Scott Jenkins: 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: LombardWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Lombard District 44 School Board (4-year Terms)Age: 40Family: Married, 3 childrenOccupation: Pre-Sales System Consultant for Dell SoftwareEducation: Bachelor of Arts, Communications, North Central College - Naperville, ILCivic involvement: Lombard Park District (Coach) Sacred Heart Parish Germanfest Committee Choir YMCA Indian Princesses - Federation Tally KeeperElected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 The hiring and retaining of quality teachers within the district.Key Issue 2 Fiscal responsibility pertaining to the district budget and making our tax dollars go further.Key Issue 3 Candidate did not respond.Questions 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?There are good and bad ideas with the common core standards. The good: lower costs for testing since all tests are the same, knowledge sharing between teachers and districts, and more detailed reporting on student development. The bad: too much attention on core studies at the expense of the humanities courses. Will average students start falling behind because of covering more core studies in a shorter amount of time? We need make sure that our students are well rounded with humanities, arts, and foreign language while also being challenged in their core studies.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?Currently, I am overall pretty satisfied with the district preparing students for high school. With that said, there is currently room for improvement in the lower performing schools in the district.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 may have to confront the issue of funding the teacher pensions from local property taxes. I do not support shifting the burden of funding teacher pensions with local property taxes. Therefore, I do not support any tax increases. I believe that the school district currently is and continues to be fiscally responsible and operating within their means.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?I believe that employee costs should stay the same.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 would not be in support of a substantial increase as I think that our school administrators are paid fair wages and competitive benefits at the present time.