Editorial: School board results in Dist. 211 make a statement about more than just race

The Daily Herald Editorial Board Reflecting on their election to the Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 school board, Curtis Bradley and Tim McGowan found important lessons about the nature of our community.

Bradley is a bank vice president from Hoffman Estates. McGowan is a loss mitigation specialist from Palatine. Both are Black.

"I think it's a huge statement," McGowan said of their election, and it may be.

The two men are far from the only minorities elected to suburban school or municipal boards, but their selection from a field of eight candidates seeking three seats on the District 211 school board does put them in somewhat exclusive company. So, it may well be that their election says something about the openness of suburban voters to candidates of color. But we're also struck by an impact the candidates saw that is outside the obvious realm of race and race relations.

Awareness of race and equity issues was an important part of both men's school board campaigns, but in interviews after the election with our Eric Peterson, they also noted the importance of another kind of awareness - that of community involvement.

McGowan noted that he didn't know much about the school board's role when he was a high school student himself, an acknowledgment that's probably true for most of us. But the prominence of his and Bradley's victory, he said, may help students gain a greater awareness of how the district works.

Bradley, too, noted that he finds today's students more knowledgeable about the job of the school board, and he promised to try to build further on that foundation with regular visits to District 211 campuses.

So, students in District 211 may indeed find a statement about attitudes toward race in the election of two Black candidates to their school board. But they also can find a statement about leadership, involvement and how their community works irrespective of racial, ethnic or social considerations.

McGowan put it simply.

"Representation matters," he said.

That terse observation strikes at the very core of democracy.

No doubt, there are conclusions to draw from the results of the District 211 school board election, and those pertain to important topics like social awareness and community values. But there may be no more encouraging reflection than Bradley's and McGowan's emphasis on what their election says to students about participation in and understanding of local government.

What a powerful, and appropriate, statement on which to launch a school board career.