Hernandez's letter is insane. The obsession with busing is so weird. There is no evidence that busing negatively impacts student learning. In fact, bus availability makes truancy less likely according to some studies I have seen.
He says "children were bused disproportionately than their peers and forced to leave their community." This really ignores the reality of Evanston's geography. The furthest a bused student has to go would be from Ashland and Church St to Willard, which is 2.5 miles and takes a whopping 9 minute drive. For the Lincolnwood students the furthest trip would be 1.7 miles. Some addresses in the First Ward--which also doesn't have a school--are 1.6 miles away to their school, Dewey. Nobody seems to care about First Ward students.
We are not talking a rural county in Texas or something. Evanston is a compact, small city. According to google maps you can drive from the extreme southeast section of the city to the extreme Northwest in less than 20 minutes.
Sure, it would be great to have a school within walking distance of every address in Evanston, but that is not financially feasible.
Under the new scenario we are going to have more schools than we need under conditions of declining enrollment and the whole thing is going be funded through the operating budget so every student throughout the district will see bigger classes, less extracurriculars and deferred maintenance on buildings.
And for what? No educational reason, just so a few kids don't have to take the bus!
The community worked very hard to help pass the District 65 referendum in 2017. Many of us spent countless volunteer hours to educate the community about the referendum. The community stepped up and passed it.
It is a huge slap in the face for Sergio Hernandez and Mr. Khelghati to lie about the passage of this referendum.
So Sergio is bragging about getting the lease certs while mentioning a failed 2012 referendum? I mean I knew he was not the sharpest knife in the drawer but bragging about bypassing a required shareholder vote? Why aren’t they being sued? This is atrocious.
While we’re on the topic of the board lying about stuff let’s remember then-Board president Suni Kartha’s statement in early Nov 2019 to parents that they had identified Horton as a finalist but declined to report his name publicly because the board was ‘respecting the confidentiality requested by the candidates in order to remain in our search process.’
There is no way this is true since it is impossible to believe that Horton—who had been a finalist in at least three public searches that s same year—would have requested anonymity to stay in the search.
Had his name been publicized before his hire, his lack of experience and troubled financial liabilities made it pretty clear that people would have been up in arms with the board that they were seriously considering Horton for the job.
Better for them to lie and make the selection a fait accompli.
Which, not coincidentally, is what they have done with the lease certificate fiasco.
Thank you for doing this extensive research and uncovered this mess. D65 Admin/Board think they could continue to hide the sun with their finger forever?!? Now that the clowns have gotten their "fake" awards and bounced to other districts, I wouldn't be surprised if they pull that nonsense at their new school district. I'm wondering what their take is on this mess. hmm...
Only in the field of education is mediocrity allowed. That actually is a very generous term. Other professions require certain demonstrated skills. An electrician better know how to wire a building after a five year apprenticeship program. Doctors and nurses better pass a strict exam after long periods in training. You don’t want a pilot flying you without being certified and padding a rigorous flight school training. The only requirement to be an educational administrator is the ability to speak gibberish and gobbledygook. Currently that means the progressive gospel of equity and social justice I am glad my doctor and his surgical team had real skills to do my hip replacement. I am glad the electrician who rewired my house had a five year apprenticeship.
Is there a process by which Board members who breach their fiduciary duties can be removed? I know in the past you said a recall is not possible, but what happens when malfeasance is involved? Both our city and school district are heading to dire financial straits and all we can think to do is spend even more money on non-essentials. It’s time to start searching for candidates.
Hernandez's letter is insane. The obsession with busing is so weird. There is no evidence that busing negatively impacts student learning. In fact, bus availability makes truancy less likely according to some studies I have seen.
He says "children were bused disproportionately than their peers and forced to leave their community." This really ignores the reality of Evanston's geography. The furthest a bused student has to go would be from Ashland and Church St to Willard, which is 2.5 miles and takes a whopping 9 minute drive. For the Lincolnwood students the furthest trip would be 1.7 miles. Some addresses in the First Ward--which also doesn't have a school--are 1.6 miles away to their school, Dewey. Nobody seems to care about First Ward students.
We are not talking a rural county in Texas or something. Evanston is a compact, small city. According to google maps you can drive from the extreme southeast section of the city to the extreme Northwest in less than 20 minutes.
Sure, it would be great to have a school within walking distance of every address in Evanston, but that is not financially feasible.
Under the new scenario we are going to have more schools than we need under conditions of declining enrollment and the whole thing is going be funded through the operating budget so every student throughout the district will see bigger classes, less extracurriculars and deferred maintenance on buildings.
And for what? No educational reason, just so a few kids don't have to take the bus!
The community worked very hard to help pass the District 65 referendum in 2017. Many of us spent countless volunteer hours to educate the community about the referendum. The community stepped up and passed it.
It is a huge slap in the face for Sergio Hernandez and Mr. Khelghati to lie about the passage of this referendum.
So Sergio is bragging about getting the lease certs while mentioning a failed 2012 referendum? I mean I knew he was not the sharpest knife in the drawer but bragging about bypassing a required shareholder vote? Why aren’t they being sued? This is atrocious.
While we’re on the topic of the board lying about stuff let’s remember then-Board president Suni Kartha’s statement in early Nov 2019 to parents that they had identified Horton as a finalist but declined to report his name publicly because the board was ‘respecting the confidentiality requested by the candidates in order to remain in our search process.’
There is no way this is true since it is impossible to believe that Horton—who had been a finalist in at least three public searches that s same year—would have requested anonymity to stay in the search.
Had his name been publicized before his hire, his lack of experience and troubled financial liabilities made it pretty clear that people would have been up in arms with the board that they were seriously considering Horton for the job.
Better for them to lie and make the selection a fait accompli.
Which, not coincidentally, is what they have done with the lease certificate fiasco.
https://dailynorthwestern.com/2019/11/12/city/district-65-narrows-search-for-superintendent/
Thank you for doing this extensive research and uncovered this mess. D65 Admin/Board think they could continue to hide the sun with their finger forever?!? Now that the clowns have gotten their "fake" awards and bounced to other districts, I wouldn't be surprised if they pull that nonsense at their new school district. I'm wondering what their take is on this mess. hmm...
Tom, what do you make of the late Friday announcement of a Monday meeting about the 5th Ward school?
It is cleared being done to avoid scrutiny.
Only in the field of education is mediocrity allowed. That actually is a very generous term. Other professions require certain demonstrated skills. An electrician better know how to wire a building after a five year apprenticeship program. Doctors and nurses better pass a strict exam after long periods in training. You don’t want a pilot flying you without being certified and padding a rigorous flight school training. The only requirement to be an educational administrator is the ability to speak gibberish and gobbledygook. Currently that means the progressive gospel of equity and social justice I am glad my doctor and his surgical team had real skills to do my hip replacement. I am glad the electrician who rewired my house had a five year apprenticeship.
Is there a process by which Board members who breach their fiduciary duties can be removed? I know in the past you said a recall is not possible, but what happens when malfeasance is involved? Both our city and school district are heading to dire financial straits and all we can think to do is spend even more money on non-essentials. It’s time to start searching for candidates.