I've always said if a student at Morton chooses to learn they can. This afternoon Morton West senior Weisner Perez chose his college to attend next year, HARVARD !! Not only is he a great basketball player he has always been an exceptional student in the classroom. I believe he is third in the senior class at West. He played AAU ball this summer with the Mac Irvin All Stars probably the top AAU boys program in Chicagoland. He also played on the 18 and under national team this summer for the Dominican Republic and helped them to I believe win their first medal ever. He had scholarship offers from a lot of University's including Princeton,Brown and the entire Ivy League. His older brother is at The University of Chicago. Congrats to Weisner and the Perez family!
Who is "they"?
Who ever said high school students couldn't learn? The colleges are full of ex high school students
Quote from: mustang54 on September 26, 2014, 02:54:05 PM
I've always said if a student at Morton chooses to learn they can. This afternoon Morton West senior Weisner Perez chose his college to attend next year, HARVARD !! Not only is he a great basketball player he has always been an exceptional student in the classroom. I believe he is third in the senior class at West. He played AAU ball this summer with the Mac Irvin All Stars probably the top AAU boys program in Chicagoland. He also played on the 18 and under national team this summer for the Dominican Republic and helped them to I believe win their first medal ever. He had scholarship offers from a lot of University's including Princeton,Brown and the entire Ivy League. His older brother is at The University of Chicago. Congrats to Weisner and the Perez family!
What percentage of Morton students go to a four-year college these days?
I attended the University of Chicago after graduating from Morton West. So I count as one of mustang's success stories. How successful? Well, let me tell you: The U of C educated me so well that I would never be so foolish as to argue that the Morton schools do well by their students just because one of them occasionally escapes into a top-tier college.
Quote from: markberwyn on September 26, 2014, 10:37:40 PM
Quote from: mustang54 on September 26, 2014, 02:54:05 PM
I've always said if a student at Morton chooses to learn they can. This afternoon Morton West senior Weisner Perez chose his college to attend next year, HARVARD !! Not only is he a great basketball player he has always been an exceptional student in the classroom. I believe he is third in the senior class at West. He played AAU ball this summer with the Mac Irvin All Stars probably the top AAU boys program in Chicagoland. He also played on the 18 and under national team this summer for the Dominican Republic and helped them to I believe win their first medal ever. He had scholarship offers from a lot of University's including Princeton,Brown and the entire Ivy League. His older brother is at The University of Chicago. Congrats to Weisner and the Perez family!
What percentage of Morton students go to a four-year college these days?
I attended the University of Chicago after graduating from Morton West. So I count as one of mustang's success stories. How successful? Well, let me tell you: The U of C educated me so well that I would never be so foolish as to argue that the Morton schools do well by their students just because one of them occasionally escapes into a top-tier college.
I posted this for people who comment like its doomsday for a high school age student to go to Morton. "One of them OCCASIONALLY escapes into a top tier college?" There are more than you think going to top notch schools. MIT has a few Morton kids there. So do other top notch schools. The point I was trying to make was if a student wants a good education it is there for the taking. I read a story of a former Morton student who earned enough college credits through AP classes at Morton that he entered U.I.C as a junior not a freshman this year. There are more success stories than most people think. But there are the haters who just don't want to hear anything about success at 201.
Quote from: mustang54 on September 26, 2014, 11:44:05 PM
Quote from: markberwyn on September 26, 2014, 10:37:40 PM
Quote from: mustang54 on September 26, 2014, 02:54:05 PM
I've always said if a student at Morton chooses to learn they can. This afternoon Morton West senior Weisner Perez chose his college to attend next year, HARVARD !! Not only is he a great basketball player he has always been an exceptional student in the classroom. I believe he is third in the senior class at West. He played AAU ball this summer with the Mac Irvin All Stars probably the top AAU boys program in Chicagoland. He also played on the 18 and under national team this summer for the Dominican Republic and helped them to I believe win their first medal ever. He had scholarship offers from a lot of University's including Princeton,Brown and the entire Ivy League. His older brother is at The University of Chicago. Congrats to Weisner and the Perez family!
