Full Text of SJR0016 95th General Assembly
SJ0016 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The Constitution of the State of Illinois gives | 3 |
| the State the primary responsibility for funding the cost of | 4 |
| public education; however, the State currently only covers | 5 |
| thirty-six percent of this cost, which ranks the State | 6 |
| forty-seventh in the nation in terms of the percentage of state | 7 |
| funding provided to schools; and
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| WHEREAS, Rather than fulfilling its constitutional | 9 |
| obligation, the State has shifted the primary responsibility | 10 |
| for funding the cost of public education to local property | 11 |
| taxpayers, with school districts receiving an average of | 12 |
| fifty-six percent of their funds from local property taxes; | 13 |
| Illinois ranks forty-ninth among the fifty states for its | 14 |
| over-reliance on local property taxes to fund education; and
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| WHEREAS, By relying on the property tax as the primary | 16 |
| source of funding for schools, the State has created a | 17 |
| disparity between property rich school districts and school | 18 |
| districts without substantial property wealth; the existing | 19 |
| funding disparity is unfair to the children of Illinois, who | 20 |
| all deserve an equal opportunity to a quality education | 21 |
| regardless of where they reside; and
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| WHEREAS, If the State is to ever assume primary |
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| responsibility for funding public education and resolve the | 2 |
| current dependence on the property tax and the funding | 3 |
| disparity between school districts, the State must either | 4 |
| increase an existing source of State revenue or create a new | 5 |
| revenue stream; and
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| WHEREAS, Taxpayers should not be asked to provide | 7 |
| additional resources to public schools and school districts | 8 |
| without the State improving the current systems of fiscal and | 9 |
| performance accountability in such a manner as to provide a | 10 |
| guarantee that new moneys would be well spent in ways likely to | 11 |
| improve schools and that taxpayers would be afforded | 12 |
| appropriate and understandable accountability for greater | 13 |
| investments in school improvement; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | 15 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | 16 |
| CONCURRING HEREIN, that there is created the Accountable | 17 |
| Schools Task Force, which shall be facilitated by the State | 18 |
| Board of Education, to review and evaluate the complex issues | 19 |
| involving the fiscal and performance accountability of the | 20 |
| State's school districts and individual schools; and be it | 21 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall consist of twenty-five | 23 |
| members as follows: one member appointed by the Speaker of the |
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| House of Representatives; one member appointed by the President | 2 |
| of the Senate; one member appointed by the Minority Leader of | 3 |
| the House of Representatives; one member appointed by the | 4 |
| Minority Leader of the Senate; one member appointed by the | 5 |
| Governor; the Chairperson of the State Board of Education or | 6 |
| his or her designee; three members who are representatives of | 7 |
| the business community appointed by the Governor; four members | 8 |
| who are representatives of the education labor community, two | 9 |
| of whom shall be appointed by an organization representing | 10 |
| teachers who participate in collective bargaining and two of | 11 |
| whom shall be appointed by a different organization | 12 |
| representing teachers who participate in collective | 13 |
| bargaining; two members who are representatives of the | 14 |
| education management community appointed by an organization | 15 |
| representing school management; two members who are | 16 |
| representatives of a statewide child advocacy organization | 17 |
| appointed by the Governor; two members who are representatives | 18 |
| of a statewide organization of parents and teachers appointed | 19 |
| by the Governor; one member who is a mayor or village president | 20 |
| from the northeastern Illinois region appointed by an | 21 |
| organization representing mayors of northern Illinois; one | 22 |
| member who is a mayor or village president from downstate | 23 |
| Illinois appointed by an organization representing mayors of | 24 |
| southern Illinois; one member who is a representative of the | 25 |
| Mayor of the City of Chicago appointed by the Mayor of the City | 26 |
| of Chicago; and three members appointed at-large by a national |
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| or regional organization with particular expertise in school | 2 |
| fiscal and performance accountability; and be it further | 3 |
| RESOLVED, That following the appointment of all Task Force | 4 |
| members, the Task Force shall meet at the call of the Governor | 5 |
| and select a member to serve as Chairperson and shall meet at | 6 |
| the call of the Chairperson as necessary thereafter; and be it | 7 |
| further | 8 |
| RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall have the following | 9 |
| duties and responsibilities:
(1) to evaluate the State's | 10 |
| existing fiscal and performance accountability systems; (2) to | 11 |
| identify costs of mandates imposed on school districts and | 12 |
| individual schools;
(3) to recommend a fiscal assessment | 13 |
| process that includes criteria for examining and evaluating
the | 14 |
| current financial practices of all school districts and schools | 15 |
| and determining the
adequacy and efficiency of internal | 16 |
| controls;
(4) to recommend methods to improve and stabilize the | 17 |
| State's system of performance accountability; and
(5) to | 18 |
| recommend methods by which the fiscal and performance | 19 |
| accountability systems are made more transparent and | 20 |
| understandable for parents of students and taxpayers; and be it | 21 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That all Task Force meetings shall be open to the | 23 |
| public; the Task Force may solicit input from non-members of |
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| the Task Force and any other sources deemed appropriate by the | 2 |
| State Board of Education; and be it further | 3 |
| RESOLVED, That that the Task Force shall report its | 4 |
| findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by January | 5 |
| 8, 2008; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 7 |
| delivered to the Governor, the Chairperson of the State Board | 8 |
| of Education, the Mayor of the City of Chicago, and those | 9 |
| organizations responsible for appointing members to the Task | 10 |
| Force.
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