Patrick Miller: 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: McHenryWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: McHenry District 15 School Board (4-year Term)Age: 44Family: Married, three childrenOccupation: VP- FinanceEducation: BS - Accounting, NIU, 1990Civic involvement: President - McHenry Pigtail Softball LeagueElected offices held: Board Member, MCCSD 15, 2007-CurrentHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Maintaining and improving the quality of education within the school district in a fiscally responsible manner.Key Issue 2 Candidate did not respond.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?Having core common standards gives a level baseline for educators to work from and build off of. It is just a starting point as education is of individuals and those individuals need to be met at where they start from. The BOE is responsible for setting the overall strategic direction of the district and the hiring of the superintendent. Individual tactical decisions such as setting the detailed curriculum need be set and executed by the educational professionals that the superintendent hires. If those individual tactics are failing to meet our overall strategic direction, then they will need to be accountable.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?Very satisfied. We have seen our test scores increase and the overall education quality improve across our district. That said, we must not stay satisfied with the status quo. We must continue to strive for improvement constantly. We have opportunities to continue to improve within our demographic subsets. The world continues to change both with what there is to learn and teach and how kids learn. We must change and adapt our teaching and learning methods to meet this changing environment.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?On it's own, our district has managed its finances effectively and has not outspent its revenues. We have not had to cut programming to date because we have not outgrown our means. The biggest threat that we face would be unfunded mandates coming from the state that we currently do not have the funding cover. Our level of revenue coming from the state continues to shrink placing a greater burden on our local property tax payers. As a district, we are a "donor district" because of this meaning our district taxpayers are funding schools downstate and in Chicago with our income tax revenues.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?Contract negotiations are always a give and take. It is the board's responsibility to negotiate a fair contract for it's employees that is fiscally responsible to the district and our taxpayers. The best way we can help our taxpayers and protect the value of their largest asset, their homes, is to provide high quality schools at an affordable level. This is what we have done and will continue to do. All costs (labor or other) cannot outpace our revenues. When they do, districts find themselves in deficits and cannot and will not do this.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. Our superintendent is adequately compensated and the need to provide a balloon payment at the end of his contract is unnecessary.