CARBONDALE - March 15, 2013. Lt. Governor Sheila Simon's Firearms Working Group met today with a sponsor of concealed carry legislation being considered by the General Assembly. The group also talked with gun owners to learn more about responsible gun usage and culture.

"As a resident of Southern Illinois, I know responsible gun owners who agree that gun regulations are needed to protect our children and keep guns out of the wrong hands," said Simon. "These are parents who went hunting as children and now take their children hunting, and we need to protect that tradition of conservation and gun safety."

The working group talked with Rep. Brandon Phelps (D-Harrisburg), the sponsor of House Bill 997, which allows for concealed carry of firearms in Illinois.

Currently Illinois is the only state in the nation with a law that completely bans carrying concealed firearms. The law was declared unconstitutional in December by a three-member panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Illinois now has until June to pass a law that permits people to carry concealed guns in public spaces.

The working group has been meeting with stakeholders on all sides of the debate - from hunters to law enforcement officials to education professionals - to promote dialogue and work toward consensus on pending legislation. The group is working on a legislative checklist based on information compiled over the course of these meetings. More details will be released soon.

Please visit www.ltgov.il.gov/guns for additional information about the working group.

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Amana - Can the three little pigs remember their survival skills as they go out into the world to make a living? Join Big, Tweeney and Wee and find out! The Old Creamery Theatre for Young Audiences presents a classic tale with an imaginative and musical twist in The Life and Times of the Three Little Pigs, opening Saturday, March 30 on the Main Stage in Amana.

The cast consists of Maria Bartolotta of St. Louis, MO, T.J. Besler of Manchester, Nicholas Hodge of South Amana, Jackie McCall of Marengo and Stacia McKee of Coralville. The Life and Times of the Three Little Pigs was written by Gene Mackey with original music by Cheryl Benge.

Shows are at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 30 and April 6 and at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 13. Tickets are $8.50 per person and reservations are highly recommended. The Life and Times of the Three Little Pigs is  sponsored by Scheels with Kiss Country 96.5 as the media sponsor.

The Old Creamery Theatre Company is a not-for-profit professional theatre founded in 1971 in Garrison, Iowa. The company is celebrating 42 years of bringing live, professional theatre to the people of Iowa and the Midwest.

$10,000 Increase Expected to Immediately Help 500 More Working Families Keep Their Homes; 7,000 Homeowners Helped So Far

CHICAGO - Governor Pat Quinn today announced that the Illinois Housing Development Authority is increasing the mortgage assistance available through the Illinois Hardest Hit program to $35,000 per household across the state, effective April 1. The governor also announced that Illinois Hardest Hit has reached a milestone, having recently helped its 7,000th homeowner avoid foreclosure. Today's announcement will help an additional 500 working families keep their homes and is part of the governor's commitment to strengthen Illinois' communities.

"Illinois Hardest Hit is one of the best resources working families have to help keep their homes," Governor Quinn said. "As Illinois continues to recover from the nation's worst recession since the Great Depression, we can make our economy stronger by ensuring that homeowners get the assistance they need to avoid foreclosure."

Gov. Quinn launched the Illinois Hardest Hit program in 2011 to help homeowners who experience an income reduction due to unemployment or underemployment in two ways: monthly mortgage payment assistance and reinstatement assistance. The program, funded by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, has already committed nearly $160 million to more than 7,000 homeowners in 94 counties and continues to assist an average of 22 at-risk homeowners each day. Over the course of 2012, Illinois had the third most number of homeowners approved for assistance among the 18 states receiving Hardest Hit funds.

"The Illinois Hardest Hit program has been a vital resource for thousands of Illinois homeowners working to regain their financial footing," said Mary Kenney, IHDA executive director. "We found the most common reason otherwise eligible families were unable to be helped was because the amount necessary to bring their mortgage current exceeded the program limit. With an increased assistance limit, the program will support families at a critical time in the state's recovery."

The Illinois Hardest Hit program increase will address the realistic needs of unemployed or underemployed homeowners across the state. With $10,000 more assistance per family to allocate, more than 500 Illinois families could be assisted immediately. Over the next 30 days, program staff will contact the following groups of homeowners to see if they qualify to have their program terms amended in alignment with the new cap:

·         Homeowners who are currently receiving assistance;

·         Homeowners who were in the program but exhausted their benefits in 2013;

·         Homeowners who applied for the program in 2013 but were ineligible because their need exceeded the previous limit of $25,000

Homeowners who exited the program or were denied assistance before January 1, 2013, should reach out to the housing counselor they worked with to re-apply. New applicants can apply at www.illinoishardesthit.org. IHDA expects an additional 100 families per month to be eligible for mortgage payment support under the program extended limits.

