What I don’t understand is why the Pekin Times article had to demean adolescents in general at the same time it was congratulating these particular students:

Rare as it is to find a sizable group of well-dressed and well-behaved teenagers all in one place, that was exactly the scene at Pekin Community High School’s pep rally on Friday morning.

Note to the Times - the majority of adolescents aren’t slovenly juvenile delinquents. These students in particular deserve a little more respect.

Jim Mangan, of course, continues to thoroughly wallop the dead consolidation horse. I’ll certainly give him credit for persistence. From the Times article:

A big incentive for the merger, Mangan said, would be improved scholastic performance by students, which he believes would indeed happen. However, even if it did not, he said, “it’s still a winner financially” and therefore the board should move ahead with it.

He continues to insist that consolidation will bring academic improvement, even though he has never offered any evidence to that point. He also remains under the delusion that this would be a financial boon despite evidence presented previously. Mangan’s sure that the administrators are cooking the numbers.

District 303 Superintendent Paula Davis took a bit of an exception to that …

Davis said Mangan’s statements were accusatory and “patently unfair,â€? and pointed out that District 303 has gotten “the highest ratings possible over the course of the years” by the state, because of its financial responsibility.

Thank you, Paula Davis. It takes a lot of nerve for an administrator to dress down a board member, but in this case I believe it was well deserved. The fact that Mangan is leaving the board makes it easier to stand up to him, but I still admire the pluck.

If Ken Hinton were presenting the evidence on the projected financial viability of school consolidation, I might agree with Jim Mangan. However, both school districts do well in financial reviews by the Illiinois State Board of Education (while District 150 in Peoria is on the “watch” list), and District 108 has won awards for budgetary excellence. In that light, Mangan’s suspicions are baseless paranoia.

Since moving to Pekin, my impression has been that the public schools, in general, are fighting hard to do the best they can for our students. Of course there is always room for improvement, but school district consolidation is clearly not the answer. Jim Mangan needs to climb off his dead horse, but somehow I doubt that will happen.

The Wednesday edition of the Times contains an article entitled “District views the financial impact of consolidation.” The Illinois State Board of Education and District 303 administrators put together financial numbers regarding two different scenarios: the total consolidation of District 303 with all its feeder districts and the isolated consolidation of Districts 108 & 303. Superintendent Paula Davis presented these figures to the District 303 board at a special meeting on Tuesday night.

I’m not going to discuss the numbers mentioned for the total consolidation, because that’s just not going to happen. As the Times article points out, the other feeder districts have shown NO interest in that scenario.

In regards to the isolated consolidation of Districts 108 & 303 supported by Jim Mangan and the Citizens for Pekin School Consolidation, the following quote from Davis sums things up the best (bold emphasis and bracketed clarification are my own):

When you look at the incentives [for consolidation provided by the State] we would stand to gain almost $150,000 in the first year of consolidation, in the second year we would gain $1.8 million … in the third year we would gain a total of $140,000 and in the fourth year $135,000, but after the incentives are done we’re in the negative, we start losing money.

So … consolidation would only provide a short-term benefit, and that’s IF the State came through with the promised incentive monies. The State of Illinois hasn’t done a very good job living up to their financial obligations of late, so I wouldn’t count on that money.

Basically, these numbers tell us that consolidation is a big financial toilet flush … money down the drain for NO BENEFIT.

Jim Mangan, of course, is in complete denial. He just doesn’t believe the numbers. When confronted with yet another potential negative consequence of consolidation – litigation with the other feeder districts over transportation costs – Mangan made the following statement (bold emphasis mine):

I’m not convinced that that lawsuit will be a reality. At this point in time I think that’s kind of a scare negative for people to hang on to now that they don’t have the loss of revenues negative to hang on to.

What?!?! No loss of revenues negative? Did you HEAR what Paula Davis said, Mr. Mangan? Short-term benefit … long-term LOSS OF REVENUE. Like I was saying … pathologic denial.

