2023 PTHS election fact and fiction including questions to be asked

My perspectives have changed on this subject over the last 25 years. I served as a member on the D209 Board of Education from 2007-2011.?For voters in the upcoming April D209 election… here are a few insights and fundamental concepts every citizen should know about the election process and public school district governance.

Recognizing voter preferences to candidates has become over the last 50 years more partisan, political, tribal, racially charged, and polarizing affair.

For example, popular Proviso East perspectives serving a life sentence of an underperforming minority school fuels to many of the White Proviso community stakeholders (The majority of those who do not choose to attend there) oftens characterized as a no man's land and contentious Proviso environment.

What also gets obscured by those critics and negative mindsets are the propensity to ignore Proviso challenges and indefinitely putting their collective heads in the sand.

Historically the voter turnout has been low.

One can check the election data at???https://www.cookcountyclerkil.gov/elections/results-and-election-data/election-results

?Be aware that some of the contentious noise out there happens when skeptical views and opinions morph into the cynical eye.?It is all about trust. The Trust factor at PTHS has been in a perpetual tug of war mode for decades. The local print media (crisis journalism) also acted as a lightning rod of mistrust with a constant bombardment of the rating of D209 as a “failed system”. Added to the toxic mix, was the Proviso Community body politics’ (including the powers that be) obsessive temptation to micro manage the School system, play the blame game, and massage hedonistic egos while amplifying personal agendas. WE the voters should tune out and exclude popular election slogans, personal attacks, weaponizng students, and board meeting theatrics... all intended to construct a false narrative and hype. If you choose to take on that side make sure of having hard evidence rather than allegations and hearsay. I also recognize the defensive push back by the current Administration that borders flaunting one's power which then cancels empowerment practices and collaborative policies that past regimes worked so hard to achieve.

I lived in that environment of Proviso prejudice when I served as a D209 BOE member 2007-2011. I learned the hard way. Business was very good to Law Firms and students were benched to Proviso oblivion. Stability of our public education should triumph over chaos. PTHS remains in a fragile place. I would urge residents to vote and learn what the candidates believe in.

?Instead of focusing on the vast menu of Proviso Board of Education election negativism, I am suggesting in talking with the candidates, sitting BOE members and the D209 Administration and getting an honest reply to the public in these key issues with data analysis, all stakeholders need clarification by these powers that be. Defined roles need to be understood so that trust can be again be built.

EDUCATION SIDE

?All of these inquiries and statements point to the question of “What is going on in the classroom?”

Student literacy (Internal student body and school system interactions)

Are we digging a hole (education gap) that will never be filled?

Student attendance (teacher attendance is secondary but also needs tracking)

Teachers matter. (Teachers are trained to assess not obsess)

Recognize the benefits of a high functioning school board when times get tough. (governance process acting as guardrails)

?DEMAND and recognize the benefits of transparency, accountability, and continuous student improvement, no matter who sits on the BOE or is hired as Superintendent.?

Long term clarity and consistency in school governance and awareness of student focused scenario planning and execution. (again how are our PTHS students really doing in real time?) If programs do not work, what to do about it, and how to accomplish reforms to policy and the school system in an urgent manner.

EDUCATION FUNDING/ COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT?SIDE

?There is a growing concern on State and Local equity policies that are not performing as they should. If you are a property taxpayer, you should follow this.

Legislation passed HB453?and how local board and their communities can use this to relieve economic inequity. Transparency and accountability never go away in working towards progressive public education.

See legislation sponsored by Representative?William Davis Years served:?January 2003 - Present, Committee assignments:?Appropriations-Capital; Approp-Elementary & Secondary Education Appropriations-Public Safety; Energy & Environment; International Trade & Commerce; Labor & Commerce; Special Issues Subcommittee (AES); Environmental Justice Subcommittee; Minority/Disadvantage Analysis Subc (Sub-Chairperson).

?A better title for this article would be “A Tale of Two Organizations”.

If you, as a public education stakeholder and voter don’t consider these organizational perspectives, you may be following a long line of the past electorate that just got fooled again.

McDonald's has sold billions of hamburgers, in fact they stopped counting in 1994. Today its estimated past 300 Billion. This is because McDonald's makes the best hamburgers in the world… right?

Proviso High Schools has served many thousands of students and its mantra is “Nothing but the Best”. This is because Proviso Schools are the best in the world, the United States, Illinois… right?

Yes, I realize this is a hamburger to hotdog comparison. The point I wish to make is that both private sector and public sector organizational structures are composed of, management strategies, workplace rules, investments, marketing planning and future long-term planning that are all essential elements. They are the how to’s of the organizational process for maintaining and striving for the organization’s continuing success and sustainability.

