Tim D. Roegner: 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: GurneeWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Gurnee Elementary D56Age: 47Family: Wife - Mary Daughters - Brianna and Delaney Son - BradyOccupation: Teacher/AdministratorEducation: Master's in Educational Administration from Northeastern Illinois UniversityBachelor's in Mathematics Education from the University of Northern IowaCivic involvement: Candidate did not respond.Elected offices held: Currently the Secretary for the Board of Education for District 56Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Ensuring a quality education for all of our students.Key Issue 2 Maintaining the financial stability of District 56.Key Issue 3 Expanding the programs and opportunities at Gurnee Grade School (GGS) once the new 3-5 building is complete and GGS moves into the larger O'Plaine campus.Questions 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?I think District 56 is doing an excellent job of preparing our students for high school and beyond. Our current All Bound for College program gets students and their parents to set goals beyond just elementary school.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?District 56 is in wonderful financial shape, especially considering the current recession. We have been able to maintain our programs and staff while other Districts throughout the state have been forced to layoff literally thousands of teachers and support staff. Even with the passing the recent referendum, we were able to lower tax rates.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.I do have 25 years of experience in education as both a teacher and administrator. I believe this gives me invaluable educational insights that others may not have. I am certainly not running for re-election because I am pro-teacher; if anything, I am pro-student. I have spent the past 25 years of my life helping students.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?Our stance is not us vs. them. We are in this together and we need to cooperate to ensure that we can continue to offer the same quality of education tomorrow as we can today.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?No, I do not support substantial increases in teacher or administrator pay simply because they are about to retire. Our District already has a cap on the increases teachers and administrators can receive prior to retirement.