Suburban legislators to attend education forum

With Springfield legislators considering bills that could drastically change the face of public education, local educators say they want answers and to be heard.

Aiming to do just that, the Northwest suburban regions of the Illinois Education Association will host an education forum from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 30, at Palatine's Cutting Hall, 150 E. Wood St.

State Sens. Matt Murphy and Dan Kotowski, as well as state Reps. Sid Mathias, Michelle Mussman, Carol Sente, Tom Morrison and David Harris have committed to take part in the panel discussion.

“There could be some radical changes to teacher bargaining rights, tenure, seniority, school consolidation, vouchers and other issues at the heart of public education,” forum organizer John Katzenmayer of the IEA said.

The event is open to the public, although special invitations were sent to the faculty, staff, administrators, school board members and mayors of several area school districts.

Fliers invite attendees to ask tough questions, get straight answers and let their voices be heard through an informal Q&A session.

For more information about the event, e-mail Katzenmayer at edforum@me.com.