2005 Articles

Bills pending action by the governor By Phil Milsk June 2005 A number of school-related bills have passed both houses of the General Assembly and have been sent to the Governor.

Can an 8(d)1 award be modified? By Arnold G. Rubin March 2005 In Cassens Transport Company v. Illinois Industrial Commission, 2005 WL 95714 (4th Dist., I.C. Div., 2005), the Illinois Appellate Court, in a decision delivered by Justice McCullough, with a concurring opinion by Justice Holdridge, addressed the vexing issue as to whether or not a final award under Section 8(d)1 may be modified in a subsequent proceeding at the Illinois Industrial Commission.

Case update By Phil Milsk December 2005 The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan has granted the U.S. Department of Education’s motion to dismiss the National Education Association’s challenge to the mandatory testing provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Case update By Rob Lyons May 2005 This summary was prepared by Rob Lyons, IEA counsel, member of the Education Law Section Council and co-editor of the Newsletter.

Editor’s note January 2005 This issue of the newsletter is devoted to the subject of education labor law. Many of our section council and section members practice in this area.

Federal Budget for FY 2006 June 2005 The House Committee on Appropriations' Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, and Education marked up its FY 2006 budget on June 9, 2005.

Governor signs Pension Reform Bill By Michael J. Hernandez June 2005 The Governor has signed Senate Bill 27 into law. Among other things, SB 27 extends the teachers' Early Retirement Option (ERO).

IDEIA 2004 proposed rules released June 2005 The United States Department of Education has issued proposed rulemaking to implement the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, Public Law 108-446.

Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board decisions By Rob Lyons January 2005 Recent cases of interest to education law practitioners.

The Illinois State Officials and Employees Ethics Act By Lynda K. Given & Timothy A. Stratton September 2005 This article will summarize pertinent provisions of the Act, including those related to the Article 10 Gift Ban and the Article 5 Prohibited Political Activities.

Legislative summary December 2005 This is the first of two issues devoted primarily to a report on new legislation acted upon in 2005 by the Illinois General Assembly.

Legislative update By Phil Milsk June 2005 Governor Blagojevich has signed SB 64, which amends Section 27-23.3 of the Illinois School Code to require school districts to include students who participate in interscholastic athletic programs in instruction designed to prevent steroid abuse.

Other federal developments June 2005 Thanks to Rocky Martinez and the staff at the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for contributing the following items:

Recent labor law case decisions By Everett Nicholas January 2005 Kelly Baird was employed as Superintendent at Warren CUSD No. 205 under a three (3) year contract which began in 2000

State legislative summary Part I October 2005 Summary: Amends the School District Conversion Article of the School Code to provide for election of board members for a new high school district and requires the format for the election of the new high school board must be defined in the petition submitted to the voters.

Support personnel categorization can affect seniority lists* January 2005 Because the Eldorado School District collective bargaining agreement placed all aides in one category for pay purposes, it may be inconsistent to treat them separately for layoff purposes.

Supreme Court creates Whistleblower Right under Title IX May 2005 This summary was prepared by the firm of Seyfarth, Shaw LLP, and submitted by Mary Kay Klimesh of the firm and a member of the Education Law Section Council.