January 29, 2025 • 16 mins
This past week I went out to my mailbox and found an endorsement mailer from the Mokena Teachers Association, proclaiming their support for the four incumbent board members. So I reached out to a couple of the representatives from the Mokena Teachers Association and they were kind enough to meet with me at the Mokena Library.
I ask them about the endorsement session and why they made the choice they did. A lot of times we just get these fliers in our mailbox without understanding who is sending it and what went into making the decision. I hope this gives us all a better understanding of who the MTA is and how they made their choice this election.
My interviews with the Mokena 159 School Board Candidates who chose to speak with me will be coming out soon, along with the Lincolnway 210 School Board Candidates, mayoral, village trustee candidates and more to follow!
April 1st are the municipal elections! Be sure to vote!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Israel (00:04):
Heather and Megan.
Thank you both for joining metoday, both as representatives
for the Mokena TeachersAssociation.
Is that right?
Yes, okay, and do you want tojust introduce yourself and tell
us where you teach?
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (00:16):
Yes, I'm the co-president of the
Mokena Teachers Association andI'm also a speech-language
pathologist at Mokena ElementarySchool.
Great, and I'm also aspeech-language pathologist at
Mokena Elementary.
Megan - Teacher (00:25):
School Great.
I'm a fourth-grade teacher atMokena Intermediate and I'm not
on the MTA board, but I'mcurrently on the board of
directors for the IEA.
Israel (00:35):
Okay, so talk a little bit about that.
I'm not a teacher so I don'tknow all the connections at
Illinois and I noticed.
So we're meeting largelybecause of the endorsement the
teachers association endorsedthe four incumbents that are
running, but I did notice it'sit's has the teacher Illinois
education association.
(00:55):
So just maybe explain first howthe unions like, how everything
filters down to you as teachersin the district well.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (01:03):
Well, the IEA is the Illinois
Education Association and theyprovide support to the local
unions.
So the Mokena TeachersAssociation is a teacher's union
and they really believe inelecting friends of education.
So I can read a littlestatement so that you kind of
get an overview of how we do it.
(01:25):
So the Mokena TeachersAssociation believes in working
to elect people to school boards, specifically our school board.
That will make a difference forquality education.
We work to develop proceduresfor interviewing and
recommending candidates.
Recommendations are based on thecandidate's record of support
and performance on publiceducation issues.
(01:46):
We consider anyone we recommendto be pro-education candidates
and our recommendations are notdetermined by partisan politics
and we support they'reconsidered education party
candidates.
So the way we have ran it, it'skind of developed through the
years and we can kind of giveyou a little bit of a history of
(02:07):
that.
But in this recentrecommendation we have our own
team of teachers that is justfor this, for our political
action committee.
All of the candidates and wesend them questions that we're
(02:27):
interested in about how theyfeel about education policy,
what the strengths of our schoolis, what they see as the
weaknesses of our school, andthen we invite them to a forum
and we held that forum inJanuary, was it?
Yes, january, january 10th, Ibelieve, at Mokena Junior High.
So they each came to that andthey were each given 15-minute
time slots.
So they appeared at differenttimes.
(02:49):
We staggered them, it was.
Megan - Teacher (02:50):
December 10th.
Yeah, December 10th Sorry,thank you.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (02:53):
And we staggered them.
And then we have moderators andthey have specific questions
that all of them get.
The last question this year wasa little bit geared towards
something of a way.
They answered a certainquestion so they had a more
personalized question at the end.
But it's 15 minutes.
They get to kind of explain whythey want to be on the board,
(03:15):
answer our questions, and thenat the end of that we have a
discussion.
We invite all of the teachersand educators to come.
We also invite our classifiedstaff, our paraprofessionals,
our secretaries, everyone thatbasically works in the school,
and then they're able to give usour input and then we kind of
(03:35):
take a vote to see who the topcandidates are, and that's how
we go about making ourrecommendation.
Israel (03:41):
Okay, so how many questions are the candidates
asked in that questionnaire?
Megan - Teacher (03:47):
Well, the questionnaire was about eight
questions, I would say and thenin the forum it was, I think,
five, yeah, five questions.
Israel (03:53):
And did all the candidates participate?
