A Knight in Dragonland » District Consolidation

Consolidation Epilogue

Knight in Dragonland — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 22:54:28 +0000

From the staff editorial in the weekend edition (April 7-8) of the Daily Times (bold emphasis mine):

At this time, it should be apparent the progress toward consolidation that a November 2006 referendum told the two districts to work toward is stalled. The reason: Pekin schools and feeder districts have unique situations that make us virtually ineligible to take advantage of the law as it exists today.

That does not mean the issue is dead. It’s just hit a road block. So maybe it’s time for consolidation supporters to take the issue to the next level: Springfield.

Proponents should re-evaluate their strategy of trying to convince local school boards to spend money on a study that would likely be outdated before the present law is ever revised.

Then, they should get organized to lobby the state house for changes to the law.

Proponents should corral like-minded citizens to work together, share resources and knowledge.

We still have seen no convincing evidence that consolidation will offer any financial or educational advantages. However, given the results of the referendum, in which voters instructed 108 and 303 to pursue consolidation, we still believe, as we have previously said in this space, that the issue deserves consideration and study. District 303 did make some preliminary moves in that direction, but dropped its plans to fund a study after discovering just how difficult and expensive and ultimately fruitless the result was likely to be.

At this point, it’s our opinion that the District 303 board recently made the right decision not to fund a consolidation study.

If the law changes, that’s a different story.

But to make that happen, somebody has to take the ball and run with it to the state capital.

It’s time to do something, or change the subject.

Amen!

Journal Star Editorial Board Shows Its Ignorance

Knight in Dragonland — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 23:27:35 +0000

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.

R.I.P. Consolidation

Knight in Dragonland — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:05:57 +0000

The District 303 School Board officially declared the school district consolidation issue dead on Monday night by declining to carry through with an official study of the issue. With a mandate from the state requiring inclusion of the other feeder districts in deciding this issue, and no interest from those districts, most board members concluded that a consolidation study would be a waste of $30,000 (minimum). There were two dissenting votes – Mark Rossi and … do I even need to type the name?

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 Ã¢â‚¬Å“patently unfair,Ã¢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.

I Feel Like I Should Be Offending Someone

Knight in Dragonland — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 01:02:50 +0000

The contrarian in me is itching to post something to antagonize my stalker, although I have no idea what I said that so offended them. My usual topics of discussion are experiencing a bit of a lull.

The school consolidation issue seems dead in the water – the proper place for that proposal, in my opinion. I’m guessing Jim Mangan must be satisfied that he helped drive away Superintendent Don White, one of District 108’s greatest assets. I’m wondering if that was the point in this whole charade to begin with.

The local mayoral and city council races are experiencing a post-primary lull. The only exception would be the recent political theatrics of Bill Toel. He challenged Dave Tebben to a debate via letter to the editor, even though he saw the man in person the night before the letter appeared in the Times and said nothing. If Toel wants to be taken seriously, he needs to cut out the games and get serious on the issues. Edgar Sandoval’s already blogged about this, so I’m feeling a bit redundant.

Sorry if this post is a bit lame on the controversy scale.Ã‚Â Feel free to propose your own topics for discussion in the comments section.Ã‚Â I promise to do my best in the future to offend those in our community debased enough to threaten children and elders.Ã‚Â Stay posted … I think I’ll have a whopper coming soon.

Mangan in Denial

Knight in Dragonland — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 11:19:34 +0000

Jim Mangan’s state of denial regarding the “benefits” and feasibility of consolidating Districts 108 and 303 has now crossed the border into pathologic.

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.

White to Leave District 108

Knight in Dragonland — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 10:11:30 +0000

I was saddened to learn that the rumors regarding Don White’s resignation as District 108 superintendent were indeed true. In my opinion, Pekin students are losing a quality advocate. My exposure to Dr. White was very limited, but I found him to be extremely intelligent and hard-working. He truly seems to have the best interests of the kids at heart. I wish him well, but it will be hard to fill his shoes.

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.

Mangan Daily Times

Knight in Dragonland — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:36:18 +0000

OK, Rick. You vigorously defended your paper against my suggestion that it might be acting as Jim Mangan’s mouthpiece a little too much.

But now … page 1, lead article … “Citizens challenge candidates.”

For one thing, that title is misleading. I read the article several times to make sure that I didn’t miss anything, but it’s CITIZEN … SINGULAR … meaning Jim Mangan. No one else is mentioned.

Yeah, OK … he claims to be representing a “group of homeowners.” Were these “homeowners” named on this challenge? I’m tired of Mangan and his shadowy cabals claiming to represent the majority opinion of Pekin citizens.

Yes Rick … I can anticipate the obvious criticism now. I don’t sign my real name to the opinions posted on this blog, so I shouldn’t be demanding that others do it elsewhere. However, I also don’t claim to be representing a group or anyone’s opinion but my own.

Mr. Mangan currently serves on the 303 school board and is the spokesman for the Citizens for Pekin School Consolidation (a group of 3 or 4 people, as far as I can tell – probably the “homeowners” he’s referring to in his challenge). That makes him a public figure in Pekin. I understand that.

