Unit 4 schools prepared to meet tomorrow's challenges
By CAROL STACK

   Editor's note: Much of the growth of communities near Champaign-Urbana has been related to the perceived quality of school districts. Mike McKenzie and Carol Stack address that issue.

   There hasn't been much that I haven't experienced in my 23 years of working in the education field and in my own educational upbringing: a product of a K-8 parochial system and a suburban, public high school and a teacher, coach, athletic director and principal at both the middle and high school levels in small, urban school systems. Although most of my 23 years have been in the Champaign system, I've also had the opportunity to step outside the district and work in another system as well.
   I've seen the challenging times in Unit 4: teacher strikes, budget and program cutbacks, teacher reassignments and teacher "RIFs" (reduction in force, or layoffs), to name several. But I've also seen the resiliency of the Unit 4 schools and staff to recover to become even stronger because of the adversity.
   Debates on closing schools, consolidating schools, changing from junior highs to middle schools – the district has never been without some hot, burning issue. As I watch our district respond to issues such as controlled choice, equity, test scores and the approaching impact of tax caps, I am constantly reminded of the realities of working in an urban school system – and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
   It's unfortunate that it is simply human nature to draw comparisons – in this case, between school systems that serve such dissimilar student populations as the city schools and those that serve our outlying communities. What makes a school good? For those who choose to point to state test scores, and draw comparisons between such diverse populations, they would be well-served to seek out and draw comparisons for "like groups of students" in both school systems.
   For example, how do low socioeconomic student populations in both school systems compare? How do the very best Unit 4 students compare with the very best in other districts? One would discover that Champaign students perform quite competitively. Unfortunately, unless one truly understands the data and what the diversity of the student population is, misperceptions are formulated on what that says about the quality of schools.
   For those who would judge the quality of schools based on their perception of school climate, I would encourage them to contact the many prominent families who choose to send their children to Unit 4 schools or the parents who have decided to enroll children who were in private schools back in the city schools – not for financial reasons, but rather because of the quality learning experiences provided for their children, both academic and extracurricular, and the positive, safe learning environment.
   For as many cases heard about parents choosing schools outside of Champaign-Urbana, there are many stories to be told about parents who live outside Champaign-Urbana and choose to pay tuition to send their children to Unit 4 schools.
   People have different ideas and beliefs to define what they believe is a "better" education. If exposure to diversity is an important consideration in a child's education (to learn in a "real world" setting with children of all races) then the city schools are richly endowed to provide this type of invaluable experience.
   After all, won't the leadership backbone of the work force of the 21st century be represented by the diversity of our society?
   If access to a variety of programs, course selections and other resources are perceived to enhance the quality of education, then are larger school systems, such as Champaign and Urbana, better positioned?
   And will the ability to attract quality teachers and strong administrative leaders as numerous retirements are forthcoming be an easier – albeit still challenging – task for a larger school system with competitive resources?
   Questions such as these perhaps begin to respond to the question of "what makes a school good?" I have to admit that as an administrator in Unit 4, I have never been asked to "defend" the quality of schools in Champaign. I, as well as two of our board members, our superintendent, and our human resources director are Rotarians and readily welcome questions about our schools as we sit among community leaders weekly.
   Any district – urban, rural, or suburban, public or private – has its problems and challenges. I have two nephews in the Indian Prairie school district in suburban Naperville (a fourth- and a seventh-grader) and without hesitation will put our academic programs next to theirs. But I will not compare test scores when we do not serve similar populations.
   Unit 4 teachers and administrators are leaders in their areas of expertise at the state and national levels. One only needs to examine the leadership efforts of Champaign staff within their professional organizations to quickly gauge how high the bar is raised. Numerous national recognitions involving external peer review teams observing and critiquing our schools are unmatched, not only in this area, but across the state.
   We have tremendous challenges ahead of us in Champaign. But one of them will not be worrying about losing local children to schools outside of the Unit 4 system. There will always be parents, and rightfully so, who for their own, personal reasons will choose schools other than the city schools.
   Resiliency is the strength of the Champaign school system, and each time it faces a challenge, the district comes back stronger than before. I have never seen a school district so open to community and parental input as Champaign.
   As we look to the 21st century, Champaign schools will be representative of the diversity of race and thought upon which our country became a world leader. Champaign students will be well-prepared for the leadership roles that must be filled in a diverse society as we move into the new millennium.

   Carol Stack is principal at Jefferson Middle School in Champaign. She has been a teacher, coach and athletic director as well during a career of more than two decades.

   The News-Gazette welcomes comments from readers on the issues raised in this article. Please send your comments to: Editor, The News-Gazette, 15 Main St., P.O. Box 677, Champaign, IL 61824-0677. Send comments by e-mail to news@news-gazette.com.