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Local Advocacy - Our Views
We endorse Lisa Neal, Sue Quinn and Mary Vanek for D15 School Board.
We believe these women to be dedicated, honest and ethical. They are
committed to making District 15 even better than it is now. They are
advocates for fiscal responsibility. They respect and promote the
education process.
Lisa Neal
has been a resident of District 15 for over 10 years. She has a B.S.
in Biology. She has three children attending District 15 schools and
has been an active volunteer in the school and the community. Since
January 2005 she has attended every School Board meeting. She is
educated on the issues that affect D15 and she is familiar with the school
board process. Lisa Neal believes that it is possible to be both
fiscally responsible and education driven. She is a team player and
believes in transparency and openness on issues that affect our children.
Sue Quinn
is a parent with two children in District 15 schools. She has a Ph.D.
in Environmental Engineering, a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.S. in
Aerospace Engineering. She has served on the District 15 Website
Committee, Out of Level Math Committee and the Gifted Committee. She has
been an active volunteer in her school. She has attended every board
meeting for the past two years. She is the originator of the Spotlight
on the Board - board meeting minutes that she created to keep the community
informed on issues that pertain to our children. She knows the issues and
she knows the team. She is committed to building strong relationships
between parents, teachers, administrators and board members. She
believes in openness. She will research the issues before she votes.
Mary Vanek
has been a resident of District 15 for over 15 years. She earned her
B.A. in English Literature and earned her law degree from DePaul University.
She is an attorney with two children in D15 schools. She has been very
active in the community volunteering her time in many organizations that are
children oriented. She is committed to the financial integrity of D15
and believes that board members should deliberate publicly and be open and
honest.
We believe that Lisa Neal, Sue Quinn and Mary Vanek
will bring us more solutions instead of more of the same old problems.
Board members without children in our schools can make decisions arbitrarily
(like cutting programs and field trips) because they don't have to live with
their decisions. Board members with children in our schools cant stop being
a Board member when the meeting is over. They have to live with the
ramifications of their actions. This means their actions have to be
well thought out, researched, agonized over and questioned before they will
vote. If this is micro-managing, we're all for it. This is what
we are looking for, and this is what we need.
Two years ago, voters were displeased with business as
usual in District 15. We were tired of secrets, half truths, and
inaccurate information. We didn't like having things brought to us
after decisions were made. The old board, consisting of Sands,
Carlson, Boucher, Mikula, Silverman, Crane and Jung brought us blue ribbon
schools but it also brought us financial chaos and secrets. After the
last election, with the help of three new board members, (Keenan, Millar &
Rowden) we now have televised board meetings, published information on the
district website, a balanced budget and no referendum in the near future. We
also have a contract that is better than it could have been (but not as good
as it should have been). Do
we go back to the way it used to be by electing candidates from the "old"
school (click here
for informative emails) or do we move forward and finish what we started? It is time
for our generation to take over the management of our lives
and our children's future. We know how we're going to vote on
April 17th. NEAL, QUINN and VANEK
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Kids Must Count!
