Frank Biga III: Candidate Profile

Back to Northwest High School District 214 School Board

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 HtsWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Northwest High School District 214 School Board Age: 44Family: Parents, SiblingsOccupation: High School TeacherEducation: BS Accounting, Elmhurst CollegeM.Ed Curriculum Instruction, Loyola University-ChicagoMBA - Derivatives Mkts, Intl Business, Loyola University-ChicagoCivic involvement: Precinct Captain, Wheeling Township GOPPrecinct Captain, Maine Township GOPContributor, Illinois ReviewElected offices held: President- Regent Park Property Owners AssociationTreasurer - American Federation of Teachers, Local 943, Council 229Questions 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?I am running because I feel the local school is the bedrock of our great democracy and needs to be well-managed and preserved. I feel I have the right mix of qualifications, credentials and experience to make a positive impact for our students as well as all stakeholders in our community. My background in both finance and education will give the full Board a unique perspective upon which to draw and benefit from. My daily practice of teaching will allow additional perspective on the myriad of laws, mandates, and pedagogical ideas and how they affect the actual classroom, whether positively or negatively. I have a rich set of experiences for the District to benefit from including 14 years as a HS teacher of Economics, History, Government and Business. I also have a BS in Accounting and an MBA in Finance/Derivatives so I am able to interpret financial data as well.If elected, I feel this multi-faceted perspective would be invaluable to the Board and our district.What do you think about the process for measuring student success in your district? Is it adequate? What changes, if any, do you propose?The new PERA law is quite a challenge on school districts. There are 138 "Shalls" in the Part 50 Administrative rules associated with the implementation of PERA. Each district has some leeway regarding certain aspects of the law assuming the Board and the teachers' union can agree on certain aspects. The Danielson model is the general framework that most districts build a tailored evaluation plan from. And there are many good aspects to the Danielson model although parts of it are rather utopian. As a Board member, I would feel it my duty to make sure the district's evaluation plan is in compliance with the Part 50 promulgations while at the same time ensuring that the evaluation is designed to actually improve instruction and not impose punitive measures on the teachers. If a teacher falls short in some way, training should be made available by the district to improve the practice of the teacher which improves student outcomes.On the growth assessment end, this is a requirement by PERA. There are three types of Assessments to measure teacher performance and there are several options/combos in this regard and each should be explored more fully to assure that our assessments used for teacher evaluation are effective in measuring the learning of our students.District 214 also administers many other tests on an annual basis including the SAT, ACT and a IL Science exam along with the PSAT and ACCESS for EL learners. We must ensure we are not over-testing our children.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?I think the Board of Education's role is critical is establishing a broad framework including high standards and expectations and inclusivity of diverse ideas and viewpoints so that the student is enriched by learning about multiple perspectives on the subject matter. The content of the curriculum should be wide and deep but also age appropriate (meaning that content for first year students might be a little different than content for seniors given the general differences in maturity). Being an experienced teacher who has taught all age levels in high school I know this is an issue in classrooms. The Board should oversee the approval of new courses and changes to courses to ensure that any changes comport with the framework. In terms of the details of the curriculum of each class, this is not a Board function. The professional educators and administrators should be relied upon to develop the curriculum maps and guides and execute delivery of the course.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?District 214 is one of the best managed school districts in the state. It has not had a tax referendum in a long time and this is due to excellent financial stewardship. I do think our district needs to continue to upgrade its facilities especially so due to the low interest rate environment we still find ourselves in. I live near Prospect HS and, although there were some problems with the pool leaking, I feel this recent addition is a sterling example of sound capital expenditure management. The pool is well designed and built, it will reduce operating expenses in terms of eliminating transportation costs of PHS students to Olympic Pool, and it was financed at a time of low interest rates. I have lived near PHS since 1986 and I have seen several major changes to the school and feel that PHS is an excellent example of welcoming, vibrant school that the community can rely upon to educate our children and provide them with extracurricular experiences second to none.I think any cuts to programs that should be made should be developed at the individual school level and presented to the Board. Programs that are not drawing in as many students might be reduced or eliminated after consultation with the appropriate stakeholders. I also think that the Board needs to watch expenses (always) and can achieve a lot by directing management to find ways to reduce costs on operations.At this time I would not support any tax increase.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?I am against school choice. The local school is the bedrock of our democracy. Children need to be going to schools in their local community as this helps build local relationships and the sense of community that our fracture society seems to lack in some ways. I believe a voucher system would fundamentally damage our educational system as it would reduce the community building functionality of our schools. Of course, without knowing the details of any voucher system it is difficult to know exactly what the response would be, but a potential response if a voucher system is passed would include ensuring that the capacity of each of our schools is such that it could accommodate those in the local area who would expect to be able to use that local school while also accommodating the potential influx of students from outside the immediate geographic area.In addition, under such a scenario it might make sense to explore the possibility of partnering with private schools to see if there are any synergies that might be exploited in terms of shared costs and joint programming.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?District 214 has an excellent tax base. This diverse tax base provides the district with the ability to operate the excellent schools and programs that it does. On the other hand, District 214 is rather big and can at times seem like a monolith. There are 888 school districts in the state of IL. There used to be 10,000 or so. Consolidation has its benefits in terms of costs and tax base diversification. But have we lost some of the parental involvement in the operation of our schools by consolidating too much? There certainly are fewer Board of Education. This is a matter determined by the state of course. But I think we need to find ways to improve local school involvement by parents beyond the Parent Teacher Organizations we have. Just thinking idealistically here.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.President Donald Trump. He took on both parties political establishments and defeated them. He is a mixture of FDR and Reagan.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?That a loving family is a critical part of one's development.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would have given more time to charitable organizations in my youth.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?History. It has given me perspective on peoples' lives and how they can overcome its manifold challenges.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?I tell my students all the time that life is full of second chances and to never give up.