ALGONQUIN – A coalition of local educator unions known as the District 300 Educators (D300 Educators) is recommending Stephen J. Fiorentino, Randi Gauthier, Olutola “Tola” Makinde and Nancy Zettler.
D300 Educators is made up of the District 300 Education Support Association (DESA), District 300 Educational Services Personnel Association (DESPA) and Local Education Association District 300 (LEAD300) unions that represent 2,407 teachers, nurses, social workers, psychologists, coaches, interventionists, paraeducators, clerical, custodial, maintenance, building and grounds and all other educational support staff working in Community Unit District 300, educating the 19,951 students who attend more than two dozen schools in the district.
D300 Educators are already mobilized and working on both get-out-the-vote efforts and advocating for their recommended candidates.
The following statement is attributable to the D300 Educators Spokesperson Mike Williamson:
“We firmly believe Stephen Fiorentino, Randi Gauthier, Olutola “Tola” Makinde and Nancy Zettler will support our students and communities and that they will continue to build on the incredible work we’ve been doing together in District 300. For the past several years, all three D300 Educator locals have worked hard to build a collaborative relationship with the administration and the school board. We believe these individuals will continue to work with us to foster good working relationships and to protect public education.
This is a critical time for public education. Throughout Illinois and across the country, candidates are attempting to use politics to pit communities, parents and educators against each other. District 300 is no exception. The vitriol, disinformation and fear mongering are an attempt to divide us. It’s a distraction from what’s really important: our students and their education.
It is imperative that we elect candidates who believe in public education, who are student focused, and who recognize that our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions. Two of these candidates are incumbent school board members who have proven track records of advocating for our students and our members. The other two candidates are tireless community advocates who have already worked with us to make District 300 a strong school district for all students.”
The D300 Educators completed an extensive vetting process to get to know each candidate, including reviewing questionnaires and interviews, voting unanimously to recommend Fiorentino, Gauthier, Makinde and Zettler. To learn more about D300 Educators’ recommended candidates visit the D300 Educators website.
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At 135,000 members strong, the Illinois Education Association (IEA) is the largest union in Illinois. The IEA represents PreK-12 teachers outside the city of Chicago and education support staff, higher education faculty and support staff, retired education employees and students preparing to become teachers, statewide.
