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Class Size, School Size, District Size
School District 158 revisits meeting spat
One day after a series of revelations about a Nov. 13 closed session, the Huntley Unit District 158 school board Thursday debated and discussed the fallout from the meeting.
On Wednesday, local media learned that a board member filed a police report about an incident during the closed session; another board member filed a complaint against board colleagues with the state's attorney; and the board president called two board members "terrorists."...
President Shawn Green planned to clarify comments he made on Wednesday, calling board members Aileen Seedorf and Larry Snow "terrorists" and comparing their actions to terrorist attacks...
Seedorf has filed a police report accusing board Vice President Tony Quagliano of threatening her in closed session, a charge Quagliano has denied.
Snow has filed a complaint with the McHenry County state's attorney alleging criminal misconduct by Skala and other board members, according to board members.
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District 158 school board flap erupts
The controversy over a Nov. 13 meeting of the Huntley Unit District 158 school board was taken to another level Wednesday with a series of revelations and accusations.
Two days after the meeting, one board member filed a police report accusing another board member of threatening her and another board colleague during closed session on Nov. 13.
In that same closed session, it came to light that a board member had filed a complaint with the McHenry County state's attorney's office about fellow board members.
And on Wednesday, the board president referred to two board members as "terrorists" and likened their actions to terrorist attacks.
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The story of Jersey County: How education bureaucrats ignore the will of the voters
By John Biver
For years at The Champion Foundation we’ve been highlighting the many abuses within the government-run public school system when it comes to pay and pensions.
Now another entire chapter can be written about the abuses within the Illinois public school system thanks to the hard work of a few tenacious citizens in downstate Illinois.
The members of the Jersey County Coalition for Public Awareness are telling their story on their website, and it’s clear that what is happening in Jersey County is regularly occurring all across the state (see list here).
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Thousands of Kane County residents told wrong eligibility requirements for school board vacancy
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By John Biver
A convenient political error or carelessness that has almost become all too common once again took place in Huntley School District 158.
When School Board President Shawn Green issued a press release for a vacancy on the D158 board, it stated that the eligibility requirements include:
"A registered voter in the State of Illinois and McHenry County."
This had potential applicants believing that if they lived in Kane County, they would not be eligible. Who are the people who live in the Kane County portion of Huntley? 99% of them are from Sun City, an adult community that overwhelmingly voted against the last tax increase referendum.
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British Court Rules "Inconvenient Truth" Represents "Partisan Political Views," Requires School Disclaimer
Press Release from the Heartland Institute:
(Chicago, Illinois -- October 9, 2007) On October 2, 2007 a British court found Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, to be politically biased, and it ruled teachers must warn students of that bias before showing the film.
In the statement below, James M. Taylor, senior fellow for environment policy at the Heartland Institute, elaborates on factual errors in the film identified by the court and comments on the ruling...
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Illinois School Pushes Smut on Children
By Matt Barber
Illinois School District 126, covering Alsip, Hazelgreen and Oak Lawn, has defended its choice to assign summer reading to 12- and 13-year-olds that is replete with harsh profanity and references to teen sex (even teen sex with adults)...
I telephoned Robert Berger, superintendent of schools for District 126, fully expecting him to assure me that this foolishness would be remedied. But instead, his response was defiant, defensive and arrogant.
Berger refused to answer me when I asked him several times if District 126 believed that such mature content was appropriate for children. (I wonder; if it’s so appropriate, then why wouldn’t he defend it?)
Unfortunately the actions of District 126 are symptomatic of a metastasizing moral malady within our larger system of public education. Kids in public schools across the country are constantly inundated with material which promotes profanity, homosexuality, promiscuity and abortion.
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Salvo Magazine: Evolution Ed
By Karla Dial
An ongoing debate about whether schools should teach only evolution in science classes or change their policies to include intelligent design (ID)—which says life is too complex to have begun as a random chemical reaction in the primordial ooze—clicked into high gear last August when President George W. Bush said both theories should get equal consideration...
[T]o maintain the upper hand in schools, evolutionists must convince the public that ID and creationism are the same—by misinformation and character assassination if necessary.
As the Kansas education board debated including greater criticism of evolution in its science standards early last year, Liz Craig, public relations manager of Kansas Citizens for Science, detailed her plans to portray ID supporters “in the harshest light possible, as political opportunists, evangelical activists, ignoramuses, breakers of rules, unprincipled bullies, etc.” The fight was inevitable, she wrote, “but we can sure make them look like asses as they do what they do.”
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Broker compensation: In the Public Eye
By Glenn Morrison
Administrators of both educational and municipal employee benefits programs are constantly challenged by escalating premiums at a time when their budgets are not growing at an equivalent rate to keep pace. They are charged with the seemingly impossible task of providing their employees competitive benefits packages, while upholding their duty to the public for fiscal responsibility. To top it off, their actions and decisions to use available dollars most efficiently and effectively are under the daily scrutiny of taxpayers and board members. And, no expense or aspect of the plan is beyond inspection.
Many administrators cannot confidently claim to know exactly where every dollar is going and may not feel they even know all the right questions to ask. There are many aspects of a benefit plan to review, but there is one area that draws a particularly high level of confusion: broker compensation. This article will discuss two aspects of broker compensation and how it impacts employee benefits plans and the people making decisions about them.
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“Expert” school administrators have big problems managing taxpayer money
It’s common practice in Illinois for school administrators and school board members to refer to their top financial officers as “expert,” especially during a tax hike referendum when they’re apt to say anything to bolster the credibility of their case for more of your money. During last year’s referendum campaign, District 300 Board President Mary Fioretti publicly declared D300 CFO Cheryl Crates to be “an expert in her field.” Here is what Fioretti said:
"This woman [Crates] is not some backroom monkey with a pencil," Fioretti said. "She is an expert in her field. We are being judged by those who are not experts in this field."
But an article in the Northwest Herald this week raises serious questions about D300’s financial practices. According to that story, D300 is going to court to obtain financial records from a former employee who may have mishandled more than $100,000 missing from a student funds account. Actually, the district doesn’t even know how much money is really missing due to the record-keeping that D300 Superintendent Ken Arndt has described as “shoddy.” Taxpayers are left to wonder the following...
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With same number of students, that means more classrooms.
