advertisement

Daniel Bachar: Candidate Profile

Des Plaines Elementary District 62 School Board

Back to Des Plaines Elementary District 62 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: Des PlainesWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: @DIYDad1Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Des Plaines Elementary District 62 School Board Age: 29Family: I come from a Des Plaines family. I have a brother and a sister, and my parents live a few blocks down from my wife Katti and I. Her family lives in Des Plaines as well, which allowed Katti and I to meet at Maine West High School, where our first date was to my junior prom. In October 2016 we became first time parents to our son Lucas. We are both fortunate to have wonderful so much of our family in the area, including siblings, aunts, and uncles.Occupation: Coordinator for Blended Learning and Intervention Analytics - Maine Township HS District 207Education: I am lucky enough to say that I am a product of the Des Plaines community. I attended Central School, followed by Chippewa and Maine West, graduating in 2005.After high school, I received my Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2008, followed by my Masters in Education in 2014.Civic involvement: Towards the end of 2016, I joined the board of the Northwest Suburban Daycare. While it's very early in that experience, so far I enjoy it very much, as they provide a valuable service to the community.In the past I was involved in Central Little League as a player, a coach, and an umpire. I had the good fortune of working for 5 years with Bob Riddel at Central, which I will never forget. Someday I hope to make an impact like he did for me.Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.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?First and foremost, the addition of our son and expansion of the family. Katti and I do not plan to move in the future. We love the community here and how close we are to our families. In a few years Lucas will be eligible for the services of District 62, and I hope to contribute and convey the voice of parents and taxpayers to help support and improve the district in any and all ways possible.The past election cycle was also a huge motivator. Regardless of party or ideology, one consistent message that's out there relates to the quality of candidates running: there's never a good choice. Now whether or not I'm a good choice is for everyone to decide on their own, but I will not allow the fact that I don't like any candidates to be an excuse anymore.Most of all, though, I believe in public education. I truly think that access to education, and a good one at that, is a right we all should enjoy. I would not be where I am today if it weren't for teachers at Central, Chippewa, and Maine West. Without a doubt I can say my successes have been theirs, along with my family and friends. I want to be a part of providing students with even better opportunities than I was afforded here, because our goal should always be to improve. Working for our high school district gives me a valuable perspective here.What do you think about the process for measuring student success in your district? Is it adequate? What changes, if any, do you propose?I think if I had the right answer for this, I'd be making the rounds at many different conferences!What I will say is that I believe the district does as good a job as any of trying to work on this. There are state mandates when it comes to assessments, and those are things that, currently, just need to be done. So within the rules, it's important to look at how much flexibility you have to meet the needs of the population you serve.One thing that I would love to see is even more articulation with the high school district to help understand student outcomes. With regards to program evaluation, outcomes are so important but not always easy to measure, or the data may not be accessible. I think a positive part about my role with Maine 207 is that I get to look at our data and track student progress in high school. But it would be wonderful if the data could flow between the two. There are certainly legal considerations that come into play here, but I know there are instances where, in my position, we talk about how great it would be to have a certain piece of data from the elementary districts, and I imagine they may say the same thing.If you were on the board during the hiring of Superintendent Floyd Williams, did you fully support the hiring of Williams, despite past misconduct allegations leveled against him at his last job? If you were not on the board, what is your view of the board's decision?Unfortunately I was not on the board at the time, but I do believe the decision to hire Dr. Williams was a good one. I've had the pleasure of speaking to him a few times, and was able to meet him while he was with Dr. Wallace at Maine 207, and during each experience he was very kind and professional.From my point of view, information that surfaced about misconduct seemed to tell only one side of a story, and I don't know that the public will ever get a transparent recounting of what actually happened. All that I can go on is my personal interactions thus far with him, which, to reiterate, have all been very positive.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?From my experience, the common fiscal issues that present themselves are number of staff (FTE), salary schedules, insurance costs, and capital expenditures. I think it's always important to look at cost-benefits on all of these, and that requires a number of perspectives to come to the table.Something I firmly believe is that we cannot either make cuts or increase taxes or fees without having a well defined and articulated reason for it. Honestly, I do believe there are times where a property tax increase may be warranted. In order to support that, however, the process must be transparent. You have to know what you're getting for the money, and it has to be supported by truthful facts and data, not something pieced together to fit a particular agenda.For the most part, I believe we can do quite a bit with the resources available to us. One area, however, that I always believe in investment is people. I don't believe we should skimp on human capital, as every staff member should be valued.Conversely, though, it's important for public employees to be cognizant of the tax situation and how it affects the community. This balance is key for having great people work for the district and tremendous community support for the schools.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?First of all, I believe that "school choice" is just a political epithet that really means privatization, which I believe is dangerous for democracy.If you think about the current way that schools are constructed, there's already some element of "choice" in them. For example, if I wanted my student to attend Forest Elementary, I could simply move to a different house in the community.My belief is that we should make it our mission for all schools to be excellent, no matter where you live. Let's say one school in the district has the highest test scores. Do we really think that if we sent all the students to that building that they would just absorb knowledge by walking through the door? I'm a bit skeptical.I think it is the district and school board's job to create and support the best possible environment for the students they serve, and constantly reflect, evaluate, and improve upon it. As long as that is at the heart of the mission, students and parents will see the value in the public system.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?If elected, what I hope most is that I can both provide my own perspective while also understanding that I'm a representative for the people of the community. This is what I currently have the hardest time with when it comes to the entire political area: there's just too many politicians in politics.I believe it would be my job to inform the community about the choices the board has to make and the options available. Ultimately, though, I hope that the school system and community can help support each other.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.I would say Bernie Sanders, but "current" made this tough.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Honestly, I would hope to bank it because I've been very fortunate so far. Or I'd give it to someone who needed it.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Political and economic theory are the areas I continue to read constantly. I think it's helped me be more empathetic towards others.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?If you can be understanding and empathetic, people will open your eyes to things you couldn't comprehend on your own.