Last week and this week we have published letters critical and supportive of a recent Shrubtown editorial cartoon by Marc Stopeck.
The panel intended to focus on concerns expressed publicly by Percy Julian Middle School teachers over issues of safety and student behavior at the Oak Park school.
The issue is legitimate and longstanding, the school district has done an inadequate job addressing it, and it has failed to talk plainly about the complex issues.
That said, we side with critics of the comic who believe the cartoon missed its mark. In criticizing the school administrators and the school board, we believe the cartoon, instead, also pointed at students, including some young migrant students, at Percy Julian.
We are proud to have published Shrubtown for 33 years and believe it is the best local editorial cartoon we’ve ever seen. At the same time, we acknowledge it fell short of our standards, and we apologize. We will work to do better.
