Biggest suburban district needs change

Much has happened in the suburbs' largest school district in recent weeks. And none of it, thankfully, has had to do with the racial bias lawsuit that has kept the cash registers ringing for four years at a variety of law firms. Or violence in the schools. Or the release of poor test scores.

We've seen real change in Elgin Area School District U-46, the school system that serves 41,000 students from 11 communities in three counties. Sweeping change.

These are the kind of things that are bound to prompt taxpayers in struggling districts across the suburbs to ponder the benefit of similar moves.

Say what you will about Jose Torres' approach in his first seven months on the job as U-46's superintendent. But he is taking decisive action. He puts himself out there every day and doesn't run the district from behind a desk or hide from the public, as his predecessor did. We like that.

Some of his earlier initiatives have been of the warm and cuddly variety - a mentoring programs for at-risk boys and goading kids into getting library cards.

Some of his changes, though, have had a more explosive quality. The ouster of many of his closest advisers in the district's central office. The removal of all 13 administrators at Larkin High School in Elgin. And the two top people at Canton Middle School in Streamwood.

And the announcement on Friday that come hell or high water the district would trim $17 million from its roughly $450 million budget next year in order to balance it. What Torres demands is accountability in governance of our schools and in the spending of our tax money.

There may be some collateral damage in this approach, we readily concede, and only time will tell whether his changes - both large and small - will have a measurable impact on the education the kids who attend U-46's 53 schools receive.

But the fact that he's making changes is enough for many in the community who are tired of suffering with the kind of reputation that U-46 has received over the years.

There is a lot of good in this district: many, many committed teachers and volunteers, engaged students and parents.

Those who aren't so committed to the district's success need a dose of tough love.

While Torres said his actions weren't meant to send a message to shape up or face unemployment, that's just the message that U-46 employees are receiving.

And that's not a bad thing. Torres is calling for a renewed sense of accountability. Those whose mission it is to educate kids - from administrators to teachers to parents and kids themselves - ought to listen up.

Torres concedes that these changes - notably budgetary cuts - will be difficult at times. "I know this message sounds grim; however, I know the resiliency of this school system and its staff," Torres said last week.

Hmmm, didn't we hear a similar message delivered in Washington about a month ago?