Editorial note: The Barrington Hills Observer supports the candidacies of Katie Karan, Steven Wang and Malgorzata McGonigal. To learn more about them, please visit Action PAC.
The race for four open seats on the Barrington School District 220 Board of Education in the April 6 election has drawn 11 candidates – and teachers union endorsement of four of those hopefuls.
The long list of candidates running in the election next month includes incumbents Sandra Ficke-Bradford and Michael Shackleton, and candidates Katie Karam, Lauren Berkowitz Klauer, William Betz, Jonathan Matta, Thomas Mitoraj, Steve Wang, and Robert Windon, all from Barrington. Erin Chan Ding, of South Barrington, and Malgorzata McGonigal, of North Barrington round out the field.
The four candidates picking up Barrington Education Association endorsements are Chan Ding, Ficke-Bradford, Klauer and Mitoraj. Of the four, only Chan Ding acknowledged receiving a campaign contribution from a political action committee affiliated with the BEA.
BEA President Melissa Atteberry confirmed that her association reached out multiple times to all 11 candidates. Seven of the 11 returned written questionnaires, she said. Those candidates were invited to an interview and from that group, the four endorsed candidates were chosen.
Union officials said the four candidates BEA endorsed “exemplified” key characteristics, including an eagerness to dive deeply into a wide range of topics within education; a willingness to listen to a broad range of views and work collaboratively with all stakeholders; an understanding of the many accomplishments of the school district, but also of the great challenges ahead; and a proactive approach to campaigning and the ability to mobilize support from the community.
In separate phone interviews with Pioneer Press, all four candidates defended accepting the endorsement, while acknowledging that they could, if elected, find themselves voting on contracts and other matters concerning teachers.
Read more here.
Related: “’Barrington Teacher Union President Communicates with Members’ – Posted by McHenry County Blog,” “Right to Choose for Barrington School District 220”