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District 203 referendum runs into opposition in Naperville

From www.hold203accountable.org:

This referendum is not about $82. It's about something much more important than money. This is a referendum about principle and values. It is about holding District 203 accountable. This is the third referendum in 14 years. It never ends because voters keep bailing out the fiscally irresponsible school district.

The 2002 referendum has become the largest taxpayer rip off in the history of Naperville. Taxpayers were told it would cost them $511. False promise. The amount is now $1,200. Parents don't increase the allowance of children who act irresponsibly. Why then would voters even consider handing over tens of millions of dollars more to such a fiscally irresponsible school district? Taxes have skyrocketed 55% over the last six years. The graph above is very distressing. Let 203 get their $82 from the hundreds being over collected from the 2002 referendum. If District 203 cannot makes ends meet with $220M and declining student enrollment, they are incompetent.

Voters reject three school tax increases

Downers Grove Grade School Dist 58
YES 2,941 33.33%
NO 5,882 66.67%

Darien Grade School Dist 61
YES 1,187 37.02%
NO 2,019 62.98%

Morton High School District 201
YES 2,416 27.98%
NO 6,218 72.02%

District 300 officials squandering public trust

Excerpts from Sunday's Daily Herald editorial:

When taxpayers elect school board members, most hope to find careful stewards of public money, visionaries of thoughtful planning and cautious guardians of the public trust. They also expect board members to protect tax dollars as if they were their own and to be honest and up front about how that money is spent.

It would seem Community Unit District 300 leaders have let down residents, who now have reason to believe that officials misled them during the district’s campaign for a 55-cent education fund tax hike and $185 million bond issue last spring.

D-300 voters deserve answers

Excerpts from a Northwest Herald editorial:

In the aftermath of District 300’s referendum victories in March, District 300 finance chief Cheryl Crates proclaimed, “The truth prevailed.”

Back then, District 300 was projecting 7,200 new students over the next five years... Well, last week the enrollment projections dipped a bit. OK, it was more than a bit. District 300 officials now say that at most, 3,879 new students will come to the district over the next five years. A conservative estimate has 2,188 new students arriving in the next five years…

Predictably, District 300 has been peppered with queries as to how the projections could be 46 percent off. Crates’ quote now is: “Why would we lie?” That’s a far cry from “The truth prevailed.” In retrospect, the truth did not prevail…

Enrollment forecast falls short in D300

From the Courier News:

Larry Snow -- a district critic and a Huntley School District 158 board member -- said he thinks the district used the high enrollment numbers in 2005 as a scare tactic to get the referendum to pass.

"The enrollment projections were a worse-case scenario from a consultant who happened to mention it could be as bad as 7,200 students," Snow said. "And they (the district) went along with that projection and that's the only number they used in the referendum.

"There was this huge crisis of extra students -- schools will be crowded if we don't immediately vote yes," Snow continued. "It's referendum politics, and fear sells referendums."

Letter to the Editor: Sorry for Support

From the Northwest Herald:

I would like to apologize to my friends, neighbors and fellow taxpayers. I was an active supporter of District 15’s recent referendum...

I was duped by this administration and unknowingly duped others into becoming supporters. I regret my decision to support the referendum. The money is in part being used to increase the salaries of the administrators and the superintendent. Read More

"All about the kids, tee-hee"

TheChampion Editor's note: Chris Bailey writes a column for the Daily Herald - and she used part of her column the other day to write about the contract negotiations currently taking place in D300. We take her comments as yet another example of how the truth about the education establishment is breaking through the cultural fog. Fewer and fewer people believe what public school boards, administrators, or teacher unions are saying. And that's good news for the future. Real school reform is coming. Read More

Common Cents regarding Barrington District 220

By James C. Hammond

Since the Barrington CUSD 220 ‘Bond for Building’ might impact our property taxes for the next few decades if approved, I decided to do a little research on the numbers presented by the district on their web site and from direct mail pieces. Read More

D-300 loose with tax cash

From the Northwest Herald:

It is time for local school boards to develop a backbone. School officials should stand their ground. If teachers threaten to strike, let them threaten, let them strike, let the walk the picket line until their shoes wear out.

The era of entitlement must come to an end. And it starts with District 300. Read More

The Champion Salary Database: an Email Exchange FYI

Not long ago an individual contacted us to let us know that their salary information in our database was inaccurate. Andy Metcalf with the ISBE, who was copied on the email, responded. We’ve decided to post this email exchange in an effort to help clear up confusion. We’ve removed the teacher’s name and email address as an act of compassion. Read More