Op-Ed: Go Woke, Go Broke, Naperville D203's Path to Financial Ruin by Shannon Adcock

Shannon Adcock
1 day ago
3 min read

As the founder of Awake Illinois, I've spent years scrutinizing how Illinois school districts prioritize ideology over education, often at the expense of taxpayers and students. The latest fiasco in Naperville Community Unit School District 203 (D203) is a textbook example: facing a projected $12.4 million budget deficit for the 2026-27 school year, the district is now dangling retirement incentives to push out veteran teachers.

This move, approved by a 5-1 board vote on February 20, 2026, allows eligible educators to irrevocable commit to retirement by March 6 in exchange for full benefits under the Teachers' Retirement System.

It's a desperate Band-Aid for a self-inflicted wound, one caused by years of wasteful spending on "woke" initiatives that have nothing to do with core academics.

Let's be clear: D203's financial woes aren't a surprise. The district's five-year forecast has been dipping into the red since at least November 2025, with deficits projected to balloon from $5.25 million in FY2026 to $14.4 million by FY2028 if unchecked.

Board members demanded nearly $12.4 million in cuts from the upcoming budget,

yet they've continued to pour money into divisive programs.

Take the half-million-dollar, five-year contract with Panorama Education, approved back in March 2024 for a "Student Success Program."

This isn't about math or reading—it's a "digital backpack" for social-emotional learning (SEL), surveying kids on their feelings and perceptions, often mining data in ways that raise serious privacy concerns under FERPA.

Parents have had to opt out en masse from these intrusive surveys, which the district pushed again in October 2025.

Then there's the DEI empire. D203 employs Rakeda Leaks as Executive Director of Diversity and Inclusion, with a base salary exceeding $160,000—plus benefits pushing her total compensation well north of that.

What do taxpayers get for this? Promotion of events like "climate action" film screenings tied to partisan NGOs and a district mission statement that elevates "global citizens," "empathy," and "equity" above actual learning.

This ideological focus coincides with policies that undermine student safety, like allowing boys into girls' bathrooms, prompting federal Awake Illinois' Title IX complaint against D203.

And don't forget the Lurie Children's Hospital invoices. While specifics from FOIA requests reveal ties to gender-related programming and trainings, these expenditures represent yet another layer of non-essential spending funneled into controversial health and identity initiatives.

Meanwhile, the district greenlit a $12.3 million transportation center in February 2026, proving they can find funds for infrastructure but not without slashing teacher positions to balance the books.This is the "go woke, go broke" playbook in action.

Districts like D203 chase trendy ideologies—SEL data mining, equity officers, and gender policies—while academics suffer. National NAEP scores released in September 2025 showed high school seniors with the worst reading performance since 1992, yet Illinois schools persist in prioritizing feelings over fundamentals. Now, veteran teachers are being nudged out early to plug the hole, depriving students of experienced educators. It's time for accountability.

Start by firing Rakeda Leaks and dismantling the DEI bureaucracy. Scrap the Panorama contract and similar data-harvesting schemes. Halt all woke staff trainings and refocus on core education: reading, math, science—without the ideological baggage. Parents and taxpayers in Naperville deserve better than a district that bankrupts itself chasing wokeness. If D203 doesn't change course, the deficits will only grow, and so will the exodus of families to districts that put students first.

Shannon Adcock is the founder and president of Awake Illinois, a grassroots nonprofit dedicated to parental rights, educational transparency, and protecting children from ideological agendas in public schools. A Naperville resident, wife, and mother of three, her activism began in 2020 when she fought for in-person learning and against divisive programs like critical race theory and gender ideology. As one of the lead plaintiffs in a major 2021 lawsuit involving over 700 parents against Governor J.B. Pritzker, the Illinois State Board of Education, and numerous school districts challenging unconstitutional mask and quarantine mandates—which secured a key injunction—she has also been profiled and featured in national media outlets, including discussions on parental rights and school policy battles. Now a bold, uncancellable voice for Illinois families, she has testified before state boards, filed civil rights complaints, and earned awards including the Titanium Backbone Award from Illinois Family Institute and the Never Surrender Award from Defending Education.