At last night's meeting of the Board of Education, Irene Pritzker, the President of the Greater Peoria League of Women Voters, spoke to the Board about the lack of transparency in redistricting the board voting boundaries. Donald Jackson, President of the Illinois NAACP, also chided the Board and Superientendent for not offering an opportunity for public input. Donald Jackson:
"I cannot believe that you would even consider a vote [on redistricting] without first presenting it to the community. You know that the NAACP is one of the authors of the consent decree back in 1987. We were one of the organizations that represented the plaintiff in that lawsuit and I do not believe in fact, I think the state law requires that you have public input on this before you change boundaries.
I know you are worried about the elections coming up in March, but if that was a concern, that should have been taken into consideration long ago. Please don’t tell me that well, the information is on the Internet, some of us don’t have the time to go and check everybody’s Internet."
Thanks to Peoria Story for the recording of comments at the Board of Education meeting. Click on image to enlarge.
"I cannot believe that you would even consider a vote [on redistricting] without first presenting it to the community. You know that the NAACP is one of the authors of the consent decree back in 1987. We were one of the organizations that represented the plaintiff in that lawsuit and I do not believe in fact, I think the state law requires that you have public input on this before you change boundaries.
I know you are worried about the elections coming up in March, but if that was a concern, that should have been taken into consideration long ago. Please don’t tell me that well, the information is on the Internet, some of us don’t have the time to go and check everybody’s Internet."
Thanks to Peoria Story for the recording of comments at the Board of Education meeting. Click on image to enlarge.
3 comments:
I agree...with every word Mr. Jackson said. Martha agreed, but as always, was ignored. A mere common courtesy that would have shown the Peoria citizens that they do care about them. Instead, the forcefulness of the attorney who drew up the boundaries and Mr. Cloyd were disgusting. It is time for the citizens of Peoria to vote out the 2 positions up for re-election next year. No transparency and rubber stamps are symptoms of a much larger problem with this board of education.
Our children are the losers.
Did teachers really begin school without books? Did the board and administration not know the date that school began this year? Are 4 year old disabled students waiting on street corners for way too long in the morning? Closing too many schools, uprooting too many kids. These are all symptoms of a broken education system in Peoria, Illinois.
Our kids are the losers.
from 1470 WMBD, the District's attorney responding to the League of Women Voters:
"... District 150 school board elections are governed by the court and not state law because of a 1987 class action voting rights lawsuit settlement.
Board attorney Phil Lenzini says that means there's little influence the public would have. "I don't care if you hold 16 public meetings, are you going to take a vote on whether you follow the law or not? I think that very foolish of you and a waste of your time and good name," says Lenzini. "I think your job is to follow the law."
How did the attorney for the District become so powerful that he can redistrict the entire city without the courtesy of public review?
There job is to answer to their constituents also. Martha just wanted it brought back, possibly at the Committee of the Whole meeting next week, so the public has the chance to speak to it. It was that simple.
Mr. Lenzini bullied that board. Sure, there is nothing to be done about the map, but allowing the public to have a time set so they could speak to it only makes sense for an elected board of education. Remember...elected. Public policy is p-u-b-l-i-c. Quit leaving the public out.
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