MCGOP-Sponsored Non-partisan Event

The next state-wide election – the 2023 Consolidated Election – will take place on Tuesday, April 4. This election will present voters with candidates for city and town councils, school boards, and perhaps a ballot measure or two – such as the Unit 5 proposal for a tax increase (following its defeat on November 8).

To inform voters, MCGOP will be sponsoring a non-partisan School Board Candidate Forum on Saturday, February 11, 2023, beginning at 9:00 AM. The venue will be the DoubleTree Hotel and Conference Center, 10 Brickyard Dr., Bloomington, Illinois.

• LEARN WHO THE CANDIDATES ARE FOR YOUR SCHOOL BOARD!
• LEARN FOR WHOM TO CAST YOUR VOTE ON APRIL 4TH.

Candidates for area school boards in all areas of the political spectrum have been invited to share their platforms at this forum. Each candidate will be given a limited time to speak, and then the floor will be open to questions from the audience, including the media.

School board candidates from McLean County are invited to contact Chairman Dennis Grundler to be included in the agenda. Dennis can be reached at (217) 299-7152 or via email at [email protected].

The program begins with a plated breakfast. Doors open at 8:45 AM, with breakfast starting at 9:00 AM. The program begins at 9:30 AM and wraps up at about 11 AM.

Breakfast tickets must be reserved and purchased in advance. The cost is $20 per ticket. The deadline for making reservations is noon on Wednesday, February 8. (Meals cannot be guaranteed if reservations are made after the Wednesday noon deadline; tickets generally will not be available on-site, so please make your reservations and payment in advance.) To make your meal reservation, go to the following link:

https://www.mcleancountyrepublicans.org/2023_february_school_boards

BONUS INFORMATION: HOW DO WE CHOOSE?

What matter does it make who sits on a school board? The long and short of it is the fate of your children! There’s no question about that. How, then, do we choose the best candidates? Consider the issues that school board members will address in addition to possibly raising taxes: 

• Help Us Get CRT Out of Our Schools. – Critical race theory (CRT), by any other name, teaches American children a divisive, racist, anti-American ideology based on the false idea that everything in life can be reduced to race. This has a growing presence in our schools. 
• Help Us Get DEI Out of Our Schools. – Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are becoming significant themes in American schools, and the schools of Central Illinois are no different. The practices of DEI promote divisiveness and discord. This must be rooted out, stem and branch, to protect our children from rampant homosexuality, transgenderism, pornography, and who knows what other form of indoctrination. 
• Help Us Keep So-called “Comprehensive” Sex Education Out of Our Schools. – Do our children need to know about every sexual preference, transgenderism, and homosexuality. Do our children need to be told about human sexuality even in primary school? Some would say this is the sexual grooming of children starting as early as kindergarten. Most would say that some teachers have gone too far. 
• Help Us to Promote Increased Student Performance in Our Schools. – So much time is spent on non-essential subject matter and activities that math, science, and reading scores are slipping precipitously despite an ever-increasing infusion of money. There is no better future indicator of future student success than good academics.
• Help Us Control District-wide Administrative Bloat. – The cost to run an average classroom (using Unit 5 as an example) is about $161,000 annually. Teachers don’t get paid anywhere near this amount. Where is all the money going? According to the public record, more than 100 administrators in the Unit 5 school district are being paid over $100,000 per year, with some exceeding $200,000 per year.
• Help Us to Cut Spending. – The problem isn’t funding; it’s spending. Again using Unit 5 as an example, while the tax rate for schools has not increased since 2007 (the voters having rejected proposed increases several times since then), the budget of Unit 5 has gone up from $65 million in 2007 to over $200 million today. The Unit 5 School Board has not had a balanced budget for the past 8 to 10 years, even though the district naturally sees an inflation-based tax increase due to higher real estate valuations.

These are all important – some would say critical – issues and goals. Be sure to ask the candidates the right questions about their plans. Avoid the “snowball” or “easy pitch” questions that don’t help you distinguish between those who and those who do and don’t have you and your children’s best interests at heart.

McLean County Republican Party