By Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – A new proposal in Springfield could change the way schools report their data to the State
Board of Education.

State Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, said the existing requirements need a review, in
part because of the burden they place on local districts.

“Most frequently the feedback that I get is there’s constant disappointment that they need
to have someone tasked nearly full-time, in the larger districts, to generating the reports
and being sure that they’re in compliance with the reporting,” Keicher said. “And the
reporting is something that teachers are frequently executing in the classroom, taking
them away from time spent teaching our children.”

He said he wants to study how data collection could be streamlined, ways to eliminate
inefficiencies in the system, and figure out which metrics are still needed and which
might be outdated.

“It frequently seems that some of those mandates involve more reporting and measuring,
but we haven’t even taken the time to figure out if we still need to measure this or that,”
Keicher said. “Do we still have a need for this information? Does this information
actually further what we’re trying to do in the schools?”

The results of the study and subsequent action also could have good news for Illinois
homeowners as well.

“If we can determine what the most important reported items are, we should be able to
help save some of the school districts some money and overhead and hopefully have
some downward pressure on those school assessments that come in on our property tax
bills every year,” Keicher said.

He says the process also could help open the lines of communication between parents and
their local school administration by focusing on the outcomes that matter.

“I frequently visit with parents, and they are pleased at some data points that they get from
the school district and they’re always puzzled by other assessments or measurements
that are done,” Keicher said. “I think this also gives us an opportunity to
be more comprehensive in explaining to the parents with kids in district why we’re taking
the data we are.”

The proposal gives the Board of Education a year to conduct the study. Lawmakers would
examine the findings before determining the next step.

Illinois Radio Network can be reached at [email protected].