Bravo!
Our local Pioneer Press scribe, Jennifer Johnson, has just published a stunning exposé regarding the public servant incompetence she discovered at Maine High School District 207.
Well no, NOT REALLY.
Instead, her readers are treated to a PR piece most likely coauthored by D207's recently hired $150,000 per year PR maven, Brett Clark. Don't worry, Jennifer's professional reputation is still in tact, since many of her local readers are already aware of her propensity.
I don't intend to spend a lot of time on this subject but I do want to make a point.
Ken Wallace is hell bent on pushing this Referendum through. He's pulling out all the stops. For a "cash strapped" local High School District, Ken Wallace's PR effort is staggering.
Would you have ever imagined D207 Administration & Board spending $500,000 in previously stashed ($45 million) taxpayer money on public relations, over a $195,000,000 referendum? A Referendum designed as Dr. Wallace says to: 'close the gap between the district's schools and competing high schools...'; while adding new taxes to an already significant tax bill, by $90 per $100,000 per year, for the next 20 years. And let's not forget the Board awarding our highly paid Superintendent an additional $50k bonus to see that this Referendum passes?
Dr. Wallace, what gap?
Which school systems are we competing with? And why? Why should we give a hoot what they do?
D207's Create the problem - Upset the Public - Sell the Solution paradigm on display again!
For most Taxpayers in this District, there is no gap to close and no other school districts to compete with. Only D207 problems to solve, only D207's year-to-year performance gap to resolve, and solving that problem, according to the people I talk to, is the #1 job of D207's Superintendent and Board. Also, if D207 is not high on the list of Regional academic performers, it's because, in part, academic problem solving has been displaced by talk and financial envy.
As Dr. Wallace made it clear to me, we are not New Trier and we are NOT NEW TRIER for a variety of reasons.
Last August, in a series of emails, I challenged Dr. Wallace with the notion that New Trier was a better performing school system. At the time I called New Trier "The Gold Standard."
Part of Dr. Wallace's response read:
"Maine East is one of the nation's top diverse high schools, and, respectfully, many much more affluent schools should be studying us. In terms of what we can take from New Trier: that District spends $5,835.09 more annually per student than District 207 does (37 million annual budget increase to be on par)".
The Maine East (ME) issue being addressed at the beginning of his statement is academic/linguistic in nature. Many of ME's students are Spanish speakers, and many if not most of them, come from East Maine School District 63 (EMSD63).
To their credit, EMSD63 has improved their Spanish-Farsi-Urdu-Etc.-to-English-Speaking performance quite a bit since Dr. Clay took over.
Yet, adequate fluency in English is still an ongoing impediment to improved academic performance at ME and D207; at least according to the parents and teachers I've talked to.
The $195,000,000 Referendum fixes, additions and changes, WILL NOT solve Maine East's underlying academic issues!
By the way, the private challenge I made to Dr. Wallace was:
"If you could do whatever you wanted to do, unencumbered, to being D207 up to New Trier levels, what would you do?"
Friday, October 26, 2018
Wallace's $19,827.14 Disconnect From Reality
Maine High School District 207's Website
If only it were true!
The real revenue per student (RPS), based on D207's own revenue history and Business Manager Kalou's 2018-2019 projection as displayed below, does NOT match their latest LOWBALL forecast.
Revenue per student calculation is:
RPS = Total Revenue / Students.
The Wallace Team, told our group, THEIR expected Total Revenue for 2018-2019 would be $134,290,266. They also told us their expected student population would be around 6,329.
The fact that D207's RPS projection was $21,218 vs prior year $30,603 is striking enough, but at least the numbers for the two years were based in historical fact and recent accounting mumbo-jumbo. The "$19,827.14" , as far as we can tell, was plucked out of thin air!
If you averaged out D207's RPS numbers for school years 2015-2016 through 2017-2018, you'd be looking at a RPS figure of $27,600+/-. Second only to Niles 219's $30,257 and more than New Trier's $25,662. We believe that $27.6k figure is going to be closer to reality once you factor the $50,000,000+/- State of Illinois "pass through" accounting trick back into the mix.
I don't like being lied to or manipulated. Ken Wallace's "$19,827.14" attempted public insult to our intelligence, is troubling and does not bode well for D207 Students or Taxpayers, no matter the outcome.
I keep asking myself. Why would Wallace, Owen & Co. publish an easily tested exaggeration when the real projection would have done the trick?
