Letter to the Editor:: Clarifying record on D51’s budget, enrollment and school closures

Dear Editor, Recently, there has been some concerning misinformation suggesting School District 51 has “manufactured” a financial crisis. This narrative is not only false, it’s harmful to our staff, teachers, students and the broader community. If we want our community to ever consider supporting a future mill-levy override, it’s vital they understand the facts: District […]

Letter to the Editor:: Haitz, Lema, Jones have courage to do what’s right

Dear Editor, When incumbent school board members Andrea Haitz, Angela Lema and Will Jones took office, they inherited a district budget that had been operating in the red for years, temporarily backfilled by COVID relief funding. Once those federal dollars expired, the financial reality could no longer be ignored. While others might have chosen the […]

Letter to the Editor:: Fiscal accountability and responsible curriculum

Dear Editor, Over the past few years, many in our community have called for greater accountability and transparency in School District 51. One significant step in that direction: The district/taxpayers no longer pay the teacher’s union president’s salary! That position is now funded entirely by union dues – not taxpayer dollars. This was a longstanding […]

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor, Elections often come down to one question: Do we want strong leadership or weak leadership guiding our schools? Our opponents have said they would have kept every school open and dipped into the district’s reserves to pay teachers. That may sound nice on the surface, but in reality, it would have left the […]

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor, In the last two months, the National Education Association (NEA) released its 2025 Handbook, the document that sets the goals and priorities for the nation’s largest teachers’ union for the coming year. And then, just as quickly, it was gone. Within 24 hours, the handbook was quietly removed from its website. Why? What […]

Letter to the Editor:: Parent concerned about teacher’s union involvement in November election

Dear Editor, I recently read a widely shared social media post by a School District 51 teacher stating many things about the current school board and the negotiations with Mesa Valley Education Association, our local teachers union. The teacher, whose spouse ran for school board in 2021 and lost, is a current union MVEA/CEA/NEA member […]