 During his budget speech last month, Quinn proposed taking away $13
million from the Regional Offices of Education. Illinois has about
47 regional offices located throughout the state.Regional
superintendents said the cuts will end up costing the state millions
in federal money.
Gil Morrison, president of the Illinois Association of Regional
Superintendents of Schools, said the idea just "doesn't add up,"
despite discussions that cuts will be shared across the board.
"There's a lot of truth in that talk, but some cuts are too deep,
just too deep to defend," said Morrison, who expects the cuts to
effectively shut down every office.
"I don't know how to possibly operate without that funding,"
Morrison said.
House budget expert Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, said he was
surprised by the governor's proposal and doesn't know of many who
would be in support of it.
"The reason (the regional offices) were created is because the
schools didn't have the resources to actually carry out (their
responsibilities)," Mautino said.
Regional offices are responsible for offering programs such as
professional development for teachers, GED testing and student
development programs. It is unclear who will take over these
responsibilities if the offices were to close.
"In Kane County alone, they do over 6,000 teaching certificates
every year. If they don't do it, who will? (The schools) will
probably have to hire more people, but we're cutting them (too),"
Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, said.
Janet Ulrich, a regional superintendent who oversees 19 school
districts in southern Illinois, said the regional education offices
pulled in about $135 million in federal funding last year.
"Where do those funds go? They're not going to come into our
state of Illinois. ROE's are the only ones that qualify to write for
them," Ulrich said.
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Joe Vermeire, a former Rock Island regional superintendent,
considers regional offices the "buffer" between the state and
schools. He suspects that Quinn is trying to eliminate regional
superintendents for his own gain.
The administration is "looking at a position that they (want to)
appoint themselves -- that they could bring under their control,
rather than under the control of the local citizenry, and I think
that's wrong," Vermeire said.
Regional superintendents are elected by local constituents. They
earn about $97,000 annually.
Quinn's spokeswoman Kelly Kraft refuted Vermeire's contention,
saying the proposal is still in its beginning stages.
"This is something we continue to take a look at. Our main goal
overall in our budget is to solve our fiscal crisis," Kraft said.
Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich came out with a similar plan in 2003,
but opposition from lawmakers forced him to quash the idea.
Sen. David Luechtefeld, R-Okawville, considered these cuts to be
"poorly thought out" and was skeptical that it would come to
anything.
"I think most everything (Quinn) said in his budget address is a
proposal. ... Many times the budget doesn't end up looking at all
like the governor suggested," Luechtefeld said.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By MELISSA LEU]
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