Jeanette Ward: Candidate Profile

Back to Elgin-Area Unit 46 School Board 4-year terms

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: WEST CHICAGOWebsite: www.ward4schoolboard.comOffice sought: Elgin-Area Unit 46 School Board 4-year terms Age: 41Family: Candidate did not respond.Occupation: Candidate did not respond.Education: B.S., Environmental Resource Management, Penn State M.S., Environmental Chemistry, University of Nevada-Reno M.B.A., Northern Illinois UniversityCivic involvement: -have volunteered weekly in my children's classrooms for the past 4 yearsElected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers What is your position on standards-based grading, which has been controversial with parents, students and even some teachers? Did the district botch the implementation of this new system? What could it have done differently?Last year the BOE allowed the implementation of a grading policy that rewarded zero work with a 50% grade. This year the BOE allowed the implementation of a policy that does away with percentage grades - Standards Based Grading (SBG). I have been vocal about my concerns with SBG, and, yes, I believe the board botched the implementation. A drawback of SBG that has been noted in other areas in the country (and in other neighboring school districts, like District 201) is that it pushes grades to the middle, or average. This has also been emphasized by several students who have given public comments to the U-46 BOE, two of which collected between them the signatures of 478 fellow students who also shared their concerns. These students were being told by many of their teachers that a grade of "4", or "mastery" (the equivalent of an "A") was impossible to attain. Despite objections, current board members Amy Kerber, Traci O'Neal Ellis and Jennifer Shroder re-affirmed their support of SBG at the September 29, 2016 U-46 BOE meeting. Fortunately, the roll-out of SBG was modified on by an October 30,2014 memo issued by U-46 CEO Tony Sanders, which affirmed as "non-negotiable" that a "4" should be attainable on every assignment (although that still appears to be not what is happening in practice). I maintain that grading policy changes should be approved by the BOE, and that SBG should not have been implemented without an up-and-down vote by the board.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?noWould you support holding the line on tax increases since the district has emerged from deficit spending and has a healthy surplus of roughly $50 million? Explain why or why not.My first instinct is not to support tax increases. I have been very vocal about this at board meetings and in my campaign. The population in U-46 is remaining flat and in many areas decreasing and cannot support a continuously increasing budget.Would you support a charter school within U-46? Why or why not?I support School Choice. School Choice empowers parents to choose their child's education path while fostering competition among public and private schools. The idea is that a student, no matter what town they live in, or what the value of their home is, should have access to a quality education. Children should have access to a quality education, including alternate educational institutions, regardless of their financial status. Some of the options would be Charter Schools, Private Schools, Online Learning, Homeschooling, etc. All of these options should be accessible to parents, with the money that is already being sent to a public school. Those education dollars should follow the student to the option that best fits their family's needs and values. Currently, the Chicago Public Schools have a Charter School system where students from anywhere in the city can apply to any approved Charter School and then the family puts their hopes of a better education in the hands of luck and chance in the Charter Schools lottery system. I don't think school choice should be limited to the Chicago Public Schools and their unelected board of directors. I also don't think a good education should rest on hope and chance. It is time that parents have control of their children's future and that all the children have access to the American Dream.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? Be specific.I like the idea of starting out with a flat budget (no increase) in the next fiscal year (2015-16) - at least as a starting point for the budget conversation. I agree with Veronica Noland that there are operational savings to be had, if the board made a concerted effort to find them. The population in U-46 is remaining flat and in many areas decreasing and cannot support a continuously increasing budget. I would like to work with Dale Burnidge's finance team, review details, inquire about underlying budget assumptions that have not been questioned in the past, and ask them to produce opportunities for cuts that represent expenditures that deliver either none or insufficient value toward the academic objectives of the district. I believe that cuts to U-46 top level administration are possible. I certainly would not fill the now vacant "Chief of Equity and Social Justice" position or create any new administrative positions. I would like to see funds kept in the classrooms where they benefit children and the teachers who are doing the work, not in administration where those people rarely see a child.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I believe Common Core is a back door to federal control of curriculum and should be opposed where possible.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Scott Walker, Governor of WisconsinWhat's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?There are two kinds of people: "Oh-Me-Oh-My-Just-Get-By-ers" and "Overcomers"; the first has a victim mentality and uses this as an excuse to blame others.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?becoming an obstetrician or midwifeWhat was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?English: Believe it or not, I loved diagramming sentences. It has helped me become a better writer.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Be an overcomer.