Charles Schultz's blog

RE: Parkland students try to make healthy lunches that kids like

I was talking to Jeff (Toni's husband) about something totally unrelated, and he mentioned that he and his wife were putting on an Iron Chef for B. T. Washington. I thought this was an awesome idea!! It is great to see Parkland get involved with the community like this. I hope it is practical and that something positive comes of it.

And this got me to thinking. Is the University getting involved in the community in similar ways? If so, how? If not, why the heck not!?!?

Kudos to the Burkhalters, and may their labor bear much fruit!

I was not able to watch the live News last night, but I did see the piece that Erin Maloney put together online late last night. How does one file a formal complaint with the TV station?

Just in case anyone thinks that her work was accurate, allow me to state two facts:

1) I specifically told Erin that I do not represent the parents of Savoy for the very reason that we have not had any meetings (at that point in time), and therefore it would be impossible for me to know what the parents are thinking

2) I specifically told Erin that I personally (my own perspective) did not think detachment and annexation is the best way to go.

See Jodi Heckel's piece for a much more accurate story and example of higher quality reporting.

I am looking at the Champaign Demographic Study, and am very confused why the 2006 Tax Referendum was so strongly opposed by the Consent Decree Plaintiff Class and (rumor has it) black churches in general. I am very curious if some of the decisions that were made at that point in time were merely lacking in hard numbers, like those provided by the Demographic Study. If I understand the arguments correctly, the Plaintiff Class opposed a Boulder Ridge school because they felt like it did not address the spirit of the Consent Decree, while it did adhere to the letter of the Consent Decree. I understand that there were some 11th hour negotiations and things were happening very quickly right up until the time of the election. But in retrospect, I am curious.

The Facts

Page 34 of the Study shows that the black population has increased significantly in "Planning Area 3", which covers Boulder Ridge all the way to Springfield and Mattis. Granted, populations for all races have grown significantly in the Boulder Ridge area as families move in. A similar story is true for "Planning Area 7", directly south of "Area 3", stretching from Springfield to Windsor Road.

Page 35 shows that the Hispanic population has increased across the board north of University, and also in "Planning Area 7".

I might be able to understand some of the reasoning if the focus was on socio-economic status; while I have no hard evidence on hand, it seems quite reasonable that the average income per household for the Boulder Ridge area is higher than the same for households farther east along Bradley (between Prospect and Lincoln, for example).

Another confusing point is that the Demographic Study clearly shows that Hispanic populations are growing rather quickly as well. But my understanding of the Consent Decree is that this group is aggregated into the "non-black" group. Along with Asians. If this is a correct understanding, it would be extremely difficult to plan effectively through the lens of the Consent Decree (if we dare call it a lens at all).

Please note that it is not my intent to trash the Plaintiff class. I have not used any inflammatory language, nor is it my objective to point an accusatory finger. I fully believe that Consent Decree came about in the first place because of horrible inequities, and there is, no doubt, lingering traces of that. I am merely confused and would like answers. I have attempted to contact Carol Ashley without success, as well as Tracy Parsons. Who else can I talk to?

To clarify why I even posted this note, I very much want to understand how Unit 4 can best serve all students. Not just white, black, Hispanic, Asian or "other". Not just poor, middle-class, or filthy rich. The path to answering that question will inevitably cross several bridges, the first being "what are the needs of all students in the school district?" And "where are the most severe unmet needs?"

The Demographic Study, much like the Center for Tax & Budget Accountability, is an example of some excellent statistical analysis. But where are the action items? Where are the answers for questions like "so what" and "now what"? If there were another referedum just like the 2006 one tomorrow, would the Plaintiff Class agree?

I had a brief conversation with Gene Logas, and he pointed me to Center for Tax & Budget Accountability. A quick search on IP did not find any hits. Many of the findings by this entity were very eye-opening, and I am curious if anyone has picked up this trail yet? The most recent publication, How the Illinois School Funding System Creates Significant Educational Inequities that Impact Most Students in the State, is an extremely interesting read. In my opinion, it is a great piece of research, but severly lacking in any follow-up steps; great, they found all these problems, but what are they doing about it? I wish I had seen this before I talked to Chapin Rose on Wednesday.

I am looking for any organized effort to repeal, ammend or otherwise modify the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act (SOEEA) (aka Public Act 93-0617 aka SB0702). I have heard many complaints and gripes, but nothing in the context of contacting representatives and trying to change things. I did notice that the www.ilga.gov site shows a lot of supporters for this Act, which makes me wonder why.

Any way, leads and hints would be greatly appreciated.

While we may never fully know why folks voted as they did, there was obviously a split between whether we as a community supported the tax or not. Despite those differences, may we please all start working (and working hard!) to put our heads together and make Unit 4 a great school system.

I have asked the School Board many times what "Plan B" is in case the tax does not pass. Now we have an opportunity to figure out what Plan B is.

http://will.illinois.edu/focus580/interview/focus081027b/

I wish I knew about this before-hand; I am now anxiously waiting for the downloadable version. =)

I am also curious if the Libertarian Party is sending any representatives to tonight's open meeting between the Village of Savoy Board and the Unit 4 School Board.

