By: Diane Benjamin See this Press Release for Gov. Pritzker: https://www.illinois.gov/news/press-release.23781.html This was issued after 2 bills related to sex education were signed: SB 818 and HB 24. What you need to notice in this press release: Sex education has been replaced by “Sexual” Education Comprehensive Health Education is more “inclusive” If you don’t know […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Board did not discuss any part of the Comprehensive Sexuality agenda. They called the agenda items “first reading”. Next meeting will be “second reading”. The meeting started with recognitions of the Grove Chess team that won State, quite an accomplishment. Highschool Esports teams also won state. A large number of young […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/1482?meeting=528747 If you still haven’t reviews the National Sex Education Standards, do it now: On the Agenda: You need to attend this meeting is for no other reason than to know who needs voted off the School Board early next year. It appears Unit 5 wants to continue the National Standards in […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) We now have proof Unit 5 teaches kids what to think, not how to think. Follow-up to this story: https://blnnews.com/2022/05/04/normal-your-taxes-funded-this/ Doug Fansler sent a video of a Ted Talk to Chemberly Cummings after her Youth on a Mission promoted EV’s without considering all sides. The students obviously didn’t look for facts […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.angels4freedom.com/cse-petition Go to this website, watch the video, then sign the petition. You don’t have to be a parent, kids need your signature to stop this grooming in local Public Schools. Next year any school board member who doesn’t stop grooming needs replaced. Kids only get one chance at an education, you […]
By: Diane Benjamin In this story I showed the salaries reported to the Teacher’s Retirement System from Unit 5. That is where OpenTheBooks.com gets there data from. https://blnnews.com/2022/04/01/unit-5-did-esser-funds-inflate-salaries/ This chart is from the OpenTheBooks website, it clearly shows salaries increased in 2020 while Unit 5 had fewer employees. This data is used to determine pensions […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader (I can’t find everything myself!) Central Catholic High School will have a new principal: https://pantagraph.com/news/local/education/mcgraw-named-principal-at-central-catholic-high-school/article_1a2cc2ca-c749-11ec-99f0-9309f7f83754.html The article states Chris McGraw works for Unit 5 now. It doesn’t say what else he does at Unit 5. https://www.unit5.org/domain/3645 Page down, his name is there. He’s part of the District EQUITY team […]
By: Diane Benjamin In case you forgot, the State of Illinois passed and Pritzker signed SB 818 last summer. This bill enshrines in law the sexualization of your children: https://blnnews.com/2021/06/15/sb-818-sexualizing-your-kids/ Schools are ordered to teach and groom your kids with information that should be between parents and their children. If your neighbors were caught with […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unit 5 has held 2 events with citizens because they want a tax increase. The last one is virtual tonight: Question that needs answered: Why did salaries increase in 2020: https://blnnews.com/2022/04/01/unit-5-did-esser-funds-inflate-salaries/ The number of employees and students decreased from 2019 but salaries increased over 7%. Was that a planned increase to push […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unit 5 will be holding 3 community meetings to convince citizens to give them more money with a property tax increase: Saturday, April 23 -11:30 am to 12:30 pm – Normal West High School, 501 N. Parkside Road, Normal Monday, April 25 – 6 to 7:30 pm – Kingsley Junior High School, 303 Kingsley […]
By: Diane Benjamin Community meetings by Unit 5: https://blnnews.com/2022/04/14/unit-5-community-meetings/ Board President Amy Roser tearfully explains why the District needs more of your money in this video. She claims they have deficits of $13 million which will grow to $26 million in 5 years. She doesn’t mention how it will double in a short time. Things […]
By: Diane Benjamin 63% of District 87 students need remedial education at Community College after spending $12,000 per student per year: https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/district.aspx?districtid=17064087025&source=trends&source2=postsecondaryremediation 35% of Unit 5 students also need it after spending $12,000 per student: https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/district.aspx?districtid=17064005026&source=trends&source2=postsecondaryremediation Note: Those are the percentages for students who choose to go to college, not every student. Covid is the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Thanks again to Doug Fansler who started me off mapping crashes in the area from this story: https://blnnews.com/2022/04/05/isu-kids-show-up-for-public-comment/ All of the maps below are from Normal’s new Open Data Portal, access it at the bottom of the main screen: https://normal.org/ Page down to IDOT McLean County Traffic Crashes. Start with the number […]
Lots of students at ISU found this story last night and today and left comments. Please read the comments and respond if you choose. I responded to a few, I left the rest for you guys. Check back often, I expect more to be added.
