By Mary Kay Scharf
Although I admit I am not knowledgeable about the inner workings of state government, I have less understanding how a state budget has alluded the elected officials in Springfield for this long. In other work environments, unresolved issues are addressed with a full-court press and resolved. While this conflict and impasse continues, the governor’s lifestyle and the speaker’s lifestyle, and the lifestyles of legislatures have likely not changed in any way. Meanwhile, social service workers are laid off, services to families and children have been reduced or discontinued, and potentially millions of Illinois citizens are affected negatively in some way. I have heard my husband and others suggest that these leaders be tethered to Springfield and locked in session every day of the week, every week of the month, without exception, until the conflict is resolved and a budget is adopted. At one time that sounded preposterous, but now sounds like an excellent plan to force a resolution. Unfortunately, they write their own rules and forcing a solution is not to be.
On another government-related topic…during the past eight years I was incensed when others would call our President names. I was even annoyed when they called him by his last name, omitting the title of “President.” Now that there is a President in office who was clearly NOT of my choosing, I have been careful to not become a name-caller. While the anger toward his actions is in me, I have pledged to not fall into a pattern of hate and name-calling – despite who is modelling this behavior. My plan, and I encourage others to consider something similar, is to respectfully disagree. In a previous forum, I talked about learning that we can disagree without being disagreeable. Protests and resistance are all a part of our democratic culture, and I fully plan to engage. However, I plan to do this without name-calling and without a hateful spirit.
And while on THIS topic… we all interact with people with whom our political views clash…at work, in the neighborhood, in our homes. Each of us wonders how in the world the other can possibly think the way they do. And so it is that our relationships can be forever damaged, OR we can respectfully agree to disagree. We can each engage in the political process or social movements or other activism to live out the commitment to our personal beliefs. But, we can do these things without damaging our relationships with those who disagree. While political conversations cannot and should not always be avoided,
commit to sharing your beliefs without belittling the other…
commit to communicating without a hateful spirit…
commit to preserving your relationships despite your differences.
Mary Kay Scharf is the Director of Principal Leadership in the Bloomington Public Schools. A Clinton native, she was a teacher for 7 years and has been a principal and school administrator for the past 26 years. She is a volunteer for multiple community organizations, most passionately for the Not In Our Town initiative. The proud mother of 3 and grandmother of one, Mary Kay lives in Normal with her husband, Jamie.
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