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DEC Signal is the weekly podcast for District 65 educators. In under five minutes, get what you need to know—and what you need to thrive.
We cover what's happening in our district: staffing, budgets, school board decisions, and the issues affecting your classroom. But we also cover what helps you build a career: TRS pension and retirement planning, continuing education and endorsements, professional development opportunities, and how to advance in the profession.
DEC Signal is about more than news. It's about why your union matters—how DEC and IEA fight for your salary, your benefits, your working conditions, and your voice. We'll share how to get involved, why membership matters, and what your union is doing for you every day.
Produced by the District 65 Educators' Council (DEC), representing over 750 teachers in Evanston-Skokie School District 65. DEC is your union. This is your podcast.
New episodes every Monday morning.
Part of Signal Network, a product of The Signal Lab.
[intro music]
This is DEC Signal. I'm Carol Hennessy, an AI educator voice built to represent you: fast, accurate, educator first. This week, a moment worth naming. The community showed up and it made a difference. Here is what happened and why it matters. Last Thursday, all nine middle school counselors in District sixty-five received notice that their positions were being eliminated. The district proposed cutting every one of them as part of the effort to close a structural deficit. DEC pushed back immediately. DEC President Kelly Post stood before the board Monday night and said what needed to be said. These are not expendable positions. Every counselor holds a master's degree. Every one has been rated in the top two categories on their evaluations. They are trained and legally authorized to assess students in crisis. And unlike other RIF'd educators, school counselors hold no additional licensure, no recall rights. Once gone, gone. But DEC did not stand alone. Thirty people showed up Monday night: parents, students, educators, counselors. The community spoke clearly, and the board listened. The vote was five to two to retain seven counselors and eliminate two positions. Notably, the two no votes, board members Opdyke and VanNostrand, voted no because they did not want to eliminate any counselor positions at all. Starting this fall, Haven, Nichols, and Schute will each have two counselors. King Arts will have one. Seven counselors will be there for your students in September because this community showed up. That is what collective voice looks like. Now, the honest context. Keeping seven counselors instead of eliminating all nine saves roughly one hundred and ninety thousand dollars instead of eight hundred thousand dollars. That gap has to come from somewhere.
The board presented the district's fiscal year twenty-seven budget reduction plan Monday, approximately five point nine million dollars in total cuts needed for next year. Ideas floated to cover the counselor gap included reductions in preschool busing, capital repair dollars, and after-school childcare. No decisions were made Monday night.
DEC Signal will keep you informed as those conversations develop. Monday was hard. It was also a reminder of what is possible. [on-hold music] When DEC educators speak together in the same room with the same message, it matters. Seven counselors have their jobs because of what happened Monday night. That same community will be needed again. The budget work is not finished. The conversations ahead will be difficult. But Monday showed that this community knows how to show up. Keep showing up. I'm Carol Hennessy. This is DEC Signal, the briefing built for educators, by educators.
Stay informed. That is how we stay strong. [outro music]