A contested race in Subdistrict 1 between a longtime incumbent and former president and a political newcomer highlights the School District 186 board of education election on April 1.

All seven school board seats were up for election in 2023. Because terms are staggered, three seats, all for four-year terms, are up this time around.

Anthony "Tony" Mares, who was first elected to the board in 2017, is pitted again Kristin Barnett, a chemist with the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

Mares is the marketing manager for Sangamon Mass Transit District (SMTD).

Subdistrict 1 is in the northwest part of Springfield.

Two incumbents, board president Micah Miller in Subdistrict 2 and Erica Austin in Subdistrict 6 are running unopposed.

Miller, first elected in 2019, works for the Illinois Secretary of State. Austin is the deputy director in the office of external relations/behavioral health workforce center at SIU Medicine and won her first election in 2021.

Below are the candidates' answers to a State Journal-Register questionnaire. In some cases, answers have been edited for length.

District 186 has long been criticized for its teaching force not being reflective of the district. According to the 2023-24 Illinois Report Card, while Blacks make up 45.1% of the student population, only 6.4% of its teachers are Black. How can the district better recruit and maintain minority teachers?

Barnett: Retention and recruitment of teachers of color go hand in hand. We cannot attract more diverse educators if we fail to retain those already hired. It’s crucial to review past challenges these teachers faced and how they were addressed. These numbers highlight a systemic issue that requires effort at more than the district level alone. Recruiting teachers also means integrating them into the broader community. Are racial disparities in other professions just as stark? A divided community cannot grow, and inclusion is essential.

From schools to workplaces, we must foster a welcoming, uplifting environment. Educators deserve daily appreciation for shaping future leaders. The district has worked to diversify staff, connecting with HBCUs to expand outreach. Now, the entire community—schools, businesses, and residents—must do its part to make Springfield more inclusive. A stronger, more united city benefits everyone, and it starts with ensuring all members feel valued and supported.

Mares: District 186 continues to operate under the Desegregation Order of 1976, which includes hiring goals for our teaching staff and has expanded that to our support staff as well. The district has recruiters who search for teaching staff not only at the largest universities in Illinois but also at HBCUs.

The district also has a committee called the Minority Recruitment and Retention Coalition (MRAC). The goal of this group is to identify steps SPS can take to make the workforce more representative of the population. This joint committee is sponsored by the district and local donations with chairs that reside in our community.

There are also minority hiring goals in each of our construction projects. Project Manager O'Shea Builders has a Minority and Females Trades Training cohort.

Austin: While we want all the Black and Brown teachers we can get, we're not willing to wake up and do the work to change the institutional practices and traditions that have implicitly and sometimes explicitly marginalized teachers of color. To not only recruit, we have to retain but to retain, we need to have a clear, intuitive understanding of society from a racialized perspective. It's recognizing that people of color are treated differently, marginalized, and are often viewed from a deficit perspective.

Miller: I would first like to offer a little clarity. In 1974, when the consent decree was signed, there were schools with minority enrollment of less than 1%, while other schools had more than 90%. These types of schools do not exist anymore. Also, the district is exponentially more diverse in every category than any of our neighboring school districts. Finally, the benchmark for hiring more diverse teachers and administrators is tied to the 2020 census, which shows just under 20% of Springfield to be Black. The district has 34% Black administrators, a number far higher than required by law. This is something that I am extremely proud of and is often overlooked when discussing diversity in the district. Our minority teachers have been around 6-8% throughout my time on the board, which is tracked for regular reporting.

To increase the diversity of our teachers, we need to continue outreach to HBCUs, foster partnerships with community leaders, develop new plans with our minority recruitment advisory committee and continue to offer the most attractive salary and healthcare package for teachers in the area.

The Springfield Education Association president said the district's performance on the 2023-24 Illinois Report Card was "a gut check," adding that the disparities between the three public high schools and inequity of elementary schools continued to be "a concern" of education unions. As a board member, what would you suggest in working towards solutions with district and other partners?

Barnett: I wanted to examine the numbers deemed “gut-wrenching” because, while public education needs support, it’s important to see if any progress has been overlooked. Our district isn’t perfect, but dismissing it entirely misses both successes worth celebrating and areas needing attention.

I analyzed Freshman on Target (FOT) and four-year graduation rates to assess student progress pre and post high school. All three high schools improved FOT numbers leading up to 2020. While 2021 saw declines due to the pandemic, recovery followed. Southeast’s FOT rate jumped 20% from 2021-22, and Lanphier’s increased by 14.3%, with an additional 6-point gain in 2022. Springfield High’s FOT dipped in 2021 and has risen just 1.3% since. However, its graduation rate is 1% higher than in 2019. Lanphier’s graduation rate grew 7% since 2019, including a 12% jump from 2023-24. Southeast saw a 9% decline since 2019 but a 10% increase from 2023-24.

