John Dyer: 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: Mount ProspectWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Mount Prospect District 57 School Board Age: 32Family: wife: Sarah3 girls: Ella (age 9), Adalyn (age 7), and Evie (age 1)Occupation: High School Mathematics TeacherEducation: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: BS in MathematicsConcordia University Chicago: MA in Curriculum and InstructionCivic involvement: Candidate did not respond.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, I am running for school board in order to be involved in my children's and the children in my community's education. As a math teacher at JHHS, my experience in schools gives me vision of where our elementary students need to be in the future, Currently, the issue that motivates me most, is the math program. I know that the district has been working on increasing math comprehension, and standardized test scores. I can use my expertise as a math teacher, who has had success in this area to help the board with this issue. As someone who holds a Masters in Curriculum and Education, my knowledge is not limited to understanding math, but expands throughout the different curricular areas.What do you think about the process for measuring student success in your district? Is it adequate? What changes, if any, do you propose?While I think the state report card shows a lot of good information, I would also like to see how our districts graduates are doing. I feel that if we can see how our students are performing in high school, then we can measure our success as a district in preparing them for their future. We can use the new information to look for ways to improve how we prepare students for high school and beyond. Some data figures I would like to see are how our kids compared to other feeder school at Prospect concerning GPA, percent of kids in honors/AP classes, and percent of students involved in extra-curricular activities.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 believe the board should be aware of the curriculum and have a deep knowledge of why any changes would be taking place. While I think the teachers and administrators of the district are the experts at the curriculum, I believe the board is responsible for giving suggestions for improvements and making sure students are being exposed to proper subjects and skills. For example, I believe it is the board's responsibility to make sure coding is part of the curriculum, but I believe teachers and administrators should come up with the plan of how to successfully implement a coding curriculum.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?Unfortunately, our district has some financial problems. It is looking like a referendum needs to be passed to avoid major cuts that would negatively impact our students. However, before bringing a referendum to the voters I would like to exhaust all other possible options that would avoid raising our taxes. Some alternatives that I would like looked into include redrawing district lines, combining districts, or bond sales. Hopefully, we can find a way to bring in more money without increasing taxes. If we can't find a way to increase revenue then as a last resort I am for a referendum. My reasoning for a referendum as a last resort (rather than cutting more from the budget) is if you look at our district's financials, we spend less money per student than most of our surrounding districts, while running in a deficit. Further cuts would have an enormous negative impact on our students and the schools. One of the reasons our home values are high is the quality of education provided to our students. The surrounding school districts continue to offer great opportunities for children, if we don't keep pace, all of our house values are going to drop. This would put all homeowners in a position to lose more than what they would have to pay out if we have to pass a referendum.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?If vouchers do become a reality, it is nearly impossible to predict how many students and how much money the district would lose in a voucher system, so we would simply have to deal with the situation if it becomes a reality. Fortunately, District 57 is a fantastic district. Our public schools have better resources to better at prepare students with diverse backgrounds and needs, which is not the case for many private schools. We have taleneted staff and as a result I do not anticipate a mass exodus from our schools. Furthermore, our district is not in a situation where vouchers would be all doom and gloom. In fact, right now because of our high enrollment our buildings over occupied. If we lost a few students to private schools because of vouchers it is a possibility that our district would have more money and resources for students.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?1) I would like to see the district spend more time seeking out finding funding through grants. There is a lot of money out there that could help our ability to provide more technology and other supplies. STEM activities are being funded at a very high rate around the country. 2) A good amount of parents have brought to attention the fact that the districts daycare (known as Kids' Corner) is overpriced. I would like to help find ways to lower costs for that program. This is another area where grants, and funding from outside the district could potentially be helpful.3) I also believe full day kindergarten is something that should be revisited. Right now it is impossible to get done with our budget and the amount of room in the buildings. But, if the district finds more funding full day kindergarten should be considered.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.These past few years I have grown to respect Elon Musk. I love how he dreams big, and how he turns those dreams into realities.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?The value of hard work.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would have gone to game 5 instead of game 4 of the Cubs world series this past fall.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Math was always my best subject, and it led to my career as a math teacher.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Follow the golden rule: treat others as you would want to be treated.