Dan Jenks
-
The Basics
-
Dan on Patch
-
More Stuff
Comments
-
On the article District 109 May Reinstate French
-
On the blog post District 113 Board Selects Referendum Financing Option
Dan Jenks
3:27 pm on Friday, May 10, 2013
Todd, I completely agree with your comment. I also think the Board's financing approach is a prudent balance between locking in low current interest rates and only borrowing money as needed to finance the different portions of this project over time.
-
On the blog post Mayor Belsky urges support for Township Elimination
Dan Jenks
10:06 am on Tuesday, May 7, 2013
ReplyKudos to you, Mayor Belsky! This was a well argued, informative posting which respectfully (even laudably) referred to the team leading Moraine Township. This is exactly the type of idea/critique/proposal that should be published more often on Patch.
Based on your piece, this seems like a very good idea to me – however, before forming a conclusive opinion on this matter, I would love to see someone make the “best case” argument for continuing Moraine Township – perhaps one of the Trustees (who I also have a high opinion of) might be interested in doing this?
-
On the article Why Did 109 Suspend French Program?
Dan Jenks
10:09 am on Thursday, May 2, 2013
ReplyWhen the rest of the world – and great school districts in the US (including some on the North Shore) are offering multiple foreign languages in middle school, District 109 is eliminating French because of a problem with block scheduling. We all know that Spanish is the only relevant foreign language that anyone could possibly ever use anyway, right, so why even offer French?
In the 21st century, business will be increasingly multi-national and no matter what field they work in – science, business, law engineering, etc - today’s students will have to successfully interact with foreign colleagues. How do you convey a message to students that understanding other cultures and societies is important and that America is no longer the center of universe, while at the same time cutting opportunities to learn another language? It makes no sense.
Scheduling and finding qualified teachers, while hard, is not rocket science. If the District 109 administration had sufficient conviction in the usefulness of foreign language learning, they could find a solution (how about sharing French teachers between Caruso and Shepard?). However, lacking this conviction, the path of least resistance is to eliminate this program – regardless of its impact on students.
And I agree with other commentators – once French leaves D109, it’s not coming back and you might as well get rid of AP French at DHS as no one will have enough years of French to take this course in the future.
-
On the blog post "Mayor Belsky says School District 113 can reduce Bond Tax"
Dan Jenks
10:53 am on Wednesday, April 24, 2013
ReplyStripping out the financing element here and purely looking at this proposal as a matter of cash in/cash out to the District, the only difference between this proposal and using general obligation bonds is that there would be less money coming in from taxpayer bond and interest payments. Putting aside the issue of how that would affect the District’s ability to fund this project as a whole, wouldn’t it be simpler to (a) issue the same dollar amount of general obligation bonds, (b) reduce the bond and interest payment that the taxpayer pays from what it otherwise would be and (c) use the energy savings to fund the difference?
-
On the blog post "Mayor Belsky says School District 113 can reduce Bond Tax"
Dan Jenks
10:53 am on Wednesday, April 24, 2013
ReplyI appreciate the spirit in which this idea is offered and I agree that the District should do everything it can to minimize the cost of this project to taxpayers. Mayor Belsky is a municipal finance expert and this is a serious idea which deserves a thoughtful response.
From my perspective, as someone who spent many years as a commercial lender and then worked putting together asset securitization transactions as a lawyer, my first question is “where are the transaction savings”? Savings in these types of transactions usually result from a lower cost of capital – would there be a lower cost of borrowing here than in the general obligation bond market? If so, the idea might be worth pursuing. My guess is that the implied interest rate in this transaction would be higher than what the District could borrow at given (a) the guaranty offered by the vendor on the project bonds and (b) the closing costs involved in what is frankly a more complicated offering.
-
On the article District 109 Removes French From 6th Grade Curriculum
Dan Jenks
1:59 pm on Monday, April 22, 2013
At the risk of getting off topic, I didn't mention Dr. Zoul, who was principal at Edgewood Middle School for a year and then left for another job. While I liked Dr. Zoul, he was one of a number of District 112 administrators who abruptly departed after a short tenure. I hope he works out in his new role at District 109 - which is a critical position that requires continuity and leadership to see multi-year plans to fruition.
-
On the article District 109 Removes French From 6th Grade Curriculum
Dan Jenks
1:42 pm on Monday, April 22, 2013
ReplyForeign language education is not as much of a priority in the USA as it is in the rest of the world and on the North Shore, it is an inconsistent priority in elementary school districts - with certain districts (Wilmette and Lake Forest) broadly offering it and other districts (Highland Park) not offering it beyond the dual language program. See http://bit.ly/13qXrHF (Wilmette) and http://bit.ly/13qXsLN (Lake Forest) for examples of school districts really committed to foreign language learning (and not just Spanish).
John, I agree that you can’t offer every language and that there has to be a baseline level of demand there. I also agree that it’s hard to find good language teachers – but that doesn’t mean one shouldn’t try.
My point above with regard to District 112 was that the path of least resistance was to eliminate the Spanish program and it was Dr. Hager’s decision to exit this program rather than try to improve it. Your incoming Superintendent, Mike Lubelfeld, was part of the leadership team during Dr. Hager’s tenure at District 112 – although, admittedly, this decision didn’t fall under his purview
-
On the article District 109 Removes French From 6th Grade Curriculum
Dan Jenks
9:33 am on Monday, April 22, 2013
ReplyFor all those parents in District 109 who believe in the importance of early foreign language instruction, stay focused on this issue and on the actions of Maureen Hager – foreign language instruction is not a priority for Ms. Hager. When Ms. Hager ran District 112, she oversaw the removal (yes, removal) of Spanish language instruction in our elementary schools to non-Dual language learners. Apparently, she couldn’t figure out a way to work this instruction into the class day when the State of Illinois started to mandate daily P.E.
-
On the blog post The District 113 Referendum Through the Eyes of a Student
Dan Jenks
6:31 pm on Saturday, April 6, 2013
ReplyCharlie, this is a great piece of writing – you put everything in context and made a very persuasive case for the referendum. I particularly appreciated your contrast b/t the referendum proposals and the work that was done at Glenbrooks North and South. The work being contemplated by this referendum isn’t remotely lavish – it’s closer to being the bare minimum that we owe to our students.
And while many of us wish that some of these problems had been addressed during the past several decades, that’s not an excuse to vote “no” – these are our high schools and the responsible thing – dare I say the “adult” thing – is to analyze the problem, come up with a reasonable plan to address it and move forward. That’s exactly what District 113 did and that’s why we need to VOTE YES on Tuesday.
Dan Jenks
8:38 am on Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Loudmouths? Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black? What’s your problem, Walter? Parents don’t like a policy, they petition the District to change the policy, the District listens and responds in an appropriate fashion. Isn’t that the way our government is supposed to operate? Or is it only supposed to operate that way when Walter White agrees with the outcome? Guess Walter doesn’t like French!