answered each question.

How else could you deal with students asking questions?

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In one of my recent training sessions, Christine Yeoman from Watseka thought of these reflective questions as a result of watching a high school English teacher teach a lesson. They were:

How could more students be engaged in questioning?

Tell me about a part of the lesson that did not go according to plan.

How could students be encouraged to ask better questions?

Tell me how supplies could be better distributed to the class.

What was the outcome of the lesson?

In what way were students learning-challenged?

Talk me through the purpose for the graphic organizer.

What evidence was gathered after the lesson to

show students met the objective?

What types of patterns did you see in the students’ responses?

Which resources in the lesson were most effective in meeting the objective and why?

Describe the students level of engagement during the lesson.

The reader may remember in a previous article that this author recommends several informal observations and at least two formal observations. One of the reasons for multiple observations is to develop trust and a rapport between the evaluator and the teacher concerning teaching and learning. The teacher will have several opportunities to reflect on their own practice and to make improvements based on the reflective conversations. Then, in the end, the “rating” should not be that big a deal, it will reflect the growth of the teacher throughout the process.

(Continued from page 17)

Enhanced P.E. Task Force offers additional webinar

Leading the Nation: Illinois Enhance P.E. Task Force Recommendations & Revised Learning Standards The Illinois Enhance Physical Education (P.E.) Task Force, established by Public Act 97-1102, brought together a diverse array of stakeholders who created recommendations driven by the compelling evidence linking enhanced P.E. with improved academic achievement, behavior, and health. The recommendations promote and support the leadership of local schools and administrators so they can be champions and models for other schools. The Task Force also recommends actions to ensure that sufficient professional development opportunities are available to teachers and suggests specific metrics that can be used at the state and local level to measure the implementation and impact of enhanced P.E. The Task Force also proposed revisions to the state learning standards for Goals 19-24 that will facilitate consistent implementation of quality P.E. This webinar will be held Tuesday, September 17, 2013 from 10 to 11 a.m. Click here to register. During this webinar, participants will hear from Task Force members, including the State Superintendent of Education, and will learn about the specific recommendations put forth by the Enhance P.E. Task Force, including proposed changes to the learning standards.

Concentrate on improving teaching, not just getting rating——————————

ISDLAF+ July 2013 Monthly Update

Click here to view the July 2013 ISDLAF+ rates, economic indicators and general economic news brief. To obtain additional information regarding this IASA sponsored service, contact Emmert Dannenberg, statewide marketing director/ ISDLAF+ at 815.592.6948. To check daily rates, visit the ISDLAF+ website at www.isdlafplus.com.

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Legislative Agenda: While the timing for a pension reform bill to surface from the conference committee remains an unknown, there are some legislative issues that would appear to be predictable as we head into a new school year.

In addition to the fight to gain funding for public education that plays out near the end of session each spring, a couple of new issues could arise in 2014 given the fact that it is an

election year that includes a race for governor. The state’s budgetary issues revolve around revenue, much like the planets circle the sun. And revenue must be addressed next spring because the 2 percent income tax increase is set to expire January 1, 2015. Expect a graduated income tax to be part of the revenue discussion. Also, expect talks about changing the school funding formula.

While no politician wants to utter the word “tax” – especially in an election year – many legislators acknowledge the need for increased revenue, the pension situation notwithstanding. A graduated income tax might be more politically fathomable because while it is estimated to increase revenue, those same estimates indicate that it would either lower or hold steady the state income tax for the majority of residents in Illinois. The “losers” would be those making the most money, always a politically popular tact.

The school funding formula almost certainly will be a topic of discussion for an advisory panel that was set up to study the funding distribution method for public education in Illinois. That panel was established by unanimous approval of Senate Resolution 431, sponsored by Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill). In addition to Manar, who is a co-chair of the panel, the other seven members include:

Sen. David Luechtefeld (R-Okawville), co-chair

Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Champaign)

Sen. Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake)

Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood)

Sen. Karen McConnaughay (R-St. Charles)

Sen. Michael Noland (D-Elgin)

Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris)

In calling for creation of the panel, Manar cited inequities in school funding and said the panel would

focus on General State Aid.

