McConnaughay Reports on Springfield

Here is State Senator Karen McConnaughay’s report for the week:

Karen McConnaughay

Karen McConnaughay

This week, I was happy to have the chance to sit down with local mayors and city administrators to discuss the Governor’s budget proposal and how it will affect municipal funding.

I want to thank everyone who made it.

As the legislature and Governor Bruce Rauner work together this spring to craft theFiscal Year 2016 budget, I look forward to a continuing dialogue with these community leaders.

This week, I will be back in Springfield as the spring legislative session continues.

Much of the week is likely to be spent in committee as the Senate begins to take action on legislation that has been introduced by lawmakers since the start of the 99th General Assembly.

Continue reading for more about some of this legislation and other news that has made headlines recently.

Your input continues to be vital to the work I do. Please contact me or my office with questions or concerns you may have, and make sure your voice is heard in Springfield! You can also visit my legislative website athttp://senatormcconnaughay.com/.

Karen McConnaughay
State Senator for the 33rd District

Legislation would create School Safety Task Force

Making schools safer for Illinois children is the intent of legislation to establish an Illinois School Security and Standards Task Force.

Click here to read more about the task force…

Workers’ compensation reform legislation makes Illinois more competitive

Seeking to help Illinois attract investment, create jobs, and end fraud and abuse, legislation has been filed that would add “primary causation” to Illinois’ workers’ compensation law.

Read more about how “primary causation” changes workers’ comp here…

Medicaid legislation seeks greater accountability—and taxpayer savings

Responding to new reports that Illinois paid millions for medical services for persons already recorded as dead, legislation has been introduced intending to weed out Medicaid waste, fraud, and abuse; make the system work for the people who truly need the benefits; and save Illinois tax dollars.

Read more about how Medicaid reform can save Illinois taxpayers…

Review of ‘Common Core’

As educators across Illinois prepare to begin administering the federal “Common Core” assessment tests, a Senate Resolution encourages the State Board of Education to opt out of the Common Core State Standards until a thorough review of associated costs can be conducted.

Read more about the resolution here…

Attorney General, ICC called on to investigate ComEd allegations

Serious allegations that Illinois’ largest energy utility company, Commonwealth Edison (ComEd), may have improperly used ratepayer funds has lead one State Senator to call on Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) Chairman Brien Sheahan to take immediate action to protect ComEd ratepayers.

Read more about the controversy here…


Comments

McConnaughay Reports on Springfield — 2 Comments

  1. “Legislation would create School Safety Task Force.”

    Clicking on the Link.

    “Legislation would create School Safety Task Force.

    Posted on Tuesday, March 03, 2015.

    Making schools safer for Illinois children is the intent of legislation to establish an Illinois School Security and Standards Task Force.

    Senate Bill 1340 creates the School Security and Standards Task Force to study the current security conditions, make recommendations and draft minimum standards for schools to provide a safer learning environment for students.

    The Task Force is to submit its report to the General Assembly and the Governor.

    The Task Force brings together individuals who have knowledge, experience, and expertise in the security field, or who have worked within school systems.

    Appointed members would include parents, law enforcement officials, firefighters, security professionals, teachers and school administrators.”

    http://senatormcconnaughay.com/Media/News/TabId/1244/p/28362/v/2000/legislation-would-create-school-safety-task-force.aspx

    The task force should include educator misconduct as a focus, more specifically, sex by school personnel with a minor in the task force.

    School personnel includes but is not limited to teachers.

    It’s not so much that teachers are inherently more likely to commit such a crime, rather, the teaching profession employs a lot of individuals; and; teachers have frequent close contact with students.

    Also committing such crimes are administrators, teacher assistants, maintenance personnel, and anyone else employed by a school district.

    That’s the largest safety issue facing children in schools.

    The crimes happen on and off school property.

    Historically school districts got rid of many of the alleged perpetrators by allowing them to resign resulting in the perpetrator going to another school district unaware of the alleged crime, a practice known as “pass the trash.”

