My children stayed home from school today. They’re not missing this piece of history.

What reason did they give my wife? The children would not be watching the inauguration of the 44th President because … [drum roll] … there would be RELIGION involved.

Say WHAT?!?!?!

OK … I’m all for separation of church & state, but that’s just stupid. This is a historic event. Besides, didn’t my daughters sing “Silent Night” and several other Christian-themed carols at their CHRISTmas concert in December, an official school event? Why yes they did!

Religion excuse = COMPLETE B.S.

Was this just isolated idiocy at Sunset Hills, or did the whole of District 108 fail to observe the inauguration? Since the religion excuse is utterly absurd, that leaves us to come up with our own reasons why Pekin school children didn’t watch the inauguration of the first BLACK president.

Given Pekin’s reputation, what reason do you think many people will come up with???

While Bacon did not feel that voting yay or nay on selecting a new District 108 superintendent or approving the fiscal 2008 budget was worth his time (he abstained from both votes), Sir Bacon, Lord Champion of the People’s Pocketbook, has been thrown into a tizzy by a recent board vote regarding the renovation of HVAC systems at Starke school.

The 108 school board, 6-1 with Bacon the lone dissenter, voted earlier this month to grant the contract for said renovations to Commercial Mechanical, Inc. with subcontract services provided by Johnson Control Systems. The accepted bid was well under the $1.3 million budgeted for this work, but a bid from an alternative subcontractor (Technical Solutions & Services [website not found]) would have cost the district $40,350 less … at least in the short run.

Based on this article in the Times and personal communications, Johnson Control Systems services HVAC control systems at multiple District 108 schools, and District 108 administrators have been quite pleased with their services. It does seem silly to have multiple service contracts for different schools in the district, especially if the quality of the services provided has been satisfactory to date. Sometimes the cheapest isn’t always the best in the long run.

Dean Bacon’s train of thought doesn’t run along the same tracks as mine, however. Cheapest must be best, in his view, and he’s taking this matter to the Tazewell County States Attorney’s office.

District 108 attorneys certainly reviewed this contract before it was submitted to the board and found no cause for alarm. Bacon’s feeble attempt at a witch hunt is a complete waste of time for the State’s Attorney and for District 108 administrators and board members.

In fact anyone can simply look up the portion of the Illinois School Code governing such contracts and see for themselves that the District 108 board and district administrators are clearly operating within accepted parameters. While the code states that a school board should accept the lowest bid on such contracts, it also states the following (emphasis mine):

The accepted bid does not have to be the lowest bid in terms of contract price, where the award is made in the public interest, in the exercise of discretionary power granted under the laws, without fraud, unfair dealing, or favoritism, and where there is a sound and reasonable basis for the award as made.

Mr. Bacon, by taking this to the State’s Attorney, is implying that there is “fraud, unfair dealing, or favoritism” in play here. That’s clearly the gestalt behind statements such as this one by Bacon quoted in the Times:

If they (school officials) were going to go with Johnson Control Systems then why would they allow other companies to bid for the job? Deals like this lead people to wonder what’s really going on.

Of course, as far as I can tell, Bacon has not a single shred of evidence to back up his innuendo of fraud and favoritism.

This is quite simply a publicity stunt. Mr. Bacon is seeking to call attention to himself by playing the “Champion of the Taxpayer” card … but this Bacon is really bologna. He’s wasting the time of District 108 and Tazewell County officials, and since time is money, Mr. Bacon is the one uselessly throwing away taxpayer dollars for his own self-aggrandizement.

Can anyone think of anything more important to come before the District 108 board recently than (1) who will be the new superintendent after the resignation of Don White and (2) the fiscal 2008 budget??? I certainly can’t. I would say those two votes should be quite important for a school board member.

Dean Bacon doesn’t seem to think so. He abstained from both votes. I posted previously about Bacon’s abstention in the vote to appoint Bill Link superintendent, and Nick Vogel writes in the Times about Bacon’s abstention in the budget vote.

This begs the question – what’s the point in Dean Bacon remaining on the school board if he’s not going to participate in the most important decisions that the board makes? If he had objections to Dr. Link becoming superintendent, he should have voiced them on April 30 and taken a stand. If he has objections to the 2008 budget, he should voice them and take a stand. Instead, on both of these major decisions, Dean Bacon punts.

Quoting Bacon from Tuesday’s Times article regarding the 108 budget vote:

I won’t vote yes for a budget that’s unbalanced. And there really was no point in voting no, so I abstained.

