There are a lot of wonderful things happening within our Oak Park and River Forest public schools. However, many of these positive developments may soon get overshadowed, or simply stop happening if we don’t listen to the teachers on the front lines. Some teachers in our combined communities are concerned about our schools. For proof, please watch and listen to the District 97 board meeting link below. Teachers are speaking up, they are concerned, they want help and to help. We should listen, full stop.
I hope that our community can muster up the same amount of conviction and courage that our teachers showed last month. Teachers bravely spoke up at the board meeting in front of their ultimate boss and board members who ended up lecturing them on speech code and offered more canned consultant-based PowerPoints as a response to their many concerns. Teachers risked their careers for the sake of our students and families. If there ever was a time to stand up and support our teachers, write an article, talk to a board member, talk to neighbors, now is that time.
For context, in May 2021, D97 communicated the overriding philosophy our schools were going to follow. This Parent University session entitled “Social Justice Lessons in D97” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPgGlPvSH0c spells out this philosophy very clearly. Our schools have been following this path for several years and so it is fair to evaluate what it has delivered for students, families, our teachers and our community.
This month’s board meeting appears to suggest that such initiatives, while well intended, are not working out in an educational setting as planned. Here is the May 2024 D97 Board meeting video that we all should listen to and understand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYWT6p7zJx8&t=6638s. Public comments begin at Minute 0, Second 46. The superintendent responds at Hour 1, Minute 46, Second 22. Both sections are worth listening to. If you care about education in our community, please watch and start your own community conversation with your friends about it.
Many in our community believe our elementary schools are at an inflection point, possibly not so different than on our college campuses. It’s time that we listen to the actual experts in the classrooms instead of the administrative theory based ivory tower PowerPoints and consultants who claim to know what is best for everyone. I am reminded of an article by a former and wise OPRF educator, which was published in this very paper titled, “A school’s purpose” (https://www.oakpark.com/2023/08/22/a-schools-purpose).
Oak Park and River Forest have always been willing to make tough and honest decisions regarding our schools. For some reason we now seem to be shying away from such data-driven principles even when serious issues are right in front our eyes and the stakes cannot be higher. Why?
Ross Lissuzzo
Oak Park native, River Forest resident
Attended Mann, Hawthorne (now Julian) and OPRF H.S.