Who needs this kind of experience?
Several letters to the editor supporting the incumbents for the District 211 board of education set up a series of "straw men" for the authors to knock over.
The first is we need the experience they bring to the board. Those who advance this argument would do well to consider the following examples of experience and leadership:
• They voted year after year for a tax levy that has resulted in district reserves rising to $138 million, which well exceeds the board policy of $86 million. That's money that has been stripped out of every resident's wallet. If the board fails to comply with a policy, why is that policy even there? Can we expect the board to ignore other policies they feel might be inconvenient?
• The incumbents completely failed in their fiduciary duty to represent the community by not even bothering to participate in contract negotiations with the labor unions!
• Most egregiously, the incumbents either swept under the rug or have failed to address the very real and significant education gap that separates white and minority students. This isn't just a recent phenomenon as ISBE records of academic achievement over the last 15 years vividly illustrate this ongoing failure.
How is it the incumbents can support spending millions and millions on sports facilities and can't find the time to fulfill their primary mission to assure that ALL our students receive an appropriate education?
The incumbents also fought tooth and nail to not record board meetings and make them available to the public. Transparency? I think not!
The slate of Bonatz, David and Forrest are the breath of fresh air this board desperately needs. Their wide-ranging experience will be the catalyst that assures a renewal in the community's goal of achieving educational excellence.
Joe H. Heater
Palatine