Then there’s this little gem:

[Mangan] also suggested that a consolidated district could give some of that new money to the feeder districts in exchange for their cooperation in moving forward with a consolidation vote.

Is Jim Mangan authorized by the residents of District 303 to offer BRIBES to the feeder districts? Where does this man come up with this stuff – La Cosa Nostra School of Governance???

Here’s MY bottom line for consolidation:

1. No academic benefit.

2. Short-term financial gains WAY offset by long-term financial losses that would likely require TAX INCREASES to make up the shortfall.

3. Lack of feasibility given the current statute governing school consolidation – it just CAN’T happen without the consent of the other feeder districts.

4. Strong potential for litigation with the other feeder districts over transportation and other costs, since THEIR tax monies would be going to support kids that are now in District 108.

Numbers 1 and 2 should make opposition to consolidation a no-brainer. Number 3 makes the whole argument a ridiculous waste of time and money. How much school board time has this issue consumed??? Number 4 is just icing on the “Consolidation is DEAD” cake.

Would you like a piece of cake, Mr. Mangan? No? Didn’t think so.

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!

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).

Surprise, surprise … it’s Jim Mangan. I’m sure everyone is shocked at that announcement. Another “Special to the Times” appeared in today’s paper. I know I feel special for reading it.

This time, for a change, it’s not District 108 that’s getting the brunt of Mangan’s fury. No … this time he’s berating his fellow District 303 board members for over-taxing the citizens of Pekin! He also throws some jabs at the Daily Times editorial board for supporting the 303 board majority in a recent editorial.

This is probably his payback for being shot down at the board meeting two months ago. In his most recent “special” he again vilifies any and all who oppose him. The other members of the 303 board are “delusional drunks” who are illegally “cooking the books.” Any who support them are “dishonest” and “weak-minded.”

Mr. Mangan sure knows how to make friends, doesn’t he?

How can anything constructive arise out of such poison??? I am so tired of hearing this dreck from a public official who is supposed to be representing the best interests of the students of Pekin High School.

The tax levy increased by $600,000 total. Spread out over all the taxpayers of the district, I don’t believe that’s excessive. The board also refunded the $75 activity fee and provided several abatements. All in all, this is does not seem to pose an excessive burden on the taxpayers who support District 303. If you just listened to Jim Mangan, you’d think that this was the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Tea Act of 1773 all over again.

Once again, all we hear from Jim Mangan is divisive and insulting rhetoric and deceptive hyperbole.

Then again, what do I know? I’m a dishonest, weak-minded delusional drunk.

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.

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.

“I disapprove of what you say,” the French philosopher Voltaire is reputed to have said, “but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Had Voltaire uttered the first line of that famous quote at a District 303 Board meeting, that radical might never have been allowed to complete his sentence.

Jim Mangan is no Voltaire. There is no comparison. The grandiose exaggerations that routinely spout from Mike Noyes’s mouth are frankly ridiculous.

However, I will be honest and say that Noyes actually makes a few good points in today’s column, although his tone “shines” with its usual condescension. No matter how gleeful I was at the richly deserved smackdown Jim Mangan received at the last 303 board meeting, I think the other board members did more harm than good to their cause by not allowing Mangan to speak. The same goes for the 108 board in their tabling of discussion regarding a district consolidation study. Noyes voices the party line of the Citizens for Pekin School Consolidation and takes both boards to task for these events in his column.

I think I know what they were doing. Both boards were distancing themselves from the slanderous and deceitful tactics of Jim Mangan and his ugly, nasty campaign to discredit the good people working in District 108. However, silencing him with a parliamentary tactic and tabling a consolidation study clearly desired by the people of Pekin just plays right into the anti-establishment hyperbole of the Citizens for Pekin School Consolidation. They portray themselves as the persecuted hero fighting “the Man” to let the will of the people be heard. It’s a total load of nonsense, but the 108 & 303 boards played right into it by shutting Mangan down and tabling a consolidation study.

