Check out what they found, and see other reports from this week too, detailing spending items such as $1,370 on non-conference related lunches and refreshments at school board meetings, $1,113 on Matteson hotel rooms for superintendent and school board members, $1,000 for late credit card payments, and $214 for gifts and “get-well” wishes.

Are your school districts transparent? Do you know what they are spending money on and could some of that spending be cut in order to keep important programs or good teachers? Check out these resources in case you want to see more transparency from your local government.

Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman has canceled the credit cards of 89 Chicago Board of Ed. employees, and if they want their cards back, they will have to justify all spending since June 30. It would be much easier to track spending if the Chicago Board of Education (and all of Chicago Public Schools) was transparent. Every tax dollar spent by the Board could be posted online in a user-friendly, itemized, and searchable database, which would make Huberman’s job of tracking the spending of tax dollars a little easier and show basic respect for the taxpayers funding this operation.

For more on this story click here.

One new piece of legislation (SB2270), introduced by Senators Dan Cronin, Kirk W. Dillard, Chris Lauzen and John J. Millner states “every school district must post on its Internet site a compensation report for every employee who holds an administrative certificate and who works in that capacity. The report must include such details as base salary, bonuses, pension contributions, the cost of health insurance and any other form of compensation.”

This legislation requires quick attention by school districts, which must comply by October 1 of every year – meaning, this Thursday. You can find an entire reading of the bill here.

The second bill (HB2235), introduced by House members Monique D. Davis,  Jack D. Franks,  Mike Boland, Randy Ramey Jr., Fred Crespo and Elizabeth Coulson, requires every school board “report the base salary and benefits of the school superintendent, all administrators and teachers by July 1, starting in 2010. The information, including vacation and sick days, bonuses and retirement enhancements, will be sent to the State Board of Education.” This law includes public universities and community colleges.

These pieces of legislation are good steps in promoting government spending transparency. It would also be worthwhile for them to require posting all expenditures online – not just salaries – which would include, vendors, contracts, and grants. In addition, transparency legislation should apply to every level of government, from villages, city councils, county boards, park districts, library boards, and so on.

Any body operating off tax dollars should implement transparency policy –  not only school districts need it. And, as always, it takes an active public to make sure their various bodies of government are complying with transparency legislation (or any legislation), so hold your school district accountable and keep an eye out for posted information by October 1.

From Scott: Mark Stern requested the superintendent’s contract in Wheaton School District 200. The district denied him and he took them to court. In spite of losing at every level and a request from the AG, the district appealed all the way to Illinois Supreme Court and lost. I have copied his letter below. You can probably google Wheaton 200 or Gary Catalani contract for more. The Supreme Court website would also probably have a judge’s opinion.

The Contract – At Last!
On May 21, almost three and a half years after I submitted my initial
Freedom of Information Act request to District 200, the Illinois Supreme
Court unanimously ruled in my favor and ordered District 200 to disclose
the employment contract of former superintendent Dr. Gary Catalani. The
Court stated: “We hold that an employment contract is not the kind of
record the General Assembly intended to keep from public view and does
not fall within the exemption for personnel files in section 7(1)(b) of
the Act. The superintendent’s contract must be disclosed.” I want to
thank my attorneys, Shawn Collins and Rob Dawidiuk of The Collins Law
Firm PC, for their tireless efforts in a case that has set a precedent
for openness in government statewide.

District 200 taxpayers should hold board members Andrew Johnson,
Rosemary Swanson, Barbara Intihar, Ken Knicker, Marie Slater, JoAnn
Coghill and John Bomher personally responsible for wasting over $62,000
of taxpayer money on District legal fees in their fight to keep this
information secret from you, the taxpayer, who is paying for it. The
Board refused to disclose the contract to the public even after (1) a
copy was given to the Daily Herald newspaper, (2) a Chicago Tribune
reporter was allowed to read a copy; (3) Attorney General Lisa Madigan
sent the District TWO (2) letters telling them to disclose it, and (4)
the Illinois Appellate Court ruled unanimously that it must be
disclosed. They chose to fight all the way to the Illinois Supreme
Court. They also tried to pick and choose who among the public could
see it, based on who they liked and didn’t like. That is unAmerican.

What were they hiding? The contract is now in the public domain, and a
copy is available on the Download Files page (SUPERINTENDENT CONTRACT).
Here are some highlights of the fringe benefits Catalani received, with
references to the contract sections in which they appear:

* GUARANTEED 20% ANNUAL RAISES REGARDLESS OF
PERFORMANCE. Once he gives notice of retirement, he is guaranteed 20%
annual raises for the last three years of employment. There is no
requirement that he meet any performance goals. (22)

* MORE THAN FIVE WEEKS OF PAID VACATION A YEAR. 28
paid vacation days a year (First Addendum, B(2)) – that’s five weeks and
three days. He can accumulate them without limit, can cash in up to 12
days a year (25 days in 2002-3, First Addendum, A), and gets paid in
full for whatever he has accumulated, even if fired. (12)

* OVER A YEAR OF PAID SICK DAYS. When he was hired
in 1999 the Board gave him a “bank” of 185 paid sick days – a full
school year! He then gets 18 more paid sick days every year that
accumulate without limit. On retirement, he gets paid for the 185 sick
days he was given – roughly 10 months’ additional salary. (11)

* NO INSURANCE PREMIUMS, DEDUCTIBLES OR COPAYS. The
District pays all of the “employee” share of retirement contributions,
insurance premiums, and Medicare taxes. (6) The District pays 100% of
his deductibles and co-payments.

