By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD - The New Year at the statehouse will, in one way or another, include discussions about pensions.

One idea has been to shift the burden of paying into the teachers’ pension system onto local districts.

The state’s K-12 superintendent says local districts are unlikely to welcome that.

“Public education is a tremendous asset,” says Christopher Koch, “(but) we’ve maintained a proportionate share of a diminished budget.”

On another subject, state board of education Chairman Gery Chico says technology has made the difference between today’s bullying and that of an earlier day.

“It’s a lot easier for me to bad-mouth you by e-mail than to look you in the eye,” he said.

He bemoans the decline in human interaction and adds the “cyber” aspect of bullying has made grownups take it more seriously.