Evanston School Board Candidate Profile: John Martin

EVANSTON, IL — Five candidates are running for three open seats on the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 school board in the April 4 municipal elections.

Two incumbents are seeking re-election: Sergio Hernandez and Mya Wilkins. They face three challengers: John Martin, Ndona Mubayayi and Omar Salem.

Evanston Patch sent a questionnaire to all candidates ahead of Tuesday's vote and publishes their responses verbatim.

John Martin

Age (as of Election Day)
40

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?
No

Education
Master of Taxation, DePaul University, Chicago, IL

Occupation

Senior Tax Manager, tax accounting software company
19 years experience

Campaign Website
https://www.johnmartin65.com

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Commissioner Evanston AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization)
Registrar Evanston AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization)

The most pressing issues facing the district are _______, and this is what I intend to do about them.

Steep decline in enrollment. I will address this by ensuring that Equity & Excellence are both treated with the same importance, not “equity or excellence.” Equity and Excellence can coexist and complement each other. We need both to reverse District 65’s steep decline in student enrollment. A culturally inclusive and reflective education is what we want for our kids—a better holistic support system for our teachers: socially, emotionally, and academically.

Lack of trust among the critical parties of teachers, administrators, parents, and students, which has contributed to both families and teachers leaving D65. I will help rebuild and foster positive and trusting relationships among all parties. We need to treat everyone with respect and work collaboratively, even when opinions differ. We must let teachers focus on their core role of teaching and be supportive of their needs. I will address this by doing my part to ensure the Board is independent and transparent, with clear explanations of policy decisions provided as summaries on the district’s website for all to read.

Fiscal responsibility and transparency are missing. I will address this by using my financial expertise and deep experience to closely scrutinize the millions of dollars spent on consultants and administrators that take funds away from students and teachers. Dollars spent must benefit the students and classrooms, with the goal of meeting each and every child’s unique needs.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

Why should voters trust you?

I do what I say I’ll do. And I do not make a decision without data. Data should be the basis of every decision made, especially when it comes to our children’s education. These decisions should not be made behind closed doors, nor should they be made in a vacuum. Voters should trust me because I will ask for the data behind every proposal, ensure decisions made are based on the data, and then share those decisions in easy to find summaries on our website. Parents are busy and they want to know what’s going on with their children's education, and I will make it easy for them to find that information.

If you win this position, what accomplishment would make your term in office as a success?

Exit interviews. Every family who has left D65 in the past year should be asked why they left. This data should be captured and used to improve D65. On-going exit interviews will be critical.

Decision summaries. On the district website there should be brief explanations of every decision or policy change made by the Board. Parents are busy but they also want to know what’s going on with their children’s education. Let’s make that easy for them.

Raising my hand. Too much rubber-stamping has been occurring. We parents need someone on the Board who will be the voice asking for more information before contracts are awarded or policies are changed.

What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the handling of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?

What would you do to improve the district's retention and recruitment of educational professionals?

First and foremost, I want to make it clear that I am 100% in support of D65 teachers. They are the backbone of our schools. Losing them equates to losing years of expertise and knowledge. I am committed to both the retention and recruitment of the excellent teachers our children deserve.

From my conversations with teachers, they have told the administration and board what they want and need, and their needs have gone unmet, and worse, been silenced. I will ensure all teachers’ requests and comments are responded to, and not with a generic reply. I understand from a financial point not everything is possible, but everything should be heard and considered. I also want to be sure the students see themselves in their teachers. I know we need more Black male teachers in order to meet the teacher to student ratio.

In what areas, if any, are students in the district exceeding standards? In what ways, if any, are they falling behind?

The equity initiatives put into place over the past couple years are certainly exceeding standards. It is so impressive what has been done in such a short time frame. It’s also encouraging to see sports returning to the schools.

Kids are falling behind in math and reading. The district adopted new “college readiness” benchmarks that have lowered expectations (and these benchmarks are not aligned with D202, setting students up for failure): “The new benchmark scores indicating college readiness are significantly lower than the ones adopted by the School Board in 2016. The change will lower District 65’s benchmarks to measure college readiness in reading from the 60th to the 45th percentile.” The board did not share the data behind this decision, which lead parents to fill the void with their own thoughts and assumptions. This is never good. The data needs to be understood and shared, along with all decisions.

Do you think the current school board has done enough to support racial equality? If not, what specifically should be done to do so?

I do believe the current board is doing a great job at supporting racial equity. I participated in a DEI Beyond Diversity training in early March, and one big takeaway is that this work is never done. It is always ongoing, and something that is interwoven in every decision the district makes. The ongoing efforts to support racial equity will without a doubt continue; my goal is to ensure that we are meeting other Board obligations. This includes ensuring our teachers and staff are getting the support they need for implementation of these processes, and that we are able to pivot approaches if we identify something is not working. The students need to remain the priority, and our teachers are the every day face to face interactions with our children.

Is there any reason you would not serve your full term of office, other than those of health or family?

No. My intent is to serve this term and to run again for the next. I have 2 kids in D65, in 1st and 2nd grade. I am in this for the long term.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Life is a mystery full of paradoxes. Keep a sense of humor, especially about yourself, it is a strength beyond all measure. Change is constant, know that nothing stays the same.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I’m running because our school board has lost sight of what’s truly important. The students need to be our top priority. Full stop. Our teachers are the ones in the trenches with our children, and they are crying out for help to no avail. I want to be the voice for those teachers, so they can do what they do best, educating our children. We need to ensure our teachers have the resources they need to do their job effectively, marshaling and channeling resources into the classroom first and foremost. More and more is being asked of our teachers without the support and infrastructure improvements that are necessary to be successful. There is no substance behind the vernacular. The implementation so far has been poor. End result? Our children are falling behind, creating negative inflection points in their educational journey. Again, this is unacceptable.

I want us to do a better job of giving people the tools to be a part of the conversation about educating our children. Why can’t we explain the approach to why curriculum is changing, and why it is beneficial to the group on the whole? Or how it may appear like your child is moving backwards in year one, but how they will look in year two and three, and how it is helping all of the children on the whole? If we were handing out report cards for the board, they would be failing in vital areas. Why should we let the status quo continue to dim our stars? Why should we continue to let a lack of transparency and misinformation create divisions among us? We all benefit when we all feel like a community, but right now we are seeing groups pitted against each other. I want the Board, and community by extension, to be a place that feels like all voices are welcome. I am asking that you vote for me to help ensure that our children have better educational prospects. A vote for me will ensure that you have a voice at the table that pushes for us to be better. Our children deserve that.