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"In August, the General Assembly passed
Senate Bill 3000, giving my office the opportunity to appoint seven
new members to the Illinois State Board of Education. Senate Bill
3000 also gives future governors the power to appoint the majority
of the members of the board as soon as they take office. Under the
current system, new governors have not been able to appoint the
members of the State Board of Education, meaning there's no
relationship, no accountability, no opportunity to move a new
administration's education agenda forward. Now there is. And that
means the State Board of Education is going to be expected to
accomplish more and do better than it ever has," said Gov.
Blagojevich.
The new members create an Illinois
State Board of Education that is both ethnically and geographically
diverse, each member bringing unique personal and professional
experiences to the table. The new members of the board are:
Jesse Ruiz, D-Chicago -- Ruiz will
serve as chairman of the new State Board of Education. He is a
partner at Gardner, Carton & Douglas, where he specializes in
corporate law. Ruiz also served as chief legal counsel to the
Illinois senators and representatives who came together for the
first time in Illinois history to form the Illinois Legislative
Latino Caucus and to incorporate the Illinois Legislative Latino
Caucus Foundation. Additionally, Ruiz has served as a commissioner,
by appointment, on the Chicago Board of Education, on the Chicago
Public Schools Desegregation Monitoring Commission and as a
commissioner, by appointment, on the Illinois Supreme Court, on the
Character and Fitness Committee for the First Judicial District of
Illinois. Ruiz is a past president of the Hispanic Lawyers
Association of Illinois and past chairman of the Hispanic Lawyers
Scholarship Fund of Illinois. He also has been recognized as a
rising star by Chicago Lawyer and Crain's Chicago Business.
Dr. Andrea Brown, R-Goreville -- With
more than 45 years of Illinois education experience, Brown most
recently served as regional superintendent for
Alexander-Johnson-Massac-Pulaski-Union counties from 1994 to 2003.
She also has experience at the district level working in the Cairo
Unit School District, first as a special education and elementary
teacher and later as superintendent. She began her teaching career
in 1957 in Olmsted.
Dr. David Fields, I-Danville -- Fields
served as the superintendent of Danville District 118 for a decade,
from 1991 to 2001. As superintendent, he demonstrated his fiscal
responsibility in developing a plan to reduce costs with minimal
effect on students when faced with a $3.5 million deficit.
Additionally, Fields is an extremely active and productive member of
his community. He's a member of more than 20 community organizations
and has won numerous civic awards, including an African American
Achiever Award from the NAACP, First Citizen Award from the American
Business Club and Volunteer of the Year from the Vermillion County
Volunteers Association. Fields began his teaching career in 1960 as
a social studies teacher at Danville High School and North Ridge
Junior High.
Ed Geppert, D-Belleville -- Through
June of this year, Geppert served as the chief of staff for the
Illinois Federation of Teachers, an organization to which he has
dedicated almost three decades of service. During his career with
the federation, Geppert served as a field service director for the
Southern Illinois Regional Office and the Southwest Regional Office,
assistant to the president for organization, and
secretary-treasurer. He began his teaching career in 1969 as a
science teacher at Cahokia High School.
Dr. Vinni Hall, D-Chicago -- Hall
brings more than 30 years of education experience, in both
instruction and administration, to the state board. Most recently,
she served as a consultant to Chicago Public Schools and the
Illinois Center for Education and Rehabilitation. Previously, she
was an associate professor at Chicago State University and director
of the Inclusive Schools Project for Chicago Public Schools. She
began her teaching career in 1967 at Chicago Public Schools, where
she taught Head Start, grades 2-12, adult education, special needs
students, library science, music and drama.
Brenda Holmes, I-Springfield -- Holmes
most recently served as the governor's deputy chief of staff for
education. The Charleston native began her career in education as a
government and history teacher at Pawnee High School in central
Illinois. She left the classroom to pursue the policy side of
education and participated in the Sangamon State University (now
University of Illinois-Springfield) Legislative Staff Intern
Program, serving as the Senate Republican legislative education
staff analyst. In 1987, she joined the Illinois State Board of
Education, serving in a number of capacities, chief of which was the
legislative liaison and key contact for legislators, legislative
staff, governor's office, constitutional officers, and educational
organizations and civic groups. She joined the Blagojevich
administration in 2003.
Dr. Chris Ward, D-Lockport -- Ward
recently retired as the Lockport Township High School District 205
superintendent. During his more than 10-year tenure, he led a team
of staff and community volunteers to pass two referendums to
increase the education fund and renovate and expand education
facilities. He also used creative leadership and strategic planning
skills to guide the district to a balanced budget while increasing
student achievement in an environment in which the student
population was increasing at an average of 100 students per year. He
began his career in education in 1967, as an advanced sociology and
history teacher at Joliet Catholic High School. He is a member of
numerous professional and community organizations.