No point??? No point??? Other than IT’S YOUR JOB as a school board member, do you mean?

This is disgraceful. Pekin needs to remember this inexcusable inaction and abstain from voting for Dean Bacon in the next school board election.

I have not seen any of the local TV coverage on the matter, although one Edison teacher described her class being “ambushed” by a TV crew lurking outside her school.

I’d mainly like to congratulate everyone who responded appropriately to head off this potential threat. I’d especially like to recognize the courage of the Dunlap and Metamora students who saw the threats online and did something about it. There’s a lot of pressure on kids not to “rat” on one of their own, but these teens showed a lot of fortitude and did what was right to protect the kids at Edison. Pekin Police Detective Chris Bitner expressed a similar sentiment to the Times:

It’s nice to see a teenager taking responsibility to report inappropriate material. It really does help.

It doesn’t sound as if the kid who made the threats had access to the means to carry them out, but still … calling attention to his posts may very well may have saved lives. It certainly sounds like he had a pretty intricate plan laid out.

Junior high is rough for a lot of kids. I remember being bullied as a preteen. I was a shy and chunky kid with glasses, braces and a dorky hairdo. I remember having fantasies about getting back at the kids who picked on me. Who wouldn’t in that situation? If you tell on them to teachers or your parents, you’re a rat and a sissy … and you’ll probably get pounded for it. If you cry they just come at you more. If you fight back, you get in trouble with the school. If I had an outlet to vent my frustrations like MySpace when I was growing up … who knows, I might have made some threats myself.

However, I don’t remember ever getting to the point where I started laying out intricate plans for a massacre or idolizing mass murderers like Klebold & Harris. What probably kept me from going over the edge was my loving and supportive parents and a core group of close friends. It’s sad that this kid felt so completely alone. Whether that’s actually true or not, we’ll probably never know … but we know that’s they way he felt.

Don’t rush to condemn this kid as some sort of twisted freak. He posted the stuff publicly on MySpace.  He was crying for help, whether he realized it consciously or not.  Just be glad this was discovered early … before he hurt himself or someone else.

For reasons he did not care to explain to Times reporter Nick Vogel, school board member Dean Bacon abstained from the vote to hire Link as superintendent.  All Bacon had to say was the following:

I’m not happy with the selection or the contract.

OoooooooooK.

Isn’t hiring a new superintendent one of the more important duties of the school board? Why would Bacon abstain from that vote? If he wasn’t happy with Link or the contract, why didn’t he vote no?

In the spirit of transparency and responsive governance, I feel that Bacon owes the parents of 108 students an explanation for his abstention. I’ve emailed Bacon asking him to do just that. If a school board member has serious concerns regarding our new superintendent, I feel they should be voiced publicly.

Link started in District 108 as a teacher at Edison Junior High School 13 years ago before moving on to become the principal at Washington. Perhaps the selection of a local administrator will calm the nerves of some of the xenophobic anti-108 hooligans. Maybe even Jim Mangan will cut out his raging diatribes against the district and give the new superintendent a fair chance to prove himself.

(SNORT!) Yeah right!

I wish Dr. Link the best of luck. I hope he’s ready to stand up to the Manganites.

UPDATE (4/25/07): Here’s the link to the Daily Times article.

As a parent of District 108 students, I’d like to thank Chad for standing up for our teachers and their students so publicly. I’m sure the teachers of District 108 thank you as well.

Maybe Schmidgall’s breakdown of Mangan’s numbers will illustrate the fallacies in his arguments to a few more people. Of course it won’t sway the diehard Manganites like Dean Bacon, Ed Emmons, Mike Noyes & their ilk. Mangan and his acolytes seem to live to trash the system without offering any constructive solutions of their own.

First off … Mangan’s criticism is blatantly hypocritical. District 303, whose board he sits on, pays their employees nearly the same as 108. Why does 108 deserve criticism, but 303 does not? Why does Jim Mangan hate District 108 so much?

Secondly, Mangan compares the average salary of a District 108 teacher ($50,643) to the average salary of a resident of Pekin ($36,486). What sacrilege that public employees are paid more than those who pay them!

On a visceral level, that statement probably has some appeal to Manganites around Pekin. But then if you actually use your brain and think about it …

All teachers are required to have AT LEAST a four-year college degree. Almost exactly half (49.9%) of District 108 teachers have Master’s level training and above. In addition, District 108 teachers have an average of 15.3 years of teaching experience. These numbers are based on the 2006 Illinois District Report Card. The report card also lists the 2006 average teacher salary for District 108 as $47,730 … not $50,643.

