Letter: Don’t cut programs in District 181

Updated: April 16, 2012 3:57PM

Don’t cut programs

The District 181 School Board and administration have been elected and hired to represent and expand excellence in our renowned, cutting edge schools. Yet, their proposal to completely expunge courageous programs such as advanced mathematics, enhanced language arts and the ACE program, all of which affect over half the students, is precisely what hundreds of parents have said they moved to the Hinsdale school district to experience.

Further, in just a few months time, the administration has quickly spent exorbitant capital and resources on a solo East Coast consultant who specializes in curriculum for inner city populations, which I applaud, although data collection is not reminiscent of 181 schools. Ironically, the advanced programming the administration is looking to detonate in Hinsdale is the same programming that other competitive school districts in Illinois and across the nation currently deliver or are looking to implement.

All 181 schools are battling growing teacher-to-student ratios while this administration expects teachers to further differentiate across all learning levels in the classroom with little assessment or metrics or salary enhancements. The expectations of impossibility are placed on the teachers, while the student body is expected to receive a completely different curriculum than previous years, a curriculum that has strengthened Hinsdale’s reputation and dedication to excellence.

I urge people to e-mail the School Board at boe@d181.org or attend the board meeting April 23 to demand answers and expect further due diligence on sweeping educational reforms that will impact the majority of the students for years to come.

Joan Fitzgerald Clopton

Hinsdale

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