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Paul says: Don’t worry, the Cubs will still win the series 3-2. Have no doubt.

* Worker’s embezzlement case has ties to gov’s administration

* Illinois school exams too easy report says

The Fordham report found several states, including Illinois, have lowered their testing standards since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act. Illinois dramatically lowered the passing score on the 8th-grade math exam two years ago, which produced double-digit gains in the percentage of students who passed.

The study also found wide variations in the difficulty of math and reading exams among states and major changes from one grade level to the next within states. These discrepancies, the authors say, leave parents and taxpayers wondering what students actually know and whether test score gains are real or the result of “smoke and mirrors.”

* Tribune Editorial: Dumbing down the ISAT

* IMSA wants more support for math and science in schools

* IllinoisReview: Obtaining an efficient system for educational development

* State pays foster parents too little, says study

The Illinois child-welfare system reimburses foster parents at a rate that falls short of the actual costs of supporting a foster child, according to a report released Wednesday by two national organizations and the University of Maryland.

Illinois fell into the second-lowest category because it needs to raise its rates by as much as 81 percent, according to the report. Arizona and the District of Columbia already have rates that meet or exceed the costs of supporting a foster child. A handful of states where rates are closer than in Illinois to the actual costs includes Alaska, Indiana and Kentucky.

* Blagojevich signs wine bill

* Roeper: Legal drinking age is a farce

* Opinion: Politicians often attempt to abuse letters forum

* IlliniPundit: Fundraising turnover

“It turns out there’s a lot more churning in the system than the political professionals normally expect,” Malbin said. “We picture a candidate going back to the old list, going to the same old, same old again and again, but not that’s really the way it works. People are constantly coming in and then leaving the pool of donors. Today, there are a lot of old donors who haven’t given yet – and who may not give at all.”

* ChicagoReader: Ethical questions surround Daily Herald reporter with uncanny info and well placed girlfriend

* Daley pushes for higher taxes

* Daley told to hire 100 more police officers

An influential alderman demanded Wednesday that Mayor Daley hire at least 100 new police officers and bolster sanitation services to justify a $193 million tax wallop.

To soften the blow of higher taxes, Daley is planning to hire 50 more police officers at a cost of $4.1 million and spend $1 million to install 100 more surveillance cameras in high-crime areas.

* Mayor backs decision to withhold names of cops accused of excessive force

* 50 city workers must reapply at less pay

* Prosecutor payments in the clear

* Editorial: Higher speed limit for trucks imperils safety

AAA Chicago is lobbying hard against the increased speed limit for one reason — it believes more automobile drivers and passengers will die and be injured if the truck speed limit is raised. It is confident in that projection because crashes involving large trucks have indeed risen in our neighboring states of Kentucky, Wisconsin, Missouri and Minnesota since they raised their truck speed limits.

It would be a shame to do something to reverse a positive trend in Illinois — the number of traffic fatalities last year in Illinois (1,254) was the lowest since 1924. That sounds like a system that is not broken, so why “fix” it? The Senate has already unwisely overridden the veto; we urge the House members to put safety first and reject an override of Senate Bill 540.

posted by Paul Richardson
Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 9:02 am

Comments

Game 1 is lost, but have no fear. 2007 is the Cubs’ year!

Comment by Ernie Banks Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 9:10 am
Illinois provides a lot of foster care through the private sector, especially in Chicago.

Given all the money sloshing around in state government for this and that, including rampant patronage, and ethically squiffy multimillion dollar contracts to the politically favored, there certainly should be enough money
to give foster parents a raise. But it should go directly to the foster parents without greedy
private child welfare execs taking a hefty cut. And that might be difficult to arrange, as these folks are nothing if not politically savvy.

Many government execs, including DCFS execs, are overpaid for what they actually do, which isn’t much. But take a look at some of those private child welfare agency exec salaries. Wow.
And since most of them get the bulk of their money from the state, we’re funding quite a chunk of those $200,000+ salaries. But it’s never enough. They’ll definitely want their cut if foster parent reimbursement goes up. So they’ll no doubt send on a nice contribution (our money again) to Blago and their local congresssperson.

Comment by Cassandra Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 9:26 am
So Rich, you sadi teh Speaker was visably mad about the Mapes wife firing. Was he mad about that or the fact that his private conversation with Republican leaders leaked the story?

Comment by Moderate REpub Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 9:36 am
Cubs going 3-2, yeah I most certainly hope so. How about going to the NLCS again?

