Thursday, November 6, 2008 9:22 PM CST
Educators urge increased funding for schools at State Board of Education hearing
By DAVE FOPAY, Staff Writer
dfopay@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — Pam Uptmor first held her fingers inches apart, then held her hands a couple of feet apart to illustrate the difference between standard learning materials and those for visually impaired students.
Her real point, though, wasn’t about the difference in the size but in the cost of converting one to the other.
“One little history book is a stack of Braille books,” said Uptmor, an associate director of the Eastern Illinois Area of Special Education. “There’s no way we could afford to do that.”
She was one of about a dozen people to testify Thursday evening at a public hearing on what might be included in the state’s budget for education. Representatives of the Illinois State Board of Education conducted the hearing, one of several throughout the state over the last few months, at the student union at Eastern Illinois University.
Uptmor urged increased funding for educational materials for visually impaired students, materials that would cost schools “hundreds of thousands of dollars” without the state assistance.
“We rely very heavily on these materials,” she said.
Also testifying Thursday was Mary Nan Zimmer, principal of the EIASE Early Childhood Education program, who asked for a $77 million increase in funding for preschool programs for at-risk students.
Zimmer said the money’s needed for additional space for the programs because “our schools are full,” and for student transportation, which she said is “vital for regular attendance” in rural areas.
Barbara Warmoth, executive director of Charleston Community Daycare, also asked for the early childhood funding increase. She said the Legislature hasn’t kept its promise to increase the funding each year, and the funds are needed to make up the difference and add programs for children age 3 and younger.
Bobbi Mattingly, the Regional Office of Education’s youth services administrator, urged more funding for students who are at risk of dropping out of school because of truancy or discipline problems. She said those programs have received “level funding for years” and her office gets more requests for the programs from area school districts than it can handle.
Regional Superintendent John McNary said school district superintendents in his seven-county region are asking that the last two state aid payments of the year not be delayed by two months, as has been the state’s recent practice. He also urged the release of pending school construction funds, and a $1 million increase in a program for school improvement and staff development.
The ISBE will consider the testimony it received during the hearings to develop its recommendations to the Legislature and Gov. Rod Blagojevich for the state’s 2010 fiscal year budget that will be adopted next year.
Representing the ISBE at Thursday’s hearing were Dean Clark, a member who’s chairman of the board’s Finance and Audit Committee; Dave Fields, board member; Linda Mitchell, the ISBE’s chief financial officer; and Ronny Wickenhauser, administrative office director.
Contact Dave Fopay at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 348-5733.
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