Public input solicited on school district efficiency recommendations

SPRINGFIELD - April, 17, 2012. The Classrooms First Commission is seeking public input on a set of draft recommendations approved Tuesday that would make it easier for school districts to consolidate and help them save up to $1 billion in operations costs by sharing services, Lt. Governor Sheila Simon said.

Four public hearings are slated to begin Thursday evening in Champaign and will inform the final recommendations delivered to the Governor and General Assembly in July. The remaining hearings will be located in Carbondale, Chicago Heights and Rockford through the end of April.

"I look want to hear from citizens across the state as the commission finalizes its recommendations on school district efficiency and effectiveness," said Simon, who chairs the Classrooms First Commission. "Educators, parents and taxpayers helped develop these recommendations, and I urge them to remain involved as the commission begins the final stage of its work."

No districts would be forced to consolidate under the draft recommendations, but the state would require counties with small and declining school-age populations to study whether county-wide consolidation or sharing services would save money and boost learning. Other draft recommendations include :

• allowing compact but not contiguous districts to consolidate; currently districts must be compact and contiguous
• expanding the regional board of school trustees dissolution authority, by allowing local districts with under 750 enrollment to seek dissolution with or without a referendum; currently this is an option for districts serving communities with under 5,000 people
• piloting a new capital project list that targets school construction money at districts willing to consolidate and that are in need of new buildings, additions, and/or building renovations
• phasing in lower local tax rates for new unit districts; currently, elementary and high school districts become a lower, unit taxing district immediately after consolidating
• requiring counties with small and declining school-age populations to conduct efficiency studies that could lead to shared services, district mergers, or even county-wide districts; 12 counties currently have county-wide districts and another 16 counties have small and declining student populations, according to state and federal population projections through 2030
• authorizing the Illinois State Board of Education to provide a web-based resource management program to districts to help them identify up to $1 billion in instruction, transportation, food services, administration and facility maintenance savings

The Classrooms First Commission is a bi-partisan group of education stakeholders that was charged last fall by Governor Quinn and the General Assembly to reduce duplicative education spending and improve educational outcomes. It reviewed several paths and collected input from hundreds of Illinois educators and taxpayers through public hearings and an online survey to create the draft recommendations that were approved for release Tuesday afternoon.

The second round of public hearings will provide citizens an opportunity to bring their ideas on the draft recommendations directly to commission members. Attendees will be given five minutes for oral testimony and speaking slots will be provided on a first come, first serve basis. Individuals are also permitted to provide written testimony.

To view a live-stream of the public hearings or submit online comments on the recommendations, please visit www.ltgov.illinois.gov.

PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULE

DATE: Thursday, April 19

TIME: 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

LOCATION: Parkland College, Room D244, 2400 West Bradley Avenue, Champaign

DATE: Friday, April 20

TIME: 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

LOCATION: Southern Illinois University, Student Health Center Auditorium, 374 East Grand Avenue, Carbondale

DATE: Thursday, April 26

TIME: 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

LOCATION: Prairie State College, Conference Center Auditorium, 202 South Halsted Street, Chicago Heights

DATE: Monday, April 30

TIME: 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

LOCATION: Rock Valley College, Woodward Technology Center, Room 117-121, 3301 North Mulford Road, Rockford

Washington, DC - Congressman Bobby Schilling (IL-17) released the following statement today - Tax Day - in advance of the House of Representatives' Thursday vote on H.R. 9, the Small Business Tax Cut Act:

"As we file our tax returns, Illinoisans feel the pinch of the tax increases imposed on them last year by state lawmakers in Springfield.  We were told these taxes would be used to pay Illinois' debts and prevent budget deficits down the line, but the truth, as many of us feared, is that these tax hikes have done nothing to help our state.  Illinois' unemployment has remained above nine percent since March of 2009, and our state currently has the lowest credit rating of all 50 states.  

"Thanks to the Illinois tax hikes and rising gas prices, our small businesses are cash-strapped and can currently face federal tax rates as high as 35 percent.  As a small business owner myself, I know that pain all too well.  Further, Americans spend more than $160 billion and over six billion hours a year filing their taxes, mostly when trying to figure out the various deductions and credits that are available.   

