Todd Younger: 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: Arlington HeightsWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Northwest High School District 214 School Board Age: 52Family: Wife Kathy. Two children that graduated from Prospect High School. Andrew, Senior at Illinois Wesleyan University and Abby, Freshman at University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana.Occupation: Commercial Banker for Wintrust Financial Corp.Education: BA in Economics, University of Illinois Champaign/Urbana.MBA, Finance, Loyola University ChicagoCivic involvement: Appointed to D214 School Board in August 2011. Elected for 4 year term in April 2013. D214 Community Education Advisory Board since 2011. Active participant of D214 Education Foundation.Elected offices held: D214 School Board Member since 2011.Vice President D214 School Board since April 2015.Questions Answers Why are you running for this office, whether for re-election or election the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you, and if so, what is it?Graduated from John Hersey High School, settled in the area and support quality public schools. Want to foster schools that prepare kids for what is beyond High School and give each student the opportunity to achieve academic and extracurricular success. Good public schools are great for the community and enhance property values.What do you think about the process for measuring student success in your district? Is it adequate? What changes, if any, do you propose?D214 is leading the effort to re-define what it means to be college and career ready. Historically, we have utilized a single test score to determine one's readiness. Our Superintendent has utilized some of the best research and findings to create multiple measures that will enhance and better predict how we measure student success. By broadening our measures, we will open the door to success for many more young minds. The research shows, that some students may not fare as well on the college entrance exams, but may excel in other measures that are predictive of success, like algebra proficiency, attendance and the number of extracurricular activities that they participated in. I am very proud of the work and national attention our teaching and administrative staffs have fulfilled with their efforts.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 Superintendent is accountable to the Board. The Administration and the Teaching staff set the curriculum. The Board's primary role is to make sure the Administration meets our teaching and learning objectives as a district.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 or fee increases?The Board has overseen 22 consecutive balanced operating budgets. Each year the Superintendent leads his staff to reduce expenses by 3-5% per year. This is to keep up with the rising costs of medical coverage, employee benefits and the rising costs of maintaining 45+ year old buildings. That's just to stay even. The Superintendent has been able to manage this challenge without major teacher cuts or program changes. The Administration has done a great job managing staff levels as efficient as possible, re-aligning organizational structures to best utilize assets. Also, our schools are sharing best practices and creating an environment where constant improvement is recognized and highlighted. Taxes are a sensitive issue. We recognize that every tax dollar is a dollar contributed by our base. The residential property owner has had to provide a higher percentage of that burden, due to the Equalized Assessed Valuation dropping so significantly over the last 9 years. We understand and work diligently to be good stewards of those dollars and make sure our kids are getting the best education possible. Our communities get better home values as people want to live here and our kids are getting the best opportunity for success.What role can and should school choice play in your district? If Congress or the state approves a voucher system or other means giving students broader choices among public and private schools, how will that affect your district? What is the appropriate response for the board of education of a public school system?D214 is a model for what a high performing public school can do. People want to live within the D214 borders. The issues of choice and how public education is funded and how those resources are divided across communities will be heavily debated. It is our objective to give our kids the best education we can with the resources we have. Whatever happens nationally, I am sure D214 will play a role in providing guidance on how to educate in the best manner.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?D214 has done a great job incorporating career pathways into our curriculum. It has made our HS education more relevant to kids and has helped them determine a much clearer path. Also our College counseling staff's have helped kids get hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in scholarships and aide to help our students. I am also very proud of our 1 to 1 iPad use. Our Teachers and Students have embraced these tools and are continuing to find ways to enhance learning, while becoming better prepared to be successful in our tech-driven world.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Tom Brady. Tireless perfectionist, seasoned veteran that strives to perform at a high level.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Honesty, hard work and and a positive attitude generally lead to good outcomes.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?7th grade basketball try-outs instead of a swim meet.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Algebra, my Freshman HS teacher, Don Rowley, signed my yearbook and said "you are a fine math student, but more importantly a fine person."If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Study Hard, Get Smart!