Senate Bill 2879 (Multi-Function School Activity Bus)

The CCI has been informed that a handful of Catholic high schools in Illinois would consider using Multi-Function School Activity Buses to transport students to school, picking up and dropping off these students on private property.  CCI worked with Senator Dan Cronin (R-Elmhurst), ranking minority member of the Senate Education Committee, to introduce Senate Bill 2879 which would authorize this practice.  The bill passed the Senate unanimously on March 18; however, the Secretary of State’s office has since expressed opposition.  The bill remains in the House Rules Committee, while we try to work out a compromise.

Senate Bill 3547 (Electronic Textbooks)

State Senator James Clayborne (D-Belleville) introduced this legislation to allow Textbook Loan funds to be used to purchase electronic textbooks and equipment necessary to access and use electronic textbooks.  CCI supports this legislation as it will be an important step forward once funding for the program is restored.  This legislation passed the Senate on March 18 and has been assigned to the House Education Committee.

House Bill 5838 (Outdoor AED Mandate)

This bill rescinds the requirement that schools ensure AEDs are present at outdoor athletic activities.  CCI supports the bill.  This legislation passed the House unanimously on March 23rd and the Senate’s Public Health Committee last week.  We fully expect it to become law.

House Bill 4711 (Unfunded Mandates)

This bill, introduced in January by Representative Roger Eddy (R-Huntonsville), stipulates that school districts do not have to comply with any future unfunded state mandates.  The bill exempts certain requirements – such as safety codes and graduation requirements – but is otherwise designed to give school districts more financial flexibility.  Upon request of CCI, Representative Eddy amended his bill to include nonpublic schools.  CCI supports the legislation, and the bill passed the House on March 18 and has been assigned to the Senate Education Committee for a hearing next week.

Textbook Loan & Other Grant Funding

The CCI continues to work with Agudath Israel, the Illinois Coalition of Nonpublic Schools (ICNS) and the American Association of Textbook Publishers, to restore funding to the Textbook Loan, School Safety Block Grant and Transportation Reimbursement Programs.

Senate Bill 2494 (Voucher Bill)

The CCI continues to work diligently to advance this legislation.  As soon as the bill passed the Senate two weeks ago, we began engaging House leadership and key House members.  This work led to a favorable committee assignment -- House Executive Committee -- and we hope for a hearing next week.  This week, Bob and I spoke with a number of House members, including several African-American legislators representing areas affected by the legislation.  It is clear the House will be a tougher nut to crack than the Senate.  Members are worried the problems support of this bill might bring them, and the teachers unions are hard at work.  Additionally a vote earlier in the session to curtail teacher pensions is having a negative affect -- several members have mentioned it and worry how many times or how far they can cross the unions.  We keep working with our coalition partners and advocating for the children and our schools.

ACTION ALERT: WRITE THE GOVERNOR TO FUND TEXTBOOKS!

The Governor is currently working on his budget recommendation for next fiscal year.  Our challenge is to convince him to include funding for the Textbook Loan Program in his budget proposal.

School staff, parents and parishioners please use this letter template (with mailing address) or write your own and send it to the Governor.

Feel free to personalize your letter. Talking specifically about what Textbook Loan has provided your school will be especially helpful.  The Governor will be preparing his budget for the remainder of the month and perhaps into March, so there is plenty of time to get the word out, gather support and flood his office with letters.

Please do whatever you can to encourage broad participation.  A high level of sustained grassroots engagement is essential to achieving our goals.  The sample letter and this information can also be found on the CCI web site.

Please contact Zach Wichmann if you have any further questions. 

Zach Wichmann
Catholic Conference of Illinois
Associate Director for Education
217-528-9200