Student achievement gap, demographics

Hannah Wolfe says it is not a "one-size-fits-all solution", or we'd be solving the problem already. She says "not everybody learns the same" and it will take "a lot of little solutions" with everyone in the community working together, "doing little things to help small groups of students at a time," not just the school board. She says we'll need to look at the data for different socio-economic groups that are struggling.

Will Wetzel says the district does not have the "consistency that we need to have," citing the loss of six principals in the past 18 months and 101 current open teaching positions. "We are a district in crisis," so he says "[we] have to find that stability," which "starts with the School Board" and board governance.

Will says the board needs to "right our own ship" then "focus on the strengths of our district," find the strategies that consistently work, and hear from those in the classroom. He says building upon that will build a better district and ensure children succeed.

Mark Reynolds talked with a couple Stephen Decatur teachers who said just 10-12% of students were causing most of the disruption. The teachers suggested that procedures and administrators need to be in place to do necessary discipline and "separate the bad apples" who are making it hard to teach.

Mark also suggests "recruiting [more] minorities," because he read in an article that low-performing black students tend to feel more comfortable and improve when they have a black teacher. He says the percentage of black teachers in DPS schools is low when compared to the percentage of black students.

Fact Check: According to the 2022 Illinois Report Card, 5.5% of DPS teachers are black and 48% of DPS students are black.

He says "there is no sunshine, there are no rainbows," critizing his opponents for suggesting that "if we just put everything out there, everything will be fine." Jacob says the data shows that "it's not just about race, but poverty as well". He says "poor white and poor black students are in the same bucket when it comes to education". He says "no one can pass the state standard around math" at Hope Academy.

He agreed with Will Wetzel that "the district is in crisis."

He says it will take coming to "Board Members that will work with the community to strengthen what we already have" and to "put more resources into the classroom." Jacob says "[Mark Reynolds] spoke about not having African American staff," but "we had a few black principals here and the district kind of ran them off, so we know we need more accountability when it comes to that and how we treat those that come into the community."

He says "I was welcomed into this community with love, and so that's why I'm fighting so hard for education, but it's not just about race. We have poverty that literally cuts across race and makes it really difficult to address some of those issues." He says it's "not necessarily [about] race" and that we have to look at poverty and "strengthening our kids that are in poverty."

Fact Check: According to the grades 3-8 demographic test data for 2022, 8.3% of white Decatur students were proficient in English, compared to 3.4% of black students and 4.1% of low income students. The disparities in math for grades 3-8 are similar, with 6.2% of white students proficient, 1.2% of black students, and 1.4% of low income students. The disparities are larger for SAT scores (see 'Context' above), but largely support Jacob's claim.

Additionally, In 2022, 73.3% of DPS students are low income, meaning 73.3% of students were "eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches, live in substitute care, or whose families receive public aid."

Misty Fronk says the whole community needs to get involved, especially with after-school programs like a reading lab, math lab, and english lab. She says this won't take from the school budget as these programs would be volunteer driven, involving parents, older students, and members of the community at large.

Misty says the district needs to bring back trades like wood shop, auto shop, and home-economics so kids who feel they don't "fit the barrier to qualify with everybody else" will graduate knowing they have a skill and "can be a productive person in society."

Fact Check: DPS 61 offers before & after-school programs for K-8 that provide academic assistance, arts, physical fitness, and more. It is funded through CARES Act 2 Funding for three years, and operated by staff. The FAQ does not address volunteering.

Bill Clevenger says being "kid-centered" starts with stable leadership, and that he's seen 17 different superintendents during his 34 years working in Decatur. He says it's not "effective for our kids" for leadership to change every 2 or 3 years, and that the district needs someone who is in it for the long haul like Caring Black Men and the churches.

Bill says it will "take the entire village and we're going to have to work overtime to solve this." He says the problem has to be acknowledged, then actively and aggressively dealth with. He says the Board also needs to recognize they have only one employee, the superintendent.

Jalynn Walker withdrew from the School Board Race.

Datrice Weathers withdrew from the School Board Race.