28 Years after the 104-3 Defeat of My Legislation Requiring School’s to Report Information on Teacher Sex/Physical Similar Bill Passes 112-0

Tribune highlighted the problem of school districts not being able to find out if prospective teachers had been found to have sexually abused students. In 2009, eight years after bringing too many boxes home my legislative office, I was doing … Continue reading

Re-Run: Tribune Features Problem 1994 Skinner Legislation on Gathering Information on Teacher Sex/Physical Abuse Would Have Solved

This weekend the Tribune highlighted the problem of school districts not being able to find out if prospective teachers had been found to have sexually abused students. In 2009, eight years after bringing too many boxes home my legislative office, … Continue reading

High School Teacher, Now Running for Wheaton City Council, Calls Jeannie Ives “Racist”

I guess id one is a Republican, some folks consider you automatically a racist. Consider the following post card sent to the Wheaton Bowl by Erica Bray-Parker, now a candidate for the Wheaton City Council: Ives has this comment: Wheaton … Continue reading

Reick Goes after Pensions of Sex Abusing Teachers

Found on State Rep. Steve Reick’s web site: Rep. Reick Files Legislation to Strip Teachers who Sexually Abuse Students of their Pensions At a recent joint meeting of the House and Senate K-12 Education Committees, a former Walter Payton College … Continue reading

How Did McHenry County Schools Spend Our 2016 Tax Dollars?

Here’s a table that shows school superintend and teacher salaries for McHenry County school districts, as well as class sizes. A Friend of McHenry County Blog did the heavy lifting in manipulating this data. You will note that Marengo-Union and … Continue reading

McSweeney Offers Legislation to Address Public Teacher Sex Abuse

A press release from State Rep. David McSweeneyL Rep. McSweeney Files Bill to Address State Issues Raised By CPS Sexual Abuse Scandal Springfield, IL – State Representative David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) today filed legislation to protect students from predatory educators … Continue reading

Tribune Features Problem 1994 Skinner Legislation on Gathering Information on Teacher Sex/Physical Abuse Would Have Solved

Considering the legislation now being considered by the Illinois General Assembly, this article about my incredibly unsuccessful attempt to provide transparency in legislation from over twenty years ago might be of interest. The amendment was killed by over 100 votes … Continue reading

District 155 Announces 13 Layoffs

Thirteen teachers were “honorably dismissed” as of the end of the 2016-2017 school year by the Crystal Lake High School District 155 Board of Education on Tuesday night Declining enrollment is the reason. The cuts will have least affect on … Continue reading

Wonder Lake Jr. High School Teacher Arrested

A press release from the McHenry County Sheriff: McHenry Man Arrested on Disorderly Conduct Charges Detectives from the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office served criminal warrants on June 24, 2016, on Scott Smessaert of McHenry, Illinois, for Disorderly Conduct. On May … Continue reading

Figures on D155’s 4% Annual Teacher Salary Increases

After I received the press release (15 comments so far) about the contents of the contract from Crystal Lake District 155 last night, I submitted some questions. Those questions and the answers supplied are below: What will the starting salary be … Continue reading