Dr. Wallace is proudly displaying his newly projected $19,827.14 average revenue per student number.
To drill home his point, our Superintendent points out that:
- Niles 219 students cost taxpayers $30,257 each
- New Trier HSD 203, $25,662
- Dearfield/Highland Park D113, $25,520 and
- Libertyville/Vernon Hills CHSD 128, $23,079.
If only it were true!
The real revenue per student (RPS), based on D207's own revenue history and Business Manager Kalou's 2018-2019 projection as displayed below, does NOT match their latest LOWBALL forecast.
Revenue per student calculation is:
RPS = Total Revenue / Students.
School
| Total | ||
Year
|
Revenue
|
Students
|
Rev/Stu
|
2012-2013
|
$148,066,991
|
6733
|
$21,991
|
2013-2014
|
$148,077,337
|
6525
|
$22,694
|
2014-2015
|
$155,900,665
|
6394
|
$24,382
|
2015-2016
|
$163,217,465
|
6307
|
$25,879
|
2016-2017
|
$168,310,738
|
6374
|
$26,406
|
2017-2018
|
$191,268,091
|
6250
|
$30,603
|
2018-2019
|
$134,290,266
|
6329
|
$21,218
|
The Wallace Team, told our group, THEIR expected Total Revenue for 2018-2019 would be $134,290,266. They also told us their expected student population would be around 6,329.
The fact that D207's RPS projection was $21,218 vs prior year $30,603 is striking enough, but at least the numbers for the two years were based in historical fact and recent accounting mumbo-jumbo. The "$19,827.14" , as far as we can tell, was plucked out of thin air!
If you averaged out D207's RPS numbers for school years 2015-2016 through 2017-2018, you'd be looking at a RPS figure of $27,600+/-. Second only to Niles 219's $30,257 and more than New Trier's $25,662. We believe that $27.6k figure is going to be closer to reality once you factor the $50,000,000+/- State of Illinois "pass through" accounting trick back into the mix.
I don't like being lied to or manipulated. Ken Wallace's "$19,827.14" attempted public insult to our intelligence, is troubling and does not bode well for D207 Students or Taxpayers, no matter the outcome.
I keep asking myself. Why would Wallace, Owen & Co. publish an easily tested exaggeration when the real projection would have done the trick?
Friday, October 19, 2018
First Rule Of The Con
Feed the greed!
Click on video to stop!
Since they're giving us nothing for something, Dr. Wallace and Crew think D207 parents greedy, dishonest and easily conned.
Are they right?
Since they're giving us nothing for something, Dr. Wallace and Crew think D207 parents greedy, dishonest and easily conned.
Are they right?
Sunday, October 14, 2018
D207's Sales Strategy
Create The Problem - Frighten The Public - Sell The Solution,
is a successful political sales strategy designed to manipulate public opinion toward a given outcome the public would never have chosen otherwise.
Examples:
referendum = (old-neglected-dangerous-campus * concerned/upset public)
$194,000,000 = (neglected asbestos problem * upset student/parent)
$194,000,000 = (deferred secure entrance problem * upset student/parent)
The last two examples come from the Referendum.
The asbestos fix alone was estimated in 2012 to only cost $6.3 million. Why it has taken 20 years (ten under Dr. Wallace) to address the "secure entrance" problem is another story. Let's just assume an additional $6.0 million to fix.
These ongoing teacher/student health & safety problems were known in 2012, and needed to be fixed years ago. And both problems could have been fixed years ago, had the Wallace/Owen Team, not secretly withheld our previously taxed $45 million, for THEIR purposes.
I think we're being conned!
is a successful political sales strategy designed to manipulate public opinion toward a given outcome the public would never have chosen otherwise.
- Create the problem
- Frighten the public
- Sell the solution.
Examples:
referendum = (old-neglected-dangerous-campus * concerned/upset public)
$194,000,000 = (neglected asbestos problem * upset student/parent)
$194,000,000 = (deferred secure entrance problem * upset student/parent)
The last two examples come from the Referendum.
The asbestos fix alone was estimated in 2012 to only cost $6.3 million. Why it has taken 20 years (ten under Dr. Wallace) to address the "secure entrance" problem is another story. Let's just assume an additional $6.0 million to fix.
These ongoing teacher/student health & safety problems were known in 2012, and needed to be fixed years ago. And both problems could have been fixed years ago, had the Wallace/Owen Team, not secretly withheld our previously taxed $45 million, for THEIR purposes.