PTHS progress is inconsistent.?Negative outputs are, collective organizational amnesia, confusion caused by a hollow state effect, 1 step forward 10 steps back, chaotic communication, challenged transparency, and frenzied accountability functions.

The remedies to these confusing inefficiencies of the PTHS school system are directly connected the absence of no followed succession plan or transitional exit strategy.

(I have had this very conversation with Dr. Nettie Collins-Hart and Dr. Jesse Rodriguez this past decade, they worked on these very issues and in my opinion contributed the betterment of D209 and the students)

Since this is the adult in the room activity, professional in the room conduct, why does this get screwed up at D209? My short answer is that the organizational structure is loose and leaves open vast areas of operational standards and teaching / learning standards vulnerable to the anecdotal, petty and personal charges that are part of the PTHS dysfunctional story today. Serving the students are an overshadowed priority.

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Questions with answers for 2023 D209 BOE candidates, sitting BOE members and Superintendent

?Can you show us your organizational chart with an explanation that a layperson can understand?

Can you show us the empowerment strategies for admin. and faculty?

?Can you give accurate student attendance data? (Long term comparisons)

Can you explain student growth? Or lack of?

?Can you tell the real deal of what is going on in the classroom?

?Can you you review all these questions and give regular updates to the students and families?

Trust, tolerance, and commitment are needed.

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PTHS 2023 Election Primer WE can’t be fooled Again…

As I have observed Proviso education conditions over the past 50 years and since 2000 to today, comes a fair question.

What is in store for Proviso Township High Schools now and in both the near and far future?

Here are some public education givens that often get shoved under the carpet when the public conversation fades in and out or at a loggerhead.

?Givens:

·?????21st Century schools are different than the 1950’s 20th Century conventional, white dominated control mechanism models as well as technologies.

·?????PTHS conditions are affected by culture and a racial past (i.e. All three campuses are minority populated students PE and PW have morphed into accommodation schools. “Good enough for them but not for us”. Finally address racial inequalities.

·?????The Covid disruption was a big deal and will alter student growth the next few years to recovery.

·?????Digital curriculum as a tool, is here to stay.

·?????K-12 systems are fluid and at the same time highly regulated by policy and by law.

·?????Institutions are complicated and sometimes fragile. A leadership course of action based in empowerment will always work better than fear and punitive revenge.

·?????Systems work best when everyone knows their role and are going in the same direction.

·?????The organizational direction must be focused on the prize.

·?????Data does not lie.

·?????School choice (i.e. private schools, charter schools) are a factor.

·?????Zip codes are markers for school quality and school inequality because in Illinois public schools are funded by property tax.

·?????Local Board of Educations are the legitimized governance entity.

·?????Board dysfunction effects the system’s performance. In fact, it is a negative pitfall.

?Within all these givens and more, The BOE collectively negotiate and navigate the strong/ weak, or weak/ strong relationships between themselves and the Superintendent.?When times get tough, the school policies, organizational structure and systems act as guardrails.

Opportunities:

Board of Education elections are always a chance to reset.

Please accept that understanding and taking in all the givens mentioned are the organizational and bureaucratic responsibility of highly trained and experienced people. Some professional autonomy is to be allowed. This group includes the admin. and teachers. The public are partners as well.

?Proviso School Labor/management relations seem to be always in friction and the students end up not being served.?Teachers matter. Yet there has been in recent times starting in 2008 improvements to these issues at D209. What or who were the culprits of this theft?

What works and what does not work in the “process” should always be scrutinized. Success is built upon past student focused successes and their sustained usage.

Avoiding the pitfalls are recommended. My hope and the hope of Proviso voters and stakeholders is to rise above the given challenges not by ignoring them, but by learning from them. Historically Infighting has been a distraction and an impediment for success. Doing nothing and Proviso way status quo is not acceptable. Only if you want to get stuck!

This public and organizational mindset for participation is not a temporary activity.?Start and stop, revolutionary reforms, silver bullet approaches do not work.

?Candidates that get elected to the D209 Board of Education will find out how huge their plate just became. It is the end of the beginning for them. It is my hope that the readers of this series whom are also voters, is to take new knowledge from these perspectives to candidate opens and public discussions, to the ballot box, and vote for candidates that see this path of consistent improvement for the long haul.

I will further detail these education issues with this caveat, if all that you are hearing is silence on these issues, you might want to find a candidate who can address them in an honest and open manner during this 2023 election campaign cycle

We can do better for our PTHS students part of our duty as voters is to choose able and knowledgeable candidates and keeping the seated BOE members working as a functional team.

Please pass this info to other stakeholders and potential voters in time for the April 2023 Election. The Proviso community needs to stay vigilant, supportive and compassionate in order to effect positive change and build trust at Proviso Township High Schools.