Let the man speak. His numbers are worthless, since only a referendum will determine the tax rate for any combined school district. Let him dig his political grave with his own nasty mouth.

Pursue the consolidation study. Let Don White and Paula Davis show the taxpayers of Pekin how many thousands of dollars it’s going to cost just to figure this thing out. Let them find out how much money we’re going to waste on something that will do NOTHING to improve the quality of education in Pekin and may not save any money. Let them accumulate the figures that will shoot Jim Mangan’s numbers to pieces.

I still think that consolidation is a waste of time. We should be focused on helping the students of Pekin, and consolidation does nothing to address their needs. However, if consolidation does eventually go through, I think the greatest poetic justice Jim Mangan could receive would be to deny him any place in the governance of the new district because he has so alienated Pekin voters with his nasty, slanderous rhetoric. That would be truly just desserts.

Money Quote:

One thing bothers me more than anything else about this proposal. Some people seem to have the notion that consolidation will fix any perceived shortcomings in the elementary education available in this community. It will not.

Is Mangan the only one that doesn’t get this? I’ve been making this point from the beginning.

Mr. Frazier claims that the criticism in Sattazahn’s letter was pointed at federal standards imposed by the No Child Left Behind Act, NOT at District 108. I’m not sure where Frazier is getting his information – unless he’s related to Karen Frazier, who saw the letter as a member of the 108 board. I wish Mr. Sattazahn would provide some clarity.

Frazier also has this to say to Jim Mangan:

Mr. Mangan would like to blame District 108 for the drop-out rate in District 303, yet take the credit for the good students in 303. It doesn’t work that way. Parents are the ones responsible for instilling in the children the need for a good education. As parents we need to do a better job at home and stop blaming educators for our own inabilities.

Heh. I’m not sure if blaming parents so directly is wise, because Mangan will likely jump all over it – “108 blames the parents for their failures!” or some nonsense like that. However, I certainly agree with the premise. A poor educational environment at home is challenging and sometimes impossible for even the best educator to overcome. I also agree that Mangan’s claim that all of 303’s problems derive from 108 is nonsense.

The actual business of the board was somewhat interesting, but hardly the juicy bits. The 303 board voted unanimously to move forward with a consolidation study using three consultants identified by Superintendent Paula Davis. A ballpark figure for the cost of these studies is $4000 to $5000 per district studied – and state law would require that 5 out of 6 of 303’s feeder districts be included in the study. Also, unless the boards of those feeder districts agree to the study, state funding to help pay for the study will not be available. Thus it looks like 108 and / or 303 is going to have to foot the entire bill for this, and it’s going to be significantly more than the $15,000 I believe they have set aside. This is a telling quote from Paula Davis:

It’s clear to me that the three individuals I talked to feel this is an awesome undertaking and one that is gonna take a significant amount of time.

Time AND money. The criteria that must be evaluated include “transportation, facilities, curriculum, finance, enrollment, staffing, demographics, extra-curricular activities, and justification of and recommendation on the type of reorganization and combination of districts.” Eeee gads! I think $4000 to $5000 per district might be a bit low, especially since I’m not sure how cooperative the feeder districts are going to be since they’ve shown no interest in participating.

Now let’s talk about the GOOD STUFF … hehehe.

District 108 Superintendent Don White and 108 board member Karen Frazier attended last night’s meeting to give notice to Jim Mangan that they’re none too pleased with his behavior. Frazier read a letter from Richard Root, President of the 108 school board (he was unable to attend). Here’s the quote from the letter that appeared in the Times:

With so much posturing, name-calling and depiction of educational staff, administrators and board members as persons of low morality and ill-intent, it’s time to say ‘put up or shut up.

