Ken Knicker: 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: WheatonWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Wheaton Warrenville District 200 School Board (4-year Terms)Age: 68Family: Married, three children, 4 grandchildren. 2 residing in Wheaton Warrenville District 200.Occupation: Retired Account Executive 3M CompanyEducation: Bachelor of Science Economics Benedictine University 1967 Master of Science Northern Illinois University Education Administration 1975Civic involvement: Wheaton Lions ClubElected offices held: Wheaton Warrenville Community Unit School Distict 200 Board of Education 2001-2013Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Continued Financial StabilityKey Issue 2 Enhance student achievement through Common Core implementationKey Issue 3 Broaden use of technology to enhance our College and Career Readiness goal for all studentsQuestions Answers What do you think about the shift to the common core standards? How big a role do you think the board of education should play in setting the curriculum for students and what ideas do you have for changes to the current curriculum?School Boards set policy for the school district not curriculum. I feel Common Core Standards are a step in enhancing our curriculum for yet higher student achievement than we are already recognized for in our district.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?We are doing an exceptional job in all the transitions students go through in our school district. Progress is tracked through our programs including RtI.What budget issues will your district have to confront and what measures do you support to address them? If you believe cuts are necessary, what programs and expenses should be reduced or eliminated? On the income side, do you support any tax increases?We have built into our budget potential TRS increases coming back to local school districts. Our budget is still balanced with these possible increases. Schools, City Governments, Police, Fire Departments are funded by taxes. To continue having exceptional high quality services in our communities, maintaining good values to our homes, tax increases are necessary.As contract talks come up with various school employee groups, do you believe the district should ask for concessions from its employees, expect employee costs to stay about the same as they are now or provide increases in pay or benefits?Our employees have made concessions in the settling of our 3 year contract with our teachers. However, I feel we must remain competitive in the future in retaining and hiring highly qualified teachers which our communities require.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?Current administrative contracts do not have the pension benefit boost in their contracts.