"There's broad, bipartisan support for pro-growth tax reform that simplifies the tax code, brings down rates, broadens the base, and closes loopholes.  Rather than advancing partisan and unserious show votes - votes on policies that don't lower gas prices, don't encourage economic and job growth, and don't impact our deficit - we in the House want to ensure more opportunities for job seekers and job creators, and make our tax code fairer, flatter, and simpler.  We want to cut wasteful spending and debt, and help small business owners grow both jobs and paychecks by providing them with tax relief.  I truly believe we can and must work together to get this done.  Illinoisans deserve policies that promote growth and opportunity, not more taxes, borrowing, and spending."

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With the recent focus on reviving the economy by nurturing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students, one might conclude there's little economic value in honing a basic skill like writing.

Not true, say Stephanie Roberson Barnard and Deborah St James, authors of Listen. Write. Present.:The Elements for Communicating Science and Technology (Yale University Press; 2012), www.ListenWritePresent.com. They cite the American Society for Engineering Education in which researchers ranked technical writing No. 2 in a list of 38 necessary skills for engineers.

Engineers aren't the only ones who need to write effectively in order to get ahead says Barnard, a communications consultantwho specializes in training medical professionals to speak and write clearly and persuasively. A recent ad for a pharmacist read, "Clinical Pharmacist: Strong Writing Skills Required!" Basically every job in the science and technology fields today requires effective writing skills, she says.

"Whether you're requesting funds for a research project, a loan for a business venture, or writing a cover letter, resume,or abstract, you'll want to write with confidence and conviction," says St. James, deputy director of publications and communications for a biotech company in North Carolina.

Unfortunately, science-rich educations often leave little room for students to learn how to craft a strong written message. They suggest you ask yourself four questions before you start any written communication:

• Is it reader based? Ask yourself who are my readers? Are they colleagues or people outside my field? What do they know? What do they need to know? How can I best present the material to these readers? Knowing who your reader is will help you decide what words to use and exactly how much detail is needed.

• Is it purposeful? Your second question should be, Why am I writing this? Today we live in an over-communicated society: emails, text messages, tweets, ads, letters, newspapers, magazines, books. In fact, most of what we write no one reads. Make sure every word is useful and relevant to every one of your intended readers.

• Is it clear and concise? Generally, the cause of unclear writing is too many words. Many writers will read a long, rambling sentence they've written, and to clarify it they'll write another long, rambling sentence to clarify the first one. Big mistake. If a sentence is unclear, take words out. Be wary of long sentences, unclear antecedents, poor transitions, jargon, clichés, and an alphabet soup of acronyms.

• Is it correct? Nothing puts the kibosh on a grant application, business plan, or resume faster than grammatical, punctuation, or spelling errors. Choose a good dictionary and a reputable style guide for your trade or industry and use it consistently. A style guide is a good investment that will answer questions on grammar, punctuation, and word usage. It will help you appear polished, professional, and well-educated.

Finally, St James and Barnard suggest two final tips to improve your writing:

• Read more: You'll increase your vocabulary and see how other writers craft sentences and argue points to make those points more effective. Good choices for reading material: general non-fiction, scholarly journals, and award-winning books specific to your trade.

• Practice: Writing is a skill. The more you do it, using the suggestions above, the better you will become.

About Stephanie Roberson Barnard & Deborah St James

Stephanie Roberson Barnard hastrained thousands of pharmaceutical industry professionals on how to be more effective speakers, writers and communicators. She has also coached hundreds of health-care professionals on presentation skills for FDA hearings, CFO reports and scientific speaker programs, as well as national and international congresses. Her clients include AstraZeneca, Bayer Corporation, WL Gore and BoehringerIngelheim. This is her second Yale Press book collaboration with Deborah St James.

Deborah St James is Deputy Director of Publications and Scientific Communications at Grifols. She has worked in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry for more than 20 years. Prior to her current position, she was Bayer Corporation's senior manager for national sales training in the pharmaceutical division. She is a former college English instructor and Senior Editor of Better Healthmagazine.