My thoughts on @lindachapalavia #Resolution 895 to have #ISBE take over #IHSA
@ilwatchdog @SJRthedome @Illinois_Stage @capitolbureau

Initially meant only for my "friends" on Facebook, due to their overhwleming support, I thought I would tweet as well:

I have received dozens of texts, emails, calls or people asking me what’s up with ISBE taking over the IHSA (HR895) over the last few days. What I have written below was done so as a citizen of Illinois and not an IHSA employee. I work at the IHSA, which is often under a great deal of scrutiny over decisions we do or do not make (or decisions our members make). In that regard I sympathize with government and politicians, because no matter how much good they do, they will never please everyone. However, when they overstep their bounds, as I believe they are currently doing, it’s difficult for me to comprehend their reasoning. I penned the letter below tonight (April 3). I’m not really sure who it is to. At times it was a letter to an editor, at times a letter to my state representative, and at other times simply an outlet for my frustration. I considered sending it to several newspapers (and still may), but given that I struggle with brevity and that some of my opinions contradict the Illinois Press and Broadcasters Association, I’m not sure if they could even publish it as members. Any who, I decided to post this on Facebook to let my thoughts be known and hear yours as well. While my opinions below do not reflect the Illinois High School Association, I do want to keep my job as long as possible, so I did inform my boss that I was planning on posting something and was instructed to “exercise sound judgment as I would with any other social media post.” I believe I have done that, so here are roughly 1000 words on House Bill 895…

I wanted to try and provide some perspective on the fairly sudden events regarding a potential state takeover of my employer that have played out the past few weeks.
Recently, Representative Chapa LaVia (Aurora area) introduced a House Resolution suggesting that the General Assembly look into having the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) take over the functions of the IHSA.

The IHSA is not a perfect organization, we have our issues like any other, and we have processes in place to try and deal with those issues as they arise. But this Resolution isn’t about your normal hot-button IHSA issues like the multiplier or multiple classes.

Chapa Lavia cited financial and safety concerns among her reasoning, and was quoted as saying, “There’s this regalness to them that it’s almost like, ‘How dare we request anything”.

While “regal” doesn’t necessarily fit the bill of the IHSA staff, a group that consists mostly of former high school teachers, coaches and administrators, her assessment of the Association’s reaction was spot on.

The IHSA has been a financially solvent staple of this state for over 100 years and worked closely with the General Assembly countless times during its existence, including projects in the past few years like instituting PED drug-testing, developing a Return To Play Concussion protocol that was eventually adopted as a state-wide law, collaborating on Rocky’s Law, and likely working together on forthcoming concussion education requirements for high school coaches.

To receive no warning, no questions, not even an obligatory phone call, prior to this resolution being made public absolutely placed us on the defensive. Let’s not kid ourselves; there is a dubious history in the state of Illinois regarding financial corruption. With this one careless resolution, the IHSA was cast as just another unethical entity in the eyes of many, despite a century’s worth of fiscal evidence to the contrary.

The unspoken innuendo that there is something underhanded occurring financially within our walls is what troubles me the most. We are a relatively small group of 25 (10 administrators, 15 support staff) who work hard to oversee an Association that offers nearly 40 sports and activities, and serves over 800 member schools, 30,000 coaches, 300,000 participating students and another 13,000 officials. When the economy took a grim turn nearly a decade ago, the IHSA faced the same challenges as other businesses and made the same types of sacrifices to be able to continue supporting its mission. Common sense tells me that if an organization isn’t fiscally responsible, it doesn’t go on for a century without a major shakeup of some sort, whether that be a bankruptcy, firings/arrests or otherwise. My ’03 Elantra is living proof that I must have been home sick on the day they handed out the big bags of money from the slush fund (just kidding, there is no slush fund).

As the IHSA’s media relations liaison, this matter only becomes more complicated for me personally with the Illinois Press Association and Illinois Broadcasters Association announcing their support for House Bill 0895 this week. I am privileged to work with media members from all over the state, many of whom have become good friends. About a decade ago, just before I began working here, the IHSA and IPA had a bitter lawsuit over photo rights. There was a lot of vitriol that carried over from that case, but in working with and getting to know many of the photographers who are literally out in the field covering high school events, I think much of it has dissipated from their standpoint. I don’t know a ton about the IPA, and may be naïve or just not smart enough to understand, but I honestly can’t comprehend how knowing the details of the IHSA’s Wilson ball contract furthers their mission or helps the press members they serve. I do know some of it relates to the IHSA’s decision to join the NFHS Network, which in turn moved postseason games that are streamed on www.IHSA.tv to a subscription model (please note that the subscription money is split between the streaming provider and school, none goes to the IHSA).

There is a dose of irony in that argument as I see it. It’s obviously no secret that the newspaper business has struggled of late and I have seen good friends in the industry leave or lose their jobs, while many publications have shrunk, consolidated or closed their doors altogether. No one knows better than the newspaper industry the difficulty of sustaining a business model where your content is given away free on the internet (and in many cases the difficulty of then trying to charge for that content online after years of not doing so). Thus, in our goal to try to provide a sustainable long-term streaming program, in many ways we have followed the same blueprint as the newspapers.

Some of my friends and peers have weighed in suggesting that the government only wants to know how much the IHSA’s various contracts are worth so they can size up a cut for the state. If that were the case, it would be unfortunate, because I can tell you that Gatorade coolers and team photos from Visual Image Photography won’t be enough to eliminate anyone’s debt.

Luckily, I’m not that cynical. But I do believe that our state’s times and resources would be better spent focused on other areas. I say that selfishly, and not in the sense of someone who doesn’t want to lose his job, but rather as a husband of a third-grade teacher and father three of children under six years old who is counting on the state to help his family succeed in education.

It’s even more frustrating to hear Representative Chapa LaVia say that she knows little about our organization or how we operate, which causes the mind to run wild with theories on who is really behind this resolution and why.

Like my co-workers, I have gone through a wide range of emotions since this news broke. None got a greater reaction from me than this quote the Illinois Press Association provided from one of its committee members:

"I think it's time we have a discussion concerning the financial and public policy implications of continuing to outsource a profitable and easily sold product – in this case, high school sports, to a seemingly unaccountable third party.”

If “unaccountable” means posting your financial information and annual report on your website http://www.ihsa.org/Resources/DownloadCenter.aspx (click documents tab) for the world to see, then we are guilty as charged.

However, if I ever become so jaded as to begin viewing the coaches, student-athletes, administrators and officials I have the pleasure of working with every day as a “product”, there will be no need for resolutions, hearings, bills or otherwise. I’ll gladly hand in my resignation.

I know that won’t happen. I just wish I could say the same about Resolution 895.

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