School leaders address big issues in Skokie Voice forum
By MIKE ISAACS misaacs@pioneerlocal.com October 24, 2011 10:00AM
Skokie Voice President Lisa Lipin (from left), Superintendents Frances McTague of District 68, James Schopp of District 73 and Hardy Murphy of District 65 appear at an Oct. 19 community forum on education. | Mike Isaacs~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: November 28, 2011 8:08AM
“Strong schools make for strong communities.”
That response came from Skokie School District 68 Superintendent Frances McTague last week after a complaint about the rise in property taxes among all Skokie school districts.
McTague was among seven panelists at an unprecedented community forum on education sponsored by Skokie Voice, the busy residents’ association that formed last year. For the first time, representatives of almost all school districts in Skokie came together to field questions and share information with the public.
Superintendents from Districts 65, 68, 69, 72, 73, 219 and the Middleton School principal representing District 73.5 shared the stage for more than two hours at the Oakton Community Center.
Skokie Voice surveyed residents to form questions from hundreds of responses. The second half of the forum included live questions from audience members.
The complaint about property taxes was one of the more spirited ones of the night, a cry of frustration from a senior who has seen his taxes spike during a difficult economy.
“You’re bleeding the taxpayers dry with school taxes,” said John Peters, a District 73.5 resident. “I’ve seen my taxes go up $1,000 to $7,000-plus. The vast majority is going to the schools.”
Panelists emphasized that school districts are under their own constraints — trying to maintain quality education as funding from the state declines and other challenges surface. Balancing budgets while maintaining important programs has become a formidable annual challenge.
Skokie Voice moderator Gary Dolinko, who has been part of a campaign for education funding reform in Illinois, charged that the state is in “fiscal disarray’ and does not meet its obligation of funding education.
“All of us are trying to contain costs and we understand the struggle in our communities right now, particularly with the decline in property values,” McTague said. “I don’t think that any of us would consider any of the programs we are offering in our schools to be lavish or frivolous.”
As the night wore on and education leaders addressed issues ranging from funding to district consolidation, from school safety to ethnic diversity, from spikes in free lunches to enforcement of residency rules to closing the achievement gap, it became clear that local school districts have more in common than they have differences.
The one exception may be the way tax revenue is spread out among the districts. Districts located in areas with large commercial bases have always benefitted over districts with fewer retail centers.
“There’s an incredibly unequal disparity of revenue distribution amongst the districts,” said resident Norman Frankel. “District 69 is getting really squeezed.”
Educators noted that districts have no control over the disbursement of tax revenue, which is based on how the districts were carved up when Skokie was incorporated.
The only subject ruled off-limits at last week’s forum was superintendent salaries, which Dolinko said is a matter between school boards and their hires.
But there were still plenty of other topics for educators to address as a crowd of 120 residents intently listened.
Several residents raised the thorny issue of school district consolidation since Niles Township has 10 districts ranging from District 68’s four schools to Fairview South Skokie School District 72 and East Prairie Skokie School District 73, which each has only one.
Although consolidation has often been mentioned as a way to limit costs since there would be fewer administrators and more shared resources, district leaders said it’s more complex than meets the eye.
“Consolidation is a very complex issue and feelings run deep both ways,” said District 69 Superintendent Quintin Shepherd. “It comes down to students. If it benefits kids and contributes to the students’ success, we would support the issue. We’re not sure it ultimately would though.”
District 73, the smallest district in Skokie, would likely be part of any consolidation plan should one ever move forward.
“You would think on the face of it, of course it would make sense,” said Superintendent James Schopp. “Like a lot of things and especially in the state of Illinois, (the issue) turns out not to be black and white.”
Schopp and others said that some districts might have to take on more debt and pay hire wages for teachers if districts were consolidated.
“If you look at the tax rate for East Prairie School, we’re at the lower end,” he said. “Probably the tax rate for the East Prairie people would have to go up. It comes down to incentive. What incentive would there be for East Prairie to want to consolidate?”
District leaders outlined specific security measures they take to make schools safe. Each district has its own plan of action ranging from peer and other in-school programs to building security such as bag checks and strategically placed cameras. The two largest Skokie school districts have school resource officers.
District 219 Superintendent Nanciann Gatta said that “proactive” measures also have to be seriously considered in making schools safe.
“I’m here to tell you tonight that you create safe schools not by police, not by metal detectors, not by bag checks. You keep schools safe by insuring that every kid has a connection to something and someone,” she said.
“That’s why you have to invest heavily in extracurricular programming and academic clubs. When kids are connected to their school and feel good about something, and have an adult that’s advocating for them, schools are safe.”
Skokie school district leaders agreed on other key education issues as well.
Administrators outlined their diligent efforts to make sure students who attend schools live in their districts. Their districts also share serious recent spikes in the number of students who are eligible for free lunches. Multiple languages are spoken in each of these districts as Skokie has become one of the most ethnically diverse villages in the state.
And all of these districts are educating more of their special education students in house this year.
This is due, in part, to a new funding formula for the Niles Township Department of Special Education, but the practice has benefits that go beyond just money, they said.
“The joy of having our own students back in our buildings has been huge,” said District 72 Superintendent Cindy Whitaker. “At Fairview, we’re a fully inclusive school. It has benefitted our regular students, I believe, as much as our special education students.”
Whitaker said that students walk the halls with other students who are in wheelchairs and see children with different behaviors than they’re used to.
“It’s permitted our regular education students to understand that people are different,” she said. “Kids are different. I truly am proud about how our school has grown by being fully inclusive.”
District 65 Superintendent Hardy Murphy also said that his district made a conscious decision to educate more special education students in the district buildings.
“It’s a philosophical position,” he said. “Sometimes you wonder how people are going to remember our time here. And I do think as people look back in the history books, (they’re) going to evaluate how we treated those who are less fortunate as far as their mental and physical gifts are concerned.”
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