These numbers reflect hard work, but sustained growth requires equity across elementary schools, meeting each school’s needs, and uplifting teachers and students daily.

Mares: All three high schools had significant growth in their graduation rates. Lanphier 12% Southeast 10% and Springfield High 9% from 2023 to 2024. Each school has an Improvement Plan that supports growth and improvement efforts that included input from school stakeholders. Lanphier and Southeast also receive federal funding to support this work as well.

The district has added additional support for keeping freshmen on track and supports for getting students back on track by the end of their sophomore year.

Austin: Disparities are always going to be there. We have to find a way to work with them for the betterment of everyone involved. Since the beginning, I have been a huge advocate of the family and community engagement component. We cannot keep saying things like it's a "gut check" when the gut check didn't just happen. It's always been there. The question is: what are we doing individually and collectively to make it better? We need more community involvement. We need people who are willing to not only talk the talk but walk the walk. Please visit the schools, let the students see you, and mentor them. An hour a week seems minimal, but it goes a long way.

Bettina Love authored a book that everyone should read: "We Want To Do More Than Just Survive." She states, "To dismantle the educational survival complex and to achieve academic freedom—not merely reform—teachers, parents, and community leaders must approach education with the imagination, determination, boldness, and urgency of an abolitionist following in the tradition of activists like Ella Baker, Bayard Rustin, and Fannie Lou Hamer." I think we can take from Bettina Love to understand what we are dealing with in our schools and the part that we all play.

Miller: The solution is multifaceted. We, and much of the country, have been using the wrong reading curriculum for decades. This finally reached a breaking point post-pandemic when reading scores bottomed out. The district recently adopted a curriculum that gets back to the basics, involves more instruction and fewer "feel good" initiatives.

Physical environments can also play a significant role in student engagement. Lanphier did not even have HVAC in half of the school, but now it is the premier facility in all of Sangamon County. Students have new opportunities in the arts, e-sports, building trades, athletics...opportunities that simply did not exist two years ago. We are bringing more opportunities and increased equity to schools all around Springfield.

It's important to note that the Springfield community has similar struggles. You can observe the same disparities and inequities between Wards 2 and 3 and Wards 9 and 10, where many of the schools we are talking about are located. We are long overdue to have one unified discussion between the district, the city of Springfield and community leaders about how to lift up a school district and community that are both in need of revitalization and healing.

While Illinois is at the lower end of federal funding for schools, the proposed dismantling by the Trump Administration of the Department of Education could, at the very least, affect students from low-income families and students with disabilities as well as make college financial aid harder to get. What are your views of the proposal and its implications for the district?

Barnett: Dismantling the Department of Education would have severe consequences, many of which go unnoticed by those who don’t directly rely on federally funded programs. Many supporters of this idea misunderstand its role, often citing poor test scores as justification. However, the department does not set curriculums—school boards do. Eliminating its funding would strip essential programs for students with disabilities, leaving many without the resources they need.

Some assume Illinois would remain unaffected, but 17 states are currently suing to end Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which requires schools to support students with 504 plans. If successful, states would bear the financial burden, affecting taxpayers. Illinois could enact protections, but it would come at a significant cost. In our district alone, 192 students could be impacted.

If we want to improve test scores, reading, and math, the solution isn’t to dismantle the Department of Education—it’s to invest more in schools, not force them to operate with fewer resources while neglecting students who need the most help.

Mares : The district receives communication from the federal government and the State Board of Education with regards to funding and no changes have occurred at this time. The district is continuing to have FASFA workshops at each of our high schools so students can file for funding opportunities. Each high school has a Career and College Coach to assist students navigating college and career options.

Austin: First and foremost, we must acknowledge the limitations of executive power. Current administration cannot simply dismantle the Department of Education through an executive order. Closing this department is not feasible, as it oversees vital programs like Title I, which provides funding to schools serving a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which guarantees a free and appropriate public education for children with disabilities. Both of these essential laws were established by Congress and would require congressional action to repeal.

Miller: Long ago as a society, we determined it was in our best interest to live in an educated populace and to fund that endeavor. The recent attacks on education funding have left me wondering, "what is the actual motive?" Is this an attempt to slash budgets with an axe rather than a scalpel? Is it about restoring power to states or a continued effort to dismantle opportunities for people from all walks of life? Is any of this constitutional?

Like so many others, I have more questions at this moment than answers, but I can say definitively and affirmatively that public education is worth funding and worth fighting for. And the people of Subdistrict 2 have my commitment that I will always be there to help them attain the opportunities they deserve in the district.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788: [email protected]: X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie .