Nancy Marcus was born in Winnetka and moved back to the village in 1991. In the 1970s, she taught first grade at a Chicago Public School before moving on to instruct early childhood education programs at the Wilmette Park District.
Q: What were your lasting impressions of teaching in Chicago?
A: I taught in a Spanish-speaking area and I don’t speak Spanish, so that was interesting as the parents did not speak English. Sometimes it was very hard to communicate.
Q: What are your thoughts on the disparities of education funding in Chicago as opposed to the North Shore?
A: It’s huge. Out here on the North Shore, they spend a lot of money. In the city, they don’t and it shows. They don’t have the equipment or the supplies. I used to buy crayons every year because they didn’t have them and the school didn’t give them to me. So I went out and bought a packet of crayons for every kid in the class. I wouldn’t have to do that in Winnetka.
Q: Does the education funding situation in Illinois make you sad?
A: I think education should be fair. I think one of the problems now with all the violence is these kids aren’t getting the education they need. They don’t have the parental support and they need a good education. Most important is they have to have parents who make sure they get up every day, they eat and then they make it to school. However, I realize in the city it is very difficult. Some people are poor and some of these kids don’t have fathers and they do not have the same kinds of homes they do out here, obviously.
Q: What are your thoughts on early childhood education today?
A: Now I have grandchildren and I see what they do. We live in Winnetka and it is a different world. Every child in Winnetka probably goes to pre-school. I believe the early childhood years are probably the most important years but people tend to pooh pooh it. I think their brain develops then, and I believe it is very important for all children to experience early childhood education.
Shout Out is a weekly feature in which we get to know and introduce our readers to their fellow community members and local visitors throughout suburban Chicago.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press
