Last year, an Illinois Circuit Court overturned a Public Access Counselor opinion that found that the Board of Education of Springfield School District No. 186 violated the Open Meetings Act when it voted on the separation agreement of the former […]
Out with the Old and In with the New: President Obama Replaces No Child Left Behind with the Every Student Succeeds Act
December 15, 2015
After a controversial 13-year reign, the No Child Left Behind Act (“NCLB”) has come to an end. Last Thursday, after a bipartisan vote of 85-12 the day before in the U.S. Senate, President Obama signed into law the Every Student […]
OSERS Issues Special Education Guidance
December 9, 2015
The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSERS), part of the United States Department of Education, recently issued two Dear Colleague letters, one related to students with dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia, and one related to aligning IEP goals with state academic […]
ISBE Issues Guidance on Teacher Resignations
November 12, 2015
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has issued non-regulatory guidance regarding the application of Section 24-14 of the Illinois School Code to teacher resignations. Section 24-14 of the School Code provides that a teacher “who has entered into contractual continued service” […]
On August 24, 2015, Governor Rauner signed into law Public Act 99-456. The Act requires school districts and charter schools to overhaul their discipline policies and is aimed at reducing the incidence of out-of-school suspensions and expulsions. The new requirements take […]
Boards try their best to avoid it, but you hear about it time and again—aboard goes into closed session and the conversation turns away from the subject matter the board identified in open session as the reason for the closed […]
On August 21, 2015 Governor Rauner signed into law the new Illinois Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher Education Act, Public Act 099-0426 (the Act). The new law imposes a number of requirements on higher education institutions related to their policies, procedures, provision […]
UPDATED APRIL 2018 The number of residency and homeless disputes is on the rise for school districts. Many find out too late that the information obtained from parents and guardians during the registration and enrollment process is inadequate to support […]