Mark R. Kropke

Thanks for the note. Please do me a favor: Think about the questions I’m about to ask you. First: A public school has students coming, a private school has to go get students within a 30-mile radius. As a public school student myself, tell me why kids and families pick private schools over public and pay to go to high school AND pay property taxes for the local schools? I haven’t even talked about morning, evening, weekend or summer travel back and forth, too. Seriously, why would anyone pay that much more to not attend their local high school AND pay property taxes to the local school. And before any public-school whiner says they’re getting “money” to attend private schools, every public school student does, too, so please stop. If a family feels that strongly to send their child and their money AND pay for the local district, too, don’t you think public schools should be looking internally vs. always blaming private schools? My goal is to help all kids, families, schools and communities - not some, which is what some public-school people are trying to do in Illinois. Every coach who loses student athletes and so-called “middle-school stars” should start asking themselves why and do a 360-degree review. Ask the kids. Ask the families. Learn. Stop blaming someone for not picking your brand for their child and their family. #MoreThanJUSTGames

30 years ago, John Stossel asked why San Diego schools weren’t using Direct Instruction to address students’ struggles in reading and math. The superintendent’s response? Classrooms should be “more than just worksheets and multiplication facts.” When Stossel pointed out that kids weren’t mastering basic skills, she cited rising graduation rates. His retort: “You’re graduating them, but they can’t read.” Fast forward to today, the reflex remains the same: When students aren't academically proficient, deflect to gameable metrics.

The IHSA takes 80 percent of playoff football gate revenue from games played in stadiums it didn’t build, doesn’t own and didn’t pay for. Think about that. Brother Rice is begging donors for money, maybe the IHSA should donate to its capital fund? Taxpayers, donors and school districts invest millions in facilities. Schools provide the athletes, coaches, staff and communities. The IHSA collects the money. We also have retired athletic directors entering the vendor and consulting business, and current school ADs consistently promoting sidehustling consulting services on LinkedIn during the day. That’s not a knock, it leads to this: We’re supposed to believe there aren’t enough smart, experienced people in Illinois to create an independent, stipend-supported board to operate a statewide football playoff? Why are schools surrendering millions in potential revenue to a private third-party business, while asking taxpayers and donors for more money every school year? And here’s another question: Why couldn't mid-tier and lower-tier football programs organize their own postseason championships? Their own brackets, sponsors, media rights and revenue. You think TV stations, streaming platforms and sponsors wouldn't be interested? Of course they would. Why do these schools continue to be used by the one-size system that doesn’t help all? We have plenty of talented administrators, retired ADs and business-minded people who could build a better model. Schools keep running on the same hamster wheel, some blindly defending a system that sends money away from the very institutions creating the product. The IHSA doesn’t own high school football. The schools are high school football. It’s time school leaders stopped asking what the IHSA will allow and started asking what they could accomplish without it. More revenue for schools, more opportunities for kids and less money flowing to a middleman. IHSA was needed 100 years ago. It’s not today. #MoreThanJUSTGames

The 🏆 stays where it belongs in BloNo!!

One of the biggest mistakes in math education has been the move away from practice and memorization. We're told memorization works against understanding. It's usually the opposite. The more foundational knowledge students can retrieve automatically, the more working memory they have available to think about complex mathematics.

31 years, 600 wins, and the best people involved 💚🤍 Congratulations to coach Kim Nelson-Brown on her 600th win at the helm of @IWUVolleyball #TGOE | @IWUVolleyball | #d3vb

Game coverage, photos (thanks ISU) and reaction from Illinois State football's thrilling win over Northern Illinois with more to come later today: pantagraph.com/sports/colleg…

School board members should be required to be certified as substitute teachers and teach in a random classroom once a month. (And get paid.)

During my first year of teaching, there was a veteran teacher near my classroom with nearly thirty years of experience. She was methodical, well prepared, deeply professional, and ran a calm, well-managed classroom. One day, I watched our assistant principal, someone who hadn’t taught in a classroom for over a decade, reprimand her for the way she managed her students. I was stunned. Sadly, this wasn’t an isolated moment. It reflects a pattern that shows up far too often in education: veteran teachers being treated like children by people who haven’t run a classroom in years.