Local Control Took a Beating as Lisa Hernandez changed her mind on HB4237

[Big AL77]

The progressive ideology is alive and well with Representative Lisa Hernandez.  After being rebuffed by local government officials, she is now shamefully seeking to take the power of our votes away.   Apparently Representative Hernandez has 12 million of our tax dollars that she wants to give to a Charter School Corporation that she SHARES an office space with...Hmmmmmm....WHAT....yes that is right a Charter School Corporation that has no taxpayer accountability or transparency. 

Lisa apparently wants to be El PATRON, and since HB4237 stands in her way she is trying to take away the power of the vote away form the citizens of the community...dare I say this is a shining example of how Progressive Illinois Law makers use the "Dictatorship of the Proletariat" playbook to usurp the rights of Illinois Citizens. 

Below are excerpts from Jim Broadway's article today:

"But the popular will is not good enough for some legislators. Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez (D-Cicero) had the temerity to say she opposed HB 4237 because she had been advocating for a charter school in her district and the school board had turned the project down. Having the ability to put the question on an election ballot did not suffice as an option.

"This bill will pose a very, very serious problem in my district," she told her colleagues. She said she tried to work with the school board to create a charter school as a "partnership," but she "got push-back" in the form of school board members "not wanting to work with me. So I am looking for there to be an appeal process."

Then she dropped the bomb: "I don't quite trust it to go to the local, or, to the voter. Why? Because the history within my district has revealed that there is a controlled vote, and it would not work within my district." (A "controlled vote" generally means there is limited voter participation. From personal experience, I can tell you that is a good thing for yes-vote seekers. You should always get your way. Ballot-clutter and blank-slate voters can't defeat you.)

Prospects looked good for HB 4237 going into the debate. Chapa LaVia is a popular committee chairperson. Although most House proponents of the bill seemed to be Democrats, some Republicans most influential on education issues were solidly in her corner: Rep. Bob Pritchard; Rep. Don Moffitt; Rep. Sandra Pihos; Rep. Wayne Rosenthal.

I guess the larger question is: should an appointed and anonymous commission at the state level - a commission whose chairman is founding president of a national association of charter school authorizers - who was appointed by Gery Chico, the same Gery Chico who is married to Sunny Chico who serves as a consultant that helps to get charter schools approved (http://www.suntimes.com/news/watchdogs/24480273-452/cps-says-no-to-charter-schools-but-michael-madigan-says-yes.html) abe able to overturn a charter school-rejecting decision of a locally elected school board?

Apparently Chapa LaVia and other advocates of HB4237 who appose Charter Schools for a multitude of reasons did not calculate properly on Kip Kolkmeier, the hired gun working for the Illinois Network of Charter Schools.

Look him up as a "Contractual Entity."<http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=8787371&msgid=276194&act=Z5BN&c=220062&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ilsos.gov%2Flobbyistsearch%2Flobbyistsearch> Kip has a respectable client list and, folks, he is a pro.

As the legislators with the least knowledge of school issues rose to rail against the bill, you could hear them recite Kip's talking points. All that stuff about there needing to be "some sort of appeal" for groups whose charter applications were denied by the local school board - it was all repeated over and over, just as Kip advised, throwing dust and confusion in the air.  YEAH THEY SHOULD HAVE AN APPEAL PROCESS...THEY NEED TO APPEAL TO THE VOTERS!!!! SUPPORT HB4237

The State Elementary and Secondary Education Committee actions are correct and demonstrate that the charter movement needs to be reined in.
HB 4237 is one of several bills that could take the Commission out of the process of accepting or rejecting charter school applications and put the process in the hands of the voters.    Under HB4237, if a locally elected school board rejects a proposal by an organization to create a charter school, the only recourse is still a local-control process - a voter referendum.

It takes only 5% of the registered voters in a school district to sign a petition putting the question on an election ballot. If the charter proposal truly has "community support," the election outcome should be consistent with the popular will.

Call Silvana Tabares   217-782-7752  Ask her how she voted and ask her to support our local votes with HB4237, Call Mike Zalewski  217-782-5280, Call Lisa Hernandez 217-182-8173 and let her know we are unwilling to accept an UNO like scandal in our community. 
Please make the calls, tell these legislators to restore democracy not diminish it!!!! Vote FOR HB4237

[Ted]

Who is "Jim Broadway" and what article are you quoting from?

