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         March 13, 2010        

Sherman to take challenge of
public school tuition to
Illinois State Board of Education

Rob Sherman of Rob Sherman Advocacy will call on the Illinois State Board of Education ("ISBE"), at their next Board Meeting on Thursday, March 25, 2010, to ban unconstitutional tuition charges for instruction in the subjects taught at Illinois public schools.  I will ask the State Board to review the constitutionality of public school districts charging tuition for full day kindergarten, or for any other class that they provide to public school students.

I will highlight, as examples of this unconstitutional practice, the full day kindergarten program at Saint Charles School District 303 and the full day kindergarten program with the pseudonym "Half day kindergarten plus After School Enrichment," planned for the 2010-2011 school year at Batavia School District 101.  "After School Enrichment" is not an after school program at all.  It's the second half day of Batavia's full day kindergarten program.

For background on the issue of tuition for full day kindergarten at the St. Charles and the Batavia schools, see the March 10th report and the March 12th report of Rob Sherman News.

Article X, Section 1, of the Illinois Constitution, states in pertinent part:  "Education in public schools through the secondary level shall be free."

The Illinois Supreme Court, in the case of Segar versus the Rockford School Board, decided in 1925, stated that "instruction in the subjects taught, without a tuition charge, provides free schools," and that parents who are financially able to do so can be required to pay for materials, such as textbooks.

In other, more recent cases, from the 1970's and 1980's, the Illinois Supreme Court reiterated that public school fees are legal, so long as the fees are not tuition for educational services.

I will say to the State Board that, if the ISBE agrees with the Illinois Supreme Court and me that there is no wiggle room for public schools to charge tuition for instruction in the subjects taught, then the State Board should promptly inform each and every public school district in the State the following six things:

• Public school districts are prohibited from charging tuition for instruction in the subjects taught.

• That prohibition includes full day kindergarten, regardless of what name the public school district gives the program.

• If you are planning on charging tuition for any of your classes next year, you are prohibited from doing so.

• If you are currently charging tuition for any of your classes, you must immediately stop doing so.

• If you have collected tuition from parents of public school students, you must immediately return the money.

• Drivers' Education fees are not covered by this directive, as that matter is currently under litigation.

My daughter, Dawn, and I are the Plaintiffs in the Driver's Ed litigation.  School District 214 and the ISBE are the Defendants.  That matter will be decided "in due time" by the courts, and when the courts decide that case, we will move forward on that issue.  Until that time, it would be inappropriate for either the ISBE or me to comment further on the Driver's Ed matter.  Not only that, all of the parties to the Driver's Ed litigation are represented by counsel, so for that reason alone, it would be inappropriate for any of us to discuss or comment on the case.

Next week, I will invite both the St. Charles and Batavia school districts to send their own representatives to the March 25th ISBE Board Meeting to defend the constitutionality of their programs.  I doubt that they will, though, because their programs are blatantly unconstitutional.  There's nothing for them to defend.

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