District 90 lets taxpayers, parents, students in on their priorities

In a six to one vote, the River Forest district 90 board approved a long-awaited teachers contract that likely forces a tax-hike referendum, staff cuts, or both.

The March 11, 2026 meeting of school board members lasted just nine minutes- seven used by a sole no-vote. 

Board member Isenberg painted a tenuous picture of district finances explaining it had spent more money than it took in during three of the five years. He quoted the district’s director of finance, who warned a new teachers’ union contract would be “unsustainable.”

Isenberg said the board was failing to live up to its stated standard - “fair compensation for staff, financial stewardship for taxpayers, and commitment to student success.”

The contract promises teacher pay increases totally approximately 21% over the next three years.  The largest part is paid now, retroactive to July 2025 and covering this school year. Then, teachers will get raises in each of the next three years - 4% in 2026-27 and 2027-28, and 3.25% to 5% in 2028-29. 

With the contract, a teacher paid a median base salary of $77,679 this past year will see an increase of $16,514 to new base of $94,194 by fall 2028.  Health insurance benefits increased slightly in dollar amount; however, the new contract uses fixed contributions whereas the former was a function of premiums. Teacher workdays went unchanged – 184 required days, 100-day minimum to maintain pay and benefits, and 14 to 18 days of sick leave depending on tenure.

How to pay for this?

First, some district 90 staff will lose their jobs.  The contract had a deadline for communicating reduction in force of April 15.

At the March 16, 2026 board meeting, a Willard Elementary librarian said staff cuts are “disheartening to say the least”.

She explained “we received news that many cuts must be made and jobs sacrificed” and alluded to plans replacing full-time librarians with part-timers at elementary schools. To date, District 90 has been tight-lipped on the subject.

Ralph Martire changed the arc of school quality in River Forest as board member and president. He initiated “fundamental transformation of instructional philosophy” at district 90 as he was lobbying for Chicago’s teachers’ unions and selling his “evidence-based funding formula.” More money replaced academic outcomes as the sign of success.  Well Ralph, the evidence is in.

Overfunded (144%) and still spending more

How could a small wealthy district funded at 144.7% adequacy fail students, residents and teachers?

The April 7^th board meeting provided the context needed by River Forest residents to understand low average teacher salary was just a symptom of the district’s problem with mismanagement (timestamp 1:00:00). 

The forecast shared at the April 7^th meeting baked-in the new contract expenses and shows salaries plus benefits are set to grow from $23.4M (FY 2025–26) to $27.8M (FY 2029–30), while the “Education Fund” balance declines from $28.6M to $20.0M.

The chart shows the district becoming dependent on year-over-year borrowing to cover structural operating deficits – a new condition in the district that creates legal problems. Fund balance here refers to the combined balances of Education, Operations & Maintenance, Transportation, and Working Cash accounts.

Source: district 90

District 90 borrowed to fund operations in 2004, 2015, and in 2023 when the board authorized debt issuance of $13.5M and used $4.5M - an amount limited by the districts Debt Service Extension Base or the maximum tax hike a district can extend annually for debt payments timestamp 1:25:00. 

The district has until late August to draw from the same issuance; however, this only kicks the can.  Even $5M borrowed extends problems just two years, and don’t forget year-over-year funding of structural deficit with borrowed money is illegal, as is using long-term debt as a substitute for balanced budgets. 

For now, the legal loophole is fund transfers – issuing debt tied to Working Cash, moving that money into operating accounts.  That practice is common to public schools in covering an occasional shortfall in cashflow. Projections show the problem isn’t occasional anymore and may be why Isenberg described cuts as “inevitable”.

As of May 2026, the district does not have a strategic plan and has assigned the burden of a balance budget to the incoming superintendent. 

Board president Katie Avalos asked whether they could do their financial planning at an off-the-record summer retreat, but her idea was thankfully rejected.

Instead, Joe Cortese, the board’s director of finance, has begun planning what he called “longer term strategic planning” at the board table.

Enough fake fairness

“Our teachers and the curriculum discriminate” was the story spun by board president and teacher’s lobbyist Ralph Martire to a paid audience of the “National Equity Project.”

 Superintendent Condon told local media “We had a couple of experiences with students that happened in a short period of time, where families indicated they felt excluded.”

It was enough for the Wednesday Journal to announce a fake award for the two, even though River Forest had become a national outlier for low learning rates.

Stanford’s Educational Opportunity Project described the period after “social justice equity” and before remote teaching like this:

“River Forest SD 90, Illinois provides roughly average educational opportunities while children are in school. Students learn 5% less each grade than the U.S. average. Socioeconomic status is far above the national average. Learning rates are 21% lower than those of districts with similar socioeconomic status.” 

Spending on books, debunked reading curricula, teacher training, and “equity” consultants alone approached $1 million. At the same time, the district expanded staffing. Full-time employees grew by nearly 12% since 2019 even as enrollment declined, suggesting rising costs to support a lower-performing instructional model.

The district needed new leadership aligned with the new philosophy. Under Alison Hawley, the district adopted constructivist “student-centered” curricula that was going to “meet students where they are.” In practice, these approaches reduced direct instruction, sidelined teachers, and manufactured student problems that would require more bad ideas. Hawley’s salary rose from $138,500 to $210,205 as school quality fell.

Before her departure, a radical and unanimous board approved her proposal for a five-year advanced purchase of a math curriculum associated with declining achievement—an expense that now requires further spending to reverse.

Beyond finances and academics, the district’s culture and trust deteriorated. Teachers that left for other districts returned during negotiations to make remarks on low pay and dubious leadership; the kind of worst-in-state teacher sentiment not shared by district communications. Teachers are not alone in resigning from district 90.

Families have also responded. Enrollment dropped 9% since 2019 despite a 10% increase in the resident population, with particularly notable declines at the middle school level, where class sizes shrank in most grade-level instances between 2020 and 2024.

The district’s exclusive focus on teacher salaries during drawn-out negotiations isn’t just bad communications, it shows some school officials holding onto that new philosophy.

Rising population but falling enrollment, increasing staff alongside declining performance, escalating costs connected to worse outcomes, and a loss of both educator expertise and community trust. Taken together, mismanagement may be an understatement.

It's E3 where equity still means fairness

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