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 On Thursday, the Senate voted 38-16 to approve a plan to take
approximately $12 million from a tax stream sent to local
governments and use it to pay the elected schools chiefs and their
assistants in 44 regional education offices. Quinn supports the
legislation.
"When someone takes the oath of office, they should be paid,"
said Sen. William Haine, D-Alton.
The money will come from personal property tax replacement funds,
which are shared with local governments. That had been a strong
point of opposition, even though the legislation allows siphoning
the money for this year only.
"My county, my municipalities are struggling. They're cutting
people; they're cutting services," said Sen. Suzi Schmidt, R-Lake
Villa. "Three or four thousand dollars for a municipality might not
sound like much to some people, but that might be some snowplowing I
know we're going to need pretty soon."
The elected superintendents provide services such as certifying
teachers and bus drivers, inspecting schools, and offering
alternative education programs for truant and troubled youths.
Quinn said in July there wasn't money in the budget to pay the
superintendents and canceled funds for their salaries. He said the
offices weren't needed and local governments should decide whether
they want to keep and fund them, but he didn't offer other plans for
assigning their duties.
The legislation would also form a committee to study the
superintendents' duties and how best to deliver the services. Most of the superintendents have been working without pay since July
1. At least four have resigned. In some cases, county boards or
other local government bodies picked up the salaries.
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Bob Daiber, a superintendent in the suburban St. Louis area and
president of the group's statewide association, said the school
executives are "encouraged that legislators see our value to
students, educators, parents and schools" and asked Quinn to act
quickly.
Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, said she doesn't want local
governments to lose money, but said, "What's right is right," as she
complained that Quinn put lawmakers in a bad spot. Others agreed.
"If Gov. Quinn by fiat wants to make a major policy change like
abolishing the regional offices of education, he has to talk to the
General Assembly before going home for the summer, rather than
waving a magic wand and creating chaos," said Sen. Kirk Dillard,
R-Hinsdale.
___
The bill is
SB2147.
___
Online: http://www.ilga.gov/
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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