What percentage of Morton students go to a four-year college these days?
I attended the University of Chicago after graduating from Morton West. So I count as one of mustang's success stories. How successful? Well, let me tell you: The U of C educated me so well that I would never be so foolish as to argue that the Morton schools do well by their students just because one of them occasionally escapes into a top-tier college.
I posted this for people who comment like its doomsday for a high school age student to go to Morton. "One of them OCCASIONALLY escapes into a top tier college?" There are more than you think going to top notch schools. MIT has a few Morton kids there. So do other top notch schools. The point I was trying to make was if a student wants a good education it is there for the taking. I read a story of a former Morton student who earned enough college credits through AP classes at Morton that he entered U.I.C as a junior not a freshman this year. There are more success stories than most people think. But there are the haters who just don't want to hear anything about success at 201.
What percentage of Morton students go to a four-year college these days?
FWIW, I haven't been able to find an answer to my question. But by just about every metric, the Morton schools are awful. To say otherwise is to sugarcoat or to serve as some politician's tool:
http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/getReport.aspx?year=2010&code=140162010_e.pdf (http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/getReport.aspx?year=2010&code=140162010_e.pdf)
It is condescending and ignorant to point to one student's success and claim it is representative of anything besides one student's success.
"I've always said if a student at Morton chooses to learn they can." Is this to say that if a student doesn't go to a top-tier school it is entirely their own fault? The shortcomings of the teachers and the administration and parents are never to be held to account? If a student chooses to learn but then does not succeed because of the school's shortcomings, is that solely the fault of the student?
Sorry, but I'm really bothered by this "you can learn if you choose to" business. It's terribly privileged and condescending---reminiscent of the "pick yourself up by your bootstraps" bigotry that people use on the poor. It is not a sentence that somebody living in reality would write.
I suspect there are a lot of students in the Morton district who don't recognize in themselves the capacity to make that choice---or feel that such a choice might be worth making. And, on the evidence of the district stats, they're receiving paltry support from the institutions around them.
Read this story and think of the support system, outside and within Morton, that the young man has had from a very early age. Then think about all the Morton students who aren't similarly supported, and why that might be.
http://highschoolcubenews.com/2014/09/26/henricksen-mortons-perez-harvard-special-story/ (http://highschoolcubenews.com/2014/09/26/henricksen-mortons-perez-harvard-special-story/)
Quote from: markberwyn on September 27, 2014, 12:09:51 AM
Quote from: mustang54 on September 26, 2014, 11:44:05 PM
Quote from: markberwyn on September 26, 2014, 10:37:40 PM
Quote from: mustang54 on September 26, 2014, 02:54:05 PM
I've always said if a student at Morton chooses to learn they can. This afternoon Morton West senior Weisner Perez chose his college to attend next year, HARVARD !! Not only is he a great basketball player he has always been an exceptional student in the classroom. I believe he is third in the senior class at West. He played AAU ball this summer with the Mac Irvin All Stars probably the top AAU boys program in Chicagoland. He also played on the 18 and under national team this summer for the Dominican Republic and helped them to I believe win their first medal ever. He had scholarship offers from a lot of University's including Princeton,Brown and the entire Ivy League. His older brother is at The University of Chicago. Congrats to Weisner and the Perez family!
What percentage of Morton students go to a four-year college these days?
I attended the University of Chicago after graduating from Morton West. So I count as one of mustang's success stories. How successful? Well, let me tell you: The U of C educated me so well that I would never be so foolish as to argue that the Morton schools do well by their students just because one of them occasionally escapes into a top-tier college.
I posted this for people who comment like its doomsday for a high school age student to go to Morton. "One of them OCCASIONALLY escapes into a top tier college?" There are more than you think going to top notch schools. MIT has a few Morton kids there. So do other top notch schools. The point I was trying to make was if a student wants a good education it is there for the taking. I read a story of a former Morton student who earned enough college credits through AP classes at Morton that he entered U.I.C as a junior not a freshman this year. There are more success stories than most people think. But there are the haters who just don't want to hear anything about success at 201.
