Although I am not giving up on the SECA scam, I think its time for a good discussion of the new school report cards.

The Sun Times and the other large Chicago newspaper use different methods to rank the schools.

The Sun Times uses DanD's preferred method of averaging scale scores whereas the Tribune uses %Meets/Exceeds.

Chicago Magazine had the atrocious method of Meets/Exceeds, class size, and education spending per pupil as inputs. Hard to believe, but the schools they ranked very high (small class size and high spending) ended up having a relatively low efficiency grade on the same table.

Is D203 World Class?

Is D204 hot on D203's heels?

How would the private schools look on these tests?

maybe a new topic.

-1

The police do what they want and when they want!

When can the citizens expect the Naperville police to arrest bicycles riders that disobey traffic laws by riding on wrong side of the road, fail to stop at lights and stop signs, fail to keep right and ride on the sidewalk? Why are they getting a free pass? Time the police enforce ALL the laws of the road and stop the selective enforcement of only vehicles.

I think if we can afford a state of the art Memorial Plaque for retired Naperville Police Officers and Fire Fighters, we certainly should be able to afford a Memorial Plaque for soldiers killed in wars defending our freedom in Naperville.

A 10 second blurp on TV is not justice for a life sacrificed permanently.

Every soldier from Naperville deserves a Memorial equal to that of Commander Dan Shanower.

Let us use those garden plots to set up a nice Memorial for each soldier from Naperville killed in the line of duty...that is the least we can do!

Freedom is not free, said Commander Dan Shanower!!! I agree!!!

Let us honor those who sacrifice their lives so we can enjoy our freedom properly! They are true and brave AMERICAN HEROES!

RE: Memorial

I wish there was a memorial, (maybe there is and I do not know about it) for the soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. I served a year there and am sorry for the brothers that were not as lucky as me to come home and believe they should be honored with more than a 10 second news blurp.

I understand the world is in a state of disaray right now but that does not mean we should turn our backs on what is happening.

Census jobs are federal jobs... You have to go to DC to complain...

Before hiring the next park director, perhaps the board should agree on a list of deliverables and metrics, then go find someone to implement the agreed plan. Someone with good management skills that likes the plan, aka job description. Candidates should be given a chance to submit an alternate plan before hire and comment on the existing plan before hire.

From listening to the Q&A before the last elections cycle, the two polls of the board seem to be

A. Build world class athletic facilities.

B. Maintain and enlarge the existing parks and find some more indoor space for the extensive-existing programs.

Hiring someone with tell us

*"what do you think we need",

*or he/she is our kind of guy

is always a recipe for a disaster. This is disaster number three.

Personally, I hope that unanimity does not occur on the board. But we do need a majority rule that knows what they want and how to make it happen.

Hooray,

All citizens of Naperville can be thankful for the long term stewardship and citizenship NCC has demonstrated to its neighbors and to the Naperville community at large. Truly NCC is a gem and is among the finest assets found anywhere in Naperville.

Interesting isn't it how NCC just quietly goes about doing the right thing time after time? Instead of trying to tell everyone how great they are... they just are! Wouldn't it be nice if our local school districts, park district, and city government would pay attention and follow NCC leadership?

From last Friday’s (08/17) Sun: “Under the terms of the employment contract, if Betts left the district he would be required to pay back the money the district spent on the search firm that brought him in.”

The park district’s attorney, Greg James, then went on to say that the park district could still build on the previous search work.

Yeah, that process seemed to function so well the first time. I think we’d be better served if the park district didn’t re-use the old search criteria. In fact, they should dump the former search firm altogether. Check out the link John Q. Public posted on the 17th…very interesting.

So Betts gets $85K and he also doesn’t have to repay the search costs as outlined in his employment agreement? It sounds to me like the park district is desperately trying to avoid some kind of legal fight. Nothing else makes sense.

T.B.

Kudos to North Central College and the wonderful stewardship they consistently exhibit to the grounds and homes they keep. Thank you to their neighbor who made the VERY generous donation of their home. How interesting that the home where the Lemak tragedy took place was actually the home of the college's first president, Augustine Smith. I look forward to seeing the home continue in its beauty and re-shapen the image positively. What a great story!