Yes, they did.
Okay, yes, they allparticipated.
And is that kind of typical?
Do you usually get all thecandidates that are running that
want to be?
Megan - Teacher (04:02):
a part of this.
It is a requirement to getreceive an endorsement that we
have to have that kind ofinterview.
Israel (04:08):
Okay, great, and so you went over the endorsement
process or kind of.
But so at the meeting and thenso the candidates are allowed to
speak for a few minutes, butare.
Are teachers asking questionsor are they predetermined
questions?
They're predetermined.
Yeah, so no one in.
But are teachers askingquestions or are they
predetermined questions?
They're predetermined.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (04:26):
Yeah, so no one in the audience is
asking questions.
Yeah, it's predetermined andit's just basically two
moderators, someone who'skeeping the time to make it fair
.
Israel (04:37):
And what was the timeframe you said they had to
speak?
Megan - Teacher (04:39):
Two minutes for each question.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (04:41):
So it was about what they were up
there about, maybe 15 minutes, Ithink so.
Israel (04:44):
Yeah, and all the candidates completed the full
questionnaires.
And do you know how many of theteachers were involved in this
endorsement session?
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (04:58):
I don't believe I counted them.
Megan - Teacher (04:59):
No, we didn't count them.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (05:00):
Yeah, okay.
Israel (05:02):
I'm not sure.
All right, and then maybe giveus kind of an example what are
some of the questions that youwould have asked the candidates?
Megan - Teacher (05:10):
Do you want to tell me that?
Oh gosh, I don't rememberAnything.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (05:14):
maybe you gear it towards, I mean, I
think it was kind of like howthey view the school board as a
government kind of entity andhow they would be as a board
member.
Would they, you know what wouldthey be?
Would they look at it as beinginvolved in the classroom or,
you know, being involved, youknow from afar what the
(05:36):
difference is between how theyview the difference between an
administrator and a board member.
So just kind of seeing how theyview it and yeah, I mean.
And then of course, you know,we we may be asked a question
about something of how theyanswered a question.
Specifically for that last one,I'm trying to think of what
(05:59):
else.
I wish I had them in front ofme, but I yeah, but that's
basically just to.
that's basically just to get anunderstanding.
I mean, the first big questionis why are you running for the
board so they give their inputthere?
Israel (06:11):
Sure, and what do you think the issues are that the
teachers think are important inthis election?
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (06:20):
Well, I mean, I think that we could
kind of this is the second timewe really ran a forum.
You know, a long time ago wewent into this not wanting to be
on the sidelines anymore,because we are the big
stakeholders we're in theclassrooms, we're in the
classrooms, we're teaching thekids.
And you know, in the history ofMokena we went through a very
(06:44):
dark time in our district.
Where it was.
We were having failedreferendums, we were in
financial distress.
Megan - Teacher (06:54):
We were losing activities, extracurricular
sports, music.
Yeah, losing teachers, becauseeither they left the district
because of where it was headedor we had cutbacks and we had to
lose our teachers.
So we had a hard few yearsbefore some of these board
members came on.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (07:13):
Right , and so I think we learned from
that that we really need to beinvolved each time.
I mean, unfortunately, fornumerous years between that time
and then this time, we haven'thad a lot of people running for
the school board.
You know, we were like therewere years where it's like okay,
is someone going to run for theschool board?
(07:34):
And they had to find someone tofill the spot Correct, and so we
didn't really have to do this.
There wasn't really much of achoice.
But now in these latter yearswe're seeing a lot of people
running and you know, usuallythey have something in mind, a
particular cause of why they'rerunning.
So we want to learn about thatand so we thought this is a
(07:55):
necessary step we have had.
We went to workshops throughthe IEA.
Megan - Teacher (08:02):
I went to a training session for a
grassroots organization, and sothat's when I brought it back,
the interview process what wecould do.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (08:10):
Yeah, I learned about it that way.
Israel (08:13):
So once you've gone through, you know, and obviously
you're sending out mailers likethis I saw the Facebook page.
What other kind of support areyou giving to the candidates
after they've received yourendorsement?
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (08:26):
Well, there'll be more mailers, Signs
, signs will go out.
