If "bellyaching" leads to greater conversation and more people asking questions, then I'm all for it! A healthy community is one that engages in inclusive conversations. In other words, people should be able to ask polite yet critical questions and get a polite yet accurate responses. Opinions are not only for a select group of people who happen to agree with those in power. If asking those critical questions is bellyaching....again, bring it on!

IF a small number of people on a BB complain about certain prominent figures who say they represent the community but really ignore their concerns and even patronize or publicly humilate those "complainers" then the prominent figure is the one with the problem. These BB folks are "the little people" and the prominent figures are supposed to represent even the little people.

I have always tried to weigh my criticisms with constructive suggestions. I can't tell you I've always succeeded. I'm human, as are the other BB people who express frustration with people who disregard questions and opinions and call them bellyachers because they don't like what is being said. Have people possibly crossed the line? Sure. Does that mean what is being said should be whole-heartedly dismissed? Certainly not.

Oh, and I'm not at all anonymous...that's my real name to the left. I bet most anyone reading this who attended board meetings during the previous two administrations of D41 knows who I am.

ronkas, how anonymous are you?

I'm all for differing opinions. Love 'em. Thank God that Rymerson dude wasn't talking about me. You can see my name in my e-mail address in my profile. Must have been talking about Fish.

Those of you who get this newspaper for free, consider yourselves "lucky". It appears that the paper is being provided for free only to a test market that seems to have excluded half or more of Glen Ellyn households:

School Week has an initial circulation of 7,000, all in Glen Ellyn. It will be delivered for free on Wednesdays to about 5,800 targeted homes. The rest of the papers (it doesn't say how many) will be distributed free to all faculty and staff of school districts 41, 87, and 89 and some private schools, as well as some businesses.

We plan on examining and possibly switching the targeted free home-delivery routes about every three months as we gauge reader interest and feedback.

If you’re not currently getting the paper, you may want to subscribe to ensure you do get it. We think it will be worth it. Our Web site will highlight the main stories of each edition but will not be as expansive as our print product. The cost is only 50 cents per paper!

I originally thought that this paper would serve a very useful purpose: to provide unbiased coverage of board meetings and other related matter for people who cannot attend.

maybe that is not the case? I have never seen a copy of this paper, and I have never heard anyone talking about it. Well, other than lurking here and reading this thread...

I still have my copy in my man bag if you'd like to read it. From what I have seen...not very many people retrieve it. Seems to be the kind of thing that people leave on the drive/yard/walk until Sunday night when they grudgingly pick it up and toss it in the recycling bin.

And Clam, you wonder how a brown-bagged bottle of beer/bodily fluid sat for weeks in public. When people won't even bend over to pick up a paper in their own driveway, how would you expect them to behave in public?

I have to admire this couple for pursuing a dream. I truly have enjoyed and found interesting many of the articles on the local schools in this paper. The schools are a huge part of our community and this coverage is reaching into areas the other local papers can't or won't bother with. Of course people aren't always going to agree on everything with respect to the community or the media coverage of it. Americans love their free speech and the internet gives an outlet for even more of it - if you don't like what is being said - state your case. Personal attacks and name-calling, however, should be beneath all of us. It undermines the credibility of your position - whether anonymous or not.

Let's not forget that the District made a concerted effort to improve communications by hiring a Community Relations Director in 2002. Her job description includes handling both internal and external communications. I would think that an annual salary of close to $100,000 we should be reading lots of stories about District 41 (I am not counting the publications that get distributed at referendum time either). As I recall, the selling point for hiring her was to improve the communications with stakeholders in the district and also to ensure that the good news in the district gets communicated.

Yeah I got and read this "newspaper" and after a couple of articles my thought was that somehow the local districts have gotten together to fund this . I'm sure the consultants the districts have hired have advised them that they need to put out more "good" news to the community . And along comes this paper so you have to wonder where they are getting their money.

I seriously doubt their editorial format will change if they are trying to get people to advertise then they will bill themselves as friends of the schools so those people who support the schools ( consultants, businesses, PTA, board members COC types,etc ) can be expected to be their chief backers.

So I won't expect a lot of objectivity from them. You know if you have a bird though I think it fits nicely in the bottom of its cage.

quote:

if you have a bird though I think it fits nicely in the bottom of its cage.

that or a new puppy!

I don't doubt that these fine folks are funding this themselves or that they truly want to communicate information about our schools....I do think the more guest writers they have, the more valid and reliable the paper will be. It's not a knock on them...just has to be more inclusive if you include more people.

The verdict is still out. I would expect a paper run and primarily written by two people to reflect their personal perspectives....take a deep breath and let's see where this goes.

i think i read a post here that implied the district might be covertly funding this paper (sorry if i read into something that wasn't there). i would be willing to bet a lot of money that is comepletely untrue. in fact, it's my opinion that's just the kind of hearsay found on this BB that plays into the hands of letter-writers to editors.

it appears to me that these two folks are putting a lot on the line to start a new biz. let's see if they find a market and/or advertisers. isn't that how this capitalism game is supposed to play out?

to quote a fine irishman i know: "if you're good, i'll pay ya. if you're shite, i won't."

This message has been edited. Last edited by: t.a. superette,

Having accidentally started this controversy about schoolweek and its funding, I feel obligated to clarify several points that have been raised and discussed on this message board over the past several days.

