Some questions, answers about candidates

Is anyone else confused by the District 15 elections? I have been trying to get some answers, mostly to why it has been so contentious. I'll share what I found:

Q: Which of these candidates really supports public education? I heard some board members pulled their kids out of the D15 public schools.

A: Three current board members have kids in elementary school. All three have pulled kids out of the public schools and put into private! They are Kelly Keenan, Wendy Rowden and Tim Millar. What is going on? Fortunately, only one is running for the board again.

Q: I have heard that some candidates don't like the teachers being in a union and others support the union. Why is this important? Why would anyone want to break a union? My husband is in a union, so are a lot of contractors like electricians, plumbers and lots of others. How about policemen and firefighters? All work hard. If they weren't in a union, you can bet they wouldn't be getting any benefits anymore

A: Of the eight candidates running, four say nothing negative or positive about the teachers union: Peggy Babcock, Matt Taylor, Rich Bokor, and Mark Bloom. Ms. Babcock and Mr. Bokor went on farther to state that they need to work together during negotiations and it would be a "failure of both parties" if a contract could not be negotiated in good faith. Three seem to only say negative things about other candidates and really stress that the other candidates are bad or are pro-union; apparently that's a bad thing in their minds.

Q: Is it true that the board won't even pay for roofs to be fixed?

A: Yes, the district has several buildings in need of major repairs, especially roof issues. There had been a shift to saving money, even money designated for repairs. If they don't fix them now, the buildings could be ruined or the damage could get worse. Now, apparently there is no longer the funding to properly take care of what needs fixing.

Alison Griffin

Palatine