Phil Pritzker: 2025 candidate for Wheeling Township Elementary District 21 board

Bio

Office sought: Wheeling Township Elementary District 21 board (Vote for 4)

City: Buffalo Grove

Age: 71

Occupation: Community Association Manager

Previous offices held: Wheeling Township Elementary District 21 board since July 1989

Why are you running for this office? Is there a particular issue that motivates you?

My rationale is as it has always been — to have an opportunity to be part of the process that honors public education through public school governance without a personal or hidden agenda.

Public education serves over 90% of all school-age children deserves people that want to provide the very best possible education in a safe and supportive environment that encourages the students to be inquisitive and open to all possible future endeavors while learning the basic foundation of curriculum and the ability to critically think.

What is the role of the school board in setting and monitoring the curriculum?

As a board of education, our role is to govern the district and we hire one person directly — the superintendent — and we then as a board are responsible for holding that person responsible for hiring the team of individuals that will determine the proper curriculum.

As a board, we review the recommendations and determine along with direct conversations with the superintendent what our community values in terms of what the students should learn during their school years.

The curriculum should reflect community values along with the tools they will need in the future so that each student can strive to meet and surpass their potential.

Are there curriculum issues within the district that you feel need particular attention from the board?

The basics of high level math, science and understanding what they read should always be in vogue. In our very diverse district, the basics are fundamental; but there must be the opportunity to succeed in higher order, critical thinking skills that will be a key throughout their lives.

As an integral part of their learning should also be the ability to understand the world and the diverse people whom they will share their future with — to this end, empathy and the ability to collaborate and understand that we all come from very different places in our upbringing which may result in different manners of expression and world view.

How do you view your role in confronting policy or curriculum controversies: provide leadership even if unpopular, give a voice to constituents — even ones with whom you disagree, or defer to state authorities?

As a governing board, controversies will be an inevitable aspect of our experience. We must be willing to listen — actively listen — to what the constituents say, take into account the recommendations from our professional team along with outside consultants which they may believe is integral to our consideration.

All of that is digested, discussed, ask questions and receive clarification responses and then in a collaborative manner, the board must come to a decision that is best for the students. There will always be outside pressures to do this or that, but in the end, you must synthesize all of the information, consider it all and arrive at a solution, and make sure that the community knows that they have been heard.

Describe your experience working in a group setting to determine policy. What is your style in such a setting to reach an agreement and manage school district policy? Explain how you think that will be effective in producing effective actions and decisions for your school board.

Over my term on the board, I have had the privilege of being president at three different junctures, the last term from 2017-23. It is integral to the process to have each member engaged and involved in asking their questions, providing their thoughts and then engage in discussion.

Depending on the item or issue, I have normally had the other 6 members provide their thoughts before offering mine; although there have been times when I started off the discussion to get reactions to where I thought we needed to go on an issue.

A strong believer in collaboration and the best decision involves having everyone’s thoughts on the table so that all considerations are part of the decision-making process.

We have had a strong and forward-looking board and once decision have been made, we have provided a unified, if not a unanimous presentation to the community.

What is your assessment of the school district's diversity and equity efforts? Do you support the continuation or enhancement of such programs, of would you rather see them diminished. Please explain your reasoning.

Our district is a majority-minority district and in that vein, it is vitally important that we use that as an important strength in the district. By denying diversity and making sure that all are vital and important, we would be sending a damaging message to our community and, in particular, to our students.

Our community is diverse, our state and our nation are diverse — in fact, our country was predicated on people from all across the world to come here to create a better and more equal existence. We cannot and should not abandon efforts of equity for our students and our community.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

A combination of my long local tenure (longest in district history) and the experiences and challenges faced and met for the district. Having had the opportunity to work on the board of directors for the Illinois Association of School Boards for 10 years serving as its president from 2015-17, provided an opportunity to work with board members and district administrators from all across the state and nation which has allowed me to bring back an understanding on a national scope with contacts to be considered during our local considerations.

Having been honored in 2021 with the ISBE Thomas Lay Burroughs Award as the outstanding school board leader in Illinois acknowledged the effort and service to public education over 30-plus years of service — and, I continue to enjoy the same interest in serving our community.

What’s one good idea you have to better your district that no one is talking about yet?

We need to constantly engage our community and expand the voices that we listen to in order to have a more complete understanding of the issues that are vital and important to our community. This should be an ongoing process that we institutionalize in our district in order to keep improving our offerings for the students.