3 VICTORIES IN 3 WEEKS:  PASSING THE 'OPEN BOOK' TEST 
Nearly $400 million of additional education spending now online!

By Adam Andrzejewski
Director, ForTheGoodOfIllinois.org

“I appreciate your advocacy on behalf of the citizens of Illinois as well as the citizens of Elmhurst School District 205.  All of us working together for the benefit of students and our communities can only have a positive impact.”
Lynn Krizic, Ed.D, Superintendent, Elmhurst School District 205

By posting their check registry online, Elmhurst School District 205, West Chicago CHSD 94, and College of DuPage have become leaders in the Illinois “Open Book” Revolution.  Demonstrating simple respect for their local taxpayers, residents can now see exactly how their tax dollars are being spent.  The total budgets of these three districts amount to nearly $400 million! 

The “friend to friend” model of networking.  Who do you know in education?
 
“As Iron sharpens Iron, so does a friend sharpen a friend.”  All three districts were approached on a friend to friend basis.  In Elmhurst, the School Board President Marta Davy used to live in the same close-knit neighborhood as I currently live in.  Shortly after being contacted, Elmhurst Superintendent Lynn Krizic proactively posted on the schools website. In the West Chicago example, Kate Campaigne of the Illinois Policy Institute has a friend that knew the Board President.  Having an introduction to the Board President, Kate helped provide guidance so that the President successfully presented to his own Board of Education!  In the College of DuPage example, a mutual friend introduced me to Trustee David Carlin and shortly thereafter, the College of DuPage posted their registry.  

Transparency begets transparency.  Creating a strong, bottom up mandate for good government.

In Illinois, the lower lows of public corruption convictions have become commonplace newspaper headlines. However, in DuPage County, the education establishment is leading an opposite trend.  Once the College of DuPage posted their check registry, Elmhurst and West Chicago quickly followed suit.  More DuPage county schools will soon demonstrate transparency.  Once a majority of school districts in a given locale are transparent, the firm foundation of good governance will have strong roots that can be leveraged for even more good government.  This is the essence of the “Open Book” Revolution in Illinois government.

The well-run Illinois school districts have an obligation to lead the way.

The fiscally disciplined school districts should have nothing to hide and can showcase their good fiscal stewardship.  Equally as important, the good districts need to put peer pressure on the mismanaged districts to reform.  Unfathomable but true, Illinois has a school district that cancelled out door recess;  as a substitute, they tell their 567 grade school children to stand in straight lines in an all purpose room and be quiet!  This district cancelled outdoor recess citing budget constraint, yet refuses to post their check registry. 

ILLINOIS SCHOOL DISTRICT HONOR ROLL

Illinois now has eleven school districts that post their check registry representing nearly $850 million in education spending.  This transparency is recognized on the Illinois School District Honor Roll at http://www.forthegoodofillinois.org/Admin/ManageBlogEntry.aspx?AM=5.

How do you know if your school district is spending responsibly?

The only way to answer that question is to ‘Open The Books’.  Each school district should post their check register on the school website.  The proposal’s simplicity is its strength.  There is virtually no cost.  The check number, vendor name and amount are already a part of the monthly board packet.  Information is already the ‘public’s right to know’ through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  Check register posting harnesses current technology with existing law to create a convenient path of community access.

Help Us Bring Illinois Government into the 21st Century!
Open The Books.  For The Good Of Illinois.