Champaign School Board Names New Committee on Equity

A new committee to advise the Champaign school district on equity issues is now in place. The Unit Four School Board approved members for the Education Equity Excellence --- or Triple E Committee --- during a special meeting Monday night. And they named ten community members to serve on the panel, including notable local African-Americans such as local N-double-A-C-P President Jerome Chambers and former school board member Nathaniel White.

But the new committee is supposed to study equity issues for all Unit Four residents ... so its members also include white, Asian-American and Latino residents. In the last category, bilingual education teacher Lily Jimenez says she hopes the committee can be a voice for families --- especially Latino Families.

"I would love there to be, kind of like an open forum for Latino families", said Jimenez, "to just come and share their experiences with the district. You know, things that they like, things they would like to see different. And then just start a dialog, to see what things the district is doing well, and what things they could do better."

School Board member Susan Grey says that after years under the Consent Decree, she welcomes the feedback from community members.

"I like having a measure of accountability from our own community", says Grey. "Not court oversight, but community oversight".

Other members of the Triple-E Committee will represent the Unit Four administration, teachers union and school board.

School Board member Susan Grey says the board must meet at least twice a semester, but can meet more frequently. She says it can also recruit more members for subcommittees focusing on specific topics. Grey expects the Triple-E Committee to hold its first one oro two meetings before the year is out.

The Ten Community Members Named to the Unit Four EEE Committee:

Virginia "Ginny" B. Holder --- attorney

Lily Jimenez --- bilingual teacher

Annette McDonald Jones --- Dir. of Trust Services, U of I Foundation

Dr. Christina N. Medrano ---surgeon

Karl Radnitzer - education professor, Milliken University

Melodye Benson Rosales -- commercial and educational publishing

Jamar Brown --- member, Champaign Human Relations Committee

Rev. Jerome C. Chambers - President, Champaign County Chapter of the NAACP

Nancy Hoetker --- President, Champaign PTA Council

Nathaniel C. Banks -- former Unit Four School Board member