Columns
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Media, messages and the deepening search for trustAug 01, 2024 4:00 am - I’ve never been able to comfortably understand Marshall McLuhan’s famous dictum “the medium is the message.” It seems to me a quaint way of saying “the medium defines the...
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Effective planning requires examining cell phone use in schoolsJul 28, 2024 4:00 am - As the superintendent of Community Unit School District 303, I am exceptionally proud of the Strategic Plan we introduced in the fall of 2023. Our Strategic Plan guides o...
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School-funding pitch good for state, not just ChicagoJul 26, 2024 4:00 am - Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago is pushing Springfield to fully fund the state’s school financing formula, the “Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act,” or EBF. ...
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The enduring, important role of ‘keepsakes’Jul 25, 2024 4:00 am - We think of them as “keepsake editions.” They describe events of historic moment, good and bad. They provide a vivid reminder in a close, personal way of how we felt — an...
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Biden’s withdrawal a gracious stepJul 25, 2024 4:00 am - President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential contest is becoming, in the sense of complimentary to him, reflecting well on him. That is a term ra...
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Reflections on mixed success in 25 years of nurturing trustJul 18, 2024 11:10 am - Today, forgive me some self-indulgence. But significant anniversaries do deserve acknowledgment, no? In June 1999, I served a variety of newsroom functions at the Daily H...
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The importance of context — and reserve — in dealing with controversyJun 27, 2024 6:50 pm - A few weeks ago, I discussed the lessons of a controversy at Glenbrook South High School in terms of free speech. It turns out the flap over a student’s comments in the s...
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When TV doesn't cut it, days and nights of community fun may be what you needJun 20, 2024 4:18 pm - You know, you don’t have to sit home this weekend bouncing back and forth from Netflix to Prime to Max to Hulu, Apple TV+ and beyond wondering how there could be so many ...
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Through hard times and good, Dad is in your cornerJun 15, 2024 12:12 pm - I am just going to say it: my teenage years were not good. Fueled by fire and fury, I rebelled against everything I could, even to my own detriment. I ignored my schoolwo...
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Australia’s importance growing in contest with ChinaJun 14, 2024 4:00 pm - Outside Sydney Australia, a major development is unfolding. A nondescript building will house the first factory outside the United States to build the Lockheed Martin Gui...