In the vast majority of cases, this is simply a formality...and the chances of winning an objection even rarer.

However...

We are talking Cairo School District Number One...which cries (financial) "WOLF" at the drop of a hat, unless, of course, that hat is passed by its stable of attorneys.

I mean...

This is the same District, the same attornies, who followed up a loss in an arbitration case by spending another $150,000 or so taking the same arguments to an IELRB hearing...only to lose again. These folks don't take "NO" for an answer. The way they think...they're probably anxious to play for "The best 1 out of 3."

Bottom line...

I shall NOT publish any further specifics of the Administrative Law Judge's ruling until it becomes "official".

Once again, we will have an opportunity to witness which group is held in higher esteem by the powers that be in Cairo School District Number One...the people who teach the children, or the lawyers.

Let's hope that for once, they defy the odds...

Speaking of footnotes...

I can't resist making an exception to my proclamation to "NOT publish any further specifics of the Administrative Law Judge's ruling until it becomes 'official'."

There was this footnote...on Page 12 of the ruling.

For YEARS - long before even the James Gibson case - I have been publicly lamenting the Cairo School District's enormous legal bills. I have written and/or spoken to Superintendents, to the Board of Education, to the Financial Oversight Panel. Hell, my neighbors have probably call 9-1-1...to report some strange animal, baying at the moon!

All for naught...unheard cries in the wilderness.

Until now.

It is with great personal satisfaction that I publish an observation made by the ALJ about my previously futile efforts...