What percentage of Morton students go to a four-year college these days?
Probably not many!
Markberwyn thanks for posting the articles. The one with the statistics is from I believe 2009? I was surprised by the numbers because the last ones I saw were worse a year or so before. In the article the student made the point I was trying to make and he did it better than I did. It is possible.
Now getting to the points in your posts I have too agree with you on pretty much everything you said. People who know me well would tell you I have always considered Morton as the school of waisted talent and broken dreams. I've believed that for many years and still do today. Trust me Mark I don't know the last time you were through the halls of Morton during a school day but I spent 7 long years as a volunteer at that place and if I wrote a book about what I saw and heard it would make you and others sick. That's why I am no longer helping out
I also believe Morton is no different than any other school with similar demographics or funding. And I HATE that. I refuse to believe kids cannot be taught because their parents did not go to college or aren't financially stable. To me money and demographics are a crutch used by the adults. Morton has always been and seems will always be an adult driven district. And again Mark I can give you examples of that for hours.
My post was about one kid then added another. They are not the only two I've seen. There are more. But I agree with you again there is no where near the numbers of success stories that their should be. Especially with over 8,000 students.
I don't think we're really on the same page here. You say that "money and demographics are a crutch used by the adults," after arguing that students alone have to shoulder the burden of their own success. But the success story you're pointing to was very much the product of financial resources and added attention provided to a talented and underprivileged kid. How, then, are money and demographics a "crutch"? They strike me as utterly critical considerations.
What do you mean by "adult-driven district"? Who should be driving the district, if not adults? Children? If that's the case, then you're back to condescending bootstrapping rhetoric.
Quote from: markberwyn on September 27, 2014, 07:32:23 PM
I don't think we're really on the same page here. You say that "money and demographics are a crutch used by the adults," after arguing that students alone have to shoulder the burden of their own success. But the success story you're pointing to was very much the product of financial resources and added attention provided to a talented and underprivileged kid. How, then, are money and demographics a "crutch"? They strike me as utterly critical considerations.
What do you mean by "adult-driven district"? Who should be driving the district, if not adults? Children? If that's the case, then you're back to condescending bootstrapping rhetoric.
Thankfully you and I will NEVER be on the same page. You still insist on playing your silly mind games. Adult driven means the choices made there are made FOR the adults NOT the students. I first heard that phrase from an administrator there a month after being hired. I asked the difference between 201 and other districts they worked at. That's how I meant it. The lack of money and the demographics are used by adults as an excuse for the poor performance of the adults but blame the kids and parents. And that isn't only at Morton. In the news article the kid and the coach pretty much said what I did in my post. But as usual you try to twist what someone says to play your game. Again, enough of you have a nice day.
Quote from: mustang54 on September 28, 2014, 07:25:17 AM
Quote from: markberwyn on September 27, 2014, 07:32:23 PM
I don't think we're really on the same page here. You say that "money and demographics are a crutch used by the adults," after arguing that students alone have to shoulder the burden of their own success. But the success story you're pointing to was very much the product of financial resources and added attention provided to a talented and underprivileged kid. How, then, are money and demographics a "crutch"? They strike me as utterly critical considerations.
What do you mean by "adult-driven district"? Who should be driving the district, if not adults? Children? If that's the case, then you're back to condescending bootstrapping rhetoric.
Thankfully you and I will NEVER be on the same page. You still insist on playing your silly mind games. Adult driven means the choices made there are made FOR the adults NOT the students. I first heard that phrase from an administrator there a month after being hired. I asked the difference between 201 and other districts they worked at. That's how I meant it. The lack of money and the demographics are used by adults as an excuse for the poor performance of the adults but blame the kids and parents. And that isn't only at Morton. In the news article the kid and the coach pretty much said what I did in my post. But as usual you try to twist what someone says to play your game. Again, enough of you have a nice day.
