A Knight in Dragonland

The Peoria Journal Star editors really need to keep their noses out of Tazewell County. The JS has paid virtually no attention to the Pekin school district consolidation issue, but for some reason they now feel the need to make a ridiculous proclamation on today’s editorial page. Their ignorance on the consolidation issue is glaring.

It’s not that the statute governing school consolidation is “too confusing” and school officials are “whining” about its complexity and trying not to do their jobs. That’s a ridiculous, insulting and simplistic characterization of the issues at hand. Superintendent Don White of District 108 and Superintendent Paula Davis of District 303 have both bent over backwards to investigate this matter. There have been months of detailed discussions and deliberations by both boards, on the pages of the Pekin Daily Times, and in the 46 previous posts regarding consolidation on my blog.

The Journal’s characterization of the school board’s action as a casual dismissal of the voter’s wishes is absurd. This is a complicated issue with multiple facets, and the JS editors obviously haven’t been paying attention. The consolidation referendum did not ask that a study be done. The referendum advised the school boards to take immediate steps toward consolidation. Those steps were taken until the boards ran into a brick wall … the Illinois statute governing school consolidation.

This statute is actually quite clear, and the forces advocating consolidation failed to do their homework before pushing this matter onto the ballot. The feeder districts into District 303 (which include Rankin District 98, South Pekin District 137, North Pekin / Marquette Heights District 102 and Spring Lake District 606 in addition to Pekin’s District 108) legally must be involved before any consolidation could take place. Either the school boards of those districts must pass resolutions expressing their interest in participating in consolidation, or the residents of those districts must petition to have the matter placed on a ballot. Unless all the feeder districts do one of those two things, CONSOLIDATION CANNOT HAPPEN, even if it were only to include 108 & 303.

Well guess what? None of the other feeder districts have shown any interest in consolidation, and no petitions are forthcoming to my knowledge.

What’s the use in studying something that legally cannot be done under the current Illinois legislation? If a referendum passed that advised the Pekin schools to teach pigs to fly, would the JS editors lambaste the boards for failing in that duty? The school boards of Districts 108 & 303 are trying to make intelligent use of their taxpayer’s money. I think they should be commended for their responsibility.

I know the JS editorial board is a big advocate of flushing money down black holes while the infrastructure and basic services in Peoria crumble away, but we’d rather not follow that example in Pekin. School district consolidation is a dead issue, and the taxpayer’s money should not be wasted on it.