School headline was misleading

Your editorial criticizing the Illinois Association of School Boards for addressing a resolution on 18-year-olds who want to be school board members is misleading.

The IASB elicits resolutions from its member districts for consideration at the annual convention. Any district can submit a resolution for consideration. A resolutions committee (consisting of individuals from member districts) makes recommendations regarding adoption based on numerous criteria, including laws governing public education. However, such recommendations do not decide the outcome. Rather, the vote of the delegate assembly (consisting of a voting member from all school districts) determines the final disposition of every resolution.

Thus, the approach for handling resolutions is as democratic a process as can exist. You have chosen to criticize the topic, in turn inferring the process is illegitimate.

Finally, your comment "the chances of an 18-year-old being elected are so slim and the conflicts so fleeting as to be hardly worth considering" isn't the proper approach for addressing an issue. It suggests that school boards and the IASB wait for an incident or crisis to occur before taking action. That's exactly what addressing such situations up-front seek to avoid.

Unfortunately, the Herald seems to have taken an inflammatory approach in expressing its opinion on this topic.

Richard Benson

School Board Member

Mount Prospect District 57