Lane Hasler: Candidate Profile

Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioKey IssuesQA Bio City: LibertyvilleWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Oak Grove Elementary D68Age: 46Family: Spouse - Katie Hasler Children - Owen Hasler - 7th Grade Oak Grove School Julia Hasler - 2nd Grade Oak Grove SchoolOccupation: Attorney / Business Consultant - Distressed Companies / Entrepreneur - Asset Recovery for CompaniesEducation: A.B. Wabash CollegeJ.D. New York UniversityCivic involvement: Current Member - District 68 (Oak Grove) Board of EducationCoach - youth baseball and footballChicago Bar AssociationWabash College Alumni AssociationElected offices held: Current Member - District 68 (Oak Grove) Board of EducationHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Ensuring that the Board of Eduction completes its work with the Superintendent to restructure the operations at the District, in particular, the business office and facilities management.Key Issue 2 Working with the Board of Education to assist the Superintendent in handling issues arising from the combination of declining enrollment in the District and constraints on tax revenuesKey Issue 3 Assisting the Board of Education in negotiating a balanced collective bargaining agreement to ensure the continued high quality of faculty and educational programsQuestions Answers How satisfied are you that your district is preparing students for the next stage in their lives, whether it be from elementary into high school or high school into college or full-time employment? What changes, if any, do you think need to be made?The District has historically provided a very high level of education and a nurturing environment for students. The changes that as a candidate I believe will be required arise from my three key campaign issues - (1) ensuring that the District has a solid organizational foundation for good management of its finances, facility and educational mission; (2) preserving the quality of education in light of declining enrollment and challenges to tax revenues; and (3) reaching a mutually acceptable collective bargaining agreement to retain the high quality staff who provide the best in educational opportunities to our students.What budget issues will the district have to confront? What measures do you support to address them? If cuts are needed, be specific about programs and expenses that should be reduced or eliminated. Do you support any tax increases for local schools?The District faces declining enrollment and limitations on the ability to raise tax revenues. In addition, the fiscal crisis at the State of Illinois level makes it prudent to protect against negative consequences to the District's funding from the State of Illinois. The Board of Education is working with the Superintendent and administration to ensure that reductions in expenses are made in a prudent manner that has the least impact on the students. As a candidate, I do not support tax increases for the District at the present time because the District's enrollment is declining which (assuming spending stays at current levels) results in higher per student spending even at the present tax rate level. As a candidate, I believe that the critial issue is to manage spending to ensure that the present revenue levels are adequate to fund the continuation of existing educational programs.Is experience as a teacher or support from a union valuable because it suggests educational insights or detrimental because it creates pro-teacher bias? Please clarify whether you have such experience or would accept union support.A Board of Education benefits from its members having a range of personal and work experiences. I certainly agree that experience as a teacher provides additional insight for a board member, but no more so than experience in business and as a parent provides a similarly necessary and unique set of viewpoints. A Board of Education is charged with representing a range of constituents including the community at large. As a candidate, I believe that support from the Association (Union) is certainly welcome given the significant role that the Association plays in the operation of the District.As contract talks come up with various employee groups, what posture should the board take? Do you believe the district should ask for concessions, expect employee costs to stay about the same as they are now or provide increases in pay or benefits?The Board of Education is currently in the process of negotiating the District's next collective bargaining agreement. As a candidate, my personal position is that the Board of Eduation must balance the ability of the community to pay with the need to provide a fair compensation package to staff in order to ensure that the District is able to provide a quality education to students. As a current member of the Board of Education, I invite members of the community to contact the Board of Education to provide their input on the issue of proposed compensation.If your district had a superintendent or other administrator nearing retirement, would you support a substantial increase in his or her pay to help boost pension benefits? Why or why not?My personal position on administrator compensation is that the Board of Education must provide that market-rate compensation package, including retirement benefits, required to retain the individual whose employment is desired by the Board of Education. The driving factor in determining pay level is the need to retain the individual, not the impact on future pension benefits.