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U-46 delegate active in IASB convention role


By Seth Hancock
  The Board of Education in School District U-46 debated the role of government among other things when they discussed resolutions for the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) convention at its meeting on Monday, Nov. 7.
  The IASB convention was held in Chicago on Saturday, Nov. 19, and board member Phil Costello represented the U-46 board when voting on resolutions.
  Costello joined Cody Holt and Jeanette Ward in voting against renewing membership, at a cost of $41,039, in July, but the membership was approved 4-3 as Traci Ellis, Sue Kerr, Veronica Noland and Donna Smith voted for it.
  Although opposed to the membership, Costello told The Examiner the reason he offered to be the U-46 delegate “was to better understand the value proposition of the IASB organization. By seeing the internal workings, hopefully I'll be able to objectively evaluate the merits of continued participation and direct and indirect costs of the relationship.”
  Costello said he understands that similar organizations use lobbyist groups like the IASB, but “our government officials should be able to discern effective public policy by weighing pros and cons without the biased views of powerful lobbyists. Ostensibly, our state officials were elected to be responsive and accountable to people, not lobbyists.”
  There were 16 resolutions voted on at the IASB convention to determine the lobbying efforts of the organization, and the board discussed several at its Nov. 7 meeting including resolution 1.06 concerning preschool programs which sought more taxpayer dollars to fund early childhood programs starting with “infants and toddlers.” Both the U-46 administration and the IASB recommended approval, and it was approved by the IASB delegates.
  Ward did not want U-46 to approve that resolution because “that’s expanding the role of public education to infants, and I don’t support that,” and Holt agreed.
  Kerr responded “I would be inclined to support” it “just because I think research shows that early childhood programs are often beneficial, especially for at-risk children,” which Ellis, Noland and Smith all agreed.
  Costello said: “If it’s efficient, if it’s the best practice and if there is merit behind the proposal, and I know that’s very broad, I would be for it.”
  However, Costello asked if he’d be able to raise Ward’s and Holt’s concerns at the convention.
  “I don’t want to be too nitpicky but I don’t know that I agree that the board shares your concern,” Ellis replied.
  “The larger board yes, we’re for it, but there was a concern and I’m not saying we’re changing it,” Costello countered.
  Later Ellis and Noland shared concerns counter to the U-46 administration’s as well as IASB’s recommendation, specifically on resolution 5.05 which seeks to eliminate prevailing wage laws for school districts. That resolution was approved by the delegation.
  Noland said: “I don’t know enough about it … I think it could be hurting our employees, and repealing the prevailing wage act is a concept I’m not going to support.”
  Ellis asked the administration what its “rationale for supporting” the elimination of prevailing wage was?
  U-46 CEO Tony Sanders said: “As we reviewed it, it would provide additional flexibility as we’re doing our work in getting bids for work that we have to get done. I think we can do it in a way that would satisfy the needs of our community, the contractors and also our laborers. We did not have any significant issues with that.”
  For Costello, Holt and Ward that recommendation was an acknowledgment that they were correct in opposing the setting of prevailing wages since they’ve taken their seats on the board.
  Ward said she “strongly supported” the resolution and Holt said: “I think that’s a huge win, and that would provide us with flexibilities and that’s structural reform that would be massively beneficial to the taxpayers and the students of our district.”
  There were other resolutions, such as 2.37 dealing with school finance reform and 6.01 dealing with local control, that Holt said “will continue to give us more flexibility within our budgeting.” Both of those resolutions were recommended for approval by both U-46 and the IASB, and both were approved at the convention.
  One resolution, 1.08 concerning standardized test procedures, was recommended for approval by the district and IASB and the U-46 board approved, albeit with some trepidation. The resolution, which was approved at the convention, seeks to lessen the impact of certain tests such as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) exam.
  Kerr agreed with a lot of the resolutions, but she’s concerned that “we are still doing every kid every year, grades three through eight and once in high school, but I guess it’s better than what we have.”
  Ward said: “The computer based testing has been shown to test kids lower because it’s harder for them to take the test on the computer. They’re struggling with the computer, not with the concepts in the test. As you know, I’m no fan of PARCC.”
  After attending the convention, Costello told The Examiner it was both “interesting and disturbing at the same time,” and he was concerned that the U-46 administration’s recommendations simply mirrored IASBs.
  “In my opinion, the whole process seemed rather sanitized except for two proposals” that were voted down in contrast to the IASBs recommendations Costello said.
  One of those resolutions voted down concerned special needs students which opponents at the convention said would take away local control according to Costello.
  Another resolution not approved sought to strip the ability for school districts to be used as polling places during elections, and Costello said dissenters at the convention “felt that options for voters in certain remote areas could be unduly limited and that since the schools were paid with public funds, it was disingenuous to deny access and override an individual school district’s latitude in representing the interests of its own citizens.”

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