Again, I think you suffer from a confused mental model about what works best in education. The very first sentence of your first post insists that all the responsibility falls on the students' shoulders for success. And you keep repeating this canard that "money and demographics" are some kind of "crutch" and "excuse," as if they don't matter. Somehow, in your mind, if the school district concerns itself with money and demographics, they are looking after their own interests and not the students'. Again, those things are utterly crucial. As I've said, I'm a Morton graduate who went to a top-tier college, and I understand this. If you'd like me to explain it to you in more detail, let me know.
Bottom line: Your insistence that the students must carry the burden of their own educational success is itself a crutch.
Quote from: mustang54 on September 26, 2014, 02:54:05 PM
I've always said if a student at Morton chooses to learn they can. This afternoon Morton West senior Weisner Perez chose his college to attend next year, HARVARD !! Not only is he a great basketball player he has always been an exceptional student in the classroom. I believe he is third in the senior class at West. He played AAU ball this summer with the Mac Irvin All Stars probably the top AAU boys program in Chicagoland. He also played on the 18 and under national team this summer for the Dominican Republic and helped them to I believe win their first medal ever. He had scholarship offers from a lot of University's including Princeton,Brown and the entire Ivy League. His older brother is at The University of Chicago. Congrats to Weisner and the Perez family!
+1. Congratulations to Weisner and his family. They must be very proud of both sons.
For what it's worth, I still haven't come across any data showing what percentage of Morton graduates go to a four-year college. But I did find an interesting metric showing that 18 percent of Morton graduates are ready for college coursework.
http://illinoisreportcard.com/District.aspx?source=Trends&source2=ReadyforCollegeCourseWork&Districtid=06016201017 (http://illinoisreportcard.com/District.aspx?source=Trends&source2=ReadyforCollegeCourseWork&Districtid=06016201017)
Eighteen percent.
So I suppose, by mustang's logic, 82 percent of Morton's student body is *choosing* not to learn.
Quote from: markberwyn on September 29, 2014, 08:40:57 PM
So I suppose, by mustang's logic, 82 percent of Morton's student body is *choosing* not to learn.
They might not be learning what's on the tests used to arrive at that percentage, but they're learning their place
in this brave new world. What could go wrong?
Quote from: watcher on September 30, 2014, 08:01:27 AM
Quote from: markberwyn on September 29, 2014, 08:40:57 PM
So I suppose, by mustang's logic, 82 percent of Morton's student body is *choosing* not to learn.
They might not be learning what's on the tests used to arrive at that percentage, but they're learning their place
in this brave new world. What could go wrong?
Well, they're learning what happens when the Berwyn and Cicero communities come together to proudly proclaim that education simply isn't that important.
Pretty damning statistics... 18% is abysmal, especially for a town that has a lot of solid middle class people.
The fact that they had an entire assembly and pulled kids out of class for ONE kid getting into an ivy league school says enough. It is a freak anomaly- and that is really depressing
The assembly doesn't sound like the worst thing in the world---nothing wrong with showing students that one of their peers can do well academically. But if it's not backed up by actual actions to help those students learn, it's wasted time.
Here's my question-- was this kid the ONLY kid to get accepted to an Ivy League school from Morton.... ever? They've never had an assembly for anyone else..... Or--- is it just because he's a basketball player and again - Morton is showing preference for sports over academics?
Quote from: chandasz on November 03, 2014, 12:10:44 PM
Here's my question-- was this kid the ONLY kid to get accepted to an Ivy League school from Morton.... ever? They've never had an assembly for anyone else..... Or--- is it just because he's a basketball player and again - Morton is showing preference for sports over academics?
I think the answer is no... I remember a few years ago several kids getting accepted at Ivy League and other prestigious schools. If you go through the BTF archives on the D201 board meeting notes, I think you'll find something around 5 to 7 years ago.
