April 19, 2007


We can only hope that Attila Weninger – who says he wants to be taken into the “hearts and minds” of APPLE – will be more successful than that other “hearts and minds” campaign we hear about.  As a first step he might want to get out his appointment book and see if he can
remember February 20, 2007 – when members of the community (including APPLE) met with him and began to get to know him.  Many of the concerns now being expressed throughout the community go back to his performance that night.  The “Husky-wannabe” thing was cute.  But this community is looking for a Superintendent – not a captain for the cheerleading squad. 

Then there was the bit about his current school’s liaison to
the Hispanic community.  Sounded pretty good – until it became apparent that the purpose of the liaison is to tell the community what the school is doing, not to listen to the Hispanic community or work with those parents to set and meet goals.  Even worse was his satisfaction in describing how his current school has “mainstreamed” students with disabilities into the self-contained classes for troubled kids that don’t have disabilities. But perhaps the biggest concern is
the possibility that Weninger’s greatest ability will be in fulfilling
the part of the job description that talked about working with an
“autonomous faculty”. 

Our community does not want an “autonomous faculty” – we want a faculty and a school that are responsive to the needs of all members of the community. 

So, to Attila Weninger I say,  I may be willing to let you into my heart and my mind, but I’d just as soon you stayed out of my high school.

Name withheld
Oak Park Student's Mother