Chimanlal Patel: Candidate Profile

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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:BioQA Bio City: NilesWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Maine Township High School District 207 School Board Age: 64Family: Thirty-one year resident of Niles. Married with two children, Devanshu and Nidhi, both Maine South graduates.Occupation: Financial Controller at Flowserve CorporationEducation: MBA, Roosevelt University Chicago. M.S. and B.S. Agriculture, Gujarat Agricultural University, IndiaCivic involvement: Financial Advisor for Global Gayatri Pariwar, a non-profit religious organization in the Chicagoland area.Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers How satisfied are you that your school district is adequately 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?District 207 has long outperformed the state on every indicator of student success and I am proud to say that both my children graduated from Maine South fully prepared for their college education and future professional careers in law and business. I do believe, however, in constant improvement. There are many areas where I would like to support the district to better improve outcomes for our student body. One key area is improving support to our students with special needs. Fourteen percent of the district's student community has special needs and there is always more we can do to ensure all students receive and meet the same high expectations. The district also has a growing immigrant student population, which, as an immigrant myself, means that I know the challenges schools and teachers face in terms of cultural integration and language education. I believe that we can use our current data to look deeper at our practices and decide which ones are working best for our students and which ones may need further examination. We need to also look at best practices in other school districts to see if there is leading research we can utilize and implement. A process of continuous improvement can not only help operational matters but increase the likelihood that we meet every student's needs with the right programs resources.What budgetary issues will your district have to confront during the next four years and what measures do you support to address them? If you believe cuts are necessary, be specific about programs and expenses that should be considered for reduction or elimination. On the income side, do you support any tax increases for local schools? Again, be specific.There is a great trend in our favor - the overall economic improvement and recovery of our neighborhoods and this country. This leads to improved funding prospects from the local, state federal level. Even so, I believe that the district should build the discipline to carefully examine our investments in education and their effectiveness in improving the outcomes of our young people. I don't see anything as cuts or increases - we should look at our current programming and make sure we are implementing the most effective programs. In addition, this discussion should be public and involve input from the community to properly account for all vectors of a program's effectiveness. If we have a need, for example, to care for student's special needs and we currently partner with an out of district vendor, we should look at whether we can develop a higher service level in-district and keep the students at home with their peers. We need to ask these questions and have thoughtful discussion about what's best for our students and how to do it in a way that is deficit-free. As a businessman, I do not believe in long-term single agreements with vendors. I believe in negotiation and ensuring we are receiving the best services at the best prices.Are you currently employed by or retired from a school district, if so, which one? Is any member of your direct family - spouse, child or child-in-law - employed by the school district where you are seeking a school board seat?NoAs contract talks come up with various school employee groups -- teachers, support staff, etc. -- what posture should the school board take? 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?Public education is a human capital operation. Without high performing, motivated teachers, support staff and administrators we would not succeed as a community to create highly educated students. I believe teachers deserve fair pay that increases with inflation as well as overall economic growth. Pay and benefits are our incentive system. How do we want to incentivize our teachers and administrators to provide the best possible education? I believe that motivation and morale is of vital importance to that answer - so I would also welcome opportunities to investigate benefits or programs to boost teacher morale and increase student performance.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?The message we send to our teachers, administrators and school leaders through how we treat their incentive and pay structure is what allows us to attract the best and brightest in the field. I support sending the message that our leaders are important to us and as career teachers or career-changing professionals look to roles in district leadership, they can count on a community that respects their position. Importantly, they can count on us to deliver support and fair compensation. We would have to look carefully at details to ensure we are sending that message, but as a professional, it is not ideal to make one-off contributions or offers to select individuals. We should ensure fair pay and benefits for all with additional incentives to increase morale and motivation.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?As an immigrant and a thirty-one year member of the immigrant community in Niles, it is important to me that we look carefully at how we can better support our students with greater needs - be it language needs, special education, social services, health services, etc. I believe all students are capable of achieving at the highest levels. It is not the outcomes that should differ across students, but rather the time spent in learning. Some students need more time, some students may need less but the outcomes of all our student must be best-in-class. We see differing outcomes between students and I would like to work with the district to dissolve those gaps. District 207 is already known as a high performing district, but let's realize that motto not on average but across the board.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Pope Francis is a leader whose devotion to humanity is an inspirational force that transcends religion.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?I am from a small Indian village with limited educational opportunities. My grandmother taught me that education was the ticket to success, and it was.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I was able to afford college with an agriculture scholarship. Next time, I will try harder to get a scholarship in a more lucrative field!What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?I have always loved math. As an entrepreneur and finance leader, my affinity for numbers helps me see trends and insights that others miss.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?The secret to success is hard work, perseverance and a positive attitude. Work hard, keep trying, smile - and you will make it!