THE PROBLEMS of budget, desegregation and meeting the educational needs of one of the largest and most diverse student populations in the nation are faced by the Illinois superintendent of education. The man who must face these problems is Joseph M. Cronin, the state's first appointed superintendent.
The following interview with Dr. Cronin took place in his Springfield office in February.
Adkins: Superintendent Cronin, after a year in office, how would you assess your accomplishments?
Cronin: My first task was to help the new State Board of Education assess its goals and directions. They had not come to agreement on that before they hired me. My feeling was, it would be an opportunity for me to help in that process. I asked for 90 days to visit schools throughout the state, and to get some idea of the status of education in Illinois. The experience was certainly very rewarding for me.
It was possible then to sit down with the state board and say 'OK, what's most important?,' and to talk about 25 or 30 areas that I thought needed improvement, and find that the state board could agree on 20 of those. So, working with the board and setting an agenda was the most gratifying for me. That's number one.
There are some other things. East St. Louis was in terrible disarray. Four board members were under indictment, a majority of the school board was in jail. I asked the state board if I could try to find a staff to help run the school system there, and the board agreed. Then we sent 80 staff members last August to help. As a result we've regained some of the public's confidence, and the quality of education has improved. We've lowered class size and used resources better. The whole feeling there is that we have turned the corner.
Adkins: You are the first occupant of the appointive office of superintendent. How do you define your duties, and how do they differ from those of the now defunct elective office?
Cronin: Well, I don't think I can make policy judgments by myself. I must take to the State Board of Education things like the size of the budgetary request, the nature of the legislative package, whether or not we join a court case in any capacity — those big decisions.
Let's take affirmative action. The board wanted to have me engage its affirmative action policy. They wanted to make sure that desegregation, or integration, was the most important thing we did. Earlier those decisions would have been made by one man sitting alone or with his staff. Now a board makes these critical judgments.
State aid to schools
Cronin: I think it is very helpful to
low-income cities. Places like Chicago
and East St. Louis get the most from it.
The medium size cities like Springfield
or Rockford have not benefited. In fact,
they've been losing out, mainly because
unit districts don't get the advantages
they had previously. Some elementary
districts and high school districts are
closing, except those on the roll-back. [The roll-back allows districts which
have in the past been assessing property
valued at a high equalization rate to
decrease their assessment level. Since the wealth of a district is measured in
terms of local assessed valuation for
purposes of the state school aid formula
equalizer, it was felt some districts were
being unfairly penalized for complying
with state law by assessing property
value at 50 per cent of true market value.
(Most districts had been assessing at a
much lower rate.)] The roll-back has turned out to be a terrible burden on the high-income
suburbs, who've been exceedingly rich
for many years, but now, to cope with
inflation, have instituted tax cuts.
Places like New Trier are on the ropes
financially. This was never intended
when they were asked to slow down
their rate of improvements so that the
poorer districts could catch up. But it's
had a negative effect because it has
slowed down the rate of improvement at
a faster pace than was really intended by
the Republican legislators who wanted
the roll-back as a tax break for the
beleaguered rich districts.
Adkins: What changes -would you
favor in our system of educational
finance in this state? Cronin: Some of the 'givens' or
stipulations come right from the State
Board of Education. They think that having 31 categorical aid programs is
too many; that we should consolidate
the special education programs, and
health education programs; and try to
link those closely to the resource
equalizer formula. That's one very
important policy criticism made by the
board staff. Secondly, we should look at whether
a property tax is the right way of
calculating just exactly how much a school district's portion of state aid
should be. Many people argue that it's a
very unfair system.
6 / May 1976 / Illinois Issues
Adkins: Is the state aid formula fair
and equitable to students and taxpayers
across the state?
After one year In office as the first appointed school superintendent in Illinois, Cronin has 'accomplished a lot — but still has a big hill to climb'
Thirdly, we've got a task force report
on declining enrollment that says we
should not pay by the pupil. We lose money in paying this way. Anyway, we
have formed a study commission to look
into overhauling the formula.
Adkins: Last May the Board of Education, to which you are responsible, released a status report on desegregation in Illinois Public Schools. The report showed that nine school districts had experienced increased segregation since adoption of desegregation guidelines by the former Office of the Superintendent in 1971. What course of action would you recommend to correct this situation? Cronin: We're revising the rules to provide for a process to bring those school districts into compliance with both federal and state laws. Mainly, we'll require those districts to come in with a plan that makes sense to the local communities. |
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Adkins: Should the State Office of Education penalize those districts by withholding state or federal aid? Cronin: As a last resort. I would favor a court case in most situations prior to the actual shutting off of aid — that's a nuclear weapon, everybody agrees on that. But first I would favor a probationary status, with a warning of possible loss of state and federal aid. It just would be hard for some school districts to make the necessary changes fast enough.
Adkins: Busing is certainly an emotional issue in Boston, an area where
you have spent considerable time. Generally speaking, what do you think
is at the bottom of this emotional response?
Cronin: Well, I think it's a very
emotional issue around the country, not
just in Boston — San Francisco, Louisville, it's pretty widespread. We bus
750,000 students a day in Illinois, many
across town, this way and that, but for
some reason it's only busing to overcome racial segregation that upsets people. And that's unfortunate. Desegregation
Cronin: That really isn't a quota, it's
more of an objective indicating whether
or not schools have reflected segregation — which of course in many cases
they have. Adkins: Are there equal educational
opportunities for minorities in Illinois?