Megan - Teacher (08:30):
There's a big cost that we can provide some
support with.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (08:35):
Well, we're going to try to build up.
We have a candidate websitethat we are going to try to
build up and put moreinformation on there about our
candidates.
So someone can, you know, scanthat and learn.
It's kind of a work in progressright now, but that will be
built up some more.
Anything else?
Megan - Teacher (08:53):
It's almost like we're a little bit of
campaign managers.
Yeah, it is.
Israel (08:57):
And do you actually interact with the candidates?
Are you able to work?
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (09:01):
You are okay, oh, yes, yeah, we talk
to them quite a bit, yeah, okay.
Israel (09:05):
So tell the community.
Why should we give weight orcredit to this endorsement?
Why should this be important tohomeowners and to residents?
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (09:15):
Well, there's a lot of reasons.
Residents Well, there's a lotof reasons.
Obviously, property owners wantto live in a you know, a
community where education isvalued because they sell their
house one day, you know.
You know they want someone to.
People look at the school andthe district they're moving in.
We've had quite a people movein, a lot of people move into
(09:35):
Mokena because and I've heardthey've said we've moved here
for the schools.
So we want that reputation, wewant to continue that reputation
.
And just talking about you know, some of the board members,
like I mentioned the previoustime where the very first time
we got involved, anna Briscoeand Jim Andreessen were the
(09:57):
first of our four candidates toget on the board.
They came in in 2013, and theywere instrumental in bringing
things back into our district.
They brought back.
During that time we went tohalf-day kindergarten.
They helped to bring backfull-day kindergarten.
They helped to bring backsports in the gyms, music, all
(10:20):
of that that we were lacking.
Megan - Teacher (10:23):
Smaller class sizes yes smaller class sizes.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (10:27):
More teachers came back and some even
returned because of our schools.
Megan - Teacher (10:32):
They were riffed.
Someone that was riffed wentsomewhere else.
Once we had openings, came back.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (10:38):
Yeah, yeah, so that with those two,
and then the other two, ericBush and Lisa Zielinski, came on
2017, right, am I right withthat?
And all four of them wereinstrumental during the global
pandemic that we suffered andchanged the landscape of
(10:59):
education completely.
We needed stability and Ireally feel like we've had
boards before where I haven'tfelt that stability and where I
maybe got anxious going to thoseboard meetings and thinking
what is next, what's coming, butthey really have provided that
stability.
I mean, they were instrumentalin getting funding, covid
(11:20):
funding to help us withtechnology, because we had to go
from learning the teacherslearning how to teach virtually,
then going to a hybrid and thenpretty quickly getting back to
in-person to in-person.
(11:42):
They made it a point to havespecial education students come
back before anyone else didin-person when we were teaching
virtually.
They were coming back into theschools because they knew they
need that in-person contact fortheir learning disabilities and
they provided the PPE, thecleaning, all of that.
They really listened to ourconcerns.
They also listened to ourconcerns about running out of
(12:05):
sick days because you know, atthat time we were testing or
someone in your family had COVIDand you had to quarantine and
you know we were.
It's a very female-dominatedprofession, right?
So you know the moms a lot oftimes stay home with the kids
and we're losing a lot of days.
So they help to bring COVIDdays in so that we weren't, you
(12:26):
know, having to lose paid sickdays that we might have lost
because of all of that and thatwas before there was a state
mandate.
Megan - Teacher (12:35):
That was given Correct.
We had that.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (12:38):
And then I guess with the other area
would be they've really kept astable tax rate in the community
.
Taxes haven't really gone upand also we have the lowest tax
rate amongst the feeder schools,so that's of an interest to
property owners.
When you look at Manhattan,Summit Hill, New Lenox and
(12:59):
Frankfurt, we are the lowest.
But we also have a very, veryquality education.
As the postcard says, they haveprovided us the tools to
maintain a quality education andto allow our students to excel.
For example, our district ranksin the top 9% of all elementary
(13:23):
districts in the state for thepercentage of students meeting
or exceeding standards in math,and our district ranks in the
top 11% out of all elementarydistricts in the state for
percentage of students meetingor exceeding standards in
English language arts.
