Spickard, Bragaw, Perkins and Pinney for District 214

Three of the four incumbents in the Northwest Suburban High School District 214 board race - Miriam "Mimi" Cooper Spickard, Lenore Gonzales Bragaw and James Perkins - publicly endorsed challenger Mark Hineman for the fourth open seat over incumbent Leslie Pinney because he "shares our educational philosophy focused on enhancing student achievement and maintaining fiscal discipline."

Pinney, you may recall, thought in May 2006 certain books should be removed from the curriculum because of vulgarity and adult situations.

More recently, other incumbents say Pinney has needlessly raised questions about school business at board meetings. In one case, a purchase of new vans attracted only one bid - from a dealership that had contributed to a board member's campaign. Pinney asked if accepting the bid was a good idea.

Pinney was rightly outvoted on her book-list quest and has moved on. And now we think she is doing the right thing to raise questions at board meetings. Pinney, like the other incumbents, does her homework on District 214.

Mark Hineman, meanwhile, has not shown us a depth of knowledge of the district or education. For example, he told us he "didn't know enough of the specifics" of the No Child Left Behind Act. He should know more. So we endorse all the incumbents: Spickard, Bragaw, Perkins and Pinney.