Are you kidding? Cancel the school and do what? It's pathetic that parents that live on the north end of town don't want their kids going to Stratoon because it's in an unsafe neighborhood. Now the school district proposes putting a new school on the north end of town in a safe neighborhood and parents complain about it. Maybe we should builf 6 empty schools on Market St in order to fulfill the requirements of this ridiculous consent decree that never should have been entered into anyway.

Posted by wilsona on March 16, 2006 at 3:12 PM Suggest Removal

Wait a minute, we are to vote on Tuesday for something that they haven't settled the details on as of the Friday before? Ridiculous! And yes, Stratton is half empty and that's north of University. Fill that up first then come talk to me.

Posted by whome on March 16, 2006 at 4:11 PM Suggest Removal

"White people are going to have to change their minds about going into the black community, about their children going to school on the north end," he said.

Mr. Culver seeks "equality." Rather than doing anything to help the black community, he has chosen to drag whites down to whatever extent he is able. The result will be "equality" but will not be good for either the white or the black commmunities of Champaign. When he is done, and moves on to a larger better paying district, we wiill be the ones stuck with greater racial animosity AND worse schools for everybody.

Posted by willie06 on March 16, 2006 at 4:23 PM Suggest Removal

It is troubling that Unit 4 is being held accountable in a manner of direct cause, for statistics that repeat themselves in communities throughout this country. And the implicit portrayal of this community as racist through statements like: if only we could embrace the idea that ALL children are capable of learning, has become insulting given the effort, money and years spent thus far trying to satisfy the consent decree. Unit 4 is being held hostage and irrepairably drained financially for things it did not directly cause. Sure it is the right thing to do, to try and do as much as can be done to help all children have a positive outcome in education and life. But, there needs to be some fudiciary responsibility here and a healthy balance between what the schools should be expected to do and be held accountable for, AND the role parentS play in their child's education and outcome. There really is only so much that schools and this community can do, given that money doesn't grow on trees! Where does this sense of entitlement come from? Maybe from misperceptions regarding how people achieve positive outcomes in life (and, yes, despite obstacles). Very few kids grow up with unlimited resources and money to assure their success in life. For not readily apparent reasons, the expectation of some seems to be that the sky's the limit when it comes to the Unit 4 School District in Champaign Illinois. The district and community 'owes' more than there is to possibly give. And unfortunately much of the lip service paid to the spirit of the consent decree comes across as somewhat disingenuous. There is little equality (for ALL children) in a School Choice system where kids run the risk of being rejected from their choice schools because they are of the wrong race. Another lawsuit waiting to happen. Fighting alleged discrimination with blatant discrimination. How far we have not come since the visionary dreams of Martin Luther King.

Posted by Lotte on March 16, 2006 at 10:29 PM Suggest Removal

It is important to clear up a widespread misperception about current student capacity in Unit 4 schools.

Stratton has 26 classrooms that are limited to 20 students per class. This yields a total seating capacity of around 520 students. As of January, there were 330 students enrolled at Stratton, which at first glance suggests that nearly 200 seats must be sitting empty. However, this is not the case. According to the Family Information Center, there are currently just 60 seats available in the entire school.

People who claim there are over 200 empty seats at Stratton are considering only designated classroom capacity rather than the way the rooms are already being used. Here is how Stratton is currently allocating the nearly 200 seats of empty space:

* Three classrooms are being used every day for early childhood intervention programs with pre-kindergarten students.

* One classroom is being used every day as a computer lab.

* One classroom is being used every day as an art room.

* Other areas in Stratton house a reading recovery lab for training teachers.

There are no empty classrooms at Stratton, because Unit 4 is using the space to house a range of educational programs that enrich the experience of district students.

Posted by u4excellence on March 17, 2006 at 10:20 AM Suggest Removal

As a Unit 4 teacher, I am appalled. Once again, people in the community are doing their level best to discredit the district in the eyes of the community. And what great timing, just days before the referendum vote.

At the board meeting earlier this week, site options were presented. The amount of land needed to build a new school defines potential sites. The consent decree mandates that it be north of University. These two criteria left only 3 options: declaring emminent domain and displacing 60 families that the new building is designed to serve; placing a new school between a railroad track and asphalt company (major safety issues); or the suggested location off Bradley. Now there are those who say that this location does not meet the "spririt" of the decree.

Where were those voices way back at the beginning when the district initially suggested the changes to BTW and Garden Hills in lieu of a new building? At that time the complaint was that just refurbishing those schools didn't meet the spirit of the decree because the addressed population should have a new school.

I fail to see how it can be both ways. To me, this delay merely serves to provide opponents with another "see, the district can't be trusted" weapon, when in fact, the district has been operating in good faith and it is the opponents who block every turn. My greatest fear, besides a failed referendum, which as a teacher I can assure you is desperately needed for ALL Champaign students whether they be black, white, green, or purple, is that the this will be a factor in extending the consent decree, which several prominent opponents have recently suggested. Ask any teacher in the district and you will find that we all would prefer the $2,000,000 in annual legal fees be used to provide for our students, not lawyers. How anyone can, in good conscience, railroad this referendum in such a manner, and seek to extend the decree is beyond me. It continues to appear that these people are seeking personal gain and attention, not the best interests of the district students. The fact that a number of these opponents are parents of district students is even more astonishing. Shame on you!

I urge all voters to please continue to support the referendum. This schol is just one issue of many, and it is not fair to penalize the remaining schools because of a few people who cannot seem to seek a common good over their own. In the end, referendum money is strictly monitored, and the public can rest assured that, despite area naysayers, the money raised will be spent appropriately and honestly to support ALL Unit 4 students.

Posted by teacher on March 17, 2006 at 11:02 AM Suggest Removal

I second the comments of "teacher". Many people are unaware of the poor conditions in many of our elementary buildings. We are having to teach kids in closets and hallways, because our 50-year-old schools (older still in the cases of Dr. Howard and Southside) were built before the era of computer labs, English as a Second Language, counselling, learning enrichment, and special education.

Full details of the referendum, including floor plans for school-by-school renovations, are available at www.u4excellence.org

Whether you plan to support or oppose the referendum, I would hope that you take the time to get informed about the conditions of our schools, what the referendum would do, and why proponents say it is so badly needed.

Posted by u4excellence on March 17, 2006 at 11:52 AM Suggest Removal

I have a great idea! If the existing schools are too cramped, we should build 2 new schools and lift the burden. Maybe we should just do that and maintenance and save ourselves millions of dollars. As for clearing up this widespread misconception about Stratton...You are correct...The classrooms aren't filled, so the district is becoming creative and utilizing the space for other programs. Th ta doesn't change the fact that families don't want to send their children over there and won't want to send them to Market or Bradley either. We as a community all know(even if we won't say it) that nobody prefers to live on the North end of town and anyone that can afford it would move to the South side of town. How many people that live on the North end would prefer to live in Cherry Hills and attend Barkstall? I'm sick of hearing people say that people are going to have to get over their problems and become willing to send their kids into those communities. Not even the people in those communities want to send their children to those communities.

Posted by wilsona on March 17, 2006 at 5:15 PM Suggest Removal