Lawmakers to Guv: Set Education Board Free

March 6th, 2008 at 08:10am Aaron Chambers

Back in 2004, Gov. Rod Blagojevich set out to control the State Board of Education, which administers the public education system in Illinois. Among other responsibilities, the board allocates state dollars to local schools. Blagojevich called it a “Soviet-style bureaucracy.”

Though the Illinois Constitution establishes the board as independent of the governor’s administration, Blagojevich nonetheless sought legislation to abolish the board’s responsibilities over the state’s education system and create a department of education within his direct control.

His initial plan went nowhere and the governor settled for legislation allowing him to more quickly appoint members to the board, thereby establishing majority control over its activities.

The morning Blagojevich’s members joined the board later in 2004, the board lost any semblance of independence. The newly empaneled majority immediately installed the governor’s handpicked state schools superintendent as well as board staff vetted by the governor’s office.

The governor’s own spokeswoman monitored the board’s first public event that morning, apparently just to make sure nobody on the board got off the governor’s message. They didn’t. In fact, the new superintendent at the time, Randy Dunn, told reporters that they should not expect him to say anything that might contradict the governor.

Gone were the days in which the State Board of Education, independent of the governor, fought for whatever it viewed as the best interest of schools.

Lawmakers, fed up with the board’s virtual absence from public debate, now want to go back to the old way. On Wednesday, a committee unanimously approved a plan to wrest control of the board away from the governor.

The Register Star reports:

A 2004 overhaul of the state’s education agency gave Gov. Rod Blagojevich more control over the State Board of Education, but now some lawmakers say his influence has proven to be excessive.

One of those legislators, Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, is pushing a plan to get rid of all current State Board of Education members and allow the governor to name nine new replacements. The replacement members would be chosen from a pool of 27 candidates that a panel of education experts would nominate.

“The goal here, of course, is to have a Board of Education that is farther removed from the governor’s office than it is today, farther removed from the influence of the governor’s office,” Lang said about his proposal, House Bill 4232.

The revamped board also would be required to craft “an ideal budget” showing how much money the state should provide to fully fund the elementary and secondary education system, Lang told members of the House Elementary and Secondary Education.

Lang’s plan got a favorable response today from the panel, which approved it, 17-0.

Here is an overview of Lang’s bill. The committee adopted both amendments 1 and 2, so read the summaries of those two amendments to understand the bill.

Amendment 1:

Provides that anything submitted by the State Board of Education to the Governor or the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget under the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget Act must also be submitted simultaneously to the General Assembly. Terminates the term of each member of the State Board of Education who is in office on the effective date of the amendatory Act and provides for new appointed members to take office. Provides for successors to be appointed for terms of 6 (instead of 4) years. Establishes a Nomination Panel to provide a list of nominees to the Governor for appointment to the State Board. Provides that members of the Nomination Panel must be appointed by majority vote of the following appointing authorities: the Governor, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State. Provides that candidates for nomination to the State Board may apply or be nominated. Requires the Nomination Panel to recommend 27 nominees for appointment to the State Board. Provides that the Governor may choose only from these nominations, and, after reviewing the nominations, the Governor may select 9 nominees, including the chairperson, for appointment to the State Board, to be confirmed by the Senate. Provides that if the Governor does not select all appointees within a certain timeframe, the Nomination Panel may appoint those members not yet selected for appointment by the Governor. Provides that appointments by the Governor and Nomination Panel must be confirmed by the Senate by two-thirds of its members by record vote. Provides that any appointment not acted upon within a certain timeframe shall be deemed to have received the advice and consent of the Senate.

Amendment 2:

Requires the State Board of Education to provide the General Assembly with a separate budget that shows what is need to fully fund all State mandates and to meet the educational needs of this State (instead of an “ideal world” budget that shows what is needed to fully fund everything). In the Section of the School Code concerning the powers and duties of the State Board, provides that there is no rulemaking authority under the amendatory Act, but that the Governor may suggest rules by filing them with the General Assembly and requesting that the General Assembly authorize such rulemaking by law, enact the suggested rules into law, or take other appropriate action in the General Assembly’s discretion. Provides that the State Board of Education Advisory Board shall be composed of members of the General Assembly.

Entry Filed under: Rod Blagojevich