Guest column: 'No' vote is needed to protect education in Lisle Dist. 202

The issue of the Lisle School District 202 ballot proposition is a source of earnest debate inside and outside our community.

Lisle Dist. 202 is a gem within DuPage County. Its students are first rate, its educators are phenomenal and the opportunities provided to all students are exceptional. Parents within Lisle know this first hand, and that excellence in education has been confirmed repeatedly by many sources including: The Washington Post, US News and World Reports, College Board, Niche and the State of Illinois.

Lisle Schools are exemplary, the top 10 percent of all schools in Illinois, top 7 percent nationwide, and boast a 99 percent graduation rate. The referendum would deeply damage all the Lisle District 202 schools, and a "no" vote is best the way to protect our children and our community.

• If this referendum passes, it will permanently remove $1.2 million from the district's $18.3 million Education Fund (a 6.6 percent decrease), bankrupting the district in a few short years.

• If this referendum passes, the district, which operates annually on a balanced budget, will not be able to afford the significant loss of funds. The district would be forced to cut valuable programs and services: increasing class sizes, removing world languages, honors/AP classes, technical/technology courses, band, choir and sports/activities; also reducing the number of interventionists.

• If programs and services are reduced, then the children of Lisle will lose necessary, valuable academic and enrichment opportunities; their education will suffer, and the schools within Lisle will become less desirable.

• If the schools became less desirable, it will negatively impact our community and property values. Research from local Realtors has shown that $50,000 of the market value of an average home in Lisle is directly connected to the vibrant, properly funded school district.

The Daily Herald has already provided clear insight on this referendum when they endorsed the school board candidates who are voting "no" and support defeating this proposition (Ahlmann, Kiener-Barnett, Nadeau and Helderle). The Herald said: "(the law allowing this proposition) is meant to help lower-income schools reach higher quality educational goals, not encourage districts with stronger local resources to accept lower standards."

There is no doubt the tax burden in Illinois is heavy, but taking needed funding from the schools, reducing them to "just adequate," is not the correct solution to that problem. Voting no will not increase taxes; it will maintain funding at current levels, sustaining excellent schools. For the sake of protecting our community, and our children vote no on April 2.

Josh Martin, of Lisle, is an active parent in the Lisle School District 202 who has helped lead community efforts to defeat the referendum in Lisle School District 202.