If it is the same rumor I heard it has to do with how much time was required to be spent actually working as Executive Director vs. how much time could be spent working as a self-employed an independent consultant.

This doesn't seem like it was a match made in heaven anyway, rather just another notch in the career belt, and a stopping off place for a while before something better came along.

Ted,

I agree fully with "Anonymous on August 17, 2008 12:11 PM".

I have always thought the SUN is way too easy on the Park Board. I think even the most even-handed person now realizes they are an embarassment to the City and clearly incompetent in their group role.

Why is the SUN so easy on them, and WILL the SUN take this on? The lack of transparency with this group is immoral, especially when combined with their compounded failures.

More directly, PLEASE CALL THE PARK BOARD OUT ON THIS --- REPRESENT THE CITIZENS OF THE ENTIRE TOWN AND PUBLISH THE QUESTIONS THAT NEED TO BE ANSWERED!

I will admit I don't care about "philosophical differences". especially when they are costing ME $85,000.00 plus benefits!!!

If true ("philosophical differences"), then Betts clearly blew his due diligence when he was interviewing for the job and we owe him NOTHING.

If our feckless Park Board allowed a contract that somehow guarantees $85,000.00 in severance even in a case like this, they should be ran out of office.

From my understanding of the situation via the grapevine, this is not something that should be kept secret but rather something the Park Board should disclose because it might actually help their credibility.

From what I have learned, the 'philosophical differences' is not entirely 'untrue', however, it's something every employer should demand of their employee. I'm not aware of his employment contract, but if the 85K is a lesser amount than what we would still have to pay per the contract, then consider it a very expensive lesson to the Park Board that should have been a red flag during the hiring process and hopefully will be in the future.

Let's not forget that, by law, the Park District Board is responsible for managing one, and only one employee. The Executive Director. If the combined talent of this entire board is incapable of effectively managing just one employee then it is time for us to either dissolve the board or work thru this by unseating all of the incumbents election by election until a competent board is elected.

This board has embarrassed our entire community time and time again. I have lost all faith and respect for these people. They appear from all outward signs to be incapable of making competent decisions on even the most minor of issues and the results of their major decisions speak for themselves. As if that is not bad enough; they are then way too quick to throw a shroud of secrecy around nearly everything they do. Personally I am fed up and I have had enough.

The board as a whole is certainly entitled to take certain actions that are permitted under the law. Individual board members are not beholden, in any way, other by a "gentleman's agreement" to keep anything secret unless it is one of the few topics permitted under the Open Meetings Act. It is time for the public to have full disclosure and know what has been going on and why in the Naperville Park District. I am waiting for the first elected Naperville Park District board member to show some moral courage and hold a news conference to honestly and candidly let every taxpayer know what is going on.

Since the Naperville Park District board, as a group, has consistent and on-going trouble with public disclosure, how about the Naperville Sun encourage them individually to stand up and make a statement? The Naperville Sun could send a message to each and every member of the Naperville Park District board first thing Monday morning offering each of them the opportunity to provide an official press release by noon Wednesday and then print each and every release that is received in Thursday's edition. Those board members who provide a transparent accounting of what has transpired will have the ability to regain at least some level of respect in the community. Those who don't respond or choose to continue to play the game of secrecy will simply suffer the consequences.

If a transparent and open government doesn't happen, and soon, there is simply no way I will vote for a single one of the incumbents come next election. They can consider themselves done in my book and I will simply not give any of them a vote. What I will be looking for from candidates who throw their hat in the ring is a statement of transparency. Those who promise to be open and forthcoming with the public they represent will most likely gain my vote. Of course there are other issues to consider in candidates. However, any candidate who does not make such a promise or avoids the issue will fail my first test, I will simply decline to vote for them for that reason alone. Hopefully the Naperville Sun will remember to make transparency a hot topic when they do candidate interviews prior to the next election and I really, really hope they will also take the candidates position on transparency, among other issues, into consideration prior to making any statements supporting or recommending any candidates.

I fully recognize that I am one voice and one vote. Together all taxpayers in Naperville can make a difference. Please join the effort to stamp out the closed door, back room politics everywhere in Naperviile government. Stand up and demand change and reform from all candidates for public office.

