I urge voters in Cook County to vote “Yes” on the approaching operating levy referendum. Besides making available a set of skills and a body of knowledge to young people, our schools are one of the primary ways our children come to know and trust themselves and their place in the larger world.
Robert Putnam, in Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis (available at the Grand Marais Public Library), pays special attention to the children who fall through the cracks and who are underserved in school. With a large team of other Harvard researchers who examine students’ lives in schools from every angle, he comes to a startlingly simple finding for citizens who care.
He concludes that if there were one thing he would urge all parents and citizens to do, it would be to go to their local school superintendent and demand that schools end the policy of charging fees for curricular and extracurricular participation. His team’s research points to these fees as obstacles to full membership in the school community as a major reason young people grow alienated and fail when they should succeed. Payment of fees creates stresses on family finances that fall on the kids. Even the simple act of asking for a waiver instills a sense of not belonging and being outside the circle of those who “belong” in the schools.
ISD 166 has had to implement such fees over many years as we struggle to balance budgets. But these fees can add up to over $600 annually—a real stretch for many working families.
With the referendum, you have the opportunity to remove all such fees for activities, sports, and curriculum. With your Yes vote, you will make sure that no families and no students are kept on the sidelines. You can insist on no fees, and full participation for all.
I hear from constituents who have a problem with one or another aspect of Cook County Schools. Fair enough—we’re not perfect. But I hope we’ll all look to the long term and make good choices for our county’s kids. Please vote Yes.
Terry Collins
ISD 166 School Board District 2
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