CARE Calls for Formal Process from District 112 Board

Submitted by CARE

CARE (Citizens Against the District 112 Referendum) applauds the Board of Education’s decision to postpone a referendum until 2016, and we recognize that this was a difficult decision. Opposition voices had been largely absent from the process until recent weeks; while that may have been frustrating to those shaping the process in recent months, our newly activated community can be a startlingly effective partner if given the chance to engage.

In the coming months, our organization will have two primary functions:

• First, CARE remains committed to a better plan, and to a process of dialogue, analysis, and inquiry that can get us there. We wish to be dedicated and active listeners, partners, and participants in this effort.
• Second, CARE will serve as a check against unexamined assumptions, and a defender of the community’s right to be fully informed. We will push our neighbors to become involved, just as we will push our partners to work creatively, effectively, and honestly.

A year is a long time. We propose to use this time collaboratively. We are ready to work with the Board, the Administration, SCFFAC, and the other citizens of Highland Park to move forward. Representatives of these groups have already contacted a number of our members in the last few days, and we have willingly and actively engaged with them. While these are conversations that benefit us all, the reach of such conversations is limited by the nature of small exchanges.

Accordingly, we ask the Board to convene a formal process for dialogue and inquiry.

CARE believes we must carefully examine and evaluate the District’s financial future and the values that have motivated the proposed school configurations, so that we can unpack phrases such as “21st Century Learner” and “financial viability.” Terms such as these will find their fullest flowering through a process of shared understanding.

A year also provides us with the time to conduct additional evaluations of the educational, financial, and architectural perspectives of our district. A year allows us to develop a plan that more accurately reflects the wishes of the community: a student-focused plan, a community-supported plan, a better plan.

CARE understands the stakes, and knows we are all stakeholders in this process.

Together we can move District 112 from good to great, continue to attract the best teachers, develop a shared understanding, and fulfill aspirations that are grounded in our shared community values.