So they have proven leadership,proven record.
So it was kind of an easychoice because of all that
(13:48):
they've done for us.
Israel (13:50):
A big deal right now and an important thing to me, and I
think a lot of people that payattention, is the superintendent
, the new superintendent, comingin the search that went on.
How does that play in or whatkind of thought process do the
teachers or the union give tothat and the importance of that
(14:12):
and finding a stable,longer-term superintendent?
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (14:17):
Well, you know, our last
superintendent was with us forabout six years, right Started
with the pandemic right.
Yeah, with the pandemic.
Megan - Teacher (14:26):
So he was four years.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (14:28):
Yeah, was it four?
Yeah, around four years.
So he was with us for a littlewhile.
We were happy that the boardbrought back Steve Stein, who
has a history in our district,so he's helped to provide
stability this year with findingsomeone.
And also they have involved us.
The board has involved us inthat superintendent search so I
(14:49):
was part, as well as otherteachers that got to be part of
the interview process.
So we interviewed, we were partof that with a number of
candidates and we were able tovote and that's how they
involved us.
So it was nice.
Israel (15:07):
Any thoughts on the new superintendent?
Megan - Teacher (15:09):
I've not met him, he seems very nice.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (15:14):
Yeah, I hope that he's in for the
long haul.
Yeah, it's nice to have someonestick around, yeah, From what I
hear, he's very engaged, veryexcited to come on.
He's planning on coming onbefore his term starts to meet
everyone.
So I believe there's meet andgreets, you know, with the staff
(15:35):
that we're going to each meethim at all the schools.
He's going to tour the schools.
He wants to learn about usbefore he actually starts on.
Usually they start July 1, Ibelieve our superintendent, so I
think we're going to see a lotof him before the actual start
date, which is good.
Israel (15:50):
Yeah, very good, Good.
Well, as I said, so is there.
If there's anything else youwant to share, Well.
Megan - Teacher (15:57):
I just hope that we have a good turnout for
voting, because I know that withthese kinds of elections not
everyone comes out for it.
So I hope people get in forearly voting or get out there
April 1st.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (16:11):
Yeah, I believe it's what spring
break.
So if you can't early vote,that's important too.
Israel (16:17):
If you're able to early vote.
That's important too, yeah, and, like you said, the numbers are
so low.
This is you really do make adifference.
It's really important to be outand be involved.
Heather and Megan, thank youboth for joining me today.
(16:37):
Thank you, thanks for having us.
Heather and Megan.
Thank you both for joining metoday, both as representatives
for the Mokena TeachersAssociation.
Is that right?
Yes, okay, and do you want tojust introduce yourself and tell
us where you teach?
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (00:16):
Yes, I'm the co-president of the
Mokena Teachers Association andI'm also a speech-language
pathologist at Mokena ElementarySchool.
Great, and I'm also aspeech-language pathologist at
Mokena Elementary.
Megan - Teacher (00:25):
School Great.
I'm a fourth-grade teacher atMokena Intermediate and I'm not
on the MTA board, but I'mcurrently on the board of
directors for the IEA.
Israel (00:35):
Okay, so talk a little bit about that.
I'm not a teacher so I don'tknow all the connections at
Illinois and I noticed.
So we're meeting largelybecause of the endorsement the
teachers association endorsedthe four incumbents that are
running, but I did notice it'sit's has the teacher Illinois
education association.
(00:55):
So just maybe explain first howthe unions like, how everything
filters down to you as teachersin the district well.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (01:03):
Well, the IEA is the Illinois
Education Association and theyprovide support to the local
unions.
So the Mokena TeachersAssociation is a teacher's union
and they really believe inelecting friends of education.
So I can read a littlestatement so that you kind of
get an overview of how we do it.
(01:25):
So the Mokena TeachersAssociation believes in working
to elect people to school boards, specifically our school board.
That will make a difference forquality education.
We work to develop proceduresfor interviewing and
recommending candidates.
Recommendations are based on thecandidate's record of support
and performance on publiceducation issues.
(01:46):
We consider anyone we recommendto be pro-education candidates
and our recommendations are notdetermined by partisan politics
and we support they'reconsidered education party
candidates.
