Metro East Sun

GOP activist Jennifer Korte is disappointed with the hiring of Tony Sanders as the next state superintendent of schools.

Korte is an Edwardsville resident. 

“It is disappointing, but not surprising that Gov. Pritzker would appoint someone who has shown less than adequate progress in his own school district,” Korte told the Metro East Sun. “Mr. Tony Sanders has been Superintendent of U-46 in Elgin IL for several years and compared to the state averages, his school district has underperformed in math, writing, reading, and science proficiency. With an average spending of $15,000 per pupil, one would think the proficiency rates would be higher. With that said, I was pleased to see Mr. Sanders rejected the radical sex education that Superintendent Carmen Ayala pushed. We have seen how the Illinois State Board of Education has focused their efforts on social issues over teaching children the basics. Time will tell if Mr. Sanders will be able to stand up to the overly powerful teacher unions and the woke agenda of our Democratic government to do what is best for the children in Illinois. I would love to see Mr. Sanders work in collaboration with parents, teachers, and individual schools across the state rather than make authoritarian decisions based on the whim of the unions and our governor.” 

Ayala, who announced in November that she will be stepping down after her contract expires Jan. 31 this year, was dubbed by Korte as being a "yes woman" to Pritzker and the teacher unions. Ayala's "need to control local schools by way of threatening funding and accreditation was a level of tyranny," which Korte said she never thought she'd see, "All without due process in the court of law.” 

“Superintendent Ayala also pushed for the radical comprehensive sex education that has been rejected by 70 percent of Illinois schools," Korte said. "Many Illinois schools are failing the grade and yet she has been more focused on indoctrination than teaching kids the basics. Her motto seemed to be more of a one-size-fits-all approach, rather than allowing individual schools to make the best decision for their students. As we know, Chicago schools are vastly different than schools in the Metro East. I wish her well, but was happy to see her retire.” 

The former GOP candidate for the 112th House District further stated that, “We continue to see un-elected officials such as the IL State Board of Education and Teacher Unions make unilateral decisions in collaboration with our IL government that have severe consequences for children and families."

"ISBE turned our schools into social justice centers and the education of our children has suffered," she said. "When our schools weaken, our communities weaken and we will continue to see an outmigration of families and businesses. It is time to restore local control of schools to the communities who have a vested interest in seeing the schools succeed.”

Sanders was promoted to the state superintendent post despite a 9-year tenure at U-46 that Wirepoints alleges ended with poor outcomes for many students. “At U-46, just 1 in every 10 minority students can read at grade level. For all students, it’s just 2 in 10. Sanders has been in the district since 2007 and was named superintendent there in 2014,” Wirepoints’ Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner wrote.

Wirepoints followed up on Facebook. “Anybody following Wirepoints’ recent reporting on Illinois’ educational crisis already knows the numbers: statewide just 1 of every 10 black students can read at grade level, and for Hispanics, it’s just 2 in every 10. For white students, it’s a better but still dismal 4 in 10. It’s not an exaggeration to say the state’s public schools are condemning an entire generation of #Illinois children to failure,” Wirepoints posted. “So when Governor JB Pritzker recently had the chance to name a new Superintendent to lead the state, he could have picked somebody to shake up the system, somebody whose district was actually leading the state in reading and math outcomes. Maybe somebody from outside the system or outside the state. Somebody who would, finally, prioritize merit, achievement and competence. Somebody who would obsess about dramatically raising student scores.” 

Wirepoints said, "Instead, Pritzker chose Tony Sanders, Superintendent of U-46 in #ElginIL, the state’s second-largest school district with 35,000 students. Sanders' record at U-46 is dismal. There, just 1 in every 10 minority students can read at grade level. For all students, it’s just 2 in 10. Sanders has been in the district since 2007 and was named superintendent there in 2014, so he owns those numbers.”

Sanders became the superintendent of Elgin-based School District U-46 in 2014. Elgin U46 is the state’s second-largest school district with over 39,000 students in 40 elementary schools, eight middle schools, and five high schools. 

He received criticism after several incidents of bullying were publicized. “They are letting the anti-mask children –– they’re calling them –– be assaulted, literally assaulted, and they are congratulating those students,” Elgin parent Joshua Martin claimed, according to the Kane County Reporter. “She got her hand shook by the teachers and my child.” U-46 also continued a mask mandate policy after mandatory masking was ruled unconstitutional. That rule would have enacted mandatory masking based on COVID rates in the school district.