Dupage Policy Journal

Amanda “Amy” Erkenswick is a candidate for Wheaton Warrenville Unit School District 200 who is focusing her campaign on student outcomes.

She reckons "Something is amiss and things need to change".

“Many of our community members are unaware of the downtrend in our students’ proficiencies and test scores here in District 200,” Erkenswick said in a Parents for CUSD 200 Children Facebook post. “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.  

Erkenswick pledged to "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," she said. "To begin-I would move to 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 workforce. Every child deserves an excellent education and every child can achieve that if we put in the work.” 

Erkenswick is a graduate of Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Science in Speech-Language Pathology and an emphasis on Communicative Disorders. "Her work history has included management positions across several industries,” Parents for CUSD 200 Children's website reads. “Amy is a dedicated member of our Wheaton community and actively involved in our schools.  Serving as a room parent for two classrooms at Emerson Elementary, she has first-hand experience in working with our incredible teachers, students and administrators."  Erkenswick also "regularly volunteers for various school events including book fairs, Explore more days, etc. Outside of CUSD 200 Amy has worked in children’s ministry at church, served as the Newcomers Chair for her golf league, and volunteered for numerous other organizations.  She also has a heart for missions and has traveled twice to Haiti to serve at King’s Orphanage and Hospital.” Erkenswick is married to a CPA, Mark. 

State Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) is putting her support behind Parents for CUSD 200 Children. “I’m very happy about my local district 200 school board (candidates) “I'm just so excited, so happy that the parents have said, okay, enough with you lawmakers. We're not going to let you push us around. It's really great,” Grant told DuPage Policy Journal. “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.”

Erkenswick notes her other credentials on LinkedIn. “I manage payables and payroll for a local small business while simultaneously managing a busy household. I have work experience in client services, healthcare diagnostics, bookkeeping, administration, hospitality management and talent acquisition,” she stated.