Yeah, there have been other kids go off to Harvard or MIT. An assembly for one kid does seem odd though.
Hope he does well there!
My daughter graduated in 2011 and a good friend of hers who graduated Morton at the same time went to MIT....with no fanfare.
Quote from: chandasz on November 03, 2014, 12:10:44 PM
Here's my question-- was this kid the ONLY kid to get accepted to an Ivy League school from Morton.... ever? They've never had an assembly for anyone else..... Or--- is it just because he's a basketball player and again - Morton is showing preference for sports over academics?
You can't just accept and congratulate a kid from our school district for getting into the most prestigious Ivy League school and perhaps blazing a trail for other kids in the district. That's sad.
Quote from: MRS. NORTHSIDER on November 05, 2014, 01:09:25 AM
Quote from: chandasz on November 03, 2014, 12:10:44 PM
Here's my question-- was this kid the ONLY kid to get accepted to an Ivy League school from Morton.... ever? They've never had an assembly for anyone else..... Or--- is it just because he's a basketball player and again - Morton is showing preference for sports over academics?
You can't just accept and congratulate a kid from our school district for getting into the most prestigious Ivy League school and perhaps blazing a trail for other kids in the district. That's sad.
Nobody's begrudging the kid a party. But chandasz asks a reasonable question. Given Morton's atrocious academic record, it's worth asking whether all this attention is a pleasant sports-y distraction or a genuine effort to, as you write, perhaps blaze a trail for other kids in the district.
My sense, given past history, is that the district's efforts to make this success story into something practical students can use to succeed themselves stops at the gymnasium doors. But as mustang explained at the start of the thread, it's important for Morton students to recognize that they'll get no help from the district in improving their fortunes and will have to succeed entirely on their own steam. If this assembly clarified for those students just how helpless they are, then perhaps it did some good in delivering a tough lesson.
Tribune came out with the test scores by suburb in yesterday's edition (in the Trib West section). Berwyn did not come out looking very good compared to surrounding suburbs - not only Morton, but the elementary schools as well (at least, compared to surrounding suburbs, which is what the Trib West was reporting on).
Oak Park scores increased, according to the article. D100 just issued a press release on this. I guess our lot in life is to keep comparing us to Ford Heights. Here is the press release:
"BERWYN, IL (Nov. 6, 2014) – The majority of schools in Berwyn South School District 100 experienced increases in 2014 Illinois Standards Achievement Testing (ISAT), according to information released last week by the Illinois State Board of Education.
Overall, district scores improved 6.4%, and seven of eight schools saw increases, as follows: Emerson +3%, Hiawatha +7%, Irving +3%, Komensky +13%, Pershing +9%, Piper +7% and Freedom Middle School 11%. Scores at Heritage Middle School were flat. Regarding these achievements, Superintendent Stan Fields stated, "We are proud of staff, students and parents and the results of their determined attitudes and hard work."
ISAT scores across the state were flat.
Of the 39 elementary districts in the state with at least 70% low income and minority students, District 100's performance ranks third. Says Fields, "School District 100 is working hard to achieve the Board of Education's vision to be in the top 25% of districts in the state, and our success can be attributed to a number of bold, educational initiatives. These initiatives include expanded preschool, full day kindergarten, 1:1 technology, co-teaching, expanded professional development, reduced class sizes in elementary schools, and other contributing factors such as increased attendance. Congratulations to our staff who work tirelessly to make the Board's vision a reality and who continue to make personal strides in their professional occupations."
Schools should be compared based on the community SE standards. Children living in Oak Park, Riverside, LaGrange and the like have many more opportunities than low income communities. I can teach a kid a lot, but if he or she has no support at home, they will not progress as fast as a child in a home where the parents help with homework and provide tutors, books, a home computer and educational programs, and trips to cultural institutions. This is something that many people refuse to admit. Part of the problem with education lies in the home and teachers can do little to overcome this.
