State House Education Committee Approves Bill to Fire Illinois State Education Board, Curtail Gov’s Power
(Springfield, IL) — The Illinois House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee yesterday voted 17-0 to approve legislation that would get rid of the current nine-member Illinois State Board of Education.
The 17-0 vote set off a huge press reaction. Stories ricocheted around the state. The committee had stuck it in Gov. ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s eye.
The measure, sponsored by State Rep. LOU LANG (D-Skokie), would also strip the governor’s power to directly appoint board members, and prohibit the governor’s prerogative to propose a state superintendent candidate to the board. A new nomination panel would present the Governor with list of 27 from which board members could be selected. 
Lang’s plan would revert Illinois to the Chicago Public Schools governance model that had tied the hands of Mayor Richard Daley to reform the city’s failing school system before the Illinois General Assembly granted the power to Mayor Daley to appoint directly board members.
The bill, House Bill 4232, heads to the full House. House lawmakers likely will bat it over to the Senate. It will land in the Senate Rules Committee. And there it will mold.
State Reps. HARRY OSTERMAN, FRED CRESPO, JACK FRANKS, and JOE LYONS have joined Lang as sponsors.
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