Comment by Levois Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 9:38 am
MR, he wasn’t upset in the slightest about the leak. But let’s save this conversation for later in the subscriber section. More to come.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 9:47 am
Paul, I hope you are correct about no fear but I hope and pray they win tonight and sweep at home and be done with it. On to the NLCS GO CUBS GO!!!

Comment by Dan a Voter Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 9:57 am
Don’t know if any of you heard Blago on ESPN Radio yesterday, but he said that he is the only governor in the nation who would rather be the COMMISSIONER of BASEBALL rather than the PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES.

Frankly, I would worry about him in ANY of those capacitites.

You?

Comment by YouNeverSawMe Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 10:00 am
Commissioner of MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL? He’s perfect for Commissioner of the Prison League (George Ryan starts at 3rd base).

Comment by jwscott72 Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 10:46 am
He would tax the baseball player to death!

Comment by He makes Ryan Look like a Saint Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 11:01 am
Kudos to Roeper. I agree.

Gregory Bean thinks it’s going to be surprising to most that candidates, campaigns, committees, and parties engage in that type of media strategy?

As far as the Daily Hearald goes, I’m not a big fan of that paper (In my opinion, they need to better balance their political coverage.) Regardless, I don’t agree with Bensenville officials trying to keep information secret from the public.)

Does Chicago have an independent, citizen police review board? Regardless, Chicago shouldn’t be be trying to conceal the names of the accused–show the names and let the record show the accusations were unfounded when, and if, that proves to be the case.

Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 11:07 am
Next QOTD: What would Blago do as MLB Commissioner? Sue the umpires every time they made a call he didn’t like?

Comment by Lainer Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 11:27 am
I’ve always thought it was goofy that Bernie’s been reporting Kolaz still living his former wife every time his name is printed. The SJR has an interesting timeline on the embezzlement and the Kolaz’s jumping on the Blago gravy train. Is this part of the “pay to play on steroids”?

Comment by Diego Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 6:23 pm
To Diego:

I think Bernie is just noting the fact that the Kolaz’s still live together and after their divorce she got hired under the administration of her ex-husbands boss, Blagojevich. It is kinda strange that they still live and kinda work together.

Comment by Macoupin County Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 7:10 pm
Mr Diego and Macoupin County they were divorced so Mrs K could file bankruptcy on all the money she owed there was also around $250K on credit cards so $250,000 + $1,300,000= $1.55 million i would bet the feds are looking at income situation with this much income and surely no taxes paid on it wooo But how in the heck does she spend $1.55 million with out her husband having a clue where the money came from. And this guy is running CMS!!!!! Give us a break Blago

Comment by anonymous too Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 7:40 pm
The real irony in all the Christine Kolaz saga is the fact that according to the newspaper report her current job duties are reviewing fiscal statements for the Illinois Board of Education. Wonder what type of job duties she performed when she was employed by the Illinois Department of Transportation? Disbursement of Federal Highway Safety Funds? The Blagojevich Administration sure knows how to match up their people to the right jobs!

Comment by U Couldn't Have Hollywood Write Better Story Lines.... Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 8:11 pm
Oh yeah, I almost forgot that Bernie S. column also shed some light on the IDOT-Director of Traffic Safety Mike Stout and his antics with emailing employees. Thin-skinned indeed, just maybe the pending lawsuit and associated investigations have something to do with his reported unprofessional behavior.

Comment by U Couldn't Have Hollywood Write Better Story Lines.... Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 8:18 pm
Hollywood i forgot two

*useing his nettracker software to try to figure out who was posting blogs against him on cpa fax andsjr and question on ask the secretary

*reading empolyees email for nothing but political and personal reasons

Comment by anonymous too Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 9:17 pm
Typical Blago hypocrisy. If this was a Ryan admin couple, they would have been summarily booted, with concurrent over the top press release attacking their old school ways of doing busjness. Instead, we have a clear hack moving from the campaign to the legislative office to the role of ASSistant Superintentent of Education. (Of course, noted hack Randy Dunn saw no conflict.) All the while, the lovely bride is trying to stay out of the klink by pushing papers as directed at IDOT. THen, with help from both staffs, they decide to make the big play and create a new casino site of two under the unbrella of “site preparation.”

Comment by Reform and Renewal Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 10:19 pm
If Blago was the Commish of MLB…

… Would STEROIDS be apart of the MLB HEALTH CARE PLAN?

Comment by HelpMeUnderstand Thursday, Oct 4, 07 @ 10:29 pm