“The General State Aid formula, by statute, is intended to be the equalizing factor,” Manar said at the time. “It’s very intricate and it’s based on a state that existed in 1998, not based on a state that exists today in 2013 … so now we need a distribution method that accounts for those things.”

Manar’s advisory panel is due to report its recommendations in February of 2014.

‘Six-Step Plan’ may be pension reform framework

Regarding the pension reform issue, many signs appear to be pointing toward the conference committee adopting much of the framework of the plan proposed by university presidents, referred to as the “Six-Step Plan” because it contains six main elements, including:

Increasing employee contributions by 2 percent (from 8 percent to 10 percent) at a rate of ½ percent per year for four years;

Adjusting the compound COLA for retirees to ½ of the Consumer Price Index (CPI);

Placing new employees into a hybrid pension system that is a combination of the defined benefit and defined contribution plans;

Changing the way to calculate the effective rate of interest used to determine a range of benefits, refunds and service credits set each year by the SURS Board and the State Comptroller;

Shifting the normal pension costs from the state to universities at a rate of ½ percent per year; and

Ensuring that the state and/or universities make their payments into the pension system

While that plan is specific to the State University Retirement System (SURS) and might need to be tweaked to fit the other four state retirement systems, the presidents said that they estimated it could save as much as Speaker Madigan’s Senate Bill 1 proposal. The conference committee is awaiting reports from the retirement systems’ actuaries, but when a proposal might emerge – and, more importantly, whether it could garner enough support to pass both chambers – is still a question.

While the veto session still is a couple of months away, this is a great time to reach out and make contact with your representatives and senators while they are in their home districts. We encourage you to make calls or visits to establish or re-establish connections with them and to let them know your thoughts and concerns regarding public education.

Diane Hendren, Director of Governmental Relations/ Chief of Staff

School funding formula, graduated income tax on radar

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Session Headline

Building public support for schools, how to deal with the health care reform laws, leadership techniques, major issues facing school administrators and a panel discussion regarding IASA’s Vision 20/20 initiative highlight the topics that will be addressed during the IASA Annual Conference October 9-11 in Springfield.

Registration will open August 13 for the statewide conference. Additional information can be found on the IASA website. For more information, or to register, please click here.

“We are really excited about the lineup of speakers and topics for this conference,” said IASA Executive Director Dr. Brent Clark. “We have been fortunate to get some nationally known speakers to share their views and experiences with us regarding some really timely issues in public education.”

The lineup of speakers and presentations includes:

Award-winning author Jamie Vollmer, president of Vollmer, Inc., a public education advocacy firm working to increase student success by raising public support for America’s schools. Vollmer’s presentation is titled “Welcome to the Great Conversation: Building public support for public schools one community at a time.”

The presentation will focus on themes from his book “Schools Cannot Do It Alone,” which was called “one of the top 10 education reads of 2010” by the American School Board Journal. Those themes include community understanding of the challenges facing our children and our schools, community trust in their local schools to accomplish the goal, community permission to make the changes needed to teach all children to high levels, and community support throughout the complex and emotional restructuring process.

“Health Care Reform: What You Need to Do from Now to 2015” presented by Susan Relland, vice president of American Fidelity Assurance Company. Formerly an employee benefits attorney with the law firm of Miller & Chevalier in Washington, D.C., Relland was actively involved in the Affordable Care Act legislative debate.

Her presentation will focus on the rules that create responsibilities for employers – and school districts – between now and 2015. Topics will include the Free Rider Penalty and other new

plan design mandates, fees and

administrative obligations. She will break down the requirements and help attendees create their own action plans.

Veteran Illinois educator Jim Burgett, a former IASA Superintendent of the Year and a popular national speaker, will talk about “Leadership in Challenging Times: Back to the Basics.” He will address such things as a countdown of leadership techniques and no-nonsense leadership skills that work and have passed the test of time.