By: Diane Benjamin A conference was held March 15th-16th in Schaumberg: ASCD Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Conference presented in partnership with Illinois ASCD. It looks it can be attended virtually April 13th-14th. This note is in the brochure for Illinois teachers – it qualified for Professional Development credits: See the brochure for this event here, I […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last night I saw a teacher in Florida comment on Facebook that teachers were leaving in droves. I asked her why, below is her response. Is this what teachers here have to deal with? It’s not just Florida; it’s a nationwide problem. Student behavior is out of control. Many parents have not […]
By: Diane Benjamin Keep in mind you are paying higher Sales Taxes because of this County experiment. I said “experiment” because the County isn’t following a model, they are building a program from scratch. To have any idea where your money is going you need to watch the entire presentation and questions/comments portion of this […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since the Normal Town Council meeting was shorter than usual, one ISU kid only had to wait about an hour to speak since he was off agenda. He brought 15-20 other kids with him that didn’t speak. This guy is a freshman Political Science major at ISU. He’s worried about crossing College […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unit 5 story: https://blnnews.com/2022/04/01/unit-5-did-esser-funds-inflate-salaries/ The numbers on the graph again come from Open The Books and from the ISBE School Report Card website: https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/District.aspx?source=studentcharacteristics&source2=enrollment&Districtid=17064087025 Enrollment decreased in 2020 and 2021. Employees increased a lot in 2021, but the average salary crashed. District 87 also needs to report where ESSER Funds were spent. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The chart below came from Open The Books. The number of employees and total payroll reported to Teachers Retirement Fund also came from Open The Books. The number of students each year came from this story – note enrollment DECREASED: https://blnnews.com/2022/03/04/unit-5-enrollment-is-decreasing/ Average salary is just Math. Even with enrollment down, salaries saw […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Since Jamie Mathy hated sprawl and considered The Grove sprawl, (Ireland Grove Rd. east of Towanda Barnes) he didn’t want this subdivision expanded further. Houses there sell fast, so obviously people like living there. Maybe Jamie didn’t look at what 2 City Managers ago negotiated with the developer. The […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tri-Valley already did this survey, District 87 is today: A student at Tri-Valley told her mom she left questions blank she didn’t want to answer. Good! The survey is called Illinois Youth Survey, it is for grades 8-12. Some other local schools have already taken the survey. Schools had to chose to […]
By: Diane Benjamin School Board meetings operate under 2 different statutes in the Illinois code. First they must comply with the Open Meetings Act which requires agendas be posted 48 hours in advance of meetings. OMA also requires time allotted at every meeting for Public Comment. Most units of government do not respond to people […]
By: Diane Benjamin Is Equity better at Unit 5 schools since Dr. Shelvin was hired for the 2021-2022 School year? Question: What happened to the kids who participated in the restroom destruction challenge they saw on TikTok? Did they get Equity? Did the taxpayers get Equity? Did the kids that didn’t participate see Equity and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Proving yet again local government has no respect for religion, the Unit 5 School Board held a meeting on a Wednesday night during lent. Churches don’t do Lenten services anymore? Mine does. The video claims this meeting lasted until 2:43 this morning. 75 people signed up for Public Comment. Not everyone stuck […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last school year Unit 5 has over 1000 fewer students than they had in 2018: As of October 1 of 2021 enrollment was 12,499. I FOIA’d it but was told is was still changing daily. The above number for 2021 is for school year 2020-2021. Whatever the current number is, Unit 5 […]
