School board meetings are increasingly adversarial, with board members and educators harassed and threatened. Boards make local decisions that impact the education and futures of our children, the vitality of our communities, and our budgets as taxpayers. Since school boards provide local governance, why are the same things happening at meetings throughout the suburbs? On Tuesday, February 8, 2022, Joyce Slavik and Jim McGrath from NWSOFA (Northwest Suburbs Organizing for Action) provided perspective and action steps for how we can support our school board members and schools. You can view the presentation slides.
This event was co-sponsored by AAUW Naperville Area, AAUW Aurora Area, AAUW Batavia-Geneva-St. Charles, AAUW Downers Grove Area, AAUW Lombard Area, AAUW Northwest Suburban, and AAUW Wheaton-Glen Ellyn.
About the Speakers
Joyce Slavik is a mom and activist who has worked for years on progressive causes. She is on the Leadership Board of NWSOFA-Indivisible. As the parent of two teenage boys she has been attending local school board meetings for several years. Her top priorities include gun violence prevention, mental health support, and equity protections. Joyce co-chairs monthly meetings with the Indivisible Illinois Social Justice Alliance (IISJA) on disinformation campaigns targeting school boards.
Jim McGrath has an engineering degree from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and a master’s of management degree from Kellogg Northwestern. He co-chairs the “NWSOFA Restore Our Democracy” group, educating on money in politics and vote by mail issues. Jim is active with the Indivisible Illinois Voter Education group where he co-chairs monthly meetings with the Indivisible Illinois Social Justice Alliance (IISJA) on disinformation campaigns targeting school boards. Jim is an active member of several Chicago suburban social action organizations, as well as a precinct captain and a Cook County election judge.