Editorial

It comes down to such an elemental difference in view about the role of public education — maybe especially in Oak Park — that it is inevitably a difficult conversation.

In a story we reported on OakPark.com Friday and which we expand in print today, Abu-Taleb raised $72,000 for his campaign, including $23,000 of his own money. That about tripled the $21,000 raised by the competing VMA-backed group.

The achievement gap begins at birth. That is the simple truth. A child born into a family with scarce financial resources, limited history of educational attainment, and/or a less stable family structure falls behind from its first days no matter how much that baby is treasured and loved.

For the third consecutive May, Oak Park and River Forest are getting ready for Celebrating Seniors, a project of the Oak Park-River Forest Township Senior Services Committee. This is a multifaceted effort to both provide resources to our elders but also to shift lingering perceptions that getting older is in any way getting lesser.