August 19, 2018

To the Honorable Members of

The Illinois Senate,

100th General Assembly:

Today I veto Senate Bill 2345 which mandates a school report card disclose whether a school has participated in the Illinois Youth Survey.

The Illinois Youth Survey is administered every two years and provides information regarding social and behavioral habits of students in grades 8, 10, and 12, including patterns of substance use. Participation in the survey comes at no cost to schools, is not mandated, and student responses are anonymous, confidential, and aggregated by grade level. Furthermore, the survey results are not public and school reports are only released to administrators upon request.

Mere disclosure of a school’s participation in the Illinois Youth Survey will not reveal any substantive data findings, thus rendering the information useless. The information will make report card users no more informed about a school, as no additional data about academic performance or the school environment will be disclosed. This mandate will cause unnecessary confusion without providing any useful information to parents.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return Senate Bill 2345, entitled “AN ACT concerning education,” with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.

Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner

GOVERNOR