District 25 can be more open and responsive in its communication with its constituents.

Last night I watched the village board meeting online. I could not be at the meeting physically, but I wanted to follow it and fortunately the village board has made the meeting available online. Also, I know a number of residents have had concerns about the village board recently so they have contacted the trustees who were open and available individually to hear the residents' concerns.

However, when I asked the D25 board about community input, The board President said in a July 14, 2016 email, “We meet regularly with our constituents: most often it is via phone, email, or in person in one-on-one meetings...for example, when you talked to me briefly after the last meeting. Also, there is a Board Rep who meets regularly with the ABC25 group and a rep that meets with the PTA Council, and then there are the various D25 events thru the school year we go to (parent nights at the schools, PTA meetings, Cultural Arts nights, community forums, etc.).” However, There has not been a board member at a single PTA meeting at my kids’ school in 2 years! Additionally, these meetings are closed to the general public. The Board cannot adequately represent the community if it does not regularly communicate with parents, teachers and the community at large.

Additionally, what should be simple and clear communication vehicles are not even correct. For example, some of the email addresses and phone numbers have been incorrectly listed on the School Board’s website. When parents have reached out to individual board members, they have refused to respond to emails and phone calls. In a July 13, 2016 email to a number of parents, Board President Page said, “As the president, I am the spokesperson for the Board and am responding on our behalf to your group.”

This leaves parents and the general constituency wondering what the other board members think about the issues facing our schools. It also leaves us wondering whether there is a free exchange of ideas and opinions. We must vote for four board members, and we should be entitled to hear from all of them about the important issues involved in our children’s education. Individual board members should be free to contact their constituents and there should be more opportunity to connect with the public.

Board members should have a public presence at community events; they should have a monthly open house coffee or brown bag lunch where constituents can come and discuss aspects of the school district.

Endorsing Joe Selbka and Seeking Change

I am happy to endorse and support Joseph Selbka for District 25 as a fellow challenger. Joe has a wealth of experience to bring to the board. He is a practicing lawyer who has lots of experience in educational and contractual law. 

He also served as a hearing officer for special ed cases in both Illinois and Washington DC. Besides having a law degree, Joe has a masters degree in public policy and he teaches public policy at UIC. Joe would be a fantastic school board member.

Voting for Joe and I helps ensure that change comes to the board. The Board President has a tremendous amount of power that is only increased by having four board members who will rubber stamp his agenda. This has been the case under the current school board. If you want change please support Joe and me for school board.
https://www.facebook.com/Joe-Selbka-for-District-25-School…/

5 Essentials to getting better

5 Essentials show that D25 can be better.

Schools in Illinois administer a survey to students, parents and teachers called "The 5 Essentials." This survey is anonymous so it provides unbiased input about each school district's performance.

The 5 Essentials survey shows vast room for improvement in District 25.

Only 19% of District 25 teachers feel their fellow teachers are oriented toward improvement and a willingness to be a part of an active learning environment, compared to 58% in similar schools! https://illinois.5-essentials.org/…/05016025…/measures/innv/. This is unacceptable. We want all of our teachers to be open to growth and improvement. We want our teachers to nurture learning in all of its form in the classroom.

Unfortunately, the way District 25 students feel about their education reflects these statistics. When teachers aren’t encouraging improvement and an active learning environment, our students don’t feel challenged.

Only 33% of students feel that their classes are rigorous enough. This is 13 percentage points behind similar schools. Despite not feeling challenged, District 25 only allows a tiny percentage of middle school students into advanced classes (5% for Advanced Language Arts). When parents and students request to be given the chance to have more rigorous curriculum, the District has denied requests and maintained the status quo.

https://illinois.5-essentials.org/…/0501602…/measures/rigr/…

Only 43% of students are engaged and interested in learning. This is 23 percentage points behind the state and 14 points behind similar schools! However, District 25 has been denying students access to more rigorous curriculum.

https://illinois.5-essentials.org/…/0501602…/measures/engg/…

Only 40% of students report clear learning goals and instruction that supports achievement. This is 16 points behind similar schools and 20 points behind the state. District 25 does not have clearly aligned goals for their courses. There is no curriculum map and courses are not aligned vertically or horizontally throughout the district.

https://illinois.5-essentials.org/…/05016025…/measures/clar/

A board should be open

District 25 Board needs to be more open to diverse opinions. 