I think we're being conned!
School Name
|
Description
|
Cost
|
Maine - East
|
Asbestos - Flooring
|
$1,988,000
|
Asbestos - Ceiling
|
$998,000
|
|
===========
|
||
$2,986,000
|
||
Maine - South
|
Asbestos - Flooring
|
$510,000
|
Asbestos - Ceiling
|
$826,000
|
|
===========
|
||
$1,336,000
|
||
Maine - West
|
Asbestos - Flooring
|
$1,875,000
|
Asbestos - Ceiling
|
$101,000
|
|
===========
|
||
$1,976,000
|
||
Total Maine
|
Asbestos - Flooring
|
$4,373,000
|
Asbestos - Ceiling
|
$1,925,000
|
|
===========
|
||
| Total: | $6,298,00 |
Thursday, October 11, 2018
D207 Pass Through - Flim Flam Accounting
D207's Revenue & Student Projections
Take a look at the 2018-2019 line. Specifically, look at the "Other State Aid", "Revenue Total" and "Rev/Stu" figures. Note the significant reduction from prior years.
How did that happen?
When asked, Asst. Supt. Kalou told me, prior to 2018-2019 school year, State of Illinois contributed millions of "uncontrolled" dollars toward D207's Budget. Ms. Kalou now considers those dollars "pass through" and will no longer reflect them in the Budget. She works for Dr. Wallace. So when you see this years low-balled Budget, you have Dr. Wallace to thank for it.
Pass Through Money - Legal Slight of Hand
"Other State Aid" will continue to flow into D207's coffers, effecting District's Budget and goals. Because Dr. Wallace wants to display lower revenues & expenses as part of his Referendum sales strategy, his applying HIS "pass through" scheme will now, visually conceal millions of "Other" State of Illinois revenue and you and I will only see a significantly reduced truth.
This the kind of activity we can expect should Dr. Wallace win HIS Referendum.
Of course, it's just my opinion!
The Wallace Team looks more like a flim flam squad every day!
Click on video to stop!
School
|
Other
| Revenue | ||
Year
|
State Aid
|
Total
|
Students
|
Rev/Stu
|
2012-2013
|
$24,020,867
|
$148,066,991
|
6733
|
$21,991
|
2013-2014
|
$26,850,824
|
$148,077,337
|
6525
|
$22,694
|
2014-2015
|
$30,144,063
|
$155,900,665
|
6394
|
$24,382
|
2015-2016
|
$37,111,339
|
$163,217,465
|
6307
|
$25,879
|
2016-2017
|
$38,140,044
|
$168,310,738
|
6374
|
$26,406
|
2017-2018
|
$58,523,879
|
$191,268,091
|
6250
|
$30,603
|
2018-2019
|
$3,518,080
|
$134,290,266
|
6329
|
$21,218
|
2019-2020
|
$3,789,164
|
$138,951,178
|
6449
|
$21,546
|
2020-2021
|
$3,790,415
|
$140,955,388
|
6406
|
$22,004
|
2021-2022
|
$3,791,692
|
$143,719,245
|
6434
|
$22,337
|
2022-2023
|
$3,791,692
|
$146,491,205
|
6507
|
$22,513
|
2023-2024
|
$3,791,692
|
$149,261,984
|
6486
|
$23,013
|
Take a look at the 2018-2019 line. Specifically, look at the "Other State Aid", "Revenue Total" and "Rev/Stu" figures. Note the significant reduction from prior years.
How did that happen?
When asked, Asst. Supt. Kalou told me, prior to 2018-2019 school year, State of Illinois contributed millions of "uncontrolled" dollars toward D207's Budget. Ms. Kalou now considers those dollars "pass through" and will no longer reflect them in the Budget. She works for Dr. Wallace. So when you see this years low-balled Budget, you have Dr. Wallace to thank for it.
Pass Through Money - Legal Slight of Hand
"Other State Aid" will continue to flow into D207's coffers, effecting District's Budget and goals. Because Dr. Wallace wants to display lower revenues & expenses as part of his Referendum sales strategy, his applying HIS "pass through" scheme will now, visually conceal millions of "Other" State of Illinois revenue and you and I will only see a significantly reduced truth.
This the kind of activity we can expect should Dr. Wallace win HIS Referendum.
Of course, it's just my opinion!
The Wallace Team looks more like a flim flam squad every day!
