Vote for Vince

This is a post for my friends and neighbors in Oak Park. I’d like to encourage you to vote in our local elections between now and election day on April 1. Additionally, when you vote for the District 97 School Board, I’d recommend you vote for Vince Gay. He has my strongest possible endorsement.

His background speaks for itself, but more than anything else, I’m supporting Vince because he’s an optimist who sees the best in people. Vince is the kind of person who makes the environment better in any room he’s in, often without people realizing exactly how he does it. He’s extremely funny, which helps, but more than anything else, he’s intensely curious about other people: who they are, what he can learn from them, and how he can help them. He sees the good in everyone–especially children–and I’m excited for the idea that he can bring his unique talent, experience, and perspective to help the children, teachers, and staff of Oak Park schools. We’re lucky to have Vince as a member of our community and even more fortunate that he’s volunteering to serve in this way. Please vote for him if you are able.

If the above isn’t enough for you, here’s more on my background and why I’m supporting Vince:

Karen and I have called our house in the Beye area home for over 20 years. Except for a travel homeschooling adventure a couple of years ago, we’ve had children in District 97 schools since 2011. After some early work in engineering and the business world, I’ve spent most of my career in education. For several years, I created and taught the course “Attaining Equity in K-12 Education: Theory and Practice” to graduate students in the policy school at the University of Chicago. One of the core themes I tried to impress upon my students was that all of this work is hard and that none of the answers are easy.

I mean that generally, but also for Oak Park specifically. As a final project, my students had to submit a policy paper about an equity challenge facing a district and their plan to address it. Most wrote about Chicago Public Schools or another district where they worked or lived, but some elected to write about Oak Park. It’s been a decade since the filming of America to Me, which gave us a “bitingly honest mediation of the ways race, class, and equity play out in Chicago’s progressive suburb of Oak Park.” That series focused on the high school, but the problems were evident at the District 97 level and continue to persist there to this day. My students did their earnest best to come up with solutions.

Since then, district leadership has tried a number of things, including some of those my students happened to recommend. But, like I said, none of this is easy and despite the hard working efforts of many good intentioned people, much of the work has been to little result. Problems, many the same, persist. Facing intractable issues in education is enough to inspire despair, at least temporarily, in anyone.

That’s why I was so excited when Vince told me he was running for school board. On top of his deep expertise, he has the right temperament to push through for lasting change. I’ve known Vince since 2012 and am fortunate to call him a friend. As a friend, I don’t envy him the mostly thankless work of local community campaigning and service. As someone who cares deeply about the children of our community realizing their potential in life, though, I’m grateful for his service. Please support him if you can.