Mom questioning field trips in minority

I was appalled to see the article “A field trip or a gambit?” featured on the front page of the Nov. 4 Daily Herald.

This smacks of biased reporting. The fact that it is a news article, and not an editorial opinion, leads me to believe that the reporter and her superiors failed in their journalistic duties.

The reporter was contacted by Cheryl Anderley, who is employed by Sears at its corporate headquarters. But did anyone at the Daily Herald ever ask D300 officials how many others made the same complaint? Did the reporter attempt to get the perspective of other D300 parents? And shouldn’t the thousands of D300 parents voluntarily opting to allow their children to participate show the Daily Herald that Ms. Anderley is clearly a minority?

I wonder if Ms. Anderley knows D300 has $1,500 less to spend per pupil each year than the average Illinois school district. This number jumps to $2,500 less per pupil when compared with Hoffman Estates elementary school students, and to $5,100 less per pupil when compared with Hoffman Estates High School students. I find these numbers outrageous.

Hoffman Estates is where Sears headquarters is located, and yet the Sears tax breaks don’t affect Hoffman Estates schools.

Shame on Hoffman Estates, Sears and Ms. Anderley for promoting the continuation of the unfair break in school property taxes that is being demanded of the 21,000 students in D300. It’s horrendous to see the bullying that is perpetrated by seemingly responsible corporations and communities. Sears agreed to a 23-year school tax break and is now holding the state of Illinois hostage until it agrees to another round of this unfair school tax break. This is nothing more than blackmail by Sears.

Diane Marks

Huntley