Burgett also was named Administrator of the Year by the Illinois Association of Educational Office Professionals (IAEOP) and recipient of the Van Miller Distinguished Scholar Practitioner Award. He also has published several books, including “What Every Superintendent and Principal Needs to Know.”

Key staff from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) will conduct a discussion titled “The Big Picture” regarding school finance, licensure, assessments and learning standards. ISBE staff also will be available to respond to questions on a variety of topics.

Dr. Clark and ECRA President Dr. John Gatta will head up a General Session titled “IASA Vision 20/20: Creating a Vision for the Future of Education in Illinois.” The session also will include members of the Vision 20/20 work groups and will discuss the impetus and motivation for the initiative as well as the process, research and information gathered so far for the statewide project.

The conference will also include an academy and breakout sessions designed. The academy is “Basic Collective Bargaining-revised 2011” (AAC 1045). Breakout sessions include

IASA Annual Conference features dynamic lineup of speakers Registration to open August 13 for October 9-11 conference in Springfield

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Registration being accepted for Joint Educational Support Professionals Conference!

On September 24, the University of Illinois Springfield will house a day jam-packed with sessions geared toward support staff or anyone who is new to the business office. This year’s downstate

Conference will focus on:

School finance and technology topics – including electronic board packets, Internet safety, p-Cards, records retention and more… see a list of sessions.

How to thrive in your role, manage distractions and tame your inbox – featuring our Keynote speaker Sydne Kalet.

Relationships with your Board and public – including social media communication, board training and meeting minutes.

REGISTER NOW

The Joint 2013 Educational Support Professionals Conference is being co-sponsored by IASA, IASB and IASBO

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Federal school breakfast and lunch programs: Do they really benefit districts?

By Dr. Bill Phillips

IASA Field Services Director

I recently noticed an article about the Catlin School District leaving the federal school lunch program. Some many years ago, when I was superintendent of Gardner-South Wilmington High School, that district left the school lunch program. Since this is such an unusual occurrence, I thought that I would discuss their rationale and some facts about the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).

Superintendent Gary Lewis of Catlin felt that some students were “going away hungry” due to dietary restrictions placed upon school districts participating in the NSLP. Some of the concerns included the facts that nutrition guidelines have become overly restrictive, there were new calorie limits placed on school districts, and, most importantly, kids seemed to be leaving the lunch still hungry.

Having duplicated this removal from the NSLP in the late 1970s, I can concur with Superintendent Lewis’ analysis of the issue. Currently, it appears that most districts feel safe within the environment and regulations of NSLP, and this unusual solution should bear some observation.

Here are some salient facts about NSLP:

The National School Lunch Act was granted and received permanent status in 1946, and from this legislation came the NSLP.

The NSLP is a federal and state reimbursement program that provides cash reimbursements per meal to schools as an entitlement to provide nutritious meals to children.

All NSLP sponsors are required to offer free and reduced-price lunches that meet federal requirements.

Any public school, intermediate unit, charter school, area vocational technical or career technology school, public child care institution, and tax-exempt non-public school, or residential child care institution can apply to be an NSLP sponsor.

All eligible schools can participate and all children attending those schools can participate if eligible.

Schools participating in NSLP also receive agricultural commodities (unprocessed or partially processed foods) as a supplement to the per-meal cash reimbursements, in amounts based on the number of lunches they serve.

Congress created the NSLP after an investigation into the health of young men rejected in the World War II draft showed a connection between physical deficiencies and childhood malnutrition. In response, Congress enacted the 1946 National School Lunch Act as a “measure of national security, to safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation’s children.” The NSLP provided nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to more than 31 million children in 2011.

The School Breakfast Program (SBP) is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions. It began as a pilot project in 1966, and was made permanent in 1975. The SBP is administered at the federal level by the Food and Nutrition Service. At the state level, the program is usually administered by state education agencies, which operate the program through agreements with local school food authorities (USDA, 2012).

