Three of our school board members get it, and realize that we need to stand firm and fight back for the rights of our community. To be exact, its what 97% of our community wanted! Those 3 all had great speeches on whats at risk if we don't start to push back on these over reaching "mandates." Unfortunately 4 board members would rather throw in the towel before the fight even starts. We were 14 days into a 60 day probation before folding, and the day BEFORE a conference call to be held with ISBE. The conversations were fear of losing money, fear of losing sports, just fear in general. The primary concerns had to do with money, loss of money, and how much money students were worth. Although nobody seemed to know exactly how much any of those figures were.
The next set of fears were that they didn't know if anything the governor was doing was legal or not. If the mask mandate was legal or not. They had no idea about any of the laws. At minimum there has been 18 months to study up on the laws pertaining to these issues. But at this point, it seems only logical that the board should have been seeking additional legal counsel, as I suggested weeks ago, instead of just waiting around for nothing. As I had traveled around to multiple counties speaking at school boards, it became abundantly apparent that the typical school law firms were not equipped to deal with government agencies reaching beyond their authorities. Law firms that represent schools deal with asset and risk management. And not once was our school's lawyer present at a school board meeting the past 6 months. How much are tax payers spending on lawyers that aren't working for us? At the very least, the board should have been putting the lawyer to work, and getting in front of a judge to ask the question if ISBE has the authority it claims to have, by simply looking at the law. They do not.
But upon digging into the law firm issue, we soon began realizing there were only a couple of law firms representing ALL of the schools throughout the state. Kept digging, and not too surprisingly, we find that our law firm is listed as an ISBE board member training provider. Every school board member has to complete a training section, which ISBE lists approved trainers. There's a process to be listed. And of course as a private law firm, being listed as an approved provider will lead to you landing more clients. This fully explains why all of the lawyers parroted the same info, and made no attempts to buck the system. They wont bite the hand that feeds them. Starting to see the problem as to why law firms havent been working for us?
I also stated that the board should be engaging in open communication with the teachers of these schools, in an attempt to prevent a numerous amount of problems that are going to soon unravel as the state goes full steam ahead with more mandates and laws. Judging by the public comments made by numerous teachers, the board has still not engaged with the people they are representing. Imagine running a company, but never once setting foot onto the production floor or talking to any of your employees. The teachers haven't been consulted or asked for input. Decisions are made for them by a disengaged board for the most part. This was expressed in their public comments, noting the fact that they've never seen a single board member in their school.
The final and most important observation I made was that one board member said that in their Oath of Office the very first item was to protect the financial assets of the district. Wrong. The first and main oath has to do with the US Constitution, State Constitution, and LAWS of the State of Illinois. It then goes on to say "I further swear", followed by protecting assets, community engagement, etc. Not only is the constitution first, but it has it's own section. That's not by accident. It's important. No mention of following executive orders here.
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"I, (name of member or successful candidate), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of member of the Board of Education (or Board of School Directors) of (name of school district), in accordance with the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Illinois, and the laws of the State of Illinois, to the best of my ability.
"I further swear (or affirm) that:
"I shall respect taxpayer interests by serving as a faithful protector of the school district's assets;
"I shall encourage and respect the free expression of opinion by my fellow board members and others who seek a hearing before the board, while respecting the privacy of students and employees;
"I shall recognize that a board member has no legal authority as an individual and that decisions can be made only by a majority vote at a public board meeting;
"I shall abide by majority decisions of the board, while retaining the right to seek changes in such decisions through ethical and constructive channels;
“As part of the Board of Education (or Board of School Directors, as the case may be), I shall accept the responsibility for my role in the equitable and quality education of every student in the school district;
“I shall foster with the board extensive participation of the community, formulate goals, define outcomes, and set the course for (name of school district);