Time to Start Thinking about Running for School Board

Those who look at their property tax bills know that most of the money goes to school districts.

Below is where the money went in the Algonquin Township part of Crystal Lake in a recent year.

If you live in the Algonquin Township part of Crystal Lake (south of Crystal Lake Avenue), here is the percentage you pay to each tax district.

If you live in the Algonquin Township part of Crystal Lake (south of Crystal Lake Avenue), here is the percentage you pay to each tax district.

One will note that the largest share went to Crystal Lake Grade School District 47.

Nancy Gonsiorek

Nancy Gonsiorek

Coincidentally, one of that elementary school’s board members has announced her retirement after two terms.

Nancy Gonsiorek says that eight years is enough.

Gonsiorek voiced concern about continuing spiking of salaries right be teacher retirement during the discussion of the CLETA contract this spring.

The first day to circulate for school and community college boards is Tuesday, September 23, 2014. The filing dates will be December 15 – 22, 2014.

The time to start thinking about running for such offices is now.

If looking at how much school districts college in real estate taxes might inspire you to run, look here.


Comments

Time to Start Thinking about Running for School Board — 13 Comments

  1. Spending per pupil in this state ranges between $6,800 and $29,000.

    Statistically, there is zero correlation between spending and outcomes, as measured by graduation rates and test scores.

    Schools in other states also spend much less than we do and achieve superior results.

    What does this mean?

    It means its time to elect people who say, “Let’s copy school districts that spend less achieve superior results,” rather than cheerleaders for the status quo.

    If you find the right people to run, I will teach them how to win an election and how to understand school district finances and operations.

  2. That graph really pisses me off, the school districts get WAY more than the city of Crystal Lake for God sakes!

    40% for District #47!

    How low do you want me to pull my pants down so you can stick it to me!

    And these kids come out of the schools from so called learning at the schools almost all year, and they come home on their first day of summer break and their parents say to them,

    “How did you like this year of school?”

    And the kid says, “YOLO! LOL! Me and Lisa’s got gum!”

    God help those poor children.

  3. Steve, I think I will run in Marengo.

    Its one of the most important seats to hold when it comes to reducing tax payer burden and improving property values by improving school district scores. The two most import issues involved in property values are: School scores and property tax.

    I urge people to run.. it’s so important.

    Please consider it.

  4. Anyone considering buying a house in Woodstock, IL, might look on a typical website offering
    financial and social stats about that community.

    Just now I looked on city-data.com and found the median income ($56,000), and median home value ($166,000) for Woodstock IL in 2012.

    In Woodstock, District 200 school+pension taxed 2.58% of home value last year. That means that a home assessed at the median value of $166,000 paid (.0258x$166,000)= $4283 JUST FOR THE SCHOOL TAX! That means that the median value homeowner with median income of $56,000 would be paying ($4283/$56,000)= 7.65% of his income just to pay the school’s portion of his home’s property tax.
    (Schools account for roughly 2/3’s of total taxed amount, so a typical homeowner’s total tax on that property would have been 1.5 times that amount, $6424.)

    How does that compare to other towns in Illinois, the Midwest, other regions of the United States of America?

    It is easy to do this research, and it only really sinks in when you find out for yourself…as you can guess the answer isn’t favorable for those of us who live here.

    Why does it even matter what everyone elsewhere pays, as long as we survive here?

    It matters if you ever want to sell your home and move, or if you have any concern about your home value sinking steadily.

    People who might buy your home-for-sale might need a mortgage for the purchase.

    When a person qualifies for a mortgage, the rule of thumb is they need income 3 times their monthly payment.

    Property tax escrow is part of the monthly payment, so if property tax is grossly higher in Woodstock than in other towns all over America, the buyer must buy a cheaper home, or earn three times the amount of the higher annual tax amount to qualify for the same mortgage amount.

    Example: to buy a $166,000 home if the property tax rate is 3.67% of home value in Woodstock compared to buying one elsewhere with (close to national average) tax rate of 1.2%:

    Annual Taxes for the Woodstock home will be $6092.

    Annual Taxes on the other home will be $1992.

    Woodstock home buyer would need to earn THREE TIMES the difference to get the same amount mortgage. That would come to $12,300 per year, which is $1000 more every month. ($6092-$1992=$4100. $4100 x 3= $12,300.)

    Potential homebuyers for Woodstock have a great incentive to try to get homes here at cheaper and cheaper sales prices, because the annual cost of owning that home here compares so unfavorably to all the buyer’s other options–homes in other areas where the property tax rate isn’t so high, nor rising so rapidly.

  5. If persons empowered with school budgeting decisions truly have compassion for children, they should consider that every tax dollar they extract from parents above the national average property tax rate is money out of some child’s college education savings…or worse…it can mean the difference between keeping or losing the family home.

    I personally have no tolerance for declarations of compassion or concern about children’s futures made by current school board officials.

  6. Well said Susan!

    The school board is frequently quoted as saying “It’s for the kids” but like you said, it rarely is when you consider the taxes they get from us.

    It can also come down to being able to buy that child a new pair of shoes or a warm winter coat or even food.

    Many of the board members just want things to look good on paper but could really care less about the kids.

    If they did they wouldn’t give superintendents and assts. outrageous salaries and although I am all for paying teachers well, it is getting a bit insane here in McHenry Co.

    My kids have had many classes where the teachers actually give the kids the test answers or let then use cheat sheets, calculators and open books to pass tests.

    That is how many of these district are scoring high.

    They aren’t helping our kids at all.

    Board members are blind to this or most likely they simply ignore it.

  7. Susan thank you.

    The replay is a print for anyone considering running for school board.

    Use Family Tax Payer Institute to see what teachers are making in your district.

    Then to really get nuts check the Superintendents pay.

    In Marengo parents are paying out of pocket for sports while the Superintendents have had HUGE pay increases or equal amounts in additions to their retirement accounts.

    The Board is made up of friends who need replacement at every level.

    It’s really a matter of survival.

  8. Cynthia, get in touch with me if you want my help. Earlier is always better.

  9. If ya don’t have ballot security, ya don’t have anything!

    Diebold paperless ballots are a total scam ….. wake up people.

  10. In 2013, D155 had 4 seats open.

    4 incumbents ran with no challengers.

    They didn’t have to campaign.

    So in 2015, D155 will have 3 seats open.

    The amount of authority a school board has to limit your property tax bill is pretty minimal.

    State School Code and Labor Law pretty much hamstrings local school boards from doing much to reduce spending.

    The concept of “local control” is a bad joke the establishment uses to let school boards think they make a significant difference.

    A board majority willing to buck tradition might accomplish something, but they would take a lot of heat.

    Even a single board member or two can have a big impact if they’re able and willing to expose what goes on in public school operation, and shame votes into going the right way.

    The late Larry Snow was an expert at that.

    Thanks Susan for stepping up, and I agree, more people need to get involved and run.

    It’s not hard.

    You need 50 signatures, 100 makes you pretty much challenge-proof.

  11. If you run on getting rid of Common Core in our schools & exposing the truth that would be a good start.

    The town of Cederberg, WI voted to abandon CC and implement their own test standards, after parents & teachers exposed the ugly

    Truth about CC.

    Now Governor Walker has done the same for the state of Wisconsin!

    CC is truly evil, look it up.

    Stopcommoncoreillinois.org

    it’s dumbing down our kids more than they are now, changing history & will cost taxpayers more than you can imagine.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *