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Skokie Voice Community Forum on Economic Development
Wednesday, Feb. 22 * 7-9 p.m.     Click here for details!

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Click here to take the Skokie Voice Economic Development Survey.
Click here to take the Village of Skokie Community Health Survey.

                                         Community Safety Update    Jan. 25, 2012
     Village of Skokie announces overall crime rate down for 2011

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The Village of Skokie has issued a media release stating that crime in Skokie decreased overall by 4 percent in 2011 from 2010 levels.

Contacted by local media outlets for comment, Skokie Voice has released the following statement:

The Skokie Voice Residents’ Association welcomes the Village of Skokie announcement that crime in the Village decreased overall by 4 percent in 2011 from 2010 levels. Skokie Voice appreciates the dedication of the Skokie Police Department to keeping our community safe, including the SPD’s recognition that resident engagement is vital to this process.

To that end, Skokie Voice initiated the June 2010 Town Hall meeting at which residents expressed significant concerns about public safety, especially at a number of parks. The Village responded with increased police patrols – and Skokie Voice has continued to serve as a conduit for such concerns.

Members of the SV Community Safety and Housing committees met with police and other Village officials throughout 2011 regarding long-term safety trends, and in June 2011 Skokie Voice presented a community forum on housing issues. In November 2011 Skokie Voice urged Village officials to consider increasing resources to be allocated to the Police Department and Property Standards Division in the FY 2013 Village budget.   

Skokie Voice will invite Village officials to participate in a community forum on public safety to be held in mid-2012. We will continue to work for open communication and cooperation between residents and Village leaders – which will contribute to Skokie remaining a safe and thriving place to live and work.

LOCAL MEDIA COVERAGE
Read the Skokie Review story.
Read the Trib Local story.

Click here

Oct. 19, 2011
Skokie Voice presents
Community Forum on Skokie Public Schools

The Skokie Voice Residents' Association convened superintendents and a representative of all six Skokie elementary school districts and high school district at the Community Forum on Skokie Public Schools on Oct. 19. The first such public gathering of school leaders in recent memory, the SV event drew approximately 175 residents to Oakton Community Center and was SV's third community forum of 2011.                                                                        
Excerpts of local media reporting on the forum and the forum video appear below.

                    School leaders address big issues
                                 in Skokie Voice forum

“All of us are trying to contain costs and we understand the struggle in our communities right now, particularly with the decline in property values.”  Frances McTague, District 68 superintendent

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By Mike Isaacs
“Strong schools make for strong communities.”

That response came from Skokie School District 68  Superintendent Frances McTague last week after a complaint about the rise in  property taxes among all Skokie school districts.

McTague was among seven panelists at an unprecedented community forum on education sponsored by Skokie Voice, the busy residents’ association that formed last year. For the first time, representatives of almost all school districts in Skokie came together to field questions and share information with the public.

Superintendents from Districts 65, 68, 69, 72, 73, 219 and the Middleton School principal representing District 73.5 shared the stage for more than two hours at the Oakton Community Center. 

Skokie Voice surveyed residents to form questions from hundreds of responses. The second half of the forum included live questions from audience members. 

The complaint about property taxes was one of the more spirited ones of the night, a cry of frustration from a senior who has seen his taxes spike during a difficult economy.

“You’re bleeding the taxpayers dry with school taxes,” said John Peters, a District 73.5 resident. “I’ve seen my taxes go up $1,000 to $7,000-plus. The vast majority is going to the schools.”

Panelists emphasized that school districts are under their own constraints — trying to maintain quality education as funding from the state declines and other challenges surface. Balancing budgets while maintaining  important programs has become a formidable annual challenge.

Skokie Voice moderator Gary Dolinko, who has been part of a campaign for education funding reform in Illinois, charged that the state is in  “fiscal disarray’ and does not meet its obligation of funding education.

“All of us are trying to contain costs and we understand the struggle in our communities right now, particularly with the decline in property values,” McTague said. “I don’t think that any of us would consider any of the programs we are offering in our schools to be lavish or frivolous.”

As the night wore on and education leaders addressed issues ranging from funding to district consolidation, from school safety to ethnic diversity, from spikes in free lunches to enforcement of residency rules to closing the achievement gap, it became clear that local school districts have more in common than they have differences.