The American Federation of Teachers 2004-2005 teacher salary survey estimates an average salary of $47,602 nationally. District 108’s pay scale is well in line with that average, and they are below the average Illinois teacher salary of $56,494 for the same period (or $56,685 based on the 2006 report card). I think we’re getting quite a bargain for the level of training and experience we have in District 108.

What does Mangan expect District 108 to do … pay their teachers at a level far below the national and state averages? How would the district recruit and retain quality teachers if that was the case?

Again, Jim Mangan proves that he doesn’t care one bit about quality education for our children. He just wants to save a few bucks on his property tax bill.

The IASA Exemplary Service to Education Award is presented to individuals in recognition of exemplary leadership contributions to Illinois public schools, the field of school administration and students.

I guess I should thank Jim Mangan and his cohorts for helping to drive this menace to Pekin schools away from our community.

[end sarcasm]

Congratulations, Don. You deserve it.

I hope that White’s departure has nothing to do with his constant haranguing by certain forces within our community … most notably Jim Mangan. However, I find it difficult to believe that such frequent and vehement criticism didn’t play at least some role in White’s decision to leave. I’m sure superintendents face frequent criticism wherever they may be, but the unfounded personal attacks against White were way over the top. Why put up with that if you have a good offer elsewhere?

I suppose we can chalk up one “victory” for Jim Mangan and the Citizens for Pekin School Consolidation and a big loss for the teachers and students of District 108. I hope Don White knows that at least SOME people in the community have not been swayed by Mangan’s venom and thank him for his service to Pekin public schools.

OK, I want to examine Dr. Reader’s piece. Let’s just forget for a minute that consolidation CAN’T happen without the input of the other feeder districts … which we don’t have at this point. Let’s just ignore the fact that this whole debate is completely meaningless without that input. Minor details, right?

Dr. Reader contends that the administration of two districts is bloated, and because of that

taxpayers are getting gouged with the existence of school districts lying on top of each other with duplicated salaries and services.

OK, here are the FACTS. Based on the publicly accessible and readily available School Report Cards, in 2004 District 108 spent 2.4% of its budget on administration and District 303 spent 4.6% of its budget on administration. I chose the 2004 report cards because that is the most recent one available on the District 303 web site, and I wanted to compare the two districts in the same year. Administration is a TINY part of the total budget for the district. Axing an administrator or two isn’t going to make that much difference, people.

Dr. Reader specifically complains about the salaries of the top 4 administrators in the District:

According to information from the Family Taxpayers Foundation, which tracks Illinois public school employee salaries, in the past year the District 303 superintendent earned in excess of $136,000 (total compensation package) and the business manager earned over $128,000. Meanwhile, the District 108 superintendent earned in excess of $134,000 and the business manager earned more than $101,000.

I’ll admit, our administrators are well paid. I have yet to hear anyone that actually works with any of these administrators complain that they’re incompetent. In fact, several commenters here have given glowing praise of Don White. I’ve also heard good things about Paula Davis.

Now, if the districts were consolidated, there likely would be some cuts in administrative positions. They would NOT be cut in half, but let’s say for the sake of argument that one superintendent position and one business manager position were cut from the consolidated district. I’ll even pick the highest paid – $136,000 and $128,000, for a total savings of $264,000. Now, I’ll ignore for the moment that we’d have to pay the remaining administrators MORE because they’d have additional responsibilities. It’s those annoying details again! Anyway …

To accomplish consolidation, teacher salaries for the former District 108 teachers would have to be brought in line with District 303’s salaries. Dr. Reader contends that this would be a drop in the bucket compared to the administrative savings. Ohhhh reeeeeeeeeallly?

As of the 2004 report card, there were 251 teachers in District 108 with an average annual salary of $45,655. For the same year, District 303 teachers made on average $1702 more that the 108 teachers. Let’s see … 251 teachers x $1702 per teacher = $427,202.

Last time I checked, $427,202 was MORE than $264,000. Where’s the big cost savings???

For clarification, I am NOT saying that District 108 teachers don’t DESERVE to be paid just as well as District 303 teachers. They absolutely do. I’m simply pointing out that Dr. Reader’s contentions just don’t add up.

Of course none of this even matters since we don’t yet have the requisite input from the other feeder districts in order to accomplish consolidation. Those damn details!

White attributes the following quote to 108 board attorney Mike Tibbs:

A petition to create an optional elementary unit district can be initiated by only two methods. The first method requires a petition containing the signatures of the requisite number of legal resident voters from each affected district.

Such a petition does not exist. Continuing …

The second method requires the approval and submission of a petition by the boards of education of each of the affected districts. If the board of education of even one of the feeder districts fails to approve a board level petition, then the petition fails to meet the statutory requirements, does not qualify for submission to the regional superintendent, and cannot result in the placement of a referendum on the ballot.

The school boards of the other districts have shown ZERO interest in this issue, so this requirement is not met either.

Money Quote from Don White:

[...] the board decided that they would not spend taxpayer’s money on something that has no promise of improving the education of our children and is not permissible by the current law.

Huh. This whole proposition for consolidation is not even possible without the consent of the other feeder districts, which the Citizens for Pekin School Consolidation have FAILED to obtain. In other words, Jim Mangan is WASTING EVERYONE’S TIME.

Isn’t that “special”?

Finally, speaking of “special,” here’s a question for the Times. Why do those opposing consolidation get their opinions placed as just another letter to the editor, but those in favor of consolidation get a “special”???

]]> http://knightindragonland.blogpeoria.com/2007/01/10/at-last-clarification-arives/feed/ 5 http://knightindragonland.blogpeoria.com/2007/01/03/former-108-board-member-has-no-respect/ http://knightindragonland.blogpeoria.com/2007/01/03/former-108-board-member-has-no-respect/#comments Wed, 03 Jan 2007 19:54:19 +0000 Knight in Dragonland http://knightindragonland.blogpeoria.com/2007/01/03/former-108-board-member-has-no-respect/ Well, it seems like Jim Mangan isn’t the only one who writes “specials” to the Times regarding consolidation. Today we have a piece by former 108 board member Sandi Roos-Ellwanger entitled “District 108 shows voters no respect.”

Ms. Roos-Ellwanger has some not-so-nice things to say about district 108 superintendent Don White and the 108 school board. While some of her remarks are scathing, she at least maintains a modicum of decorum and avoids personal insults … unlike another “special” person we know.

Many of the issues she discusses – notably the most recent tax referendum and the James Field controversy – were before my time in Pekin. I won’t discuss those issues. Readers better informed may feel free to comment.

She brings up the installation of air conditioning at District 108 schools, and how the money from the proposed sale of James Field was going to be used to offset those costs. Now the district has found money for those projects without selling James Field … mainly by stretching the installation out over several years, it seems. I believe some of the schools won’t be getting air conditioning until 2009 or perhaps even later.

Ms. Roos-Ellwanger sees this newfound availability of funding as evidence of dishonesty. MAYBE it’s simply because the district received better than expected tax revenues due to corporate expansion in the Pekin area. I don’t know how much of an “insider” that Ms. Roos-Ellwanger remains, and I don’t know anything about the woman personally. I also don’t know enough regarding her biases in order to trust her judgment on this issue. My experience with Don White is also limited, but I have heard him speak on one occasion. I was impressed with his intelligence and his sincerity in seeking to provide Pekin students with the best education possible in a fashion that remains responsible to the taxpayers.

It’s my blog, so I’m going indulge in a brief rant here. I find it ridiculous that the schools are not air conditioned already and that students have to deal with nasty Midwestern heat & humidity at the bookends of their school year. My daughter (Little Dragon #1) would come home literally DRIPPING with sweat in August and September.

Lack of air conditioning was “behind the times” almost thirty years ago when I attended public schools in Peoria. Why, oh why, is this STILL an issue??? Have you ever tried to concentrate in an over-heated room??? It’s impossible. You shift in your seat, fidget and think about how hot you are and how much you can’t wait to be back someplace cool … or, in my case, you fall asleep. The schools have to maintain special short “summer heat” hours because of this. Essentially we’re wasting some of our children’s precious educational time and diminishing the quality of that education. Is THAT a good thing for the taxpayers? Is THAT a good thing for our kids? Rant complete.

Ms. Roos-Ellwanger’s main bone of contention is the consolidation issue and the fact that the 108 board has put a consolidation study on the back burner despite the recent referendum.

[...] the board and the superintendent did not represent the community in their latest no vote to study consolidation. Obviously they are scared of getting their fat cut, which would mean some administrators.

OK, first off … Don White doesn’t vote on anything. He was instructed by the board to research this issue, and as far as I can tell, he has carried out that directive EXHAUSTIVELY.