Here's a very interesting post from last month on a previous blog that dealt with the park district board and the Betts situation:

http://blogs.suburbanchicagonews.com/newsblog/2008/07/park_district_follies_continue.html#comment-54591

This is yet another outrage by our elected officials!

The cavalier loss of OUR money is one thing, but the cover-up is even worse.

Either this was a bad hire, or there was a philosphical disagreement, or there was something nefarious involved.

NEWSFLASH!!! There are NO employement laws that prevent OUR officials from A) sharing the philosophical disagreements with us or, B)telling us the truth that it was a bad hire.

How all of us in our little 'ville keep on accepting shady communications from our officials is beyond me. We pride ourselves on our wealth, our incomes, our schooling and graduate degrees --- yet it is often a mystery as to how we actually keep any of OUR money as we regularly allow our elected officials to waste it time and time again.

Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice, shame on us. We should ALL be ashamed by this point.

According to the Daily Herald, Betts' attorney is Shawn Collins. There's a marriage made in heaven. I guess philosophically they think alike.

Bye Bye Mr. Betts. Time to be moving on.

Betts did have a three-year contract, so it's possible the $85K he's getting paid is stipulated in his contract, or it's a cheap way to buy him out of whatever IS stipulated in his contract.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Park District bribed Betts with an $85K separation payment thru a written agreement, contingent upon him not speaking publicly about what transpired.

Personally I think the law is off-base and needs to be changed in the area of personnel matters pertaining to key government executive positions. It is understandable keeping personnel matters confidential with rank and file workers, but in the case of an Executive Director and probably 2 or 3 other key executive the taxpayers have a right to know what is going on since these key positions are directly responsible for managing the affairs of that governmental unit on a day-to-day basis.

I'm not buying the malarkey about difference of philosophies for one minute. Both sides, especially considering the past history of this position, should have made darn certain that they were alligned on any philosophical issues prior to signing any employment contract. I understand how and why this can sometimes happen over a period of time when executives grow and develop and/or the constitution of a board changes, especially after an election. These kinds of things simply do not happen in a few weeks unless one or both sides were just blatantly lying to each other.

Something just doesn't add up right with this one. By all appearances whatever happened is such an embarrassment to the Park Districk Board that they are desperately trying to keep it under wraps. Time will tell how well they succeed. Few actually do.

I'd sure like to sign up for the Park District Game Show where the "parting" gift is $85,000. I tried to get one of the special census jobs to earn some extra cash but couldn't afford to take 3 full days off from my regular full-time job for the training. Sure, they offer "flexible" work schedules for these jobs (nights and weekends) but you've got to go to 3 straight days of 9-4 training on Tues, Wed & Thursday. Hmm . . . maybe I should apply for the park district job instead.

I guess when you have the highest household income for a town of 100,000 or more in the entire USA, you can afford to waste money.

All Naperville Governments are notorious for their waste of money.

We just gave the City Manager a separation payment of sorts. Now we pay Betts over a 100k for working one month. I guess money grows on the Carillon in Naperville!

If we want to give money away, let us give it to the soldier's families that passed away in Iraq and Afghanistan defending the freedom we have in Naperville.

Freedom is not free as Commander Dan Shanower said so eloquently.

Let us name some parks for them! Let us make them a memorial with the money we should not be WASTING!!!

By What the.... on August 15, 2008 12:15 PM
Why do we have to pay Betts an $85,000 "separation payment" for doing NOTHING. What a huge waste of taxpayer $$$$$$!!!!

_----------------------------------

What a HUGE waste of taxpayer money. The public deserves to know what happened.

Sun.... get on it!

Why do we have to pay Betts an $85,000 "separation payment" for doing NOTHING. What a huge waste of taxpayer $$$$$$!!!!

The soldiers - it really is a shame, my hearts go out to the family of these two men.

Resignation of Betts - Something wasn't right. I'm glad he saw it for what it was and got out quick!

Is there some way to get to the bottom of this Daniel Betts story? The man supposedly worked for 6 weeks and our tax dollars once again go to paying him $86k to have him gone. Isn't there something amiss here?