The one exception may be the way tax revenue is spread out among the districts. Districts located in areas with large commercial bases have always benefitted over districts with fewer retail centers.

“There’s an incredibly unequal disparity of revenue distribution amongst the districts,” said resident Norman Frankel. “District 69  is getting really squeezed.”

Educators noted that districts have no control over the disbursement of tax revenue, which is based on how the districts were carved up when Skokie was incorporated.

Click here to read the entire Skokie Review story.

“We need to consolidate districts.
People are walking away from their houses; we need to think creatively.”                                              Norman Frankel, Skokie resident

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By Daniel I. Dorfman
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Skokie has a population of 64,784 people. At the same time, the village touches on seven different school districts.

To some residents, that’s too many.

Last week representatives of all seven districts gathered to answer questions in a forum hosted by community group Skokie Voice. While there were many topics at hand, the subject of combining some of the districts was certainly an emotional one.

 “Thanks to all of you for coming, but there are too many of you,” said 25-year Skokie resident Norman Frankel. “We need to consolidate districts. People are walking away from their houses, we need to think creatively.”

Consolidation is not something under the control of the school superintendents. Instead, it falls under the control of school boards and the local taxpayers even as Governor Pat Quinn pushes for a reduction of school districts. Yet those officials present Wednesday cautioned that while consolidation may look good on the outside to challenged taxpayers, the end result may have many unintended consequences.

“You would think on the face of it, of course it would make sense. But like a lot of things in the state of Illinois, things are not black and white,” said John Schopp, the superintendent of East Prairie District 73.

“Skokie is a community within a community,” Schopp added. “If we were to consolidate, the tax rate for the East Prairie people would go up.”

Frances McTague, superintendent of District 68, said the local boards have tried to streamline services, specifically in sharing bus services, cooperative purchasing and some special education needs.

But McTague stated other expenses pop up when districts come together. “When we talk about consolidation, the surface level is we would talk about the savings level of a superintendent’s salary, but the larger a district grows the more middle management positions come into play and there probably isn’t a savings in terms of personnel,” she said.

McTague also echoed Schopp’s contention that tax      rates are likely to be higher and added teacher salaries are going to be higher if consolidation occurs.

Click here to read the entire Skokie Patch story.

“We’ve been trying to tap into the community and issues people are concerned about.                One of them was the schools.”                                      
Cindy Gonzalez Latin, Skokie Voice Schools Committee chair

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By Brian L. Cox
School consolidation, student safety and soaring taxes were all on the mind of Skokie residents during a recent forum that brought the superintendents of the seven districts serving the village together — for the first time — to field questions
from the community.

 Sponsored by the group Skokie Voice, the forum covered a wide range of topics — including the potential impact of decreasing revenues on the quality of education delivered in the classroom, residency requirements for students, the challenges of meeting the needs of special education students, and the increased demand for free and subsidized lunches.

"We’ve been trying to tap into the community and issues people are concerned about,” said Cindy Gonzalez Latin, who heads the Skokie Voice schools committee. “One of them was the schools.”

Many of those in attendance wanted to know if school consolidation would help cuts costs while allowing the schools to continue delivering a high quality education to the thousands of students in the north suburb.

 “Consolidation is an incredibly complex issue,” said District 69 Superintendent Quintin  Shepherd.“If it benefits kids, do it.

 The superintendents said there are no immediate plans for school consolidation in Skokie, and some said it’s not clear consolidation would save much money.

 “Things are not black and white,” said East Prairie School District 73 Superintendent James Schopp. “It really comes down to incentives — will children have a better education?”

Some concerned parents also asked about school safety. All the superintendents said safety is paramount and said their schools are better
equipped than ever to protect students, thanks to the installation of security procedures, anti-bullying campaigns, cameras, school liaison police officers,
and staff training.

Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Superintendent Hardy Murphy said there are staffed vestibules at the entrances of the schools in his district. “People cannot come into our schools without looking someone in the eye,” he said.

Click here to read the entire Trib Local story.

 
Oakton Street Road Diet        

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On Oct. 17 the Skokie Village Board unanimously voted down the Road Diet for Oakton Street. At the meeting, Skokie Voice presented a summary of comments on the Road Diet submited via the SV website. To read the summary, click the icon below.
          
rd_comments_summary.pdf
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