Administrators are “scared of getting their fat cut,” and THAT is why they oppose consolidation? First, I wonder if Ms. Roos-Ellwanger even considered that their opposition might be due to the fact that consolidation will do NOTHING to improve the district academically. Anyway, if you’re looking for a place to find major cost savings, administration isn’t it. It accounts for under 3% of the District 108 budget. Then again, it’s always “good” public relations to fire some administrator and then ACT like you’re really doing something to save taxpayer dollars … when you’re really doing a whole lot of nothing.

I won’t reiterate my entire argument against consolidation here, but one of my essential points is this – why should we study consolidation if it CAN’T BE DONE without further initiative on the part of local voters???

My interpretation of the current statute regarding consolidation is that while the other feeder districts into 303 don’t have to agree to consolidation (as they did under the old law – ALL districts had to merge with 303 or none would), the other feeder districts still MUST BE CONSULTED. That consultation takes the form of (1) school board action by ALL the feeder districts to place the issue on the ballot as a BINDING referendum, or (2) district voters petition to place the issue on the ballot as a BINDING referendum. The two methods CANNOT be mixed and matched. The school boards of 98, 102, 137 and 606 have shown NO INTEREST in the consolidation debate. In fact, I believe a representative of District 606 (the superintendent, if I remember correctly) publicly rejected the idea outright in the Times (unable to provide links due to archived content).

Therefore, as I understand this, it’s up to voters in those districts to petition to have the issue on the ballot. As far as I know, no effort is being made to accomplish that.

Again, I openly invite correction if I’m interpreting the situation incorrectly. I would certainly appreciate a clarification if that’s the case.

If I am interpreting the consolidation statute correctly, then what’s the point of a study? Why should we WASTE thousands of dollars and even more precious man-hours on this issue when NO EFFORT is being made to petition the voters of the other feeder districts? If the district is struggling to come up with funding for air conditioning – something that will improve the amount of quality educational time that our children receive – why on earth should they spend thousands of taxpayer dollars on something that might not even be possible? I want my elected officials to act INTELLIGENTLY. I don’t want them to jump off a bridge just because that’s the way the wind was blowing on November 7 … on a referendum that was CLEARLY INDICATED AS NON-BINDING! Why does everyone that favors consolidation keep ignoring that fact? I suppose because it’s inconvenient.

I really wish someone from the 108 board or Don White would publicly clarify their position on this issue – here, on the District 108 website, in the Times, on a billboard … SOMEWHERE. The brief quotes in previous Times articles are insufficient (unable to provide links due to archived content).

]]> http://knightindragonland.blogpeoria.com/2007/01/03/former-108-board-member-has-no-respect/feed/ 7 http://knightindragonland.blogpeoria.com/2006/12/20/school-boards-going-in-opposite-directions/ http://knightindragonland.blogpeoria.com/2006/12/20/school-boards-going-in-opposite-directions/#comments Wed, 20 Dec 2006 17:42:16 +0000 Knight in Dragonland http://knightindragonland.blogpeoria.com/2006/12/20/school-boards-going-in-opposite-directions/ Both the District 108 and District 303 school boards met on Monday night to vote on tax levies for the upcoming year and discuss the issue of school consolidation.

I’m not going to weigh in on the issue of tax levies. Frankly, all the discussion of abatements and different state & local regulations makes my head spin, and apparently the Daily Times didn’t upload the articles regarding the 108 and 303 tax levy votes to their website. The levy adjustments seem minimal at any rate, so I’m not going to get excited about it. It’s the duty of local editorialist Mike Noyes to get overwrought about minimal tax adjustments … as he did in today’s Times. His response is so predictable it’s almost Pavlovian.

So, on to the issue of district consolidation, where I’m frustrated by the lack of information being presented to the public.

According to the Times article, the 303 board decided to look at two potential consultant groups and decide by January which group to go with for the study. The two potential consultant groups are Education Consultant Services (Dr. Gary Harrison and Bill Owens) and the Consulting and Resource Group (Dr. William Phillips). The almighty Google had nothing to say about either group … adding to my frustration.

The 108 board apparently looked at the same two consultant groups and decided they were inadequate (Times article here, Journal Star article here). I’m assuming that they’re looking at the same groups as 303, but the articles never state that outright. The 108 board (except Dean Bacon, Jim Mangan’s silent partner), Superintendent Don White and district attorney Mike Tibbs also believe that carrying through with a study is pointless given the current state law. A binding referendum regarding consolidation CANNOT be put on the ballot without the approval of the other feeder districts … which is certainly not forthcoming.

