Letter endorses Bennett Lasko, Dan Jenks and Art Kessler

Written and submitted by Dan Struck.

In a few months, the NSSD 112 Board will decide how to proceed with the reconfiguration alternatives presented by the 2.0 committee. A new Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning (curriculum) needs to be appointed for next school year. Who knows if other capable and knowledgeable members of the leadership team will also decide to move on? Eventually, the 112 Board will be responsible for selecting and approving a permanent superintendent - the CEO of NSSD 112. Besides these responsibilities, the 112 Board will face numerous other challenges - some of which are foreseeable and some of which may come as a surprise.

It is important to remember the broad portfolio of the School Board when deciding for whom to vote. We do not need Board members who make promises that cannot be kept. If we want effective and capable School Board members, we need to vote for candidates with the demonstrated ability to learn and to make decisions based on the best available information (and not based on untested opinions or baseless assumptions). We need Board members who care about and take into account the needs of students of different abilities and of students who do not have a voice. We need Board members who have the commitment, courage, and energy needed to put 112 on a firm footing - both financially and educationally - for the future. We need Board members who will ask tough questions, but will also listen to advice and collaborate when reaching a decision. We need Board members who will stand by their decisions because they understand that they serve a public trust and are not just engaged in a popularity contest. The next four years will require creativity, integrity, leadership, commitment, good judgment, patience and discipline on the part of the 112 Board.

Three candidates possess the necessary qualities to an exemplary extent: Bennett Lasko, Dan Jenks, and Art Kessler. These candidates have demonstrated the qualities that are needed to see 112 through the challenges of the next four years and to place 112 on a sound footing for the future.

But, there a four seats on the 112 Board up for election. We are fortunate to have more than four qualified candidates for the 112 Board. Jane Mordini, Julie Campbell, and Alexander Brunk each is dedicated to and intensely involved in working for the future of 112. In any year, all three of them would be at the top of a list of highly qualified candidates and each is an outstanding choice for the fourth open Board seat. Both Julie and Alex have been tireless and dedicated leaders of the Reconfiguration 2.0 team and both have demonstrated the energy, passion, intelligence, and flexibility that are needed on the 112 Board. Over her two terms on the Board, Jane has been an independent voice and a passionate advocate. Certainly, she has been abrasive and sometimes grating and I appreciate the desire for a reset and a new culture. Reasonable people can differ about who would be the most effective Board member. Even if we disagree about the best choice, 112, the community, and students will benefit from the service of any of these candidates.

As someone who has been a member of several previous NSSD 112 Caucuses, I feel compelled to include a brief comment about my distress at seeing the caucus process taken advantage of by a candidate who has changed his message depending on the audience and has campaigned on a “platform” that dramatically understates 112’s financial and educational challenges and is premised on unsupportable, faulty, and reckless assumptions. District 112 cannot afford a foolhardy “10 school plan” without severely compromising its educational and financial well-being. 112 does not need and cannot afford candidates who would sacrifice the future excellence of 112 for the sake of putting-off much needed difficult decisions. We cannot afford to rely on false promises.

District 112 faces considerable challenges, but those challenges carry the opportunity to ensure that 112 becomes a benchmark for educational excellence because of how it nourishes and engages new generations of young learners. To achieve that, it is necessary to elect Board members who are able to meet challenges creatively, with prudence, compassion, integrity and intelligence.

Daniel J. Struck

Highland Park