The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is seeking input on public education funding for the fiscal year 2020 budget. Three open budget hearings have been scheduled, giving individuals the opportunity to share their funding requests prior to the agency sending its final recommendations to the General Assembly and the governor.

In other action during the week, legislation was filed to keep people who have committed tax fraud from running for public office.
Also, a new report was released showing the number of school districts in Illinois able to access high-speed internet has increased. Governor Bruce Rauner proclaimed October as Manufacturing Month in Illinois, and the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) launched a new, mobile-friendly website.

Budget hearings

In preparation of the fiscal year 2020 budget, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has scheduled three statewide budget hearings in an effort to hear funding recommendations for public education. Educators, advocates, and community members are encouraged to communicate their funding requests in person at one of the upcoming hearings.

The open hearings for the Fiscal Year 2020 Budget for public education statewide will take place in:

Springfield – Wednesday, Oct. 17, immediately following the Board meeting, around 11 a.m. in the ISBE Board Room (100 N. 1st St.)

Mount Vernon – Wednesday, Oct. 24, at 4 p.m. at Dr. Nick Osborne Primary Center (401 N. 30th St.)

Chicago – Friday, Nov. 16, immediately following the Board meeting, around 11 a.m. at the Thompson Center in Conference Room 16-503 (100 W. Randolph St.)

Individuals should submit their funding requests by completing the form available at www.isbe.net/budget and emailing the form to ISBEFY20@isbe.net.

The State Board traditionally finalizes its funding recommendations for prekindergarten through 12th grade public education in January and submits them to the General Assembly and the governor in February. Those recommendations will be part of the negotiations on the next state budget.

Tax cheats out 

of office

Legislation was filed during the week to keep people who have been convicted of tax fraud out of public office.

Senate Bill 3636 would require candidates to provide to the State Board of Elections notarized certification that he or she has not been convicted of tax fraud and has not been found by any taxing body or court to have intentionally engaged in acts of fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation to achieve a reduction in the amount of taxes due or to avoid paying taxes that would otherwise be owed.

The legislation would also require the State Board of Elections to provide election authorities with a list of names of these candidates and would be prohibited from placing them on the ballot.

Proponents of the bill say those who defraud taxpayers should not have the right to represent them.

High-speed 

internet in schools

In just three years, the number of kindergarten through 12th grade school districts in Illinois able to access the internet at speeds of 100 kbps per student has improved by 25 percent—rising from 71 percent to 96 percent. The report, by Education SuperHighway, tracks progress toward K-12 connectivity across the United States.

Over the past several years, school internet access has been a top priority in Illinois to be on par with the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) goal of one megabit per second per student. Illinois launched the Illinois Classroom Connectivity Initiative in 2016, in an effort to ensure all districts receive the support and funding to close the school broadband gap. As an aside, the 2019 Fiscal Year education budget includes a $17 million Broadband Expansion fund to help cover costs of fiber upgrades for school districts.

While Illinois school digital resources have advanced, work remains. Education SuperHighway says 407,093 students in 32 school districts across the state still need adequate bandwidth for digital learning. There are also 136 school campuses in Illinois that lack scalable fiber-optic broadband connections.