So the way we have ran it, it'skind of developed through the
years and we can kind of giveyou a little bit of a history of
(02:07):
that.
But in this recentrecommendation we have our own
team of teachers that is justfor this, for our political
action committee.
All of the candidates and wesend them questions that we're
(02:27):
interested in about how theyfeel about education policy,
what the strengths of our schoolis, what they see as the
weaknesses of our school, andthen we invite them to a forum
and we held that forum inJanuary, was it?
Yes, january, january 10th, Ibelieve, at Mokena Junior High.
So they each came to that andthey were each given 15-minute
time slots.
So they appeared at differenttimes.
(02:49):
We staggered them, it was.
Megan - Teacher (02:50):
December 10th.
Yeah, December 10th Sorry,thank you.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (02:53):
And we staggered them.
And then we have moderators andthey have specific questions
that all of them get.
The last question this year wasa little bit geared towards
something of a way.
They answered a certainquestion so they had a more
personalized question at the end.
But it's 15 minutes.
They get to kind of explain whythey want to be on the board,
(03:15):
answer our questions, and thenat the end of that we have a
discussion.
We invite all of the teachersand educators to come.
We also invite our classifiedstaff, our paraprofessionals,
our secretaries, everyone thatbasically works in the school,
and then they're able to give usour input and then we kind of
(03:35):
take a vote to see who the topcandidates are, and that's how
we go about making ourrecommendation.
Israel (03:41):
Okay, so how many questions are the candidates
asked in that questionnaire?
Megan - Teacher (03:47):
Well, the questionnaire was about eight
questions, I would say and thenin the forum it was, I think,
five, yeah, five questions.
Israel (03:53):
And did all the candidates participate?
Yes, they did.
Okay, yes, they allparticipated.
And is that kind of typical?
Do you usually get all thecandidates that are running that
want to be?
Megan - Teacher (04:02):
a part of this.
It is a requirement to getreceive an endorsement that we
have to have that kind ofinterview.
Israel (04:08):
Okay, great, and so you went over the endorsement
process or kind of.
But so at the meeting and thenso the candidates are allowed to
speak for a few minutes, butare.
Are teachers asking questionsor are they predetermined
questions?
They're predetermined.
Yeah, so no one in.
But are teachers askingquestions or are they
predetermined questions?
They're predetermined.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (04:26):
Yeah, so no one in the audience is
asking questions.
Yeah, it's predetermined andit's just basically two
moderators, someone who'skeeping the time to make it fair
.
Israel (04:37):
And what was the timeframe you said they had to
speak?
Megan - Teacher (04:39):
Two minutes for each question.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (04:41):
So it was about what they were up
there about, maybe 15 minutes, Ithink so.
Israel (04:44):
Yeah, and all the candidates completed the full
questionnaires.
And do you know how many of theteachers were involved in this
endorsement session?
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (04:58):
I don't believe I counted them.
Megan - Teacher (04:59):
No, we didn't count them.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (05:00):
Yeah, okay.
Israel (05:02):
I'm not sure.
All right, and then maybe giveus kind of an example what are
some of the questions that youwould have asked the candidates?
Megan - Teacher (05:10):
Do you want to tell me that?
Oh gosh, I don't rememberAnything.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (05:14):
maybe you gear it towards, I mean, I
think it was kind of like howthey view the school board as a
government kind of entity andhow they would be as a board
member.
Would they, you know what wouldthey be?
Would they look at it as beinginvolved in the classroom or,
you know, being involved, youknow from afar what the
(05:36):
difference is between how theyview the difference between an
administrator and a board member.
So just kind of seeing how theyview it and yeah, I mean.
And then of course, you know,we we may be asked a question
about something of how theyanswered a question.
Specifically for that last one,I'm trying to think of what
(05:59):
else.
I wish I had them in front ofme, but I yeah, but that's
basically just to.
that's basically just to get anunderstanding.
I mean, the first big questionis why are you running for the
board so they give their inputthere?
Israel (06:11):
Sure, and what do you think the issues are that the
teachers think are important inthis election?
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (06:20):
Well, I mean, I think that we could
kind of this is the second timewe really ran a forum.