Quote from: Sandy on November 07, 2014, 05:54:53 PM
Schools should be compared based on the community SE standards. Children living in Oak Park, Riverside, LaGrange and the like have many more opportunities than low income communities. I can teach a kid a lot, but if he or she has no support at home, they will not progress as fast as a child in a home where the parents help with homework and provide tutors, books, a home computer and educational programs, and trips to cultural institutions. This is something that many people refuse to admit. Part of the problem with education lies in the home and teachers can do little to overcome this.
Certainly the Morton leadership is aware of this. What is it doing to help improve this? What sort of outreach does it do with parents? The district can't just be hoping the kids bootstrap themselves.
Quote from: markberwyn on November 07, 2014, 07:54:22 PM
Quote from: Sandy on November 07, 2014, 05:54:53 PM
Schools should be compared based on the community SE standards. Children living in Oak Park, Riverside, LaGrange and the like have many more opportunities than low income communities. I can teach a kid a lot, but if he or she has no support at home, they will not progress as fast as a child in a home where the parents help with homework and provide tutors, books, a home computer and educational programs, and trips to cultural institutions. This is something that many people refuse to admit. Part of the problem with education lies in the home and teachers can do little to overcome this.
Certainly the Morton leadership is aware of this. What is it doing to help improve this? What sort of outreach does it do with parents? The district can't just be hoping the kids bootstrap themselves.
I agree with Sandy on this. Also, if you get to the high school years and the parents haven't been helping their kids through grade school and middle school your chances are slim to none that they will be doing anything in high school to help them and without that crucial help in the younger years it's almost impossible to bring these kids up to point that kids in other school districts are. A sad but true fact.
Quote from: MRS. NORTHSIDER on November 08, 2014, 09:22:48 AM
Quote from: markberwyn on November 07, 2014, 07:54:22 PM
Quote from: Sandy on November 07, 2014, 05:54:53 PM
Schools should be compared based on the community SE standards. Children living in Oak Park, Riverside, LaGrange and the like have many more opportunities than low income communities. I can teach a kid a lot, but if he or she has no support at home, they will not progress as fast as a child in a home where the parents help with homework and provide tutors, books, a home computer and educational programs, and trips to cultural institutions. This is something that many people refuse to admit. Part of the problem with education lies in the home and teachers can do little to overcome this.
Certainly the Morton leadership is aware of this. What is it doing to help improve this? What sort of outreach does it do with parents? The district can't just be hoping the kids bootstrap themselves.
I agree with Sandy on this. Also, if you get to the high school years and the parents haven't been helping their kids through grade school and middle school your chances are slim to none that they will be doing anything in high school to help them and without that crucial help in the younger years it's almost impossible to bring these kids up to point that kids in other school districts are. A sad but true fact.
So the district isn't doing any kind of outreach to parents---or to the feeder schools and their work with parents? None?
Berwyn seems to have a bottomless capacity to rationalize its collective refusal to lift a finger, financially or otherwise, on behalf of schoolchildren.
Quote from: markberwyn on November 08, 2014, 10:50:01 AM
So the district isn't doing any kind of outreach to parents---or to the feeder schools and their work with parents? None?
I believe the District 201 budget is operating at a minimal expenditure at this time. The outreach that would be beneficial has been thrashed on this board - namely preschool for all. A parenting academy would benefit in the long run as well but again - money. It all takes money. You can't implement strategies like this unless you have a long range vision. Most leadership in education is shooting for short term gains and it just doesn't work.
Quote from: jfrickind on November 08, 2014, 03:23:54 PM
Quote from: markberwyn on November 08, 2014, 10:50:01 AM
So the district isn't doing any kind of outreach to parents---or to the feeder schools and their work with parents? None?
I believe the District 201 budget is operating at a minimal expenditure at this time. The outreach that would be beneficial has been thrashed on this board - namely preschool for all. A parenting academy would benefit in the long run as well but again - money. It all takes money. You can't implement strategies like this unless you have a long range vision. Most leadership in education is shooting for short term gains and it just doesn't work.