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The seven new members join two
remaining members on the state board, Dean Clark, R-Glen Ellyn, and
Joyce Karon, D-Barrington. Clark, a member of the board since
January of 2003, is the president of Graphic Chemical and Ink
Company. He has extensive background in education policy. He served
on the Glen Ellyn District 41 School Board and on the Education
Funding Advisory Board. Karon has also served on the state board
since January of 2003. She served as an affiliate instructor at
Northern Illinois University and an independent consultant for
school and public libraries. As a library-media specialist in
Barrington schools, Karon designed and implemented library media
curriculum, created staff development activities to integrate
technology into classrooms, chaired local and state committees
focused on education and technology, and served on state library
task forces.
The members' appointments require
confirmation from the Illinois Senate, but the members are permitted
by statute to begin work immediately. The new law reduces the length
of board members' terms from six years to four years and allows
governors to remove board members for incompetence, neglect or
malfeasance. Future governors will appoint five board members at the
onset of their terms and four more appointments two years into their
terms.
"We began the last legislative session
looking to create a Department of Education," Gov. Blagojevich said.
‘That would have meant even greater accountability. The bill I
signed today [Sept. 14] is a compromise, but it gives the newly
appointed State Board of Education a chance to do what we sought
from the beginning -- bring more accountability and take the State
Board of Education in a new direction. This board has been given the
authority to work with local districts to help them save money, and
every extra dollar saved is an extra dollar that can be spent on
textbook, a computer or to help pay for a new teacher. Saving money
and investing it in the classroom is a big part of what I expect the
new State Board of Education to be about."
"But, I am asking the board to focus on
three main areas. First, the state board has to immediately work to
reduce the backlog in teacher certification. I've already signed
legislation that gives the board more time to clear the backlog.
Second, the board has to reduce the number of rules and regulations
that burden local school districts. For years, the board seemed to
have been more focused on making it harder for local districts to do
their job. It's time the board started making it easier for local
districts. And, third, I'm asking this board to come back to me by
the end of the year with one major idea for a new policy initiative
we can focus on in 2005. I'm asking them to bring me one realistic
and affordable initiative that allows us to do something real,
something that tangibly improves the way we educate our children
here in Illinois."
Senate Bill 3000 gives the governor and
legislature more control over the board's financial management by
subjecting the state board to line-item budgeting for the first
time. Line-item budgeting and new agency divisions specifically
outlined in the legislation allow the board to better focus on
helping schools educate children and improve services such as early
childhood education.
The legislation also provides for the
creation of shared service centers, allowing school districts the
option to pool their resources to save on administrative costs, and
a new purchasing program to allow local schools districts access to
statewide contracts where they might find lower prices. To assist
local school districts with their health care costs, the law
authorizes districts to participate in the state's prescription drug
purchasing plan.
"I am proud to have sponsored this
critical legislation to move Illinois education in the right
direction," said Rep. Calvin Giles, D-Chicago, chairman of the House
Education Committee. "This law will ultimately make the system of
education more accountable to the governor and to lawmakers, for the
benefit of the children of this state. I believe the reform that the
governor signed today puts us on the right track to help us
determine how we fund education in Illinois."
The reform also takes several steps to
reduce the 2,800 pages of rules and regulations imposed on local
school districts by the Illinois State Board of Education. The law
makes the board more accountable by requiring it to follow statutory
rule-making procedures when making new rules. And one of the board's
statutory tasks is to further reduce the number of existing
mandates.
Senate Bill
3000 was sponsored by a bipartisan group of legislators led by Sen.
del Valle and Rep. Giles and including Sen. Carol Ronen, D-Chicago;
Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-Westmont; Sen. Mattie Hunter, D-Chicago; Sen.
Jacqueline Collins, D-Chicago; Sen. Louis Viverito, D-Burbank; Sen.
Martin Sandoval, D-Cicero; Sen. Iris Martinez, D-Chicago; Sen. Donne
Trotter, D-Chicago; Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Chicago; Rep. Monique
Davis, D-Chicago; Rep. Renee Kosel, R-Mokena; Rep. Jerry Mitchell,
R-Rock Falls; Rep. Roger Eddy, R-Hutsonville; Rep. David Miller,
D-Dolton; Rep. Annazette Collins, D-Chicago; Rep. Eddie Washington,
D-Waukegan; Rep. Mary Flowers, D-Chicago; Rep. Kathleen Ryg,
D-Vernon Hills; Rep. Karen May, D-Highland Park; Rep. Jay Hoffman,
D-Collinsville; Rep. Michael Smith, D-Canton; Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Hazelcrest;
Rep. Deborah Graham, D-Oak Park; Rep. Wyvetter Younge, D-East St.
Louis; Rep. Karen Yarbrough, D-Maywood; Rep. William Davis,
D-Chicago; and Rep. Sandra Pihos, R-Glen Ellyn.
[News release from the
governor's office] |
