Lynn Schroetter: 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: WaukeganWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Gurnee District 56 School Board (4-year Terms)Age: 40Family: Married with four children - ages 10, 7, 7 and 6.Occupation: Intern and Development Program ManagerEducation: BA, Columbia College of MO, 1999Civic involvement: American Cancer SocietyElected 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 To ensure all students in the district are receiving equal and appropriate learning opportunities, regardless of student background or school attended.Key Issue 2 To ensure the necessary funding and opportunities are available for the most fragile and at risk learners in the district.Key Issue 3 To engage the community in supporting expansion of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) related programs across the district.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?The most important thing we do is to prepare our children to thrive in a global environment. I believe the move to common core standards puts consistent, evidence-based expectations and framework in place to ensure all students are educated appropriately in the US. I?ve attended board meetings for approximately two years, and have not seen significant involvement by the board in the actual design, review or approval of the curriculum. Given the strong and varied backgrounds of the board, I do believe there is opportunity to have more engaged conversation about the future of the curriculum. I think both the board and members of the community should be more engaged in a discussion prior to implementation of changes.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 think our district does a good job of preparing students for the next stage. In addition to strong academics, programs like Great Americans and PBIS are preparing our students to be positive, contributing members of the community. Given the criticality of STEM education, I would like to see additional partnerships with our district and the community to ensure excitement and engagement for this area of study.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?I would not support a tax increase at this time, assuming state payments still come into the district to support critical program needs. I believe the most significant budget issue our district is facing is the delayed payment of state vouchers. Our district has managed very well through the late payments, but there would be serious issues for special education and transportation if the payments stopped completely and would absolutely NOT support cuts to these programs. I would work with our board and administration to find additional ways to minimize costs and avoid cuts to programs wherever possible.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?We must all be open to changes necessary to assure the long-term financial stability of our district. Most US employees and employers are being tasked to do more with less, and increase the employee share of the benefits packages. The employees of our schools have an amazing and important role in the development of our children, but I believe we all have to be open to changes necessary to sustain the district through this turbulent time in our economy.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?I would absolutely NOT support an increase in pay devised to inflate the pension of any superintendent or administrator. Our superintendent and administrators are fairly compensated for their work, and we should not work around the compensation system to artificially inflate a retirement package.