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SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013
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ANALYSIS
Illinois legislators’ hands are not idle
ISAT standards toughen
But several proposed laws are plain silly as pension crisis lingers By KEVIN P. CRAVER
Inside Our View: Lawmakers should put their pet projects aside. PAGE A11
On the Net You can search for Illinois laws on your own at www.ilga. gov.
Voice your opinion Which of the proposed state laws is the most pointless? Vote online at NWHerald. com.
kcraver@shawmedia.com Our state lawmakers can’t come up with pension reform, but they can find the time to make it a crime to buy or sell lion meat. They have no concrete plan to pay down a $10 billion pile of unpaid bills, but they can file bills to crack down on anonymous commenters on websites. Recent piecemeal attempts to cobble together pension reform aside, state lawmakers have a history of dealing with anything but pension reform. A last-minute effort to enact pension reform collapsed in the final hours of the 2012 spring session, but lawmakers took the time in May to pass a bill allowing trained miniature horses to be used as service animals for the disabled. One could make a convincing argument, given the state’s financial crisis, that any bill not dealing with pension reform is a distraction. But some bills, from parades
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
English teacher Georgeann Mielnik (right) helps her student, Joanna Watson, 13, while going over persuasive essays for the ISAT in her seventh-grade classroom Feb. 27 at Creekside Middle School in Woodstock. The Illinois State Board of Education raised the performance levels of the ISAT for elementary and middle school students this year.
Educators give positive reviews to changes By SHAWN SHINNEMAN sshinneman@shawmedia.com
P
arents should really hear their children out before grounding them this fall. Those ISAT scores might not be as bad as they seem. That’s thanks to a change in what the state calls “performance levels.” Test scores are grouped into four levels: exceeds standards, meets standards, below standards
Coming Monday The Northwest Herald takes a deeper look at Common Core standards.
or academic warning. Many students will find that even as their scores on the ISAT – Illinois Standards Achievement Test – stayed consistent with years past, they’ve dropped out of the grade range they’re
used to seeing. The ISAT annually assesses students in math, reading and science, and it is used in part to determine whether students are meeting state and federal learning accountability measures. In a stepping-stone move toward replacing the test, the Illinois State Board of Education voted in January to bring the performance levels of the test administered to thirdthrough eighth-graders closer
in line with the more harshly graded Prairie State Achievement Exam, or the PSAE, taken by juniors. “What it does is really helps us better align all the assessments together,” said George Oslovich, assistant superintendent for middle and high school education in Woodstock’s District 200. “It will give us a much better look down the road.”
See ISAT, page A8
See LEGISLATORS, page A10
Illinois Republicans back off attempt to oust chairman By SARA BURNETT The Associated Press CHICAGO – The Illinois Republican Party’s central committee backed off an attempt to fire party chairman Pat Brady on Saturday, amid concern that ousting him because of his support for gay marriage could damage GOP efforts to appeal to more moderate voters.
Brady became a target of some socially conservative members of the party when he spoke out in favor of a bill before the Legislature earlier this year that would end Illinois’ ban Pat Brady on same-sex marriage. Committeemen had sched-
LOCALLY SPEAKING
uled a meeting to consider firing him Saturday. It was canceled late Friday, partly because it became clear there weren’t enough votes to remove Brady. State Sen. Dave Syverson, a committeeman and party treasurer, said the vote would have been close, but members who had concerns about Brady separate from his gay marriage stance “didn’t want
to be thrown in with those” concerned about it. “Instead of making a rash decision, we wanted to sit down and say, ‘What are our goals and are we reaching them?’ Sometimes holding off and giving time to make a rational decision actually works,” Syverson, R-Rockford, said. The conflict recently has spread past the state’s bound-
aries, and prominent Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk and state House Republican Leader Tom Cross, warned that firing Brady would be “a mistake.” They say if the party is going to grow, it needs to be more inclusive and accepting of differences of opinion – particularly in the Democratic-leaning state of Illinois. A spokesman for Kirk, the
state’s ranking Republican lawmaker, said Saturday the senator was pleased the committee “made the right decision.” Kirk voted to end the policy on gays serving in the military, known as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” and opposes a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
See GAY MARRIAGE, page A9
WOODSTOCK
NEW VENUE FOR DOMESTIC CASES Starting in April, hundreds of misdemeanor domestic violence cases filed in McHenry County each year will be handled in a special court designed to move them along more quickly and get more offenders complying with the terms of their sentences. Last year, 610 domestic violence cases were filed in McHenry County court. For more, see page B1.
Tina Mihm, 19, browses at the My Sister’s Dress fundraiser Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
HIGH
LOW
50 31 Complete forecast on A12
CRYSTAL LAKE: Event puts girls into affordable prom dresses, assists Big Brothers Big Sisters. Local, B1
Where to find it Advice Planit 7 Business D1-6 Classified F1-6 Local&Region B1-8
Vol. 28, Issue 67 Lottery A2 Movies Planit 15 Obituaries B5, B7 Opinion A11
Planit Style Inside Puzzles F5 Sports C1-8 TV Grid F5
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