The SBP operates in the same way as the NSLP in that qualifying schools that elect to participate receive cash subsidies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for each meal that they serve. The meals must meet federal, USDA guidelines and be offered at free or reduced prices.

The eligibility requirements for the SBP and the NSLP are income-based. Students identified as living in poverty and students identified as homeless

(Continued on page 24)

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automatically qualify, are enrolled in the programs and will receive free breakfasts and lunches for the duration of the school year. Students can also be enrolled in the SBP and NSLP programs and receive lunches at a reduced price if their household income meets the eligibility requirements set by the federal

guidelines. Students from families with incomes between 130% and 185% of the poverty level qualify for reduced-priced meals. If students qualify for reduced meal prices, they can be charged no more than 30 cents per meal. Students from families with income levels at or below 130% of the poverty level are eligible for free breakfasts and lunches.

As previously stated, participating districts are reimbursed per meal provided through these services. But are schools being adequately reimbursed for the free and reduced-cost meals that they are providing?

According to the School Nutrition Association, the cost to schools to prepare a lunch that meets the federal nutritional standards is $2.92. Compare that to the federal NSLP reimbursement rate of $2.68 per meal and it is apparent that the extra 24 cents per meal being spent each day for the more than 31.8 million students enrolled in the program is costing schools a substantial amount of money. With many schools facing major cutbacks in spending and being forced to make difficult decisions in a struggling economy, continuing participation in programs like NSLP can prove to be hazardous to the budget.

(Continued from page 23)

IASA offers two ways to acquire 2013-2014 Principal Evaluation Tool

The IASA is pleased to announce that members once again have an opportunity to acquire the IASA Principal Evaluation Tool. There are now two methods for acquiring the 2013-2014 IASA Principal Evaluation Tool. IASA members can attend a three-hour workshop or members can purchase the tool outright.

A listing of dates and registration information for the workshops can be found here. The evaluation tool has been updated with several new tips that will help users comply with the requirements of PERA, suggested improvements from users of last year’s tool, and the addition of an informal observation form that can be used to share notes with those being evaluated.

The tool can be acquired by attending one of the scheduled workshops, or you can submit a request to purchase the tool by submitting the form here or by visiting http://bit.ly/iasaprincipalevaluationtool. The registration cost for the workshop is $200 and will be

facilitated by the developer of the tool, Dr. Don White, and Dr. Joe Pacha. The tool is included in the cost of the workshop. The price for purchasing the file online remains $100, the same as last year.

Illinois school breakfast and lunch program ———————————————

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Session Headline

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MR. A.C. STORME, retired IASA member from Marion, passed away on May 22, 2013. Storme retired as superintendent of Marion Community #2 in 1985 after 42 years in education.

IASA News in Brief

Nominations now being accepted for the Van Miller Award

Nominations for the Van Miller Distinguished Scholar Practitioner Award are now being accepted. This award is presented annually by the University of Illinois College of Education at the IASA Annual Conference in Springfield.

The Van Miller Award is given to a person to recognize “outstanding contributions through their actions and leadership to the field of education in the state of Illinois.” Miller was a faculty member at the University of Illinois and was one of the first scholars in the area of education administration as we know it, writing one of the first education administration books, The Public Administration of American School. He was an active and loyal supporter of the IASA and AASA and served as President of IASA in 1970.

The criteria for the award include: (1) Change Agent – Meaningful involvement in school improvement that goes beyond participation in the state process; (2) Scholarly Practitioner – Communicates clearly and thoughtfully in speaking and writing; (3) Professional Commitment – Engages in professional activities beyond own school district. Attends to own personal growth activities and supports the professional responsibilities of the Superintendency and public education in general. Makes a contribution to the dialogue about public education; and (4) Mentor – Provides advice, support and encouragement to colleagues and aspiring administrators.

If you wish to make a nomination please send materials to Dr. Vic Zimmerman, at Monticello CUSD 25, 2 Sage Drive, Monticello, IL, 61856 or via email to zimvi@sages.us by September 6, 2013.