You know, a long time ago wewent into this not wanting to be
on the sidelines anymore,because we are the big
stakeholders we're in theclassrooms, we're in the
classrooms, we're teaching thekids.
And you know, in the history ofMokena we went through a very
(06:44):
dark time in our district.
Where it was.
We were having failedreferendums, we were in
financial distress.
Megan - Teacher (06:54):
We were losing activities, extracurricular
sports, music.
Yeah, losing teachers, becauseeither they left the district
because of where it was headedor we had cutbacks and we had to
lose our teachers.
So we had a hard few yearsbefore some of these board
members came on.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (07:13):
Right , and so I think we learned from
that that we really need to beinvolved each time.
I mean, unfortunately, fornumerous years between that time
and then this time, we haven'thad a lot of people running for
the school board.
You know, we were like therewere years where it's like okay,
is someone going to run for theschool board?
(07:34):
And they had to find someone tofill the spot Correct, and so we
didn't really have to do this.
There wasn't really much of achoice.
But now in these latter yearswe're seeing a lot of people
running and you know, usuallythey have something in mind, a
particular cause of why they'rerunning.
So we want to learn about thatand so we thought this is a
(07:55):
necessary step we have had.
We went to workshops throughthe IEA.
Megan - Teacher (08:02):
I went to a training session for a
grassroots organization, and sothat's when I brought it back,
the interview process what wecould do.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (08:10):
Yeah, I learned about it that way.
Israel (08:13):
So once you've gone through, you know, and obviously
you're sending out mailers likethis I saw the Facebook page.
What other kind of support areyou giving to the candidates
after they've received yourendorsement?
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (08:26):
Well, there'll be more mailers, Signs
, signs will go out.
Megan - Teacher (08:30):
There's a big cost that we can provide some
support with.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (08:35):
Well, we're going to try to build up.
We have a candidate websitethat we are going to try to
build up and put moreinformation on there about our
candidates.
So someone can, you know, scanthat and learn.
It's kind of a work in progressright now, but that will be
built up some more.
Anything else?
Megan - Teacher (08:53):
It's almost like we're a little bit of
campaign managers.
Yeah, it is.
Israel (08:57):
And do you actually interact with the candidates?
Are you able to work?
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (09:01):
You are okay, oh, yes, yeah, we talk
to them quite a bit, yeah, okay.
Israel (09:05):
So tell the community.
Why should we give weight orcredit to this endorsement?
Why should this be important tohomeowners and to residents?
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (09:15):
Well, there's a lot of reasons.
Residents Well, there's a lotof reasons.
Obviously, property owners wantto live in a you know, a
community where education isvalued because they sell their
house one day, you know.
You know they want someone to.
People look at the school andthe district they're moving in.
We've had quite a people movein, a lot of people move into
(09:35):
Mokena because and I've heardthey've said we've moved here
for the schools.
So we want that reputation, wewant to continue that reputation
.
And just talking about you know, some of the board members,
like I mentioned the previoustime where the very first time
we got involved, anna Briscoeand Jim Andreessen were the
(09:57):
first of our four candidates toget on the board.
They came in in 2013, and theywere instrumental in bringing
things back into our district.
They brought back.
During that time we went tohalf-day kindergarten.
They helped to bring backfull-day kindergarten.
They helped to bring backsports in the gyms, music, all
(10:20):
of that that we were lacking.
Megan - Teacher (10:23):
Smaller class sizes yes smaller class sizes.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (10:27):
More teachers came back and some even
returned because of our schools.
Megan - Teacher (10:32):
They were riffed.
Someone that was riffed wentsomewhere else.
Once we had openings, came back.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (10:38):
Yeah, yeah, so that with those two,
and then the other two, ericBush and Lisa Zielinski, came on
2017, right, am I right withthat?
And all four of them wereinstrumental during the global
pandemic that we suffered andchanged the landscape of
(10:59):
education completely.
We needed stability and Ireally feel like we've had
boards before where I haven'tfelt that stability and where I
maybe got anxious going to thoseboard meetings and thinking
what is next, what's coming, butthey really have provided that
stability.