October 23, 2008

Submitted by:

Beth Shepperd, Assistant Superintendent

Human Resources & Community Relations

Magnet School Programming at Garden Hills and Booker T. Washington Elementary Schools

The Champaign Unit 4 School District is hosting a public meeting on October 29 at 7 p.m. in the Mellon Administrative Center at 703 S. New Street to discuss magnet school programming at Garden Hills and Booker T. Washington Elementary Schools. Architects selected to redesign these two schools will be present to talk about how the buildings can be rebuilt or redesigned to support new programs. These plans are contingent on the passage of the Sales Tax Referendum to support school facilities at all districts in Champaign County that is scheduled to go to the voters on November 4.

The District is seeking input from the community on the kinds of programs that could be implemented in these two schools that will attract families from the neighborhoods and from throughout the entire District. The community will also have the opportunity to ask questions about the District’s plans to revitalize the two elementary schools.

The rebuilding/renovation of the schools will include increasing Garden Hills from a three-strand school to a four-strand and increasing BTW from a two-strand school to a three strand building. A strand is a continuum of classes from K-5. The addition of the two strands of seats north of University Avenue will satisfy a requirement of the District’s federal Consent Decree that was agreed upon in 2002.

The public is invited to attend the meeting or to provide input by calling 351-3822 or emailing sheppebe@champaignschools.org.

I have been spending a lot of time talking to a number of different folks about the pros and cons of the Countywide Sales Tax Referenda. I have gathered a lot of facts, even more opinions and a whole lot of confused citizens. Of the people I have talked to, I find that most of the represantives (used in a generic sense), public servants and policy makers fall into two distinct camps; either strongly for or strongly against the referendum. On one side, we have school boards from several counties (I spoke with Williamson County, Urbana and Champaign) extolling the virtues and need of this referendum. On the other are organizations who have little to no trust of the school boards, and feel ardently that the referendum is too powerful and too sweeping.

And there is us, the normal, everyday people, who have to vote one way or another.

I would really like to see these two parties come together and hold a panel and/or public debate. Perhaps they already have and I completely missed it, which is entirely possible. If that is the case, does anyone have a recording? But assuming that nothing like this has happened, I really have to ask "Why not?"

From my perspective, the Sales Tax referedum has come upon us very quickly. Too quickly to disseminate the facts to all citizens. And not just one-side facts supporting one's cause. I would love to see one side (or both!) produce a fact sheet that documents the complete truth. And what is the truth anyway? Did Stiefel Nicholas lobby and help draft the law with the intention of having more business? Was it drafted with no viable sunset clause to allow school districts to take out longer-term bonds? Is that good or bad? Have all counties (in Iowa and Illinois) that have already voted, vote in favor of this referendum (or similar)?

What happens, say, if the referendum does not pass. What then? I would love to see these two particular groups not only argue their point, but successfully come to a compromise that benefits our community. And if only they could have done this a couple months ago. =)

Again, I have to give credit to the Unit 4 School Board for meeting with the community, holding open meetings, and at least trying to find a compromise that best fits. Nobody is perfect. I know there are people out there trying really hard to make Unit 4 work; I know several teachers who, day by day, give their all to help educate and shape our children for the future. What I want to see is some sort of collaboration, instead of two camps who wage war. *grin* Ok, yes, I know, that is a bit optimistic. Humor me.

Anyway, I plan to keep talking to both sides to find and establish more facts. And here I was going to vote early....

Uploaded with permission from Dianna Visek.

Beth Shepperd sent out the attached Fact Sheet (in MS Publisher, which I converted to MS Word) to the Key Communicator Network

In light of the imminent Champaign County Sales Tax referendum, I have been intrigued by the relative flurry of activity. Having followed and done a bit of reading about the Consent Decree, talked to Unit 4 Board Members, community activists, reporters and parents, I am fascinated by all that is being said and done on this issue.

Which leaves me befuddled; I hear people saying that Unit 4 is a mess, that the schools are in trouble, etc etc, and I know of many people that have left for the "greener pastures" of Mahomet, Monticello and even Tolono. Why? Granted, I do not have any children in school, and I have yet to make a personal visit to any school, which is why I am reserving my own judgement. But what in particular makes the general impression of Unit 4 Secondary Education "bad"? I really do want to know.

There are certainly verifiably good things going on in Unit 4. If one chooses to use the standardized tests as a metric, the scores have been going up. In fact, the elementary schools are doing great! There are lots of special programs offered at various locations, and lots of exciting opportunities. There have been several innovative planning sessions invovling prominent and lay folks alike, collaborations like Great Campus and Great Schools Together. We have a lot of awesome diversity here in the Champaign area, a rich mixture of cultures. I have heard that there is much less diversity in Mahomet, which makes comparison of the various schools rather awkward at best.

I am not looking for opinions about the administration; I have heard an earful about that. And the reasons for the Consent Decree (in all its awful glory) have been spelled out many times; no need to rehash that. Why is there "white flight"? Why is there distrust, especially in the current climate? Call me naive, but I am trying to learn.

In posting this, I am looking for feedback. I plan to answer my own questions as I talk to more folks, review the many postings on IP and what is still publicly available online with News-Gazette. With all the verbiage swirling around, I am finding it is hard to seperate the facts from the thoughts, the objective from the subjective.

In closing, my one challenge is that if things really are a mess, we get out there and clean it up. Kudos to those who have worked hard to that end; they need more recognition.