The 17th Annual School Leaders’ Law Conference will be held Wednesday,

September 25, from 8 a.m. to 3 pm. on the campus of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Brought to you by the SIUC Department of Education Admin & Higher Ed, the IASA, the Illinois Association of School Business Officials and the Illinois Principals Association, this conference offers the latest information on Education and Labor Law. By attending this conference, you will start your school year armed with current and accurate information on topics that matter to you and your district! The registration deadline is September 18, 2013. Click here to register.

INSPRA offers communications special presentation

The Illinois Chapter of the National School Public Relations Association (INSPRA) invites you to a special presentation, featuring Lt. J. Paul Vance, Lead Public Information Officer during the Sandy Hook School crisis in Newton, Connecticut.

His presentation, “Management of Media in a Mass Casualty Event” will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. September 19, 2013, at Glenbard East High School in Lombard. The cost to attend is $20 per person.

Vance is the Commanding Officer of the Connecticut State Police Media Relations/Public Information Office. Click here to register. Reservations are due by September 9.

Correction in New Superintendent listing in July issue In the July issue of Leadership Matters, Ms. Judy Wilson was listed as a new superintendent at Nettle Creek 24C. Ms. Wilson is the superintendent at Lick Creek 16. Dr. Donald McKinney is the superintendent at Nettle Creek 24C. We apologize for any inconvenience.

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Getting to know your IASA Board Members

Derek Hutchins Shawnee

School district: Crab Orchard CUSD 3

One thing you would like people to know about your

school district: : We were instrumental in becoming the first county in the state to pass the 1% sales tax for school construction.

Years on IASA Board: 1

Years as educator: 25

High school: Benton Consolidated High School

Colleges or Universities: Eastern Illinois University (BA in Chemistry and MS in Ed. Admin) , Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (Specialist)

Family: Wife-Tina; Son-AJ, Daughter-Autumn

Favorite hobby: Golf

Favorite movie: “Stalag 17”

Favorite book: Anything by Michael Crichton

Favorite musical artist: Zac Brown Band

One thing people probably would be surprised to know about you: That I enjoy going off-road riding on my RZR and spending the day playing in the mud.

Biggest concern about public education: Lack of respect that the general public holds for education.

Most encouraging thing about public education: There are a lot of great things that are happening that people don’t know about. It is an exciting time to be in education.

Dr. John H. Correll DuPage

School district: Salt Creek School District 48 Villa Park, IL

One thing you would like people to know about your school district: We are a small, awesome school district with great students, families and staff.

Years on IASA Board: 2

Years as educator: 34

High school: Collinsville, IL High School

Colleges or Universities: University of Illinois, Urbana (B.S.); Western Illinois University (M.S.); Northern Illinois University (Ed.D./CAS)

Family: Wife-Ellen Correll; Children-Andy, Chase, Adam, and Lisa

Favorite hobby: Running

Favorite movie: “Remember the Titans”

Favorite book: Undaunted Courage

Favorite musical artist: The Eagles

One thing people probably would be surprised to know about you: I have run in 25 marathons, and have finished 21. I ride a great Yamaha Roadstar motorcycle.

Biggest concern about public education: Keeping progress going and keeping people optimistic in an increasingly negative environment for public education.

Most encouraging thing about public education: Great people who really care and who have the potential to continue to make things

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Flexibility with Coverage Flexibility with

Deductibles Life Insurance Coverage Early Retirement Option Short-Term Disability

(STD) & Long-Term Disability (LTD) Coverage

Dental Coverage

Vision Care Coverage Out-of-State Coverage No-Balance Billing Cafeteria Plan COBRA Administration Health Care Reform

Compliance No Exit Fees

IASA, IASB, IASBO offer insurance plans for schools

For more information, please contact Stan Travelstead at stan@iasaedu.org or Jeremy Travelstead at jeremy@iasaedu.org or toll-free at 877.698.2247

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IASA Event

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September 2013