  Please provide a link to the article.

Thanks

[Ted]

BigAl, why are you opposed to charter schools?  Isn't competition a good thing?

[chandasz]

Charter schools drain already low funding from our public schools and have very little oversight....

[MRS. NORTHSIDER]

Charter schools drain already low funding from our public schools and have very little oversight....

I'm torn on this one.  Given the options for public schooling in some areas (especially the inner city) I think it's good for parents and students to have an alternative option.  My daughter's boyfriend teaches at a Noble Charter High School in Englewood.  Their average ACT score is definitely higher than than the other local public high schools in the area.

[MRS. NORTHSIDER]

Charter schools drain already low funding from our public schools and have very little oversight....

I'm torn on this one.  Given the options for public schooling in some areas (especially the inner city) I think it's good for parents and students to have an alternative option.  My daughter's boyfriend teaches at a Noble Charter High School in Englewood.  Their average ACT score is definitely higher than than the other local public high schools in the area.

Actually, I looked up the numbers online to compare to Morton West.  His school scored 48% meeting or exceeding standards for the 11th grade compared to 31% meeting or exceeding at Morton West with his school posting a much higher number of minority and low income students.  What wonderful news -  my 7th grade high achieving student here in Berwyn has a better chance of succeeding at a charter school in Englewood than at Morton.

[Mustang84]

Perhaps I am missing something here, but the thread was not about charters being good or bad. The original post is that our ELECTED official, who was ELECTED by the voters publicly stated on the floor of the Illinois House of Representatives that "I don't quite trust it to go to the local, or, to the voter. Why? Because the history within my district has revealed that there is a controlled vote, and it would not work within my district."

Funny these same voters who ELECTED her cannot be trusted to make the right choice (what she wants) so she thinks they should be denied the opportunity to vote on the issue.

as for the "controlled vote" when it benefits her its OK....

[watcher]

Charter schools drain already low funding from our public schools and have very little oversight....

I'm torn on this one.  Given the options for public schooling in some areas (especially the inner city) I think it's good for parents and students to have an alternative option.  My daughter's boyfriend teaches at a Noble Charter High School in Englewood.  Their average ACT score is definitely higher than than the other local public high schools in the area.
What wonderful news -  my 7th grade high achieving student here in Berwyn has a better chance of succeeding at a charter school in Englewood than at Morton.

There are at least 10 bills in Springfield trying to add to, subtract from,address the Charter School confusion. SB2627/HB3754, SB2779/HB4237, HB 6005/SB 3030, SB 3303, HB3745, HB4655/SB3004, HB4527, HB 5328, HB 5887, HB4591.

There have been countless legislative tweaks to the original 1996 empowering legislation.  ALEC has been very successful in getting the legislation it wants passed while limiting the regulatory and accountability authorities. Now that Charters have a somewhat quantifiable track record, some legislators are connecting the dots.

Some glaring loopholes and glitches exist. Most involve $$$$. Funding sources for corporate charters, purchase, control and lease-back arrangements, student funding maintained after a student has been removed from charter enrollment, the lottery for enrollment and subsequent admissions to fill vacated slots... Charters are big business, but they are mainly in the business of diverting public funding of education. The additional, corporate and foundation, funding for these schools is not perpetual. If withdrawn it's gone. There are currently replaceable through other sources, but the long-term model is uncertain.

This time of year there are many reports of charter high school seniors achieving 100% college acceptance, with test scores that should bring that claim into question. Since it's a feel-good story, it's given media attention for a few minutes without the kind of in-depth focus it deserves. Charters have risen in a mostly fact-free landscape. Now that facts are coming out, it's not the rosy future it was painted to be.

In the final analysis, it's likely that your 7th grade, high-achieving student will continue to be high-achieving regardless of what happens legislatively or where you decide they will attend HS.

What Ms. Hernandez said is hard to reconcile or defend. There's some merit to her scenario because of the influences and propaganda successes of the school choice movement. IMO, The inevitable, logical extreme of the movement is, given the precedents, we end up with Wal-Mart schools for the masses and Neiman-Marcus schools for the few.

[buzz]

What Ms. Hernandez said is hard to reconcile or defend.

