I did look at the list of GCSD9 employees recently and was a little dismayed that the surnames matched those of many in city or in other types of politics or that some were the children of retired employees.
Is it of concern. Well yes it is.
BUT..
There is one concern that trumps them all as far as I am concerned.
That is the concern of whether or not our children are learning.
Now the process of awarding a job may not ever be as fair as we would like it to be.
But to get on as a teacher, one has to be certified to teach, and it supposes that one has at least a bachelor's degree in education or a specialized field.
So more important to me than uniforms, more important than the good ole boyz clum, more important than how we do against Edwardsville or any other school in sports is the question -- ARE OUR KIDS LEARNING? And are they learning as well as they should and will they be competitive when they graduate with a piece of paper?
Does the diploma that comes from our High School mean that a student has successfully learned how to take an idea, research it, write about it? Does the student know the scientific method? Can he or she at least do some algebraic functions?
Or can the student have a basic general knowledge, but a superior knowledge of working with his or her hands?
If the answer is no to these questions, then that's where we need to focus.
The people who end up getting jobs need to be held to the task in which they are entrusted. I see a lot of familiar surnames, and as long as they come motivated - with a love of subject and a love of educating, I see no problem with them there.
When I was a student I knew who was motivated and who motivated me to learn, and I knew who the worthless pieces of crap were that were collecting a government paycheck and doing what was minimally possible.
If people are highly driven and really seek to be good educators, they have my full support.
A board member that has my support would be one just like that, one that takes the task of LEARNING seriously and seeks to improve how the children in the 62040 zip code (contiguous with GCSD for the most part) are able to learn.
LEARNING is all that matters to me.
Uniforms or not...who gives a rat's ass.
Scores on the field .. they're all winners if they functioned as a team and gave it their all.
But ability to read, write, and put numbers together... absolutely critical!!!
The ability to instill EXCELLENCE -- Can't live without it.