The Board should welcome input from the community and should be accepting of dissenting opinions from its own members. Decision-making should include looking at all options and allowing all board members to voice disagreements or suggest alternate approaches. 
 For example, when voting on the proposed $12 million additions to Olive-Mary Stitt and Ivy Hill schools, the Board never considered rehabbing existing school buildings such as Miner and Rand Schools. Board member Rich Olejniczak agreed but was chastised by the Board President. From the March 25, 2015 Daily Herald article, “Before casting the only vote against the planned additions at Olive-Mary Stitt and Ivy Hill elementary schools, Olejniczak said the board process leading up to the decision lacked transparency and failed to consider all options.” Board Member Olejniczak requested that the process be more thorough and more transparent, but he was publicly rebuffed by other board members. The Board President actually told Mr. Olejniczak that "We are not in the business of coming up with the right answer!" When I am elected, I will try my hardest to come up with the right answers for this district.
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20150324/news/150329420/

D25 can be better and that's better for all of us.

The Board could serve its entire constituency better by improving its schools.  District 25 is a good district that has been attracting young families for the schools; however, the district lags behind the quality of the high school district.  In almost every measure, the high schools outperform District 25.  District 25only has 1 elementary school (#89) in the top 100 list in Illinois for Niche 2017.  On School Digger, Thomas is ranked 44th and South is ranked 133^rd.   We can do better.  What measures is the board using to determine whether our schools are successful?  

If the Board makes it a goal to score higher as a district, it boosts everyone's home value.  

The Board can serve its students better by creating an aligned and rigorous curriculum.

The D25 Board can be more responsible to its students by aligning the curricula to standards and assuring that classes within the district are aligned to each other.

The current board President said in 2013 that the district has been planning for Common Core since 2010. (Daily Herald http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130215/submitted/302158594/)

However, as we start 2017, the District is still not fully aligned.  There is no baseline measure for what all District 25 students are expected to learn each year.  This means that students within the same school may have very different learning outcomes.  Below is a list of the curriculum and content standards that other districts are using.  This information is easily accessible and is public information on these districts’ websites.  District 25 does not have any such information.  Additionally, when parents have asked the district for curriculum maps, they were told that it didn’t exist or they were denied access to it.

 Here are the curriculum goals for District 21
https://ccsd21.org/curriculum/reading-literature-informational-text-6/?sortby=subject

 Here are the curriculum goals for District 103
http://www.d103.org/page.cfm?p=2854

 Here are the curriculum goals and pacing guides for District 96
http://www.kcsd96.org/curriculum/Pacing-Guides-Middle-School.cfm

 Here are the essential outcomes for District 54
 https://sd54.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Mission-Vision-Commitments-and-Goals-English-8-2-16.pdf

In the 2013 Daily Herald, the Board President said,

“[Common Core] is something that District 25 has been planning for since 2010, which puts us ahead of the curve compared to many districts. I believe the common core standards will put children from across the country on a more level playing field in terms of what they are taught, how they are taught, and how we can evaluate a school in Illinois compared to a school in any of the other 46 states that have adopted these standards. The Board's job should be to ask relevant, essential questions during the curriculum planning and review process to ensure that it is the best curriculum for our students.”

If the District has been planning for Common Core since 2010, why are there no standards linking the curriculum in District 25 to the Common Core?  What are the relevant, essential questions that the Board has asked? What is the curriculum review process described in the 2013 article above?  Can the Board illustrate what the timeline for the curriculum review process has been since 2010?

As parents and taxpayers, we should know what the learning goals are for our kids.  And the district's vision should be for all students to reach those goals regardless of what teacher the student has or what school the student is in.

The current board and Superintendent will claim that the district is aligned to Illinois Learning Standards, but they simply added a link to their webpage in response to my campaign. Up to a month ago, the learning standards were vague and not aligned. Here is a screenshot of the standards that the district was using until 2016:

D25 Can be more Open!

I believe there should be more transparency between the School Board and its constituents – the families of District 25 students as well as seniors, private school families and home schoolers. I also believe there should be more dialogue between the Board and the public. I will encourage diverse viewpoints and discussion among board members and with the constituents of the district. The district can be more responsible to homeowners by increasing the rankings of the school; a better district means everyone’s home value increases.

Chris for D25 School Board

I am so excited to officially announce my candidacy for school board!

Find me on facebook.

Feel free to contact me to find out how to get involved!