By: Diane Benjamin See this story for MORE information: https://blnnews.com/2022/03/04/unit-5-enrollment-is-decreasing/ Without Open The Books this data would be very difficult to find! Salary information comes from data reported to pension funds. Checkbook data came from Unit 5. If you haven’t heard, Unit 5 wants you to pay more. Unit 5 needs to toss their Diversity, […]
By: Diane Benjamin See this story for context: https://blnnews.com/2022/03/02/unit-5-and-equity/ There was actually only one introductory video, Unit 5 gave me access. It is 1 minute and forty seconds that says almost nothing. So you don’t have to request access I taped it for you. The original quality is almost this bad: The speaker is Dr. […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you haven’t browsed Unit 5’s website, you missed this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cPB0fnxfB3G2Dwp8Cyzawy5_bPej-A-C/view That is an update to their Equity Action Plan. See PDF pages 5 and 6 for what they want to achieve. This paragraph bothers me: The purpose of public schools is to teach. Students should never know the “authentic self” […]
By: Diane Benjamin Okay, they claimed the CDC isn’t requiring them, but the truth is school buses didn’t fall under federal law. The Edgar County Watchdogs reported that February 11th: https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2022/02/stop-the-misinformation-there-is-no-federal-law-mandating-masks-on-school-buses/?fbclid=IwAR0ci4fILd0ZXXwYn8UyEDy70KqtkHXGODPg-PF9xT7JawyliONo7oqtqfs Unit 5 sent the below to parents: We wanted to update parents on state and federal changes regarding COVID mitigation that transpired over the […]
By: Diane Benjamin The author of this email is with the College of Nursing at ISU. I don’t know if this course is required or optional. This is teaching Critical Race Theory: The instructor is also employed at ISU as a specialist in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The goal of the course is to teach […]
I have TWO FOIA fail cases against District 87 pending with the Attorney General’s office. It appears Public Access is moving faster than normal on these cases, the information I requested was denied under bogus exemptions. I think they clearly see that! Stay tuned.
Masks are no longer required at Unit 5. From an email sent today: The district is recommending masks be worn as an important COVID mitigation but effective immediately they are no longer required by students, employees, and visitors. I’m now waiting for discrimination charges from students by teachers who hate seeing faces. Tonight’s meeting will […]
h/t a reader Bloom School in Normal sent the following letter to parents: The letter was written before JCAR neutered Gov Pritzker by voiding his continuing illegal edicts. Bloom school thinks the on-going court rulings on masks don’t apply to them. Quote from the letter: In the meantime, our indoor mask policy remains unchanged: Well-fitting […]
These school districts will be served today, parents filed yesterday in Sangamon County on behalf of their children. Unit 5 school Board called a special meeting for tomorrow, 4:30 at Normal West. Masks will soon be optional. Credit to: https://www.angels4freedom.com/
Stop The Misinformation – There is No Federal Law Mandating Masks on School Buses Illinois (ECWd) – As we continue to expose malfeasance across virtually every level of public service in Illinois, the most recent lifting of mask mandates for a large number of students from the Temporary Restraining Order issued against Governor Pritzker, the […]
Posted on Facebook: Thomas DeVore FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY NOT LEGAL ADVICE A new friend asked what she should say to her board. If I still had kids in school, and they still required masks, this is what I’d say. ———————————————————————— While the restraining order can only presently be enforced against school districts named as […]
By: Diane Benjamin Video from last night’s School Board meeting: https://vimeo.com/653773028 Public Comment starts at 49:30. Comments by the Board members proceeded the public. Only one teacher wanted the mask mandate to stay in place even though it has been ruled illegal. Parents, students, and Unit 5 teachers spoke against the district continuing to to […]
District 87: Unit 5 is meeting at 6:30 – Normal West https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Organization/1482 Tell them to unmask your kids. Then enjoy the entertainment when the chickens demand masks stay forever. Yes, there are two Americas. Unit 5 can be watched on-line. somebody needs to FILM 87!
