It is odd that District 200 leaders say addressing the achievement gap is a top priority, yet their detracking efforts are failing to meaningfully address this priority, but they are still all-in on detracking being the solution to this problem.
One quarter of the school’s Black ninth-grade students and one fifth of the school’s Hispanic ninth-grade students are failing at least two core classes. And they’ve done so since before COVID with Hispanic students dropping from 88% to 79.8% meeting the metric “9th graders on track” between 2019 and 2024. (Source: https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/School.aspx?source=trends&source2=freshmenontrack&Schoolid=060162000130001)
It appears that D200 leaders are so invested in their policies that they are unwilling to recognize when a change of direction is needed. Or maybe they don’t want to be held accountable for past decisions.
We need board members willing to ask tough questions and challenge the status quo. Only two have shown a willingness to do this, which is why I’m voting for Nate Mellman and Josh Gertz.
Jenny Austin
Oak Park