I mean, they were instrumentalin getting funding, covid
(11:20):
funding to help us withtechnology, because we had to go
from learning the teacherslearning how to teach virtually,
then going to a hybrid and thenpretty quickly getting back to
in-person to in-person.
(11:42):
They made it a point to havespecial education students come
back before anyone else didin-person when we were teaching
virtually.
They were coming back into theschools because they knew they
need that in-person contact fortheir learning disabilities and
they provided the PPE, thecleaning, all of that.
They really listened to ourconcerns.
They also listened to ourconcerns about running out of
(12:05):
sick days because you know, atthat time we were testing or
someone in your family had COVIDand you had to quarantine and
you know we were.
It's a very female-dominatedprofession, right?
So you know the moms a lot oftimes stay home with the kids
and we're losing a lot of days.
So they help to bring COVIDdays in so that we weren't, you
(12:26):
know, having to lose paid sickdays that we might have lost
because of all of that and thatwas before there was a state
mandate.
Megan - Teacher (12:35):
That was given Correct.
We had that.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (12:38):
And then I guess with the other area
would be they've really kept astable tax rate in the community
.
Taxes haven't really gone upand also we have the lowest tax
rate amongst the feeder schools,so that's of an interest to
property owners.
When you look at Manhattan,Summit Hill, New Lenox and
(12:59):
Frankfurt, we are the lowest.
But we also have a very, veryquality education.
As the postcard says, they haveprovided us the tools to
maintain a quality education andto allow our students to excel.
For example, our district ranksin the top 9% of all elementary
(13:23):
districts in the state for thepercentage of students meeting
or exceeding standards in math,and our district ranks in the
top 11% out of all elementarydistricts in the state for
percentage of students meetingor exceeding standards in
English language arts.
So they have proven leadership,proven record.
So it was kind of an easychoice because of all that
(13:48):
they've done for us.
Israel (13:50):
A big deal right now and an important thing to me, and I
think a lot of people that payattention, is the superintendent
, the new superintendent, comingin the search that went on.
How does that play in or whatkind of thought process do the
teachers or the union give tothat and the importance of that
(14:12):
and finding a stable,longer-term superintendent?
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (14:17):
Well, you know, our last
superintendent was with us forabout six years, right Started
with the pandemic right.
Yeah, with the pandemic.
Megan - Teacher (14:26):
So he was four years.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (14:28):
Yeah, was it four?
Yeah, around four years.
So he was with us for a littlewhile.
We were happy that the boardbrought back Steve Stein, who
has a history in our district,so he's helped to provide
stability this year with findingsomeone.
And also they have involved us.
The board has involved us inthat superintendent search so I
(14:49):
was part, as well as otherteachers that got to be part of
the interview process.
So we interviewed, we were partof that with a number of
candidates and we were able tovote and that's how they
involved us.
So it was nice.
Israel (15:07):
Any thoughts on the new superintendent?
Megan - Teacher (15:09):
I've not met him, he seems very nice.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (15:14):
Yeah, I hope that he's in for the
long haul.
Yeah, it's nice to have someonestick around, yeah, From what I
hear, he's very engaged, veryexcited to come on.
He's planning on coming onbefore his term starts to meet
everyone.
So I believe there's meet andgreets, you know, with the staff
(15:35):
that we're going to each meethim at all the schools.
He's going to tour the schools.
He wants to learn about usbefore he actually starts on.
Usually they start July 1, Ibelieve our superintendent, so I
think we're going to see a lotof him before the actual start
date, which is good.
Israel (15:50):
Yeah, very good, Good.
Well, as I said, so is there.
If there's anything else youwant to share, Well.
Megan - Teacher (15:57):
I just hope that we have a good turnout for
voting, because I know that withthese kinds of elections not
everyone comes out for it.
So I hope people get in forearly voting or get out there
April 1st.
Heather - MTA Co-Presiden (16:11):
Yeah, I believe it's what spring
break.
So if you can't early vote,that's important too.
Israel (16:17):
If you're able to early vote.
That's important too, yeah, and, like you said, the numbers are
so low.
This is you really do make adifference.
It's really important to be outand be involved.
Heather and Megan, thank youboth for joining me today.
(16:37):
Thank you, thanks for having us.
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