MATTOON - Unit 2 schools were recognized Tuesday for receiving the 1998 What Parents Want Award from SchoolMatch, the nation's largest school selection consulting firm. Chamber of Commerce executive director Val Mullens and Jeanne Gustafson, the Coles Together executive director, made the presentation to the Mattoon school board. SchoolMatch is an independent, nationwide service in Columbus, Ohio, that helps corporate employee families find schools that match the needs of their children. The organization maintains information on every public school system throughout the nation and accredited private schools throughout the world. The information is used by parents moving across town, upgrading residences, relocating to a new area, negotiating child custody issues and for general information about schools. SchoolMatch is offered as an employee benefit by about 400 companies, including Fidelity, United Parcel Service, Georgia Pacific, Ernst & Young, Hewlett Packard, KPMG Peat Marwick, Nationwide Insurance, PSI Energy and The Limited.

A survey of more than 56,000 parents showed that what parents most often look for in schools systems are:

	competitive in academic test scores and academically solid but not so rigorous as to intimidate their children.
	accredited.
	recognized for excellence by a national foundation or by the U.S. Department of Education.
	competitive in teacher salaries.
	above average in instructional expenditures on a national percentile basis.
	know for small class size.

Because relocating parents often focus upon finding a school system that produces a certain quality of "end product" (high school graduates), only school systems that provide secondary school programs are eligible for the award. Mattoon is one of 14 percent of the nation's 15,520 public school districts recognized in 1998 for meeting the needs of families choosing schools. "This is a significant award for our schools and our community," Mullens said. "In today's economy, with so many companies relocating employees, and with business people changing employers an average of seven times over their careers, there is a lot of movement. "One of the top two questions we gat at the chamber from those looking to relocate is about our schools," Mullens said. "What our schools provide does make a deference in where people want to live. It also makes a difference in where companies want to relocate and expand."

This is the second award Mattoon schools received this year. In March, Expansion Management Magazine cited Mattoon Unit 2 as a "blue ribbon" district, meaning the district gets good educational outcomes for average or below average costs. That publication is distributed to chief executives around the world. The What Parents Want Award is one more economic development tool that brings not only recognition but could bring business to Mattoon, Mullens said.

Presentation of What Parents Want Award
From left: Jeanne Gustafson of Coles Together, John Cox of the Mattoon
Education Association, Val Mullens of the Mattoon Chamber of Commerce,
Chris McMinn of the Mattoon Educational Support Personnel Association
and school board president Mike Croy.
Photo by Carl Walworth

Used with permission from Mid-Illinois Newspapers
Publishers of the Mattoon Journal Gazette and the Charleston Times-Courier

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Coles Together
400 Airport Road
Mattoon, Illinois 61938
(217) 258-5627 FAX (217) 235-9492