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Governor Vetoes $40,000 Minimum Salary For Teachers (8/27/18)

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Illinois_State_CapitolSPRINGFIELD, IL — Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed legislation Sunday that would have increased the minimum salary for full-time teachers at Illinois public schools to $40,000 over the next five years. The General Assembly approved the bill in May. It would have increased the minimum pay rate for teachers next year to $32,000.

Teachers deserve to be well-compensated, Rauner said in a message accompanying the veto, but legislating minimum pay rates is not efficient or effective. He said the bill would have imposed a “significant unfunded mandate on school districts,” which he encouraged to adopt their own compensation structures that are best suited to meet local needs.

“There are many innovative teacher compensation strategies that, if adopted and implemented at the school district level, would preserve local control and protect districts from the burden of even more unfunded mandates,” Rauner said. “Things like pay-for-performance, diversified pay for teachers in hard-to-staff schools or subjects, or pay incentives for teachers with prior work experience are all viable options to provide greater compensation for teachers.”

Senate Bill 2892 passed the Illinois Senate passed with a vote of 37-16, enough to override Rauner’s veto. The House voted 65-47 in favor of the bill, six votes short of the 71 needed for an override.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) said he and “thousands of dedicated, hard-working, creative educators throughout the state” were “disappointed” by the veto, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Full Story @ https://patch.com/illinois/springfield-il/governor-vetoes-40-000-minimum-salary-teachers

District 186 to present 2019 budget next month (8/19/18)

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WICS) — New school year new budget challenges for District 186.

The district will present a $188 million dollar plan to the school board next month.

Justin Carter has a first look at the money and how it could get spent.

With a new school year, comes a new budget for District 186. The area’s largest school district will present a $188.5 million plan to the school board next month.

At this time last year, District 186 was gripped with the unknown as the budget impasse stalled vital dollars. District 186 Superintendent Jennifer Gill says there is a bit of relief this year.

“We have received three full payments from the state and we are still behind a little over two million dollars from last years fiscal dollars and appropriation but we are hopeful that we will be getting those in time,” Gill said.

The tentative budget for Fiscal Year 2019 is around $188.5 million with nearly 90% of that money pumped into the districts educational fund. The fund supports academic programs, salaries and support resources.

Full Story @ https://foxillinois.com/news/local/new-budget-challenges-for-district-186