By AP/KWMU
Springfield, Ill – Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich agreed Friday with legislative leaders on a plan to give him more control over managing public schools.
The Democrat says the proposal would allow him to immediately name seven of nine new State Board of Education members. Future governors could replace five members upon taking office and the rest two years later.
Blagojevich originally proposed abolishing the state board. He blamed it for everything from low test scores to tainted school lunches.
The governor wanted to create a cabinet-level education department under his control.
Legislators wanted school policy to be independent of politics. But they agreed to let the governor appoint decision-makers more quickly and remove them for incompetence.
The plan also allows schools to voluntarily participate in buying pools for office supplies and prescription drugs.