On January 28, 2025, we at the Illinois Valley Times submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Mendota Community Consolidated School District 289. The request pertains to all emails and memos from the past year that contain the keywords "Lucy Calkins" and "Units of Study".
As part of our commitment to providing comprehensive and accurate news coverage on local governmental affairs, we believe access to these public records is essential. This will enable us to fulfill our professional responsibilities, which include holding public institutions accountable and providing transparency to the public.
According to the Illinois Report Card, the average state teacher salary in 2023 was $73,916, while the state average administrative salary was $116,908. The average student-to-administrative ratio stands at 141:1, and the average student-to-teacher ratio is at 17:1. It's worth noting that 58% of teachers in Illinois have a master's degree or higher.
We hope that by accessing these records we can shed light on important issues related to education in our community. As a media organization involved in gathering and reporting news to the public, we believe we are eligible for a fee waiver as a media professional.
We await response from Mendota Community Consolidated School District 289 regarding this request.
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