However, this article has NOTHING to do with school consolidation. Mangan’s challenging the city council and mayoral candidates to pledge not to raise taxes or fees without public referendum. Fine … he can do that. Just like any citizen who wants his voice to be heard, Mr. Mangan is free to write the candidates and make any sort of challenge that he wants. If others want to sign their name to it too, that’s their right as well.

But why does Mr. Mangan’s opinion deserve a page 1 lead article? He serves on the SCHOOL BOARD. He’s not even running for re-election, and he’s not running for any other public office to my knowledge. When it comes to his opinion on city government, he’s JUST ANOTHER CITIZEN. If Mangan submitted this challenge stapled to a list of a hundred signatures, then I’ll bite my tongue … but I doubt that’s the case.

First he becomes a regular and endlessly repetitive presence on the opinion page. Now he’s page 1 news. WTF???

There is one thing that this article and the no-tax challenge CLEARLY point out – Mangan’s primary concern is battling taxation. That’s what his consolidation argument is all about, not improving the academic performance of Pekin schools as he claims. All he wants to see is his already diminutive property tax burden go down. He doesn’t care if the students in Pekin public schools suffer for it.

Do My Eyes Deceive Me?

Knight in Dragonland — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 22:12:15 +0000

I had to re-read the opening article of today’s Pekin Daily Times to make sure I was interpreting this correctly (bold emphasis is mine):

The District 303 board has three seats open – those of Larry Howard, Jim Mangan and Mark Rossi. All are for four-year terms. Howard is the only incumbent to file for re-election. Other candidates filing are Paul O’Neal and Ed Harr.

That coupled with this …

Districts 108 and 303 and the Pekin Park District officially closed their windows for filing petitions as of 5 p.m. Monday.

… means Jim Mangan is NOT seeking re-election to the 303 board!

Really?!?! I guess Mangan’s decided that he wants to wage war on 108 full time. I’m sure that also means we’re going to be hearing even MORE from Jim Mangan in the Times.

(SIGH)

The article also shows that we don’t really have much choice regarding who will sit on the 303 board – there are three open positions and three candidates running. The 108 and park board races at least have a few challengers to make it a contest.

Ohh yeah … Consolidation

Knight in Dragonland — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 21:18:40 +0000

Yes, I know … I’ve been remiss in my blogging duties in regards to Pekin school consolidation. Blame the multiple viral plagues that runneth amok throughout the city of Pekin. M’lady, myself and all four Little Dragons have been sick with not one, but two different viruses that have made their sickly way through the Knightly Manor. I’ve been busy cleaning up barf and phlegm and hacking my own lungs out. I hope you’ll excuse my relative absence from the blogosphere.

But now … the blog must go on. Speaking of phlegm, Mangan is at it again. He again makes an appearance on the Opinion page of the Times, this time criticizing Michelle Teheux for the supposed lack of “facts” in her excellent January 24 editorial. Of course Mangan offers no facts of his own to support his position. In other words, typical Mangan … sound and fury signifying nothing.

Please show the people of Pekin your evidence, Mr. Mangan. Where are these vaunted “facts” that you and your supporters keep prattling on and on and on about? Is there some secret password that I need to access them? Do I need to belong to some mystic cabal to have the privilege of this secret knowledge? Please prove to us, the unenlightened, that school consolidation will improve the academic fortunes of our children. So far we’ve heard nothing but hot air. Until you show us your proof, Mr. Mangan, your criticism of Ms. Teheux is just a bunch of angry noise – the whining of a petulant child denied his favorite toy.

Reader’s Numbers Don’t Add Up

Knight in Dragonland — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 17:54:03 +0000

Today the Journal Star Opinion page served as the Pekin School District consolidation battleground. On the pro-consolidation side, we find a letter from Dr. Fred Reader with the sensational title of “Duplicate districts gouge taxpayers.” Challenging the need for a consolidation study is District 108 Superintendent Don White. His piece in the Journal Star is essentially the same as the one that ran in the Times (that I blogged about here).

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!

At Last, Clarification Arives

Knight in Dragonland — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 20:00:23 +0000

It seems that my interpretation of the Illinois statute governing school consolidation is correct, at least according to Don White, District 108 superintendent. White offered his clarification as a letter to the editor in the Times today.

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”???

Former 108 Board Member Has “No Respect”

Knight in Dragonland — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 19:54:19 +0000

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).

School Boards Going in Opposite Directions

Knight in Dragonland — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 17:42:16 +0000

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.

Turk Tired of Mangan Rants

Knight in Dragonland — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 22:35:38 +0000

I’d like to thank Michael Legel of Tremont for his letter to the editor that was published in today’s Daily Times. Sometimes I wonder if I’m talking to myself here, and it’s nice to see someone with the same perspective in print.

Money Quote:

School consolidation is more about saving money. Comparing test scores is a straw argument to support a financial desire.

Exactly! Like Mayor Mackaman said at the Community Update back in September: “some people want caviar service on a dimestore budget” *. That’s Jim Mangan and Mike Noyes. Don’t let them fool you that they’re promoting educational reform.

* I unfortunately don’t recall the exact quote, but I think I have the spirit of it. If I remember correctly, Mackaman’s exact words were quoted in the Daily Times article on the Community Update … but that’s locked away in the over-priced Daily Times archive.

A Whole Lot of Nothing

Knight in Dragonland — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 18:22:40 +0000

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.