While the foreclosure crisis is not over, CoreLogic reports that foreclosure inventory in Illinois is down almost 20 percent from last year and the average median home price rose from $115,000 to $132,500.  Illinois' 86,000 homes in foreclosure remain a serious issue, but the downward trend is a promising sign that the recovery efforts of the state and its partners are working.

"This is an exciting program change for homeowners in Illinois," said Joseph McGavin, director of the Illinois Hardest Hit program. "We are working to streamline our processes to accommodate this change and urge homeowners to act now as federal funds are limited."

The Illinois Hardest Hit program is the flagship initiative under Governor Quinn's Illinois Foreclosure Prevention Network (IFPN), an interagency support system and public awareness campaign that has connected thousands of Illinois residents with the services they need to keep their homes. Since IFPN was launched in 2012, over 600,000 households have been connected to free foreclosure help.

·         485,700 homeowners have accessed the IFPN website or the Illinois Hardest Hit program website.

·         More than 63,600 people have called IFPN help hotlines.

·         More than 50,400 homeowners have received homeownership counseling.

·         More than 3,800 people have attended a series of IFPN workshops across the state.

Illinois residents having trouble paying their mortgage or know someone who is should reach out to the Illinois Foreclosure Prevention Network by visiting the IFPN website at www.keepyourhomeillinois.org or the IFPN hotline at 855-KEEP-411.

About the Illinois Housing Development Authority

IHDA (www.ihda.org) is a self-supporting state agency that finances the creation and the preservation of affordable housing across Illinois. Since its creation in 1967, IHDA has allocated more than $11.6 billion and financed approximately 225,000 affordable units across the state.

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(DES MOINES) - Gov. Terry E. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds announced today that teachers in the Central Decatur and the Saydel school districts overwhelmingly voted to adopt a teacher leadership and compensation structure in partnership with the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET).

Last September, the districts and NIET won a grant from the U. S. Department of Education's 2012 Teacher Incentive Fund to put the teacher leadership and compensation structure in place. The districts have been in the planning stage since then. Before finalizing the plan, which is tailored to meet local needs, NIET requires that teachers in each school building vote on whether to approve it.  In Central Decatur, 87 percent of teachers voted yes. In Saydel, 94 percent of teachers voted yes.

The goal of the project is to build on the expertise and growth potential of teachers in each school, providing them with support in boosting student achievement and meeting higher academic goals. This will be done by putting in place NIET's System for Teacher and Student Advancement (TAP), which creates mentor and master teacher roles that provide more support for classroom teachers to help them improve instructional strategies.  These teacher leaders work with administrators to align professional support with school academic goals and with the needs of each student. As part of the project, the districts will make it possible for teachers who specialize in science, technology, engineering and math to seek more training at local universities. Helping principals become more effective also is a focus of the project.

The grant provides $2.3 million for the first two years, with the possibility of nearly $9.6 million total over five years depending upon annual congressional appropriations.

"Teachers are eager to better utilize the expertise of top teachers to improve instruction and raise student achievement," said Reynolds "With higher expectations for all students today,  it's critical to better support the more complex work we are asking teachers to do."

"We modeled the teacher leadership and compensation structure in our 2013 education reform package in large part on NIET's successful Teacher Advancement Program," said Reynolds.  "I would like to thank NIET and the Central Decatur and Saydel school districts for working together to move forward with this grant. Teachers will have new career options in these two districts because they recognize that the traditional one-size-fits-all approach in the teaching profession limits professional opportunities."

The Central Decatur and Saydel superintendents said the grant will better support work already under way in their districts.

"As our staff learned about the TAP system, we were most excited by the constant theme of structured and strategic support for teachers that resulted in improved student achievement," said Central Decatur Superintendent Chris Coffelt.  "Staff support and willingness to implement this system will not just positively impact our students and staff, but will ultimately transform our school culture and the work we do as professionals."

For Saydel, Superintendent Brad Buck expects education to be transformed in terms of student learning and teachers' careers: "I am so proud of our teachers for providing us with a vote percentage akin to a mandate for improvement. They are working hard and believe this model, through a variety of proven supports, will better translate their hard work into increases in student success."

 

The grant won by Central Decatur and Saydel was one of 35 grants announced last fall by the U.S. Department of Education to "improve teacher pay structures, reward great teachers and principals, and provide greater professional opportunities to teachers in high-poverty schools." For more information: http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-boosts-district-led-efforts-recognize-and-reward-great-t

 

 

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