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 […]
Dear Editor, As a community, we often look to successful businesses for lessons on strong leadership. One of the clearest lessons is this: When something is working, you don’t change it. You don’t replace effective leadership during times of growth; you build on that success. The same logic applies to our school board. Our current […]
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 […]
Dear Editor, Over the past ten years, I have had the privilege of knowing Will Jones, and I can say with complete confidence that his heart and actions have always been centered on one thing: the kids. Will shows up. Whether it’s cheering at athletic events, supporting nonprofits that serve children with disabilities or lending […]
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 […]
Dear Editor, I am a parent of two children and grandmother of one child, all of whom graduated from the D51 school system. I also am a retired pediatric speech-language pathologist (in an outpatient setting) who has worked with hundreds of school-age children and their families, most of whom were educated in D51. I had […]
Dear Editor, The District 51 incumbent school board candidates running in the upcoming Nov. 4 election have my thanks and support for what has been accomplished in the last four years. What I appreciate most is the reported improved student outcomes in core essential skills such as reading and math as indicated in increased academic […]
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 […]
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 […]
Dear Editor, For two years, I taught math and science at East Middle School, and I experienced the school’s closure firsthand alongside our determined, passionate and accomplished staff. It is vital to share that I signed onto the petition to recall Andrea Haitz from the School District 51 Board of Education in the midst of […]