Dupage Policy Journal

The wife of Community High School Board District 99 Board of Education candidate Ken Dawson was recently hired by the district.

The hiring of 64-year-old Donna L. Dawson occurred at a Feb. 27 school board meeting.

Dawson was hired as a “Permanent guest teacher” at a rate of $150 per day. She previously worked for McDonald’s Corporation.

She is a member of the board of directors for the District 99 Education Foundation where she serves as a Grant Chair.

“Donna Dawson is a community member and former employee of McDonald’s Corporation for 37 years. Dawson’s son Brian graduated from South High School in 2018 and now attends College of DuPage,” her bio on the District 99 Education Foundation website reads.

Ken Dawson has also worked for McDonald’s Corporation.

The race has received notice from the greater Illinois community after Kara Casten – the wife of U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) – joined the race.

Dawson is a slate mate of Casten’s along with Don Renner.

"The three of us come from diverse backgrounds and political affiliations, but what unites us is that we all care about the future of our schools," Dawson said in a profile.

"The fact that we're running together demonstrates that we're natural collaborators and listeners, and that we know that we're stronger as a team. I'm proud to be affiliated with Kara and Don.”

Casten said the three are running on an “equity” platform.

Sean Casten notably has a close relationship with D99 Superintendent Hank Thiele.

Thiele and Casten were outed for having a close relationship revealed by emails obtained by DuPage Policy Journal showing exchanges between the two.

"I would like to help support the school board in the upcoming election," Casten wrote in an email to Thiele.

Thiele responded in a little over a quarter of an hour.

"Feel free to reach out to me anytime," he wrote.

A month and a half later Kara Casten entered the race. Her candidacy has been punctuated by her support of controversial political ideologies, including the support of Marxist "Critical Race Theory" (CRT) and transgenderism for students at Downers Grove North and Downers Grove South high schools.