Jeremiah Lange: 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: Candidate did not respond.Website: langeford4.wordpress.comOffice sought: Addison District 4 School Board (4-year Terms)Age: 36Family: Married, son Occupation: Systems Administrator (Information Technology)Education: Bachelors of Science in Electronic EngineeringCivic involvement: Member of the Citizens Advisory Commission for the Village of AddisonElected offices held: None.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Providing the best education possible for our children. We have no bigger dreams in life, than the dreams for our children.Key Issue 2 Fostering a safe environment that promotes education. All of us will agree, our children are precious. Key Issue 3 Reinforcing the importance of parental involvement in education. Teachers teach children to learn, parents teach children the importance of learning. 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?I believe the common core standards are a vast improvement over current state standards, which tends to measure all students by the same gauge without regard to individual progress. Although I oppose state mandated standards, and put my trust in the local communities, the board, the administration and the teachers in the classrooms, I think this is a stride in the right direction.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 believe we have great schools and great teachers. Standardized test scores might not be as high as many would hope in some of the schools, but the truth about those scores is that they do not take into consideration that many of those students have only been speaking English for a short time, many for as little as a year. The tests do not reflect how much progress has been made with those students who speak English as their second language. I think we need to continue looking for ways to improve and meet new challenges as they arise. 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?Like many other districts, we are limited in the annual growth of our revenues from taxes but continue deal with unfunded mandates from upper level governments while trying to meet an increasing need from our students. Our district has done an exceptional job of being efficient with the funding that we have received. I oppose tax increases at this point in time.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 in taking care of our educators. Pathetic economic growth and the continued rise in cost of living have affected everyone. Revenues will not cover the increases in pay and benefits that I believe our educators have earned. Significant policy change is needed on the state and federal levels. Therefore, I expect that there will have to be some level of concessions from the employees.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 believe that is ethical, nor do I think our administrators believe that would be ethical either.