Based on what I’ve read about the current Illinois statute regarding school consolidation, I agree with White, Tibbs and the 108 board majority that a binding referendum cannot be put to the voters unless ALL the boards of the feeder districts agree to it OR the citizens of the various feeder districts petition to have it put on the ballot.

I know the first option is not going to happen. The feeder districts want to maintain their independence and local control over their schools, and I don’t blame them for that at all. I have not heard that the Citizens for Pekin School Consolidation are mounting a petition campaign to get signatures from all the feeder districts in order to approach the matter in that way. So where does that leave us?

I guess the essential question is this … is there some OTHER mechanism by which 108 and 303 could consolidate? If the answer is yes, then we should proceed with a study based on that mechanism. If the answer is no, then there’s no point until Mr. Mangan and his crew get their butts in gear and collect the signatures that they need from ALL the feeder districts.

P.S. to the Journal Star … District 108 is the elementary district. District 303 is the high school district. They got it right in today’s story, but yesterday they were talking about “high school district 108.” It remains uncorrected in the web edition at the time of this post.

]]> http://knightindragonland.blogpeoria.com/2006/12/20/school-boards-going-in-opposite-directions/feed/ 11 http://knightindragonland.blogpeoria.com/2006/12/10/a-whole-lot-of-nothing/ http://knightindragonland.blogpeoria.com/2006/12/10/a-whole-lot-of-nothing/#comments Sun, 10 Dec 2006 18:22:40 +0000 Knight in Dragonland http://knightindragonland.blogpeoria.com/2006/12/10/a-whole-lot-of-nothing/ Well, we all knew this was coming, right? It’s time to blog about the latest in a LONG series of Jim Mangan rants, and the first since his smackdown at the last 303 school board meeting. First we heard from his journalistic proxy and official brown-noser, Mike Noyes. Now the big man himself speaks of the alleged evils perpetrated against himself and the citizens of Pekin.

First, Mangan claims that allegations that he insulted District 108 teachers are “absolutely false.” Well, is saying that the teachers fail to adequately prepare their students for high school considered insulting? I would be insulted if I were a 108 teacher. Supposedly low test scores and inadequate preparation in 108 are the root of all evil for Mr. Mangan. So if he’s not blaming the teachers, then who do we blame?

I only maligned their “system”?

Ohhh yes … the “system.” The mean, evil “system.” I think this refers to District 108 administrators like Superintendent Don White, for whom Mangan has nothing but venom and slander.

News flash, Mr. Mangan – most of the “system” is dictated to the district from on high at the federal and state level. This is the real reason Mark Sattazahn resigned according to Tom Frazier, and unfortunately it doesn’t seem like further clarification is forthcoming from Mr. Sattazahn. Thus we’re left with the battling Mike Noyes vs. Tom Frazier versions of the infamous leaked resignation letter. However, it’s pretty clear from what I’ve seen as a parent with children in District 108 that most teachers are doing the best that they can with the resources they have available to them.

Most of the rest of Mangan’s commentary involves ranting about the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), the “Nation’s Report Card” according to their website. Illinois students don’t do very well on that test. Neither do students from EVERY OTHER STATE IN THE COUNTRY. Look at the state profiles and compare states. Nobody does well on this test. Check out California’s results – they’re particularly abysmal. It’s an indictment of the ENTIRE U.S. primary education system, not Illinois in particular.

As an interesting aside, private school students do only slightly better on the NAEP than public school kids. Think those thousands of dollars in tuition are really helping your kid? Think again!

Apparently, Mr. Mangan has solved all the education problems in our country with his magic wand, consolidation. Aren’t we lucky to have such a supra-genius in our midst?

Heh. That’s sarcasm … oh, you caught that? OK, good.

Mr. Mangan conveniently ignores the fact that most of the districts in the state are unified, and according to state testing, they’re pretty much doing the same or worse than Pekin. The NAEP numbers aren’t broken down by district, so you can’t make a direct comparison. However, all you have to do is look across the river at District 150 and compare their state test scores to 108 / 303. Who comes out the winner in that comparison, Mr. Mangan? It doesn’t matter that state tests are less stringent than the NAEP, as long as they can provide useful data for comparison.

Again Mr. Mangan breathes his dragonfire at straw men and expects us to be impressed with the conflagration. He YET AGAIN fails to provide evidence that consolidation will do anything to improve the academic achievement of Pekin students, and his attempt to deny insulting 108 teachers is pathetic.

What is there of substance in Mangan’s latest post to the Times? A whole lot of nothing.

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