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Hinsdale Dist. 86 president out, but voters say yes to his questions

Hinsdale voters told their elected leaders they'd like a law forbidding teachers from striking and would appreciate some input on teacher evaluations.

But on Election Day last week, they also voted out of office the school board president who cooked up the idea of an advisory vote on those very issues.

Richard Skoda came in fourth among the six candidates vying for the three seats on the high school District 86 board. His ballot questions, however, received a much better response.

Sixty percent of voters said “yes” to banning teacher strikes, while 68 percent favored allowing parents and students to have input in teacher evaluations.

Even Skoda's detractors on the divided school board say residents have given them direction to have a discussion on whether to bring the vote to the attention of state lawmakers.

“We could get people involved to get things moving forward on our behalf,” said incumbent Jennifer Planson, who won a second term Tuesday along with two newcomers.

Board member Edward Corcoran, who supported the referendums, put it even more strongly. “Formally presenting” the referendum results to lawmakers in Springfield, he said, isn't just an option — it's “the right thing to do.”

“That's what the board said we would do,” he said, adding that more local control for prohibiting the right to strike would be “a great first step for Illinois.”

Planson voted against putting both questions on the ballot, saying she believed there were other ways to gather public input.

“I thought it was a waste of the district's money,” she said. “These (questions) are no-brainers. It's not any surprise the way it came down, and the way the community voted. Nobody wants a strike.”

Planson said that the board can't ban teacher strikes, but if that is what voters want, then the board can encourage lobbying groups and local representatives to advocate for such legislation downstate.

Skoda didn't respond to requests for comment, but earlier this year he told the Daily Herald that the first question was inspired by the threat of a teachers strike the district faced last year.

“It's almost impossible to deal with people who are holding your kids hostage, which they (the teachers) were,” he said at the time, adding that most states don't allow teachers to strike.

The board voted 4-2 in January to put both nonbinding questions on the ballot.

Corcoran said they were a great way to see what was on people's minds.

“I think it is truly an American way of getting feedback, and using the children and the parents as a commercial bargaining tool is about as un-American as you can get,” he said.

As for the second question, Skoda said at the time he felt it was necessary because teacher evaluations are currently completed with only two factors in mind: student growth numbers and the administration's judgment.

Planson said while allowing parent and student input on teacher evaluations is a good idea, such a decision is not up to the school board.

“I would like to leave those decisions up to our administration to figure out how we can put those in,” she said, “if we can put those in, and the best ways to do that.”

• Daily Herald staff writer Robert Sanchez contributed to this report.

  Sixty percent of voters in Hinsdale High School District 86 supported banning teacher strikes. In addition, 68 percent voted "yes" to allowing parents and students to have input on teacher evaluations. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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