There’s a hearing in the IL Senate Education Committee tomorrow afternoon (Tues. March 13th) at 1:30pm covering several bills important for public ed advocates like you to weigh in on!

Please take a minute today to fill out witness slips on these four bills. We recommend opposing SB3099 and SB3183 and supporting SB3514 and SB3201. Instructions for filling out a witness slip included at the end of this message.

☞ Oppose SB3099

SB3099 is a bill written to benefit the College Board and ACT, Inc, allowing them to sell or rent sensitive student data that they access through questionnaires administered along with tests like the SAT. This bill would amend the already inadequate protections of the Student Online Privacy Protection Act (SOPPA) by waiving restrictions on the sale of student’s personal information for organizations like the College Board and ACT, Inc. You can read our full explanation about why to oppose this bill here.

☞ Oppose SB3183

SB3183 changes rules for Local School Council control of principal contract renewal. This would weaken one of LSCs’ crucial powers: the ability to renew or deny a renewal of a principal’s contract. The bill would tie renewal of contracts to principal reviews after CPS reduced LSCs input into the review process. Because principal reviews are closely tied to CPS’s flawed School Quality Rating Policy, principal renewals will now be constrained by school level rating, rather than being determined by simple majority vote of a democratically-elected LSC. Read the full text of the bill here.

☞ Support SB3514

This bill would require CPS to fund special ed positions from the board level and gets rid of commingling of funds. It bases funding on IEP minutes. Read the full bill here.

☞ Support SB3201

SB3201 would require schools to notify parents within 48 hours if there’s been a breach of a student’s educational record. Read the full bill text here.

Haven’t filled out a witness slip before? Here’s how:

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" to support or “OPPONENT" to oppose.
7. Under Testimony check "Record of Appearance."
8. Fill out the CAPTCHA.
9. Check to agree to the ILGA Terms of Agreement.