    All the “School Security and Standards Task Force” in HB 1340 would probably accomplish is rules in the school code to mandate more construction spending at prevailing wage to allegedly make schools safer.

    In the meantime a far larger issue would go without scrutiny.

    Such as:

    Plainfield Patch

    Plainfield Central Chemistry Teacher Allegedly Traded Grades For Oral Sex.

    The chemistry teacher took oral sex from a teenage student in exchange for better grades, a prosecutor said.

    By Joseph Hosey (Patch Staff)
    February 27, 2015

    http://patch.com/illinois/plainfield/plainfield-central-chemistry-teacher-allegedly-traded-grades-oral-sex-0

    Does that alleged crime sound like something the task force would cover in the “Security and Safety Task Force?

    The task force is likely driven by the teacher unions, as they have a huge impact on public education legislation via their staff paid lobbyists, outside lobbyists, and members lobbying efforts.

    The problem is there is no effective counter to the teacher union lobbying efforts.

    The Illinois Education Association (IEA) and Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) are the statewide teacher unions with paid full time lobbyist staff members.

    What counter group has anywhere near the members, money, and lobbyists as the IEA & IFT?

    None.

    The PTA, PTO, booster club, and Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance (Illinois Association of School Boards, Illinois Principals Association, Illinois Association of School Administrators, Illinois Association of School Business Officials) don’t come close to an effective legislative counter to the IEA & IFT.

    For example, some teachers participate in just about every school district participate in an annual “Lobby Day” in the spring, orchestrated by the IEA & IFT along with their regional and local school district affiliates.

    The teachers will take a day off school, get on a charter bus paid for by the teacher union (they may meet the bus at a regional shopping center for example), go down to Springfield, and lobby the legislators.

    Do those lobbying efforts include proposed legislation to bring awareness to the problem of educator sex with children?

    Never.

    What you do hear about from teachers is false allegations.

    Well that is an issue.

    But to use false allegations as a reason to deflect or not have more focus on teacher sex with students is twisted.

    And furthermore teachers have far more resources than students when a sex allegation arises.

    Parents don’t have paid attorneys on staff.

    For example.

    The IEA has a Department of Legal Services with 9 attorneys and support staff.

    The Legal Services department can furthermore retain law firms if additional assistance is required.

    Furthermore, the regional IEA UniServ Directors and local Association Representatives are there to support the teacher in alleged sex crime of student vs teacher.

    That’s what the parent is up against.

    Plus, the parent is up against an administration which, depending on the situation, may be more interested in protecting their image and the image of the school district, than with protecting the student.

    Regarding that last point, there are cases, and hopefully the majority of the cases, where the opposite is true.

    There were two laws in Illinois passed to help address this issue.

    More needs to be done.

    Public Act 096-1524 (PA 96-1524), which was Senate Bill 2843(SB 2843).
    This was the Task Force on the Prevention of Sexual Abuse of Children.

    Public Act 097-1147 (PA 97-1147), which was House Bill 6193 (HB 6193).
    This was Erin’s Law.

    Named after Erin Merryn.

    She was abused not by an educator but by a neighbor and relative.

    That law was an unfunded mandate to public schools to educate students, for example, to look for clues about when someone in a position of trust (parent, teacher, relative, clergy, etc.) crosses the line, to be aware of “grooming”, etc.

    The teacher unions had little to no lobbying efforts in getting those laws passed.

    It’s not a level playing field right now for children vs educators in an alleged abuse case.

    The teacher unions and school districts have far more money, time, and personnel.

    The school districts sometimes are involved in protecting the students, other times involved in cover-ups.

    What have you hear about.

    Sex abuse by priests against children?

    Or sex abuse by educators against children?

    Much more can be done to expose what has happened and continues to happen in the area of educator sex abuse.

    Whatever school safety issues they are alleging, it does not come close to the problem of educator sex abuse of minors.

  2. Hey, her “Report” is better than Sominex …. and put me right to sleep w/ her dreamy nonsense of anything changing in Illinois!

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