U-46 candidates won’t be lap dogs

Few citizens follow the decisions of their board of education, and our District U-46, certainly mirrors that apathy. Coupled with a board that mimics lap dogs for the district’s entitlement-obsessed superintendent, Jose Torres, and who arrogantly dismiss taxpayers who do not share their unbridled support of Torres, we have a recipe for failure.

Controlling the major share of our property taxes, the district has one of the worst academic performance records in the suburbs — yet they continue to spend recklessly in pursuit of Torres’ social engineering experiments. Torres’ mantra is to “eliminate achievement gaps.” Not satisfied that every student has equal opportunities, Torres’ insists on equal results for all.

We are naive if we deny this fundamental threat to our freedom and individualism. The first corrective step is to elect board members who represent the needs of students, parents, and taxpayers — not the teacher unions or the entitlement mindset of Torres. With three board openings in Tuesday’s election, Frank Napolitano and Gary Percy are the best candidates to serve students, be responsive to parents/taxpayers, and oppose the wasteful, liberal policies of Torres.

Napolitano and Percy are fiscally conservative and, as good business people, expect useful returns for our district’s financial investments. They believe the primary objective of the school system should be teaching students to be effective lifelong learners — not to indoctrinate them with ideological biases of teachers or administration. Both support charter schools and believe parents/students deserve better options for their educational investment and that education tax dollars should follow the student — not controlled by a district that fails to deliver value.

Rick Newton

Wayne