MY ORIGINAL POST ON THIS MESSAGE BOARD (OR THE EDITED VERSION) NEVER ALLEGED THAT THE FOUNDERS OF SCHOOLWEEK WERE BEING FUNDED BY D41 OR ANYONE ELSE! It noted that a similar situation had occurred recently with Growing D41's funding and was proven factual by pulling the offical information filed with the state of IL about this organization. D41 school PTAs and D41 board member's relatives did financially support the Growing D41 organization which distributed pro-D41 information to help pass this referendum. I do not recall exact details of who was involved but others here can fill in the gaps or interested parties can review recent message board archives for details.

I then "wondered" whether something like this might be possible with this new publication. This speculation was based on what I felt (JUST ME - NOBODY ELSE) was extremely one-sided and unfair schoolweek coverage regarding the alleged overcrowding issues in D41 schools. While it may have been premature for me to speculate as to the funding orgins and intent of the schoolweek founders, nevertheless, I still believe that someone needed to point out that inaccurate information had been distributed to D41 residents. I DID NOT ALLEGE THAT SCHOOLWEEK WAS BEING FUNDED BY D41. There is a distinct difference between wondering about something and insisting it is so. If the schoolweek founders took out an home equity load to fund this venture, as they have since stated in schoolweek, then I commend them on their initiative. However, subsequent articles and letters in schoolweek opinion pieces have certainly alleged that an evil GE message board poster had libeled and slandered them horribly and that person was most certainly not me!

However, after Ted edited my post and removed the 'alleged' libelous portion, I have spent some time reconsidering my position about what the founders of this new publication were and will be trying to accomplish and I'd like to address my conclusions right now. Let's assume Ms. Rado is, in fact, trying to provide our community with a valuable publication providing important information about our schools and their management. It is imperative that she take into account all sides of each story and present all key facts prior to providing any schoolweek analysis and/or positions. I AM NOT SAYING THAT SHE DID NOT ATTEMPT TO DO THIS - only that her publication's mission is an important responsibility and it is her obligation to always report critical school information responsibly. Anything short of this effort will do a tremendous disservice to the familes in our community. I will be reading all future editions of schoolweek to be certain that they do provide comprehensive and fair coverage of all District 41 issues and do hope that they will encourage and print more opposing viewpoint letters in their opinion section of their paper than they have to date.

Finally, I do want to make a final comment about schoolweek that I believe will surprise many people - it's a great idea! If a publication can provide accurate and unbiased information about our schools, I will be the first guy out on the driveway picking it up and bringing it inside to read. However, I (ME - JUST MY OPINION HERE!) do not personally believe they have accomplished this mission to date with their coverage of D41 issues. I hope future editions of schoolweek appear more objective to me...

And I now feel obligated to note that, as a courtesy, I deleted the words in the original post that schoolweek's Diane Rado found ro be so offensive -- at her request. --Ted E,

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Ted E.,

Based on their first edition I wouldn't count on a lot of objectivity. What was surprising was reading the Ladies bio. Here she used to work for the Trib covering educational issues. I think this help explains the lack of objectivity from the major media as well.

Good heavens this is dull reading. I like that Spengel guy, however.

Well, I now see why the BOE doesn't feel the need to comment to the public about the DH article. They will have School Week do it for them. While Riebock would not make any comments at Monday's meeting - other than saying it was a vehicle by which we could have a discussion and we should keep reading it, she had no trouble at all giving an interview to School Week.

I was really hoping for a little objectivity with this paper, and maybe a bit naively I will still hope that someday they will print more than the BOE's side of the story.

Could it be more than a coincidence that our Director of Communication also worked for the Tribune?

quote:

Originally posted by What'snext:
will still hope that someday they will print more than the BOE's side of the story.

Could it be more than a coincidence that our Director of Communication also worked for the Tribune?

Just a co-inkydink!

When the teachers presented this curriculum change before the start of the school year, it was refreshing to see the excitement on the part of the teachers. You would think we had the Chicago Public School system with the screaming headline about curriculum change. What the heck have they been doing with their double digit annual increases in revenue these last 10 years?

Oh, and by the way, (whisper) the district was underspending (end whisper). Feel free to give the V8 slap to your head. You have been uneducated all these years about finances.

I'm curious - does this week's schoolweek have another D41 article? It hasn't arrived in my drive way yet - hope they didn't find out what I was really using it for!

Vu2

quote:

And I now feel obligated to note that, as a courtesy, I deleted the words in the original post that schoolweek's Diane Rado found to be so offensive -- at her request. --Ted E,

quote:

Originally posted by What'snext:
I now see why the BOE doesn't feel the need to comment to the public about the DH (Daily Herald) article. They will have School Week do it for them. While Riebock would not make any comments at Monday's meeting ... she had no trouble at all giving an interview to School Week.

I guess it was beneath Diane Rado to actually deign to speak to the little people here herself. Although she showed she has no problems working behind the scenes to manipulate private speech and manage information while at the same time lashing out in print and attacking her neighbors for daring to speak with one another with independent and unscripted opinions.

It looks like she, through her paper, and D41 are quite happy to try and massage reality privately between themselves.

quote:

Originally posted by Vu2:
I'm curious - does this week's schoolweek have another D41 article? It hasn't arrived in my drive way yet - hope they didn't find out what I was really using it for!

Vu2

Yes, and it tries to justify the 116% increase in spending by saying were were spending less than the average Dupage school. From the lack of objectivity in the article, it could have been written by our Communications Director.

Amy - Thanks for your perspective and your voice of experience. After attending the college fair, also covered in School Week, your comments reduced this parent's anxiety level.