doc
Frosh
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Post by doc on Apr 9, 2011 11:12:26 GMT -5
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The voters who turned out for Tuesday’s District 204 school board election comprised a small fraction of those eligible to cast ballots, but they had a large impact. Two of the three available positions on the board will be filled by newcomers when the leadership officially changes at a meeting early next month.
Vice President Alka Tyle, who wanted a second term on the board, was defeated by barely 1 percent of the 20,017 voters who weighed in. Mark Rising drew the third highest vote totals, tallying 3,724 votes, according to the unofficial results. Lori Price, president of the Indian Prairie Special Needs PTA, finished second to Curt Bradshaw, the board’s current president.
“It was a little surprising, but when voter turnout is less than 10 percent, anything is possible,” Tyle said Thursday. “It would be one thing if more than 50 percent of the district had voted.”
She could only surmise about the low showing in a contest that has direct impact on matters that usually interest the constituency, including taxes and the quality of the local school system.
“It just blows me away when I hear things like, ‘Well, my kids have already graduated, I don’t need to go and vote,’ or ‘I’m happy with what the district is doing,’ or ‘I don’t want to register to vote, because I don’t want to have to go for jury duty,’” said Tyle, who works as a tutor. “It’s just baffling.”
The district’s teacher organization made no endorsements in the race, although the group hosted a candidate forum to encourage the residents to become familiar with who was in the race. But Val Dranias, president of the Indian Prairie Education Association, praised Tyle’s contributions to the district during her time on the board.
“Basically we just felt the voters needed to make up their own minds, and they did that,” she said.
The reconfigured board could be a reflection of overall discontent with elected officials.
“I think in general there is more of a concern on the finances, and I think that unfortunately sometimes overshadows the focus on education issues,” Tyle said. “People are losing their jobs, and they’re concerned.”
Bradshaw, appointed to the board in 2005, was left to speculate on the results as well.
“It’s always hard to tell exactly what the voters were looking at in the election,” he said. “Alka is extremely knowledgeable in curriculum and instruction, (and) her leadership in those areas will be deeply missed.”
Tyle said she is reviewing her options and hasn’t yet decided where she will focus her energies, though she is certain she’ll remain engaged in education. And she has no regrets about her run for re-election.
“I will sleep well, knowing that all throughout the campaign, I spoke from the heart without worrying what would or would not gain votes,” she said.
Bradshaw said with two new members at the table, the board will keep working on the things it does best.
“I would not expect much change, because our goals are the same ones any high-performing district would have,” he said. “We’ve just been more focused and deliberate in that.”
According to Dranias, the teachers’ union — which has a contract scheduled to run out in August 2012 — has enjoyed an amicable working relationship with the board over the past couple of years.
“I would just like to see that continue,” she said.
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doc
Frosh
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Post by doc on Apr 9, 2011 11:14:15 GMT -5
Maybe this will help Curt and Alka understand that the reason Mark Rising did well likely was:
Regarding the Sun article under School Board.
1/ He had a clear message about finances and never wavered off his message of fiscal responsibility while still providing and preserving an excellent education for our kids. You don't have to sacrifice one for the other. 2/ I hear Mark walked neighborhoods himself all across the district and didn’t have his “campaign team” do it for him. 3/ He did have 2 important endorsements in Herald and NACPAC) and the support of Wheatland Township Republicans. I’m sure his effective and informative emails to D204 residents also helped him. . Point is Mark ran an educational, informative and eye opening campaign while still focusing on what is important, the kids! I also understand he did it without having a fundraiser and never pandering for donations --OR SENDING EMAILS NOW FOR MONEY SINCE HE DID NOT SPEND LIKE OTHERS DID- He also did it with the smallest campaign team of any of the candidates.
CLUE: what one competitior spent compared to Mark is a perfect example of how different the two will be on spending YOURS AND MY money when on the SB. Some still believe they have a blank check - which explains why $19M of overspend is not viewed as significant.
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Post by steckdad on Apr 10, 2011 1:09:36 GMT -5
Maybe this will help Curt and Alka understand that the reason Mark Rising did well likely was: Regarding the Sun article under School Board. 1/ He had a clear message about finances and never wavered off his message of fiscal responsibility while still providing and preserving an excellent education for our kids. You don't have to sacrifice one for the other. 2/ I hear Mark walked neighborhoods himself all across the district and didn’t have his “campaign team” do it for him. 3/ He did have 2 important endorsements in Herald and NACPAC) and the support of Wheatland Township Republicans. I’m sure his effective and informative emails to D204 residents also helped him. . Point is Mark ran an educational, informative and eye opening campaign while still focusing on what is important, the kids! I also understand he did it without having a fundraiser and never pandering for donations --OR SENDING EMAILS NOW FOR MONEY SINCE HE DID NOT SPEND LIKE OTHERS DID- He also did it with the smallest campaign team of any of the candidates. CLUE: what one competitior spent compared to Mark is a perfect example of how different the two will be on spending YOURS AND MY money when on the SB. Some still believe they have a blank check - which explains why $19M of overspend is not viewed as significant. maybe people just thought he would be a good addition to the school board?
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Post by gatordog on Apr 10, 2011 9:00:05 GMT -5
...... that the reason Mark Rising did well likely was: MR did do well, but he did well last election too. He barely missed out last time getting elected, by a handful of votes. And this time he got the edge in another very close decision. He lost a heartbreaker last time, and good for him that he stayed with it. My opinion from last time, MR presented himself as an enthusiastic and energetic and informed candidate (stong example: his attendance at almost all SB mtgs). I think his ability to maintain this enthusiasm and "stick-to-it" attitude was in the end decisive for him. A question: did MR have these same endorsements in2009? I am pretty sure he had NACPAC last time, also. Maybe he had Herald also. Are any of these endorsements he gained in 2011? Here, I dont follow this logic at all. I dont think a candidate (CB) who won by a very large margin (I think you can fairly term it a landslide) would have done so if voters had any such concerns.
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