That’s not subtle. Don White had this to say, speaking as both 108 Superintendent and as a Pekin citizen and father of a PCHS student:

I support moving forward with the study of this topic. However, I feel that no one should be bullied into making this decision. I resent the attacks that have been written by a member of this board. These very personal attacks … are unwarranted and reflect poorly on our community.

To this 303 board President Larry Howard said:

I want to take this time to assure you that Mr. Mangan does not represent this board of education. He speaks for himself and he speaks alone. That’s not a shared sentiment of this board.

I think Homer Simpson said it best … D’OH!!! But wait … there’s more …

Jim Mangan at this point gets up to start a presentation about the advantages of consolidation, handing some papers to Don White. This quote from Mangan kills me …

Dr. White indicated that I had been sort of critical of District 108. The consolidation group was really attacking the system, letting the kids down and the system letting the taxpayers down.

“Sort of critical”??????? Sort of??? Almost all of his NUMEROUS letters to the Daily Times were just FILLED with ranting criticism of 108, and he’s specifically questioned Don White’s honesty and integrity in no uncertain terms on MULTIPLE occasions.

So Mangan starts to give his presentation, and the other 303 board members interrupt him to call for a vote on the motion to send letters to the feeder districts, essentially cutting off Mangan’s discussion. Mangan tried to argue that they were stifling his rebuttal of Don White & Richard Root (via Karen Frazier). 303 board member Gary Lowe responded:

The board does not rebut public comment.

Mangan then asked for time during a future meeting to give his presentation, and board President Howard shot him down:

I’m not inclined to do that. You did that endeavor as a citizen of Pekin, not as a member of this board. Typically that decision is made by the board president in conjunction with the superintendent.

D’OH!!! He never gave his presentation. He didn’t even get assurances that the 303 board would ever hear him out.

Clearly the other members of the 303 board are embarrassed by Jim Mangan’s overzealous criticism of District 108 and are publicly distancing themselves from him.

Any bets on how long it will be before another Jim Mangan rant shows up in the Daily Times? This one should be a doozy.

I obviously disagree that his Nov. 1 column was “very solid journalism.” For previous discussions, see this post and this post about the response to the Nov. 1 column and this post regarding Noyes’s reply to his critics.

A teacher’s letter of resignation should not be used as public political fodder. Noyes wasn’t acting as an investigational journalist. He was writing an OPINION piece on a political issue one week before the election, and he paraphrased the letter without the permission of the letter’s author. The author, Mark Sattazahn, revealed himself publicly a few days later in the Daily Times – none too pleased regarding Noyes’s political ploy.

Even if Noyes had Sattazahn’s approval to use the contents of the letter, it still only reveals one man’s opinion about the policies of District 108. The over 20 teachers and other staff from District 108 that wrote angry letters to the editor about Noyes certainly disagree. While Noyes has received a few letters of support, the overall opinion of his work has been OVERWHELMINGLY negative.

The Citizens for Pekin School Consolidation have an inside man in District 108 – school board member Dean Bacon. Certainly someone who has served four terms on the 108 board is familiar with the policies and practices of District 108 regarding the handling of failing students. Certainly Mr. Bacon could provide details to the public regarding any concerning social promotion policies without having to resort to publicly displaying the contents of a letter of resignation – a legally public but ethically confidential document. Why doesn’t Mr. Bacon speak up for himself and provide clarity on this issue?

With his unethical journalism and petty politicking, Mr. Noyes and whoever leaked him the letter drove a wedge of mistrust between the educators of district 108 and their school board. Is any teacher in their right mind going to be open and honest to the school board regarding serious concerns they might have after THAT fiasco??? Noyes and his leaker have broken the lines of communication between the soldiers on the front lines of education and the generals at central command. All they’re going to hear now is “yes, sir” and “can do, sir!” while serious problems potentially go unaddressed.

Ohhh … and good luck to us with recruiting and retaining good teachers for District 108. “Insult, embarrass, humiliate and BETRAY” – what a great strategy for improving morale!

