Bio and questions for The Mather

Fiscal accountability means that we know where all of the money is going and why it is

going there. The money should always have a clear benefit to the education of the

students of District 65 and needs to be diligently managed and accounted for. If the

educational benefit of any funds is questionable, the Board and

District must to work together to scrutinize spending to minimize waste and abuse

of funds. Major decisions regarding funding should always occur in settings adherent to

the Open Meetings Act. It is the Board and District’s shared responsibility to ensure

adherence to the Open Meetings Act and to steer all applicable discussions and decisions

into this setting. Administrative accountability means setting a high standard for Board

and District administration activity and ensuring that the Board and

administration adhere to this standard. The standard for the Board should be the code

of ethics found on the Illinois Association of School Boards. The standard set for

District administration is determined by the board. This should include assessment at

regular timepoints (i.e. every 6 or 12 months) and more frequently if needed to guide 

district administration, and to ensure adherence to agreed upon standards. Standards need to be clear and measurable. For example, for promotion of the Superintendent involvement, a standard of attendance at more than half of the school graduation ceremonies in the district could be set. Standards should be objective and easy to assess. This is not the case currently on the Superintendent contract and I see this as a problem. 

I bring proven creative and analytic problem solving experience with large populations

and budgets. With previous board experience I have analyzed information, implemented

policy change, and assessed outcomes for hundreds of thousands of Medicaid

members in the State of Colorado. This start-to-finish approach has been missing at the

board level for some time and I am uniquely positioned to bring this experience to the

Board. I also have expertise in listening (as a mental health provider) and bring a friendly and collaborative disposition which will promote teamwork and better position the Board to engage in high quality decision-making. I pledge to make decisions AFTER information has been evaluated, scrutinized, and all data sources are considered- I have seen how the current Board has failed to do this time and time again, leading to suboptimal decisions. I will always vote what I think is the right thing to do, but if my perspective does not meet quorum, I promise to work with the Board and District for the best possible outcomes for the students of district 65.

I have always taken this statement literally and I believe in it. To me it means that it is always our responsibility to ensure that we are using all available resources (fiscal, personnel, time, energy) to make positive educational impacts on our children. All children is simply that– all of the children in District 65. Some of our children are historically under-resourced and may need extra time and attention to make a positive educational impact. Some children may need more challenging curricula to excel and meet their potential. As a board member, my job would be to ensure the district is in the best possible shape to provide the appropriate, tailored resources to the right students at the right time. Goal setting and assessment of outcomes measures should be tailored to children’s needs. We have seen how a one-size-fits-all approach does not yield adequate educational impact in all cases. I am open to continual re-evaluation of goals and their assessments to ensure that we are doing the best we can with what we have for the students of District 65.The system may be well intentioned but the rollout has been poor and communication with families and teachers lacking. It should be very clear what a student has to do in order to get the EX and ME scores and the parents/teachers/students should be better educated. I think a grading system training document for use at parent teacher conferences could be centrally developed by admin and reviewed with parents at the parent teacher conferences, taking 3-5 minutes. These trainings could review basic SBG   information, what the student needs to improve upon, what they can do to get better scores, what they are doing well at, and any other information that may inform high-school readiness. Receiving an EX score should be obtainable and how to do it should not be a mystery. The district needs to be explicit, informed, and intentional about decisions like SBG being made and follow through with strong and informed implementation.