Seems like it's worse than a lack of long-range vision. From my perch it looks like rank incompetence in leadership. Board members posting racist crap on Facebook; a superintendent who spends state funds to Christianize staff. Combine that with a population of taxpayers who think the kindest thing they can do to schoolchildren is starve them to death financially and then expect them to succeed on their own, and I don't think anybody gets to be surprised at how things have gone at 201.
Nobody asked me, but if I were going to spend time and effort on one thing to improve the district's fortunes, it'd be attendance. All the gee-whillikers stuff the district likes to promote about how awesome it is won't mean anything to the student who isn't actually in a seat. The abysmal attendance rate at Morton suggests it's doing a lot just to keep the students who miss class treading water (and not disrupting other students). I'd demand answers from the district about how it plans to address that.
"a superintendent who spends state funds to Christianize staff. " Mark that superintendent is not with 201 he is with 100.
Quote from: mustang54 on November 08, 2014, 09:12:24 PM
"a superintendent who spends state funds to Christianize staff. " Mark that superintendent is not with 201 he is with 100.
Whoops, my bad.
Quote from: jfrickind on November 08, 2014, 03:23:54 PM
I believe the District 201 budget is operating at a minimal expenditure at this time. The outreach that would be beneficial has been thrashed on this board - namely preschool for all. A parenting academy would benefit in the long run as well but again - money. It all takes money. You can't implement strategies like this unless you have a long range vision. Most leadership in education is shooting for short term gains and it just doesn't work.
Given Berwyn's churn rate, pre-school for all in only Berwyn isn't going to improve ACT scores at Morton. Only 30% of the kids entering kindergarten in Berwyn will be taking the ACT tests as juniors at Morton. 70% will have moved into Berwyn after the age of 5 - most of them from Chicago.
So, unless you have universal pre-school, including Chicago, the kids who go to pre-school in Berwyn will be achieving ACT scores as high school juniors in other school districts.
btw, D100 does provide pre-school for at-risk kids today.
One more thing on this - Some of us opposed the D100 pre-school plan in 2011 because it was fiscally irresponsible - it paid for teachers for only one year with no money for those salaries after 1 year, in a district facing increasing enrollments and a budget deficit in the millions of dollars.
In my opinion, the superintendent wanted to get more cash and that was why he proposed the bond. He needed some excuse to give to the board as a reason for the bond so that they would agree to increase the debt from $54 million to $90 million, so he came up with the pre-school idea.
Pre-school for all is a good idea as long as it is universal across all school districts in the state and funded properly rather than funded through huge increases in the debt.
Quote from: Sandy on November 07, 2014, 05:54:53 PM
Schools should be compared based on the community SE standards. Children living in Oak Park, Riverside, LaGrange and the like have many more opportunities than low income communities. I can teach a kid a lot, but if he or she has no support at home, they will not progress as fast as a child in a home where the parents help with homework and provide tutors, books, a home computer and educational programs, and trips to cultural institutions. This is something that many people refuse to admit. Part of the problem with education lies in the home and teachers can do little to overcome this.
However, I think voters do want to compare to surrounding districts because this is the area they moved into. I think one big mistake the District 100 school board made in the referenda election was trying to compare Berwyn to Ford Heights.
Berwyn isn't even close to Ford Heights or other communities like it. I think it is a valid comparison to see how Berwyn school districts compare to Lyons and Brookfield, as well as Cicero, Oak Park and LaGrange.
I also think the D100 board just plain asked for too much money. They made the assumption that people would vote either for or against the referenda regardless of how much money was being asked for. They were arrogantly oblivious to whether people could afford to such a steep increase, even people who would support a lesser increase.
With 80% of the people voting NO, I think the board found out otherwise. 80% is a large percentage for a defeat of a school referendum. The Morton referenda in 1993 lost with 93% because of the Klingenberg scandal, yet this defeat was only 13 percentage points less than that.