State Lawmakers are relying on local tax dollars to fund Regional superintendents in the coming year.
This fiscal year the superintendents went five months without pay last year after Governor Pat Quinn vetoed their state funding from the budget. They finally got their paychecks last fall after the legislature came to their aid, and passed a measure that required local tax dollars be used to fund the offices. That was supposed to be a temporary fix. But the budget approved by the General Assembly once again uses the Personal Property Replacement Tax to pay regional superintendents' salaries. Still, the budget does rely on state money to pay for some of the regional offices of educations' operations. Now it's in Governor Pat Quinn's hands. Jeff Vose is the Regional Superintendent for Sangamon County. Vose says he thinks Governor Quinn knows why the offices are important: "I think he understands and appreciates what we do and also we do have a lot of support from the General Assembly and from the constituents that those legislators serve." Vose says he doesn't think the offices will be on the chopping block again. Regional superintendents are responsible for overseeing student truancy services, managing school buses, and teacher certification.
