Why Voting in the District 15 School Board Race is So Important

Learn more about Frank Annerino, Mike Smolka, Anthony Wang, Lisa Szczupaj and Barb Kain.

In these final weeks leading up to election day on April 4th (early voting starts March 20th - please click here for more information) the Engage D15 candidates respectfully ask you, to ask yourself: Who among the candidates have made themselves truly available to you? Who has shown their faces? Shared their thoughts? And most importantly, asked for your thoughts? The Engage D15 team has.

View of a timeline of questionable decisions and controversial actions by current school board members who are running for re-election, by clicking here.

We've held coffees in town to hear directly from our residents and our teachers and others who have an influence on our children (at no cost, and we plan to have more before election day), we've created a Facebook page where we invite ideas and engagement, and ask you to reach out to us at info@engaged15.com to share your thoughts. We want to know what you believe is needed to ensure our children are getting the best education possible-children, parents and all taxpayers because a strong school district is a positive for every resident and property owner. We want to hear from parents of course, but also those with older children and no children, too. These last two groups are regularly forgotten when it comes to communications by D15.

We've had fundraisers, because getting the word out to our nearly 70,000 registered voters in Palatine Township is not an inexpensive task! Our funds have been raised by everyday residents who care about bringing new leadership to our school board after a full year of decisions by current board members who are seeking re-election (unprecedented 10-year teacher contract and failed $130 million referendum). There are no interest groups, unions, or other big organizations that have helped us. We are grassroots, and proud of it. Consider joining us for our final fundraiser on March 16th at Tap House Grill, 56 W. Wilson Street from 6pm-8pm and enjoy some pre-St. Patrick's Day fun, too.

The largest portion of all of our tax bills go to fund our public education - and all residents should have a say...and in the most recent past with the controversial decisions listed above-we have not. This wrong can be righted through new leadership by the Engage D15 team of candidates.

We've been hearing a lot of false rumors and whispers that are not based in fact, and we believe are designed to perpetuate innuendo and outright lies about our candidates and their views. Please do not get distracted by those who are desperate to keep themselves on the school board.

We strongly believe that the paper got it wrong (almost all wrong-endorsing Mike Smolka was a great move!)...if you've seen the endorsement for the District 15 race, you will see that one of the incumbents that has been an integral part of shutting the community out of serious conversations (regarding contacts and referendums)...was endorsed. Really?

This after the paper came out against the entire current school board for its decisions to push forward a contract and a referendum...that observers consistently said were decided, "behind the backs of the D15 stakeholders."

The others who were endorsed...we're not too sure about. What we do know is that two of the newcomers are being endorsed as a group with the incumbents by at least two local organizations, and that is a concerning fact since the current board is lock-step together in making unanimous decisions about the future of D15 without engagement from all residents.

We should be clear about one, very important point: The Engage D15 team is made up of everyday parents, with diverse backgrounds who live in different neighborhoods in our school district, who are very concerned about how the school board has conducted itself . Through its decisions, the current school board has been extremely disrespectful to the hard-working taxpayers of D15. Unfortunately, trust in this board-has been lost.

The Engage D15 candidates are all individuals, and they might not agree on everything. But, three points we are set on as core philosophies for new leadership in District 15, and they include:

1. We will work tirelessly to ensure that tax dollars are being used wisely, while also ensuring the education we provide for students continues to improve. There is no budging on that...our children and parents deserve this, as so do all taxpayers in D15.
2. We promise to engage and collaborate with the community (we have already shown this is a priority by remaining open and accessible to our residents during this campaign and we will continue to do this). This type of connection with D15 residents is absolutely vital to truly represent YOU, the stakeholder.
3. We will dedicate ourselves to restoring the trust that has been lost, due to the current school board's decisions....and this imperative trust can only be gained through accountability and transparency that we vow to provide.

We humbly ask for your vote, to have the honor to help bring brighter days to District 15 once again. Click below on the names of the Engage D15 candidates to learn more about them:

• Frank Annerino
• Mike Smolka
• Anthony Wang
• Lisa Szczupaj
• Barb Kain

Upcoming Events/Candidate Forums can be found here.