Education: February 2008 Archives

BY DAVE PARRO

East Aurora school officials found themselves doing damage control this week after they chose not to immediately notify parents about a threatening post on a former high school student’s MySpace Web page. There’s a lesson there, especially in the wake of the shooting at Northern Illinois University that killed five students.

Instead of parents and students receiving official word about what happened — police deemed the threat not credible — rumors spread over the Internet. The district spent Tuesday combating unsubstantiated fears.

The result was frantic parents and low attendance, as many students simply stayed home.

BY MIKE CETERA

In the Oswego School District, all seems calm over proposed boundary shifts. Not so much in the Indian Prairie School District, where parents are hopping mad.

Boundary changes are often an emotional issue, where an arbitrary line can literally divide neighborhoods, and kids who have gone to school together all their lives suddenly find themselves ripped apart from their classmates.

But if the issue is so contentious in one district, why isn't it in the other?

BY MIKE CETERA

Do you attend NIU? Do you know someone who does? Share your thoughts on the Northern Illinois University shooting after the jump.

BY MIKE CETERA

There's a great deal we don't know about what happened last month at an East Aurora teachers union meeting. But I think it's fair to ask why School Board member Rayanne Carlson was there in the first place.

The union, according to a story by staff writer Heather Gillers, has filed a complaint with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board. Because no one is talking, the details are a bit sketchy. Still, Gillers learned the union wants the state board to take action to prevent Carlson from "busting into our meetings, encouraging our members to engage in unlawful activities and suggesting that union members assist (board members) in their personal agendas."

State law is sufficiently vague on what school district officials -- including board members -- can or can't do when it comes to teachers unions.

BY MIKE CETERA

UPDATE 2/5: The School Board voted to put a referendum on the November ballot.

The East Aurora School Board tonight is expected to discuss whether to put a referendum on the November ballot. If board members vote yes, that gives the district plenty of time to make a case for increasing taxes. But will any effort in this district be futile?

Time and again, voters have rejected a tax hike. Some residents say they can't afford it; others say administrators haven't done enough to show they are responsibly managing the district's finances. What, if anything, would make you support a referendum?