Cronin: I don't think so. I think on the
whole the minorities are schooled in old
buildings, the teachers are less experienced, the dollars spent per pupil are
less. Different state and federal programs have helped to turn that around,
so that we're beginning to see some
changes at least in the quality of resources that are being distributed. Adkins: Last year you recommended
that the legislature pass a bill enabling
the state board to submit its budget for
school spending directly to the legislature, bypassing the governor and the
state Bureau of the Budget. Why did you
feel that the governor and the BOB
should be excluded from the school
budgeting process?
Cronin: I don't think that they should
be excluded. |
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May 1976 / Illinois Issues / 7
'I think with inflation, as
well as declining enrollment,
we are going to be
hard-pressed to maintain
a high level of education'
And we didn't submit a bill to make us independent of the governor.
We had two bills: one making us
independent of the Department of
Personnel, and the second making us
independent of the Department of
Finance. Otherwise a governor — not
this one, but some future governor —
could slow down the payment to
schools, which local school districts
would then have to suffer. We considered a bill making us independent of the
Bureau of the Budget, but a majority of
the board felt that would be unwise. We actually have access. We can file a
bill directly with the legislature. But any
governor could veto or reduce an
appropriation. Yet the governor himself
has said we need a measure of independence.
Adkins: In retrospect, how do you
feel about Gov. Walker's school aid vetoes last year — the $81 million general
aid veto and the $35 million cut in special education programs?
Cronin: I felt that if all agencies were
going to have to take cuts, so should this
agency. The general aid to schools was
cut by five per cent. What I'm concerned
about is the cut in special education,
because that was 20 per cent, which was
a veto cut not asked of most areas of
government. One program, the special
education construction fund, was cut
100 per cent. The bilingual education
program will also be cut, which is most
unfortunate.
Adkins: What effects do you see these
vetoes having on educational quality in
the state, and were they justified in light
of the state's financial condition?
Cronin: Class sizes will be raised in
many local districts, extra-curricular
programs will be dropped, teachers will
be let go. I do think the state's treasury was low.
Others have said maybe state spending
should have been curtailed in some
other areas, What's more important: spending for roads or investing in our
children? Of course, I have a special
concern about the schools, but I thought
we had to take a very heavy share of the overall cuts.
Adkins: After the legislature failed to
override the vetoes by the governor, the
State Board of Education, at your
recommendation, accelerated the payment of state aid funds to schools. Was
this action fiscally responsible, or was it
dangerous deficit spending as the governor charged?
Cronin: Well, the Republican senators who are champions of fiscal responsibility felt that it was my duty to pay out according to the formula, and not to
make cuts. As I understand the law we
have no authority to pay out less. Of
course, the governor has taken us to
court to decide who's right. [Sangamon
County Circuit Judge J. Waldo Ackerman decided February 10 that the
governor was right, that the state board
could not make school aid payments for
more than the amount that was appropriated.]
Supplemental appropriations
Cronin: Yes, of that amount $20
million were for programs the legislature added on, and the other $20 million
were funds in vocational education,
gifted and bilingual programs, which
the law did not say we had to spend. Adkins: The state aid budget is
expected to reach $1.89 billion for fiscal
1977, with significant increases proposed for special education, bilingual
programs and vocational schools. Do
these boosts represent major increases
in services? Cronin: Yes. They represent two
things. One, that's the price tag on
existing formulas and statutes. Secondly, the state helps to pay a portion of
the salaries of 15,000 professionals in
the area of special education, vocational
and bilingual schools, and this number
of professionals was to have been cut by
several thousand to balance the budget. What we've done is to restore that cut
and also provide for the expansion of
services by letting these professionals
serve more students.
Adkins: The state board in Chicago
on January 21 proposed a $100 million
supplemental appropriation to be introduced in the spring session of the
legislature. This amount was said to
represent funds actually owed to local
school districts by the state for this fiscal
year. The total is $40 million less than
the amount vetoed by Governor Walker, but is said to represent "full funding."
Where were cuts made?
Adkins: Do you feel that enough is
being done to educate bilingual students
in this state?
Cronin: No, we've got 100,000 children of French, Spanish, Italian, Greek,
Vietnamese and other nationalities, and
we're certainly not doing enough to
adequately educate them.
Adkins: Are there enough qualified teachers?
Cronin: We have been recruiting in
places like Puerto Rico, Mexico and
elsewhere, while taking some of our
native teachers with language backgrounds and getting ready to certify
them.
Adkins: What do you see as the
largest problem facing Illinois schools in
the next decade?
Cronin: Money. I think with inflation, as well as declining enrollment, we
are going to be hard-pressed to maintain
a high level of education.
Adkins: How would you assess the
overall quality of education in our
schools as compared with other states?
Cronin: Very highly; 1 would say our
best is as good as anywhere in the
country, but we are not uniform. Some
of our best districts, like Arlington
Heights, are outstanding, and some of
our poorer areas, like Cairo, are coming
up fast with the help of additional funds. I'm concerned about some of the very
poor rural schools. There are dozens of
dilapidated buildings that are unsafe,
with sagging floors and lockers that
don't lock — that's terrible. It's very
discouraging to see a low quality
facility, and in some cases, teachers who
just aren't either well-trained or inspired.
Adkins: Is there any area we have yet
to touch on that you would like to
discuss?
Cronin: One of my hopes for next
year is to take a look at the curriculum.
Along with the 'three R's' in education
of basic skills, there is also a fourth R —
responsibility. I want to put law education in the schools, along with the
further teaching of economics, to have
both business and labor studied — so
that students understand the very
complex world we live in, and so they
can take an informed role in their
community responsibilities.
8 / May 1976 / Illinois Issues