Kari King Duffy, 4 years: 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: AntiochWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Antioch-Lake Villa Area H.S. D117, 4-year termAge: 47Family: MarriedOccupation: Professor of Communication at Carthage College and College of Lake CountyEducation: Ph.D. Loyola Univeristy-Chicago-Educational Leadership, Policy Studies and School LawM.A. Northeastern Illinois University-Communication and Administrative Certificate Type 75B.A. Carthage College-Speech/Theater, Secondary Education minor in EnglishCivic involvement: Candidate did not respond.Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: Candidate did not respond.Candidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Responsible educational leadership: regardless of the fiscal challenges or other district concerns, decisions must be student based.Key Issue 2 Academic rigor: using data, curricula must be offered that meets the state standards and that meets ALL student needs.Key Issue 3 Candidate did not respond.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?District 117 offers students many academic opportunities, to guage the effectiveness for each student, continual assessment is necessary; is the array of offerings sufficient? What types of feedback/data are we gathering from our graduates?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?When assessing the budget issues, student learning must be the number one concern. If spending has to be reduced, all programming and resources must be considered. If the state continues to fail to financially meet its obligation and the district has performed proper duediligence in budgetary management, then I would consider the issue of a tax increase.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 have 20+ years of experience in the teaching field, I do think it is helpful in that I have insight into how a school functions, from student preparedness to staffing needs to budget to facilities management. As a former District 117 employee, I know the school district has great potential, I want to be part of that continual development.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?Any contract talks will have to seriously consider the parameters by which District 117 must conduct business. I believe all parties involved in the talks will make concessions. Honest, ethical discussions and behaviors are the cornerstone for such talks.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?Any educator nearing retirement should recieve the appropriate pay increase based on the established criteria. Increasing pay for retirement benefits is not something I support.