West Cook News

River Forest District 90 school board gave pro-"equity" curriculum director Alison Hawley a promotion Tuesday night.

That's in the face of a 20 percent decline in River Forest student test scores since her hiring in 2016.

At a committee of the whole meeting, the board voted unanimously that Hawley, 50, will receive a new title-- Assistant Superintendent of Instruction. She will also see a to-be-determined increase in her current compensation, which includes $210,205 in salary, 43 paid vacation and sick days and a taxpayer-funded annual pension contribution.

Hawley presented to the board a "Year in Review" of her work, which includes a new district grading system, new science curriculum for second through eighth graders and an emphasis on "social and emotional learning." 

She also reported on the district's new "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee," formed in late 2021.

District 90 Superintendent Ed Condon commended Hawley's "equity" work, promising  “we’ll be asking for more” curriculum changes aimed at equalizing the test scores of black and white River Forest students.

Then-District 90 board president Ralph Martire recruited Hawley in 2016 from Winnetka District 36, touting her commitment to the "racial equity" approach to teaching, which holds that lagging academic performance of blacks is due to systemic racism and bias.

Hawley, whose initial salary in River Forest was $138,500, told the Chicago Tribune that "educational equity is very important for me."  

Martire, now a member of the Oak Park and River Forest District 200 board, created and then chaired the district's first "Equity" Committee. 

No longer "Exemplary"

Hawley’s arrival coincided with what Martire called the implementation of new “best practices” for equalizing black and white student outcomes, and what the District 90 leaders called “The Crosswalk."

During Hawley's tenure, the Illinois State Board of Education's classification of all three River Forest K-8 schools have fallen from "Exemplary" in 2016 to ‘Commendable’ in 2019.

The percentage of third grade students meeting or exceeding expectations in English language arts fell from 86% in 2016 to 71% by 2019.  

The same measure in third grade mathematics fell from 73% in 2016 to 65% by 2019.  By 2021 just 59% of all students in the district were meeting or exceeding expectations in English language arts and 57% in math.

In 2016 River Forest District 90 had an attendance rate of 94% for their 108 teachers and spent $15,321 per pupil.  By 2019, the teacher attendance rate fell to 79% for the districts 119 teachers, while taxpayers spent $16,114 per-pupil.

District 90 school board members include Katie Avalos, Calvin Davis, Sarah Eckmann, Barbara Hickey, Rich Moore, Nicole Thompson and Stacey Williams.