Maybe Mr. Noyes thinks he’s a good journalist. I dispute that, but he’s entitled to have a glowing opinion of himself. What’s CERTAIN is that he’s a poor citizen of Pekin and horrendously unqualified to have any sort of leadership position in our school districts. I think Mike Noyes’s candidate questionnaire completed before the last school board election (when he failed to win a seat) has some telling things to say about him. When asked about his two top priorities, Mr. Noyes mentions fiscal responsibility and responsiveness to the will of the people. Certainly those are laudable goals. However, I find it interesting that “ensuring quality education for the students of District 108″ is nowhere on his list. Maybe it’s #3. Heh.

That Nov. 1 column by Mike Noyes along with Jim Mangan’s endless haranguing of District 108 have done more to harm the Pekin educational system than any supposed social promotion policy. You just keep patting yourself on the back for your “solid journalism,” Mr. Noyes. I’ll do what you should be doing. I’ll fight for best interests of District 108 students.

The Times editors use the piece to dress down both the 108 board for ignoring the results of the consolidation referendum AND Jim Mangan for his negative smear campaign. The charges are fair, in my opinion.

I do question whether those voting for the referendum were adequately informed, especially when the DISinformation campaign of the Citizens for Pekin School Consolidation was the most prominent view out there. More people need to read my blog, obviously. (Laughing). However, democracy – although imperfect – is unquestionably the best form of government. The referendum passed by a substantial margin, so the board should certainly respect that result and diligently investigate the possibility of consolidation.

The editorial agrees with my view (scroll down toward the end and look for PAST) that the information we have to this point – the “clear evidence” of consolidation’s value to the taxpayers that Mangan claims to have – is of little value:

The only way for the districts to settle this question is to gather new information, and not use what has been already gathered in past studies or put forth by consolidation supporters.

Pekin is moving into uncharted territory in regard to our options under the state’s recently passed new school consolidation law.

Nobody knows for sure what would happen – for the taxpayers, for the students, teachers or administrators – if the two districts were to consolidate.

The Daily Times offers Midwest Central Community Unit District 191 centered in Manito as a local example of consolidation. However, 191 is the kind of rural district that has utilized consolidation to continue service in the face of shrinking student populations. The situation with 108 & 303 is unique. If only 108 & 303 consolidate, then the residents of other feeder districts would essentially be paying taxes to support Pekin students in 108 at the same time they are paying to support local grade schools in their own districts. Unless ALL of the feeder districts consolidate with 303 – something none of the other districts have shown any interest in – then it sets up an unfair double taxation policy. It’s a complicated issue, and I’m not sure how much looking at District 191 will help.

The Times offers a solution to the dilemma that would take some of the heat off the school boards and administrators:

What about creating a blue-ribbon panel of local business and industry leaders, professionals and entrepreneurs and non-school board elected and appointed officials, with a specific mandate and deadline?

Not a bad idea. Can I be on it? Hehehehe.

Such a group would need to be of necessity independent and neutral, in order to quell the suspicions of consolidation supporters or those who oppose it.

Hmmmm … I guess that counts me out. Thankfully it also counts out Mangan, Bacon & Noyes. I can’t be neutral on this issue. I want what’s best for the students of Pekin, and I think Mangan’s plan is a needless distraction wasting time, money & effort while ignoring the real problems facing the district.

My favorite part of the editorial is this:

To achieve anything other than a stalemate or, even worse, a debacle, all the energy being wasted in negativity and name-calling must be harnessed so education reform in Pekin can move forward.

If we don’t, the future for our community won’t be as bright as it could be.

Did you hear that, Mr. Mangan?

Well, his letter to the editor in yesterday’s Pekin Daily Times cured me of any thought that he might have gone “bleeding heart” since the referendum. He was back to his antagonistic, condescending, nasty old self. The letter was written as a thank you to Pekin voters for their support of the consolidation referendum.