* INSURANCE THROUGH 2021 FOR HIM AND FAMILY. The
District pays 100% of insurance costs, deductibles and co-payments for
him and his family, including children until they’re 26 or become
employed. This continues after retirement until he’s 71 – in 2021. He
has a new job, and we’re still paying his benefits! (13; First
Addendum, B(3))

* GENEROUS SEVERANCE. He can’t be fired for failing
to meet performance goals (20(D)). If he were terminated “without
cause” for failure to meet performance goals, he’d get 2 years salary,
plus full benefits for him and his family until he is eligible for
Medicare (in the year 2015). (20(E))

* FULL DISABILITY. Full pay for 90 days following
disability, then a District-paid disability policy for 70% of full
salary to age 65. If he is injured on the job, he gets workers
compensation in addition to the disability payments. (15)

* NOTHING ABOUT HUBBLE. This was never about Hubble
Middle School. The Board guaranteed this generous compensation package
without regard to achieving any performance targets whatsoever.

The Kane County Chronicle covered McQuillan’s success story and his tireless efforts. McQuillan explained, “I think it’s a good school district. It provides a good education to the majority of students,” McQuillan said. “People who are coming in [to Geneva] have to be able to afford the home and the taxes. And a majority of property taxes go to the school district.”

Precisely. There’s no reason for school districts, or any government body, to not implement transparency. It’s good policy, fosters accountability, helps identify wasteful spending, and provides more understanding for the public about how the school district spends tax dollars.

Mr. McQuillan is an excellent example of a Liberty Leader. Great job! Contact Richard Lorenc at richard@illinoispolicyinstitute.org if you’re interested in seeing how you too can make a difference in your community and become a Liberty Leader.

Donahue writes, “We have seen this same song and dance every time negotiations are about to begin. Maybe the public would trust District 150 if its leaders would simply be up-front. The community and the children deserve that much.”

Sounds like District 150 needs to open up. See the full letter from Mr. Donahue here.

…before additional taxpayer dollars are poured into Illinois’ broken public school system. I have filed HB5769 – Education Fiscal Accountability amendments to the School Code as a result of research and collaboration by elected officials, advocacy groups, educators, administrators and school board members. As you suggest, the bill provides for increased transparency so taxpayers understand how money is being spent in their local schools and can evaluate if that investment is leading to good outcomes for students.

Taxpayers deserve to know how school districts (and all levels of government, local and state) are spending tax dollars in order to operate. All school spending should be posted online in a searchable, user-friendly, itemized manner, like a PDF. This is not hard to do!!!

If the state decides to pass Ryg’s HB5769, they have no reason not to demand the same of themselves and implement comprehensive transparency, already written in HB4765 (Illinois Accountability Portal). This bill has been held up since April 2008 after passing the House unanimously.

Let’s get going, Illinois.

The state is more than 12 weeks late in doling out more than $1 billion to Illinois schools, among the more than $4 billion the state owes local governments and contractors, according to Comptroller Daniel Hynes.

The article goes on to quote school officials saying things like they aren’t worried, and they are confident that they will get the money that they have been promised.  But where is that money going to come from?  The state doesn’t have it.  Otherwise, it seems, they would already have paid their bills.

This “backlog,” mentioned in the article by the spokeswoman for the Illinois State Board of Education, is not something you see in a free market situation.  When service providers don’t get paid, they don’t keep providing services indefinitely.

This would be an amazing time for districts to go transparent.  Clearly, even if the state comes up with money now, it is only money borrowed against the future, when taxpayers will have to shoulder the increased debt burden.  It’s also clear that cuts are being made.  Districts may need to find ways to educate children for less money.  Get those expenditures up online! I bet the local taxpayers can figure out where money is being wasted, so that it can be funneled into educating their children more effectively.

And, as was just mentioned in our office, people want to see the government doling out health care benefits as well?!  Why would doctors assume the risk of treating a patient if there’s a chance they might not get paid…or they would get paid 12 weeks late?

Any Liberty Leaders living in or near Vernon Hills? According to Libertyville Review, residents’ concerns are rising. Currently the main worry is High School District 128, which is asking for a tax levy with 13.23 percent increase.

The public, like the community contributing to HS D128 through their tax dollars, understands schools need funding – but they need transparency, too.

In order to makes its case for current and future funding, HS D128 (and all levels of government in general) should implement transparency by performing the simple task of posting a monthly check register on its website.

That way, when the district asks for more funding, the community can easily jump online and see how the district is spending money (well or poorly) and either agree with the request for tax increases, or disagree — and even possibly see places where the district can cut back on waste and run more efficiently.

Not only does transparency help the public more clearly understand government spending, but also helps school board members and elected officials in general better understand spending practices, fostering more accountability and responsible spending. It’s a win-win for all parties involved.

A big thanks to Riverside Brookfield High School D208 for joining the list of transparent government bodies in Illinois! And, thank you, Adam Andrzejewski, for your continued hard work!

What school district will be next? County board? Park district? Or?

For the full story on RB D208, read this article.