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Tuesday, Apr 19, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 4:38 pm - Gov. Pat Quinn has used his amendatory veto stamp on Senate Bill 1. The bill would boot from office within 30 days of becoming law hundreds of paid and unpaid appointees who have not been reconfirmed by the Senate for new terms.

From the governor’s veto statement…

My recommendations for change would honor the intent of the sponsors but would also give citizens ample time to apply for a vacant position and allow a reasonable amount of time for identifying and recruiting qualified candidates.

Therefore, pursuant to Article IV, Section 9(e) of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return Senate Bill 1, entitled “AN ACT concerning government,” with the following specific recommendation for change:

On page 5, by adding immediately below line 22 the following:
“(e) The provisions of this Section pertaining to a salaried office apply on and after July 1, 2011. The provisions of this Section pertaining to an office other than a salaried office apply on and after October 1, 2011.”.

In essence, the AV gives him more time to get his act together and appoint or re-appoint people to these positions.

The list of salaried holdovers is here. Unsalaried holdovers are here. A little bit of background is here.

* As you can probably guess, Senate President John Cullerton was very big on this bill. You don’t give it the “1″ spot unless you want to highlight it. More and more, governors have simply ignored term lengths to bypass the Senate’s advice and consent role, and Cullerton wanted that stopped.

We’re awaiting an official react from Cullerton. Stay tuned.

* 5:11 pm - From Cullerton’s press office…

“At this point we’re going to study the governor’s action to see if it complies with the Constitution.”

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Question of the day

Tuesday, Apr 19, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Caption?

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A plan is not a bill

Tuesday, Apr 19, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Republicans dissed Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget proposals at a McLean County Republican Party lunch event this week…

“Gov. Quinn’s budget is a catastrophe,” said state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, Quinn’s opponent in the 2010 election. “Under his plan we will be $20 billion in debt in four years.”

State Rep. Keith Sommers of Morton called on Quinn to work with everyone in the General Assembly on creating a good budget for the state.

State Rep. Dan Brady of Bloomington said a GOP proposal would cut $3.5 billion from the state’s budget by making “surgical cuts” to programs in education, Medicaid and general services.

“We can’t take a large chunk but let’s at least start by looking at how we can spread out the cuts,” Dan Brady said. “The first thing we have to do is stop digging the hole and making it bigger.”

There’s no denying that the governor’s budget proposal was a huge miscalculation and even a disaster. I’ll give Sen. Brady that.. Quinn proposed increasing state spending and borrowing billions of dollars. Not a great plan, and it’s been thoroughly rejected by both legislative chambers.

What we haven’t seen, however, are actual Republican bills that would cut Quinn’s budget. They speak of a plan, but a plan isn’t real until it’s in bill format. So far, nothing. I’m really getting tired of repeating myself, but until I see a bill, there’s no plan.

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Miracle worker?

Tuesday, Apr 19, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Rahm Emanuel’s choice of Jean-Claude Brizard to run the Chicago schools has been mostly met with high praise. He stands up to the unions, according to the Tribune, and his appointment means sweeping change, according to the Sun-Times.

An Emanuel press release claims that graduation rates increased under Brizard’s tenure in Rochester, New York. But rates actually declined for a while under Brizard’s stewardship…

The Rochester City School District’s press release announcing Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard’s contract renewal cited possibly misleading numbers about graduation data.

“Under Mr. Brizard’s leadership, the Rochester City school District is seeing improvements in student performance and more students graduating high school in four years. A total of 1,334 students who entered high school in 2005 graduated in four years, an increase of 16 percent over the 1,153 students who graduated in four years after entering in 2004.”

But according to the state, Rochester’s four-year graduation rate actually fell during Brizard’s tenure to 42 percent in 2008-09, down from 48 percent in 2007-08.

The 2010 graduation rate did rise again to 51 percent last school year. So, he showed some recent progress. Brizard has only helmed Rochester’s schools for three years, so it’s difficult to know whether that was a temporary spike or a permanent upward trend.

* From a February 7, 2011 New York Times story…

New York State education officials released a new set of graduation statistics on Monday that show fewer than half of students in the state are leaving high school prepared for college and well-paying careers. […]

In Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers, less than 17 percent of students met the proposed standards, including just 5 percent in Rochester.

Not great.

* Brizard also apparently padded his payroll…

Rochester City School District Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard has the most expensive cabinet in district history.

Brizard has said the district needs to reduce administrative costs. Through the Freedom of Information Law, 13WHAM News learned he is doing the opposite when it comes to his top-level staff.

The Superintendent Employee Group, traditionally referred to as the cabinet, is covered by its own employment contract. They receive severance pay and other benefits that other district employees do not receive. This non-union group has 36 administrators and 14 secretaries who earn a combined $5.05 million.

That’s an increase of 13 staff members and $1.5 million in payroll expenses in the two years Brizard has been superintendent.

Thoughts?

* Related…

* Chicago, Here’s Your Guide to Brizard

* Chicago’s New Schools CEO: Courageous in Pursuit of What’s Best for His Students

* CTU Dismayed With Process, Pick For Next CPS Head

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