Over the past five months, voters received unvarnished facts of the many shortcomings of our two-district system. Voters also heard different reports from local education experts and their followers, trying to put a happy face on years of insufficient student quality and wasteful taxing.

No, Mr. Mangan. For the past five months we’ve heard your nasty personal slander of District 108 administrators and teachers and exaggerated negative spin of the district’s test scores.

Now it is up to the school board members of districts 108 and 303 to get the job done. Will these representatives of the voters and their public paid administrators honestly follow the clear will of the people, or continue to conspire to find technical excuses and loop holes to protect the status-quo?

Conspire? The only organized conspiracy I see is your organization – the Citizens for Pekin School Consolidation, a group dedicated to shoving the consolidation issue down the throats of the people of Pekin. They pursue this goal by disparaging the hard-working and dedicated educators of District 108 and deceiving the public with vague, unproven promises of reduced taxation & educational benefit.

Will school officials and their fan club insult voters by pretending they didn’t understand what they were voting for?

Don White, District 108 Superintendent, has questioned whether voters really understood the referendum. I have my own doubts in that regard, but fine – yes, the referendum passed. However, the referendum was NON-BINDING – a fact that was clearly indicated on the ballot. Perhaps, Mr. Mangan, YOU should trust the voters to recognize that this was a non-binding resolution and NOT a carte blanche to move forward with consolidation.

The only way to assure that [there is an honest study of the consolidation issue] is by having two members of the Citizens for Consolidation group – myself and Dean Bacon – on the study team that the voters know and trust, and who have a working understanding of the material to be studied.

That’s like putting the fox in charge of the hen house! Trustworthy? That’s a laugh! Your letters to the Daily Times and your pro-consolidation fliers ignored the fact that test scores for District 108 schools hold up well against schools with similar demographics and against the state average. District 108 schools continue to meet adequate yearly progress as required by the No Child Left Behind Act. In fact, several 108 schools have won awards for excellence from the state. Did you mention any of those facts in your propaganda, Mr. Mangan?

We’ve also seen someone from your camp leak a confidential resignation letter to Mike Noyes so that he could use it to advance your petty political ends. Evasions, spin, outright lies and dirty tricks – that’s what we’ve seen from the Citizens for Pekin School Consolidation.

The policies promoted by Mangan, Bacon & Noyes (Pekin’s Unholy Trinity) endanger the already thinly stretched funding for the education of our children. Their slander of educators devastates morale and diminishes our ability to recruit and retain good teachers and administrators. If you were a teacher or school administrator, would you want to work in the hostile environment provided by the Citizens for Pekin School Consolidation?

Let’s carefully study the issue of consolidation and be sure that this is a good thing for our public school students before we move ahead. If such a study shows that consolidation will save taxpayer dollars while not jeopardizing education funding, then fine – go for it. If it saves money but reduces funding, then it’s not worth it. Our kids are already forced to do fundraisers on a nearly weekly basis. Our teachers already give too much out of their own pockets to educate our children.

We can’t just focus on the almighty dollar. We have to remember that the education of our children is the most important issue at stake here. Let’s not delude ourselves that consolidation will improve test scores. Tazewell County in general and the Pekin school districts in particular are undergoing demographic challenges that will not be solved by “organizing the curriculum” and ending social promotion (if that even occurs). We have more students with fewer resources at home. We have more students with special education needs that the tests mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act fail to separate from the rest of the pack. Consolidation does NOTHING to address these issues.

Social promotion is a failed educational policy, but the simple retention policies advocated by Mangan and his cohorts are an even larger failure. As Michelle Teheux suggested in her recent column, the real solution lies in providing supplemental instruction to students that are struggling. We need expanded early childhood education, expanded after-school programs and expanded tutoring services. This solution is neither simple nor cheap, but it offers more realistic chances of improving student performance than Mangan’s “magic wand.”