Dupage Policy Journal

State Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) is putting her support behind Parents for CUSD 200 Children, a group of conservative candidates running for the Wheaton Warrenville Unit School District 200 school board. 

“I’m very happy about my local district 200 school board (candidates),” Grant told Dupage Policy Journal. “There's a slate of four conservative Republicans and they stepped up to the plate. They have all kinds of support. They have money. They know what they're doing. They have 4x4 signs everywhere in people's yards on Main Street, six in a row. I mean, it's I'm just so excited, so happy that the parents have said, 'OK, enough with you lawmakers. We're not going to let you push us around. It's really great. I think that they're upset pretty much about what has been thrown at them by the majority legislation as far as sex education. I think the school has now been able to opt out of this because they're putting their sex ed in the health class. And I think that the lawmakers are figuring this out and they're going to probably do something about that, too. I'm very excited DuPage County is stepping up to the plate and this. It's important that a Republican organization stands up and says, ‘no, we're done.’”

The Parents for CUSD 200 Children slate consists of Kim Hobbs, Amy Erkenswick, Spencer Garrett, and David Sohmer. The group laid out its goals on Facebook. “While we appreciate the many ways that District 200 has positively impacted our community, we recognize there are a number of areas that will require significant attention. This list of focus areas includes, but is not limited to: academic decline; parental rights and consent; age-appropriate LLC materials and curriculum; fiscal responsibility; transparency with the community.”

Erkenswick recently discussed academic decline in the school system as a reason to elect reformers. 

“Many of our community members are unaware of the downtrend in our students’ proficiencies and test scores here in District 200,” Erkenswick said on Facebook. “The current Board of Education largely ignores this fact as it is not part of discussions at School Board meetings. Yes, some of it is pandemic-related learning loss, but this has been trending since 2010. Roughly half of our district students aren’t reading or performing math at grade level. The achievement gap is also widening at a growing rate. Despite the district’s recent efforts and curriculum changes, the trend continues. Something is amiss and things need to change. If elected, I will do the hard work and dig deep to consider what best practices, curricula, guiding principles, interventions and supports we as a district might be missing the mark on. I will hold other board members and administrators accountable for the outcomes of these efforts."

Erkenswick vowed she will "revise the current high school grading system as offering partial credit for missing and incomplete assignments does not promote academic rigor nor does it prepare our students for the real world expectations of the work force. Every child deserves an excellent education and every child can achieve that if we put in the work.”

CUSD 200 headquarters are at 130 W Park Ave. in Wheaton. 

The school district provides education for nearly 12,00 students over 20 schools. It employs around 928 teachers with a 12-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio.

In 2021, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a sexual education bill that requires children begin taking sexual education sessions as early as age 8, Effingham Radio reported. While that bill allowed for school districts to opt out, which the  majority did, another bill has been proposed that would not allow school districts to opt out. That mandate includes topics like gender identity be taught to young children. The legislation was designed as a way to align state and federal standards for sexual education.