Update: It's still not too late on HB768!
The bill was pulled from the hearing today 5/17 due to pressure from charter industry and has now been moved to the Executive Committee for a 2pm hearing tomorrow 5/18. You must fill out a new witness slip as a PROPONENT here.
Please also call your State Senator. If they are a sponsor, thank them; if they aren't, ask them to sign on.
Current sponsors: Linda Holmes, Wm. Sam McCann, Bill Cunningham, Terry Link, Cristina Castro, Steve Stadelman, Julie A. Morrison, Kimberly A. Lightford, Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, Thomas Cullerton and Don Harmon.
(Sen. Heather Steans just pulled herself off the list. Is she your senator? Make sure she hears from you!)
HB768, the charter commission bill, will have a hearing this Wednesday, May 16th at 8:30am in the IL Senate Local Government Committee. Take two minutes to fill out a witness slip as a PROPONENT to support this important bill.
You can register your support for HB768 with a witness slip as a PROPONENT here. This just takes a minute, and it lets lawmakers know the public cares about this issue. Instructions below.
If you have another minute, please call the Local Government Committee Chair Sen. Emil Jones to ensure that HB768 gets a committee hearing tomorrow: (217) 782-9573
Charter industry lobbyists would like nothing better than to bury this bill. Tell Sen Jones you are a supporter of public schools and say thanks for getting this important bill heard.
You can read the bill here. If it becomes law, it would prevent the unelected state charter commission from approving charter schools that have been rejected by local school boards. Our existing schools are underfunded and in need of more resources, not fewer. Help stop this appointed commission from forcing charters on districts that don’t want or need them!
Witness slip instructions:
1) Fill out: name, address, city, state, zip.
2) For Firm/Business, you can put "none" or "self."
3) For Title, you can put "self."
4) Fill out email and phone.
5) For Representation, you can put "self."
6) Under Position select "PROPONENT".
7) Under Testimony check "Record of Appearance."
8) Fill out the CAPTCHA.
9) Check to agree to the ILGA Terms of Agreement.
To learn more about why this bill is critical for the future of public education in IL, read our fact sheet. You can follow what's happening with the bill on the IL General Assembly site.
Jim Broadway's State School News Service e-newsletter (which we highly recommend subscribing to if you are following education policy in IL!) has said HB768 is a bill "with the potential to benefit the elected school boards in every county."
If your state senator is not yet a sponsor, you can ask them to sign on as a sponsor of the bill. Look up your state senator and their contact info here. Current sponsors in the Senate are: Linda Holmes, Wm. Sam McCann, Bill Cunningham, Terry Link, Cristina Castro, Steve Stadelman, Julie A. Morrison, Kimberly A. Lightford, Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, Thomas Cullerton, Heather A. Steans and Don Harmon.