Bulletin deadline - January 5, 2012

Looking Ahead... Do you have ideas for what you'd like to read about? Tell us! Don't forget to send us your news for the next LWV Wilmette Bulletin. Deadline for the January Bulletin is January 5, 2012. Trish Nealon trishanealon@me.com Therese Steinken tmsteinken@gmail.com

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS WILMETTE HAS A FACEBOOK PAGE

Consensus Study on the Role of the Federal Government in Public Education

Wilmette League Conducts Successful Consensus Meeting

On November 14, our local league concluded weeks of research and study with a consensus meeting for the national study of The Role of the Federal Government in Education. The purpose of the study was to develop a League position to enable us to advocate on upcoming legislation. A national team developed fifteen consensus questions: 3 general questions; 6 questions focused on Common Core Standards and Assessments; and 6 questions about Funding and Equity. Every local league in the United States was to hold informational meetings and reach consensus on the same fifteen questions. Our Wilmette League formed three subcommittees to tackle all the necessary research and prepare subsequent presentations for the consensus meeting. The History subcommittee consisted of Trudy Gibbs, Beth Nyhan, and Lesley Green. The Common Core Standards subcommittee included Lali Watt, Saima Abbasi, and Therese Steinken. The Funding & Equity subcommittee included Libby Bankoff, Georgia Gebhardt, Trish Nealon, Joyce Pollack, Mimi Rodman, and Gail Thomason. All three subcommittees presented detailed, well researched PowerPoint presentations at the November 14 Consensus Meeting. Nearly twenty league members attended the meeting, held at the Wilmette Public Library. After a short lunch break, Georgia Gebhardt facilitated the discussion, as she led us through each of the consensus questions. Some questions required yes or no responses; others were multiple choice; and others required that we rank our answers in order of importance or significance. Ms. Gebhardt devised a charting system so that we could more readily and systematically rank our answers. Some of the questions and answers were slightly ambiguous or difficult to answer. The discussion was often spirited. Thankfully, our recorder was Dorothy Speidel, who diligently kept track of our answers, as well as our specific comments and concerns regarding the questions themselves. The results were presented at the November 22 Board of Directors Meeting, where the Board of Directors approved them for submission to the National League. The National committee will combine the results nationwide and issue a recommendation for a position to the LWVUS Board in spring 2012. Click STUDY

League of Student and Government Leaders

On September 12, the League of Women Voters of Wilmette held its annual kickoff meeting of the League of Student and Government Leaders at Wilmette Junior High School.

The program provides an opportunity for 8th graders to learn about how the five governing bodies in Wilmette work--independently and, at times, in concert. Elected officials including Village President Chris Canning attended, along with a senior member from the professional staff from the five governing bodies: Wilmette Village, Wilmette Park District, District 39, District 37, and Wilmette Public Library.

Each student is assigned to act as a member of one of the governing bodies. Throughout the year they will participate in four workshops. The workshops build to the final event of the program, a mock board meeting for a governing body.

The League spearheads the program and participates directly by teaching public meeting management skills based on Roberts Rules of Order. It also oversees organization of each of the five programs and coordinates content so that all students come away with a better understanding of how government meetings, budgets, and professional management activities are conducted.

2011-12 League of Student and Government Leaders Weekly Report--9/19/11

Our program got off to a great start this week. Wilmette Junior High Students are now divided into two groups. One group is working with School District 39 and met with 8th Grade Principal Kelly Jackson and Melanie Horowitz, Administrator for Curriculum and Instruction. The second group is working with the Village of Wilmette and met with the Assistant to the Village Manager, John Prejzner.

LWV Wilmette Board Member Trudy Gibbs observed the District 39 meeting and filed this report.

Principal Jackson put the students right to work learning about the roles and responsibilities of elected officials and appointed managers with three exercises.

• In the first exercise, students collaboratively performed a scavenger hunt online and on paper. They began by logging District 39's Web site. Students scrolled through human resource listings to find pictures and job descriptions of the people they will represent at the mock board meeting in October, along with those for other managers. Students performed a parallel exercise to get to know elected officials on the Board of Education. This virtual paper chase was a fun and engaging way to for students to learn about the adults' roles and responsibilities.
• Another enlightening exercise was a "guess who I am" game. Some students became specific government leaders by having titles pinned to their backs; they then had to figure out who they were by asking fellow classmates questions about their positions. Throughout, Ms Jackson stressed the separation in roles and responsibilities between elected and appointed leaders (elected officials vote and appointed officials provide professional expertise and advice).
• A final exercise divided the students into their respective groups--Board of Education members or professional managers. Students prepared questions to ask their mentors before the official Board meeting next Monday night. Without prompting, the students set up a Google Docs document, identified a secretary, and collaboratively came up with a creative list of questions. It was impressive to see how easily they put the school's hardware and cloud-based technology to use.

Beyond roles and responsibilities, this year the students are studying the ramifications (costs and benefits) of a new science laboratory. To introduce the topic, Ms Kelly again directed the students to the WJHS Web site to study three Board of Education documents containing information about the proposal. Students formed three groups for this task, each studying one of the documents. A student spokesperson summarized the reports, and the beginnings of a pro and con discussion followed.

Roles, responsibilities, content, and a glimpse at procedures will all come together on Monday 9/26, when students with Board of Education roles will observe an actual board meeting. At the meeting, the consultant will report his recommendations for updating the science labs. LWV representatives have prepared a set of questions for the students to use during this observation to reinforce learning meeting procedures. To introduce a deeper look at procedures, an upcoming workshop on Robert's Rules of Order will be run as an open-ended exploration. The goal is to help students see the rules as an organized way to manage, document, and efficiently run a public meeting.

St. Joseph School, the Wilmette Public Library and the League of Student and Government Leaders Program

As with the WJHS students, the St. Joseph eighth grade student leaders learned about the roles and responsibilities of the library board and professional staff. League and Library Board, member, Jan Barshis, helped out. Ellen Clark, the Director of the Library, lead the students on a tour of the library, including some behind-the-scene places. The hit was the introduction to the new teen room at WPL and all the programs it has to offer.

In preparation for the students' mock board meeting, Ellen selected three relevant topics for the students to explore: 1) whether to expand the eBook offerings at the library, 2) whether amendments should be made to privacy policies, and 3) whether WPL should consider adding a butterfly garden in front of the library.

Stay tuned for developments as the students prepare. The mock board meeting itself is scheduled for 6:30 pm on October 18th, 3rd floor. Please come or watch for a posting of times the meeting will be shown on Channel 6.

Click here to view pictures from our Facebook page

RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP NOW!

While most of our members have renewed, we're still hoping that those of you who haven't replied are still intending to renew. The Program Committee is busy working on a full schedule of events and we want you to have the opportunity to participate in all the events, not just those open to the public. As with last month, a membership form is included with this bulletin. Please send it, along with your check for $65 ($55 if renewing senior), to LWV Wilmette, PO Box 432, Wilmette, IL 60091. If you have any questions about your membership, please feel free to call Membership Director, Jan Peterson, on 847-256-5692.

Streaming Video from Village of Wilmette

You can now watch streaming video of live or archived Village Board meetings. Click here for Village webpage

Coming Soon! National Study on Privatization and State Study on Pension Reform

National Study on Privatization

The timeline for this study: August to September material is mailed to Leagues. From November to next May the local Leagues conduct their studies. The following Board members are interested: Mari Terman, Trudy Gibbs, Judy Mandel and Cinda Axley.

State Study on Pension Reform

Georgia Gebhardt is working on this study but has not yet received the materials. Susan Morrison and Therese will join Georgia.