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”
I hope these people running for the school board are all vetted to be normal conservative candidates. The board should not have progressive liberal indoctrinating representation.
Nancy,
If you read the 60 page BEA manifesto regarding their goals reads like a “Rules for Woke Schooling” guidebook.
It’s also interesting they are not endorsing Shackleton who served as a moderate to right while on the board. Speaks volumes.
Vote Karam, Wang, McGonigal and Shackleton
They are NOT with the teachers union they are with our kids. And that would be a refreshing change!
Does anyone know who is behind the Barrington Be The Change group that endorsed several candidates and is a group endorsed by the BEA? I can’t find any names associated with the group, just their recommendations for D220 which several candidates mentioned as being part of their platform: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N9DdAepfjRtjNjhA0UMddGkrXMFfNHU-/view
It’s so obvious when you look at the candidates running for the school board. We have a fever and the only prescription is……. MORE WANG!
We need more Wang…
What and Who are the BEA?
It calls itself the Barrington Education Association. What it more accurately stands for is Bolshevik Educator Activists.
Who in the world allowed this group into our community? What a scam. Whoever believes this is a non-partisan legitimate organization needs to wake up. It’s a cover organization for leftist teachers union radicals and their $ interests. It’s a jobs program for “educators” who are indoctrinating our kids while simultaneously ruining our property values through high taxes and unsustainable pension promises. It’s not about our children.
Vote: Karam, Wang, Shackleton and McGonigal
The BEA eat their own. Read from the Teacher Evaluation Handbook for D220, utilizing the Danielson Framework for Remote Teaching Criteria. D220 educators are evaluated on their use of this framework in order to be considered for retention. Some of it includes: “Priorities: Working relentlessly to create a just and supportive classroom that acknowledges and is responsive to systemic racism and the current health crisis; creating safety and space for students to learn, explore, ask questions and voice reactions to current events. Including: The space to express anger and grief as needed, especially for students of color; The space to explore racial identity and the realities of systemic racism, particularly for white students…” Our current board ostensibly agreed to this as the framework for evaluating our teachers and required the “health crisis” to be a platform of their teaching. Is it any wonder we’re not back in school?