Elmhurst Official Leaves Role With Anti-District 205 Group

ELMHURST, IL — Elmhurst Alderman Mark Mulliner is no longer an administrator for a Facebook group that criticizes Elmhurst School District 205.

Mulliner took heat from some residents for his role with the Facebook page for Elmhurst Parents for Integrity in Curriculum, or EPIC, which formed in January.

Its members contend critical race theory and Marxism are influencing District 205's curriculum. The group's mission says it wants a "diverse marketplace of ideas."

Mulliner, who was the district's technology director years ago, did not return a phone message for comment Tuesday.

The other page administrators are Tom Chavez, Isaac Yue and Tanya Marie.

Chavez, an Elmhurst resident who is considering running for the school board next year, has spoken at school board meetings, accusing the district of teaching critical race theory.

Yue is an orthodontist who lives in Elmhurst and studied dentistry at Harvard, according to his Facebook page.

Tanya Marie, who apparently does not use her last name on Facebook, includes slogans on her page such as "F--- Trump" and "Follow the Science: Unmask the Kids." Her cover photo states, "I like my eyelashes as black as my heart and as long as the list of people I want to punch in the face."

In response to a Patch inquiry, Chavez described Mulliner as "very busy" with the parents group and his other community-related responsibilities.

"I'll leave it for you and your investigator to figure out what's up with our Facebook page," Chavez said in an email.

With more than 300 members, the Facebook page is private.

In a brief interview before a city meeting last week, Mulliner downplayed his role with the Facebook group, saying his administrator title meant nothing.

"I was the guy who was asked to put it up," said Mulliner, referring to the Facebook page.

Asked whether critical race theory was being taught in the local schools, Mulliner said, "I guess you'll have to watch the school district to find that one out."

During public comments at a City Council meeting in February, resident Mandy Puchalski criticized Mulliner for his role with the parents group.

She noted that a photo of Hillary Clinton in blackface was on the Facebook page. It was taken down.

"Please tell me Elmhurst is better than this," Puchalski said. "Please tell me this City Council joins me in finding this behavior unbecoming of Elmhurst city officials and residents."

In his email, Chavez questioned whether Mulliner's reduced role was really a story. He advised Patch to focus on more important issues with the schools.

"This is a serious community issue, and you seem to want to report on it as if it were in the tabloids," Chavez said. "Why not focus on the critical issues, like the decisions that are being made about curriculum and the motivation for them, and whether or not the focus on (social emotional learning), Equity and 'culturally responsive' teaching supports real academic achievement, or is perhaps responsible for the lower academic performance?"

Chavez also urged Patch to do "some real, thoughtful investigative journalism" and read the information he has provided about Teach Plus and the revised state teaching and learning standards.

"You've asked of me publicly to produce evidence of CRT being taught in the district, and most people who can read and think critically would argue that I have proved my point," he told Patch. "No acknowledgement from you, though?"