Residents: Don't vote against your self-interest

A quick survey of the school board election signs in Palatine and the surrounding area indicates that many of my neighbors are either school district employees or they do not understand the dynamics behind school board elections. The simple fact is this: the candidates preferred by most school district employees and their unions are usually those least likely to represent the interests of the community as a whole.

This is perfectly logical. School employee union members work hard to elect people who, once elected, are expected to respond favorably to their demands. The symbiotic relationship between the unions and school board candidates results in school employees being doubly represented in the decision-making process - once by their unions and then again by the school board members they helped to elect, in effect leaving the community without representation.

Election after election, union members faithfully talk up their candidates, display signs and walk neighborhoods. As a result, many well-meaning parents and the general public unwittingly vote for the candidates least likely to actually represent their interests. Or they simply fail to vote at all, leaving the elections to school employees who turn out in droves at the polls. We have to look no further than our own property tax bills and the financial crisis in Springfield to see the outworking of this after a few decades.

That is why I'm voting for independent candidates on April 7th - Sriram, Annerino and Iannuzzelli for District 15 and Dombrowski for District 211. I hope many others will do the same.

Teri Paulson

Hoffman Estates