Monday, October 8, 2018
Vote NO - November 6, 2018
10 Reasons To Vote No!
D207:
"Shall the Board of Education of Maine Township High School District Number 207, Cook County, Illinois, improve the sites of, build and equip additions to and alter, repair and equip existing buildings, including, without limitation, constructing security improvements, increasing accessibility to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, replacing electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems, renovating classrooms and labs, improving the Library Media Center and renovating special education spaces, and issue bonds of said School District to the amount of $195,000,000 for the purpose of paying the costs thereof?"
including, without limitation
Our attorney's interpret those words to mean:
D207 can spend the money any way they want!
D207:
- wants us to go further into debt; this time for an additional $300,000,000 (estimated after fees and interest) or $90 per $100,000 per year for continued poor academic performance
- operating revenue for 2017-2018 was $191,268,091 and now they say their 2018-2019 operating revenue will be $134,290,266 based on a accounting trick
- has been planning this Referendum for years
- has withheld (without Taxpayer knowledge), up to $45,000,000 in prior taxed "reserves"
- information as presented on their website is very inaccurate and misleading
- will have spent close to $500,000 on PR contracts, including, its already hiring of their second PR maven for an additional $150,000+ per year
- has paid Dr. Wallace a base pay since 2016, $202k; 2017, $209k; 2018, $216k and will further pay 2019, $222k and 2020, $227k respectively
- is slated to pay Dr. Wallace his third consecutive bonus of $50,000
- average cost per student (2015-2017) was $27,600 based on total revenue
- will transfer payments for normal maintenance, purchases and replacement activities from the "General Budget" to the "Referendum Budget", allowing them to utilize tens of millions of dollars in yearly real estate taxes for other unspecified activities (pay raises?).
"Shall the Board of Education of Maine Township High School District Number 207, Cook County, Illinois, improve the sites of, build and equip additions to and alter, repair and equip existing buildings, including, without limitation, constructing security improvements, increasing accessibility to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, replacing electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems, renovating classrooms and labs, improving the Library Media Center and renovating special education spaces, and issue bonds of said School District to the amount of $195,000,000 for the purpose of paying the costs thereof?"
including, without limitation
Our attorney's interpret those words to mean:
D207 can spend the money any way they want!
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Dr. Wallace - Thinks Having No Plan - A Good Plan!
June 14,2018 - Ken Wallace to Ken Butterly - Response to FOIA request to see D207's written "plan". He had previously responded by email that he didn't have a written "detailed plan".
"...we have an appropriately detailed plan for this stage of the process. The build changes have been described, modeled and estimated for cost. It is not standard to go ahead and pay for actual designs at this stage of the building process. We have followed the process that is standard for school projects like ours."
I looked at several other cookie-cutter referendums scheduled for November vote. No written detailed plans for their voters to review either.
Taxpayers are being asked to fork over hundreds-of-millions-of-previously-taxed-dollars to civil servants who, it appears, are incapable of unwilling to write and display a SIMPLE PLAN that answers, who, what, when, where, how and why our hard earned dollars are to be spent.
If they're that lazy or incompetent they aren't getting any more of my money.
Based on the hundreds of pages of information I've reviewed to date, the Wallace Team doesn't need the support of this taxpayer/investor or banker, they need a Sugar-Daddy!
Or maybe they can hire this guy! At least he's a man with a plan!
ANYBODY WANT TO BUY A BRIDGE ?
"...we have an appropriately detailed plan for this stage of the process. The build changes have been described, modeled and estimated for cost. It is not standard to go ahead and pay for actual designs at this stage of the building process. We have followed the process that is standard for school projects like ours."
I looked at several other cookie-cutter referendums scheduled for November vote. No written detailed plans for their voters to review either.
Taxpayers are being asked to fork over hundreds-of-millions-of-previously-taxed-dollars to civil servants who, it appears, are incapable of unwilling to write and display a SIMPLE PLAN that answers, who, what, when, where, how and why our hard earned dollars are to be spent.
If they're that lazy or incompetent they aren't getting any more of my money.
Based on the hundreds of pages of information I've reviewed to date, the Wallace Team doesn't need the support of this taxpayer/investor or banker, they need a Sugar-Daddy!
 |
| All I need is another $300 Million! |
Or maybe they can hire this guy! At least he's a man with a plan!
ANYBODY WANT TO BUY A BRIDGE ?
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