Sports Is Education - Bios

William Kling
Attorney

William C. Kling is Of Counsel with the law firm of Ancel Glink in Chicago. He received his B.A. degree in Economics from the University of Colorado and his J.D. degree from Illinois Institute of Technology-Chicago Kent College of Law, with a Certificate in Environmental Law and Policy.

Mr. Kling has provided advice and counsel to educational institutions, local governments and non-profit organizations both in the boardroom and the courtroom for over 15 years, as a private practitioner and as in-house counsel. He has extensive experience in all aspects of governance and management including labor & employment matters; children and youth issues including regular and special education; board governance issues; finance and bidding; planning and zoning, construction law; and community partnerships. During the 1980's, Mr. Kling was an Urban Planner in Lake County, Illinois, where he focused on comprehensive land use planning, stormwater and solid waste management, zoning and subdivision review. From 1992 to 1998, as General Counsel at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove, Illinois, he worked closely with local leaders as well as state and federal legislators on a number of policy initiatives. He was a founding member of the Illinois Community College Board Center for Policy Development Advisory Committee and chaired its Workforce Working-group. He also co-chaired the Greater Aurora Chamber of Commerce Legislative Committee for several years.

Since joining Ancel, Glink in 1998, in addition to his corporate representation of school districts, public and non-profit entities, Mr. Kling served as Consortium Counsel for the South Cook Education Consortium, a coalition of elementary school districts on the Southern urban fringe of Chicago. In that capacity, he worked with the member school districts to secure funding for initiatives including technology enhancement, whole family education, and student workforce preparation and skills development.

Mr. Kling is active in many professional development activities. He speaks and writes regularly, and has served on the IIT-Chicago Kent College of Law Public Sector Labor Law Advisory Committee for 15 years. Mr. Kling is an adjunct professor of law at IIT-Chicago Kent College of Law where he teaches a course he developed entitled "Legislative Advocacy", and a Clinical Assistant Professor at University of Illinois Chicago, School of Public Health. For several years, he was an officer on the Giant Steps Illinois, Inc. Board of Directors, and the Executive Committee of the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC). He presently serves on the boards of the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health (ICAH), Sports is Education Foundation, the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Interagency Nutrition Council (INC) and the Illinois Obesity Steering Committee. He also is on the Board of Trustees for the Illinois Council on Economic Education (ICEE). He was one of five attorneys serving as Counsel to Governor George Ryan's Commission to Rewrite the Illinois School Code. He was also on Governor Rod Blagojevich's Education Transition Team, and Chaired the Youth Violence Subcommittee. He was a member of the Illinois State Board of Education's NCLB School Choice and Paraprofessional Task Forces, and presents annually at the state NCLB conference. He presently is a member of the Illinois Consortium for Educational Leadership under the State Action for Educational Leadership Project (SAELP). He has also chaired his local Parent Teachers Association's Legislative Committees for several years. He has written extensively on municipal, school and local governmental law issues. He can be reached at wckling@sbcglobal.net or 630.531.7977