Test scores and math curriculum have fueled contentious debate in the race to fill four spots on the Wilmette Elementary School District 39 board, as three challengers argue that the district trails neighboring schools in academics.
Beatrice Edwards, Greg Johnson and Kimberly Vassilos are pushing for increased accountability in how academic performance is measured and how school finances are spent.
“Parents have been sending their children to remedial tutoring,” said Edwards, an assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University. “This is like a dirty little secret.”
The campaign in the affluent North Shore suburb has been one of the most adversarial races in the Chicago area, as school officials fiercely dispute claims from the challengers and accuse them of spreading inaccurate information.
Edwards, tapping into broader national debate over new math and whole-language reading programs, said she and other parents have been forced to hire tutors because their children are not learning basic skills.
“The problem is [school officials] view basic computation as boring drills,” Edwards said. “It’s scary because when students move into higher-level math, they will have problems.”
Board member John Relias, a lawyer up for re-election Tuesday, disagreed. He said 22 pupils were accepted into New Trier High School’s advanced math program for 8th graders next year, the highest number in District 39 history.
“If there is some problem with the math curriculum, it would not be evident by the fact that we have these high-achieving math students who are now going to be taking high school classes,” Relias said.
He said the board should not micromanage the district.
The other incumbents running are Alan Dolinko, Greg Polan and Timothy Scherman, who have emphasized district accomplishments, including the award-winning chess and Latin teams and junior high school band.
About 3,500 pupils are enrolled in the district’s six schools.
The board challengers complain that in District 39, about 91 percent of pupils met or exceeded state test score standards in 2004. That compares with 92 percent of pupils in Kenilworth and 94 percent in Winnetka, according to the Illinois Interactive Report Card.
All three remain among the top 10 elementary school districts statewide based on the test results.
Regarding the need for private tutors, school officials say a 2003 survey showed that no more than 10 percent of District 39 parents reported that they had hired tutors for remediation, not 25 percent, as claimed by opponents.
