Quality Education Naperville Sun & the Daily Herald Fail to Endorse the Taxpayers Ticket
We wholeheartedly agree with the Naperville Sun about our schools:
"There is no doubt that District 203 provides an excellent education for local kids at a cost that is not as astronomical as its critics might claim - and actually is pretty much on par with other area districts."
and, they took a pass on the taxpayers ticket stating,
"While we don't want to see District 203 overspend, we believe the solution is best achieved with a paring knife as opposed to a meat cleaver aimed at the teachers' union, which is what we fear would happen should the entire taxpayers ticket be elected."
Deutsch, Fielden & Price Endorsed in District 203
(Naperville Sun, 4/13/07)
On April 4th, the Daily Herald also refused to endorse the taxpayers ticket. They said:
“We also know that being on a school board means being more than a money manager. It means handling funds responsibly — while assuring the school program is the very best it can be. We’re not sure the other candidates running on the Taxpayers Ticket with Davitt — Jerome Buch and Daniel Denys — are best able to fulfill this dual function.”
Choices for Naperville Dist. 203 school board
(Daily Herald, 4/7/07)
On April 4th, the Daily Herald endorsed Mike Jaensch, Steve Deutsch and M. Davitt. Readers of the Daily Herald know that the paper has been critical of a number of school districts over property taxes, none more so perhaps than District 203. So why didn’t they endorse the entire ticket?
Why does the Herald feel they can’t fulfill this dual function? We believe it’s because they understand that these men are essentially anti-property tax candidates. Denys is a founder of the Will-DuPage Tax Alliance, which campaigns for lower property taxes for all school districts. It seems to us, and apparently the Daily Herald, too, that they are all about lower taxes, and NOT concerned about, in the Daily Herald's words, “assuring the school program is the best it can be”.
We would all like lower taxes, but the responsible way to address the thorny issue of high property taxes is at the state level, not by trying dismantle a school district.
We disagree with the Daily Herald about their statement, "Davitt and his dogged determination for minding the budget and respecting the taxpayers is needed on the board." So while Mike Davitt may be dogged in his determindation, he has not shown the workgroup skills necessary to lead. This is evidenced by his accomplishments--essentially none, financial or otherwise--over the last four years. Where is the respect for the taxpayers in that? His attitude of outright disrespect for his peers on the board is counterproductive and a distraction to the board.
The taxpayers ticket talks about Davitt being endorsed, but they conveniently forget to mention that the other two, Denys and Busch failed to gain the Herald’s endorsement; in other words, their ticket was NOT endorsed. The fact that the taxpayer website doesn’t post the entire endorsement is very telling statement.
The significance of these endorsements is that this election is about more than just money, it is about value of our schools and public education.