A state funding squeeze and curriculum headaches confront the seven candidates vying for three seats on the Homer Community Consolidated School District 33C board.
Illinois is among a majority of states that have adopted Common Core math and reading standards that stress deeper understanding of key concepts, critical thinking and college preparation. The change in focus has come with new standardized tests, classroom materials and even homework.
“It can be frustrating. I’ve felt powerless on more than one occasion while trying to help my first and third graders with their homework,” said Kathryn Talaski, a Homer Glen mother of four. “I don’t see Common Core going anywhere. It’s not going away, so we need to embrace it and conquer it.”
Talaski, a manager or the claims processing division of a union pension fund, is on the April 7 ballot alongside three educators, an architect, a financial adviser and a small-business owner.
The lone incumbent is Debbie Martin, a second-grade teacher in Joliet District 86 and the board’s longest-tenured member, who’s seeking a fourth four-year term.
“I am not a politician. I’m a here, first of all, as a parent of (four) students who have gone through the district,” Martin, a Homer Glen resident, said. “I am a community member and am also a teacher. I live Common Core daily right now.”
The board gained four new members in 2013, and incumbents Patrick Dwyer and Cindy Polke aren’t seeking re-election, meaning at least two more newcomers will be elected.
Candidate Julie Obradovic taught Spanish for 17 years at Riverside-Brookfield High School before becoming an advocate for children with autism, including one of her three kids.
“I really hope to be a voice,” Obradovic said. “It’s been my experience that parents of kids with special needs are often sorely underrepresented on school boards, and I think the reason for that is it requires so much time, energy and so forth to be able to manage that.”
Obradovic, a Homer Glen resident, would like to see the district expand its Spanish offerings and add an orchestra program, and she believes that fostering strong teacher morale is the key to student success.
Elizabeth Hitzeman, of Homer Glen, is seeking a board seat following her retirement last summer after 26 years of teaching sixth grade in District 33C. A mother of two adult children, she doesn’t fret Common Core.
“What is wrong with students learning critical-thinking skills?” Hitzeman asked.
Top of mind, she said, is the financial strain to follow if the state follows through on threats to redistribute education funding or freeze property taxes, which provide about 80 percent of the district’s funding. Hitzeman said Homer Glen needs to diversify its mostly residential tax base.
More Top Picks Best Yellow Tinted Glasses For Night Driving
“I really do believe that the village needs to shoulder some responsibility and maybe provide some incentives to bring in some more businesses, more commercial, maybe some light industry, to help reduce the tax burden of our homeowners,” she said.
Scott Likins, a Lockport father of three and an executive at Chicago-based BLDD Architects, said “state funding and pension reform is our nearest hurdle.”
“I think we’re in very good shape relative to other districts in the state of Illinois,” Likins said while also stressing the need to be vocal with local legislators in Springfield.
He would like to see District 33C boost student opportunities in science, technology, engineering, arts and math, but as a board member he would not try to “micromanage” Supt. Kara Coglianese’s administration.
The five candidates took part in a forum sponsored by the District 33C teachers union on Tuesday night. Candidates Vivienne Porter and Russ Petrizzo did not attend but provided biographical information and participated in an earlier forum.
Petrizzo, a senior vice president at RBC Wealth Management in Orland Park, advocates spending cuts in the district to reduce property tax bills. A former Homer Glen mayor and trustee, Petrizzo is running on a slate with Obradovic and Porter, a small-business owner and former credit analyst and account executive for copier company Ricoh.
A Homer Glen mother of two, Porter is emphasizing fiscal responsibility and greater online access to district spending records.
Patrick Guinane is a freelance reporter.