It was insulting and stupid. 

[Bonster]

Perhaps I am missing something here, but the thread was not about charters being good or bad. The original post is that our ELECTED official, who was ELECTED by the voters publicly stated on the floor of the Illinois House of Representatives that "I don't quite trust it to go to the local, or, to the voter. Why? Because the history within my district has revealed that there is a controlled vote, and it would not work within my district."

Funny these same voters who ELECTED her cannot be trusted to make the right choice (what she wants) so she thinks they should be denied the opportunity to vote on the issue.

as for the "controlled vote" when it benefits her its OK....

She is exactly right.  Spot on.   


Honesty, from a politician?  I'm floored.

[Bonster]

What Ms. Hernandez said is hard to reconcile or defend.

It was insulting and stupid.

No, it was insulting and true.


You know how people vote in these parts - via fucking glossy handouts. 

[Mustangnic]

Interestingly enough, the process is ok for when it elects hernandez, just not when they should decide on whether or not they want their tax dollars spent by her to accommodate her desire for a charter. if the community wants a charter as bad as she has professed, why is she afraid to actually ask the voters???

[Ted]

Sounds like the Cicero machine is really pissed off at Hernandez. Can we expect a challenge to her in the 2016 primary?

[Mustangnic]

who is the cicero machine? Big Al?

[MindoverMatter]

I would like to have choices in education a charter school / high school...but as a voter we should have a right to vote on the topic.   

[OakParkSpartan]

Isn't Hernandez associated with Dominick?

The Cicero Machine is the Cicero Voters Alliance.

[mustang54]

Isn't Hernandez associated with Dominick?

The Cicero Machine is the Cicero Voters Alliance.

I don't think she's a member. I believe she is part of the Cicero Democratic Party that I think is still run by her husband. Have party lines been crossed to support each other at election time, yes. I also hear that the governor really likes and respects her.

[berwynista]

I've lived here since 1995, however, I defer to folks who've been here longer. I get the sense that party affiliation as either Republican (Cicero) or Democrat (Berwyn) are nominal, rather than by any strong identity. I guess to put it another way, a Du Page county Republican pol and the LarDom flavah of Republican are different animals.  In this neck of the woods, it seems that the connections are different, particularly, when it comes to campaign donations.  For example, I found that DCOB and Robt Lovero have contributed to LarDom's campaign in the 2009.

More recently, according to the Il reference website*(http://ilreference.com/.../19152_Cicero_Voters.../2013), In 2013, Citizens for Elizabeth Hernandez donated $4,000; Friends of Martin A. Sandoval kicked in $5,000; Dan Lipinski for Congress gave $1,000.

*I add the (*) because this website may not be nonpartisan. I presume that the info posted was culled from public data from the IL State Board of Elections.

[MRS. NORTHSIDER]

I've lived here since 1995, however, I defer to folks who've been here longer. I get the sense that party affiliation as either Republican (Cicero) or Democrat (Berwyn) are nominal, rather than by any strong identity. I guess to put it another way, a Du Page county Republican pol and the LarDom flavah of Republican are different animals.  In this neck of the woods, it seems that the connections are different, particularly, when it comes to campaign donations.  For example, I found that DCOB and Robt Lovero have contributed to LarDom's campaign in the 2009.

More recently, according to the Il reference website*(http://ilreference.com/.../19152_Cicero_Voters.../2013), In 2013, Citizens for Elizabeth Hernandez donated $4,000; Friends of Martin A. Sandoval kicked in $5,000; Dan Lipinski for Congress gave $1,000.

*I add the (*) because this website may not be nonpartisan. I presume that the info posted was culled from public data from the IL State Board of Elections.

Yeah, you have entered the lions den of party affiliation when you posted on this website.  Here in Berwyn the majority of the voters are Democrats, while Cicero is solidly Republican.  The only thing we share is a high school district which is Cicero centered because of the fact that the majority of the board members live there.  Go Berwyn! or not.

[mustang54]

  Actually Mrs. N you are wrong. Cicero hasn't been a republican town for years. The CVA has endorsed more democrats than republicans in County and State elections. Cicero tends to support those who support Cicero.
So if Carol Marin ever turns into a county or state politician I don't think she would get any support here.