Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s budget proposal to bridge a $5.2 billion deficit cuts so deeply into technology initiatives in education that even the future of the Illinois Virtual High School is in question. Top-level state educators say the governor’s efforts to streamline spending also could harm the Illinois Century Network, which links the state’s public schools and libraries to the Internet.
Last year, the Illinois State Board of Education and Illinois Community College Board received $39 million to spend on technology tools and programs. Of that, $1.9 million was used to support the state’s virtual high school, which enrolled about 1,200 students in the 2002-03 academic year.
Blagojevich’s proposal boils the larger pot down to $7.9 million, leaving IVHS director Matthew Wicks scrambling to figure out how to keep the virtual high school open.
“With that little money to divide, it’s a safe bet that we won’t come close to receiving the money we did last year,” he said.
The governor’s spending plan suggests he’s trying to hold down costs by allowing money to pass through as few hands as possible, educators say. Rather than letting the state board of education and community college board decide how to spend money on technology in schools, the governor wants to shift that responsibility to Central Management Services–the bureaucrats who make all of the state’s purchases.
Blagojevich’s plan also moves financial control of the Century Network from the Illinois Board of Higher Education to Central Management Services. “I was in a meeting recently with a lot of really high-level educators, and there were some really confused looks in that room,” Wicks said. “What we’re seeing now is very goofy.”
James Kaplan, chairman of the state board of higher education, isn’t crazy about the governor’s proposal, either.
“The Illinois Century Network is held up as a model of what all states should be doing for their schools and libraries,” he said. “I have been advocating to leave it alone because I’m afraid the state could be fixing something that isn’t broken.”
Kaplan said he’s confident Blagojevich’s proposal will receive some last-minute and much-needed changes. State legislators hope to approve a final budget this month.
More online: To review the state’s budget issues, see chicagotribune.com/illinoisbudget.
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