Closing Statements by Board Members
May 26, 2006

Leslie Pinney explained that there were 180 titles on the list, so there was no way she could possibly read ALL of the books, so she researched them on the Internet and found that other communities questioned these materials. She presented her concerns to the board. The board president told her that discussion of the books was not "germane." She forwarded excerpts to board members the weekend of May 13 along with questions about the selection process, worthiness of the materials, etc. She received little response and incomplete answers to her questions. Erin Holmes' article in the Daily Herald erroneously characterized this as an effort to BAN books, which it never was. Leslie noted that the current opt-out policy is clearly flawed, in part because it depends on kids rather than on parents, and needs attention/repair. As an example, she talked about her own daughter's opt-out experience. Leslie apologized to educators who may have felt disrespected by her concerns, and stated that her intent was not to disrespect, but to advocate a joint parent-teacher solution to objectionable materials.

Bill Blaine affirmed the current policy which relies on "trained professionals" who understand the State standards, college entrance exams, etc. He provided an explanation for why he felt BAN is, in fact, an appropriate term. He expressed trust in the staff and said that District 214 wants to teach "critical thinking" and problem solving.

Lenore Bragaw pointed out that despite her own superior credentials as an english major, philosophy minor, and attorney, she doesn't consider herself qualified as an expert to select literature (the unspoken but clear message being that Leslie is even more unqualified to make this judgment).

Mimi Cooper implied that Leslie was just too ignorant to understand that the Board's role was simply to find an efficient means of purchasing the books, not to review them for substance, and said sarcastically that it had been a "learning experience" for her. She said now that we've had the public discussion, she can also judge the substance of these books as educationally sound. She believes that parents should read/discuss the books with their kids and recognize that teachers are specialists.

Robert Zimmack said Mimi's comments were outstanding and hard to follow. His five children were, and some of his grandchildren are, in District 214. He felt that the students' comments were outstanding, that we have qualified teachers who are teaching "critical thinking" and we have an opt-out policy for those who object to a book. He spoke in praise of Freakonomics and The Things They Carried, calling them constructive and knowledgeable. He referred positively to the Chicago Tribune editorial and to remarks by Mary Dempsey (the woman quoted therein as defending the foul language in these books because it is also used on the battlefield and in the hallways of public schools).

Alva Kreutzer said that dissent is good and that the meeting represented democracy in action. She was bothered when she received the excerpts and that her college age daughter screamed in outrage about The Awakening being on Leslie's list. This daughter read Slaughterhouse-Five at 14 yrs old; Alva said that students need to understand the horrors of war. She found Fallen Angels is in the young adults section at the library or bookstore, in a section for 7th grade and up; she described the story told and concluded that the excerpts are a gross injustice. She originally said that she heard and was troubled by parents' and students' complaints about opt-out, but later said "I didn't say there was a problem with it." She gave a defense of the selection process and pointed out that the same books were approved last year (at which point Leslie had been on the board only two weeks, which is why Leslie didn't question it then).

Bill Dussling said that no one had proved to him that removing these books from the list would improve education.

Leslie asked to say something else and was speaking, but a board member (Mimi Cooper?) motioned to cut her off in mid-sentence.

The motion to approve the purchase of these books was approved 6-1, with Leslie as the only dissenting vote.