Bethany Weeks: Candidate Profile

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:BioKey IssuesQA Bio City: NapervilleWebsite: http://www.electweeks.comOffice sought: Naperville Unit D203Age: 26Family: Both of my parents were raised in Naperville and attended what is now Naperville Central. I was born at Edwards Hospital and attended Naper Elementary, Washington Junior High, and Naperville North High School.Occupation: I have worked in a K - 2 special needs classroom in District 204 while in school and will graduate in May with my Masters in Industrial/Organizational Psychology.Education: Bachelors of Arts in Political Science, Psychology, Hope College, 2007;Chicago-Kent College of Law, 2007 - 2008;Masters of Arts in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Elmhurst College, 2011.Civic involvement: Young Life Naperville- volunteer leaderElected offices held: Student Government, Hope College, 2003 - 2005Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: No.Candidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Aggressive fiscal responsibility and restraints- under no circumstances will I vote for a budget that isn't balanced for at least 4 years. We must make an effort to control the budget escalation of the last 10+ years. We cannot just assume that we are willing to raise taxes every year without searching for ways to ""live within our means.""Key Issue 2 Diversity in perspective- currently, the entire School Board is represented by a single generation, i.e. 40 and 50 year olds; this results in short-sightedness and a lack of diversity. I represent an entirely different generation, that of young families and new teachers. Given my age, my greatest concern is that our schools will still be strong in 20 years (when my kids are in school). This will require that we make decisions with an eye on the long-term future, as opposed to a short-term focus, which can happen when only an older generation is being represented, such as the current 203 Board. I will bring a fresh perspective to the Board that would not otherwise be represented. Key Issue 3 Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I can provide the much-needed diversity of thinking, seeing as I am from a different generation from every member of the Board. This unique perspective will represent the growing generation of young families and new teachers that is otherwise not being represented. I am also committed to protecting the district's future, as I intend to stay here and eventually raise children in the district; therefore, I will always promote fiscal responsibility so that 20 years from now, we will continue to have quality schools without having taxes so high that people cannot afford to live here.Do you support retaining teacher tenure rules that make it nearly impossible to fire teachers?No. While tenure was created to protect teachers from arbitrary firings based on personal feelings or favoritism, I believe that it needs to be reconsidered. I believe that if a position needs to be eliminated and there are 6 teachers, the 5 best teachers should be kept, as opposed to the 5 teachers who have the most seniority. Along the same lines, if a teacher is *consistently* under-performing, there needs to be a way to let that teacher go that is less arduous than the current system.Do you support merit pay for teachers?Although this is a complicated topic, I believe that teacher compensation should be at least somewhat based on performance. Along these lines, I applaud the current move on the part of our federal and state legislatures to make teacher performance a significant part of teacher evaluations. I believe that teachers should be compensated on how much their classes generally improve over the years. This should be based on annual progress, so it won't matter if they get an above or below average class year after year- it's based on improvement, not just test scores.The district has managed the current financial storm without slashing jobs and deficit spending. How do you ensure that stability will continue?The most current financial forecast projects deficit spending in 3 years. Yet, one of the incumbent candidates has been quoted in the Naperville Sun saying that ""money is not an issue"" and last year, the Board approved a 3-year teacher contract that, in spite of continual raising of taxes, brings us to the brink of deficit spending. It was highly publicized that the teachers took a pay freeze for the first year of the contract. What wasn't publicized, however, was that although unemployment remains high and inflation low, the Board guaranteed raises the next two years. The only way that we ensure stability is to control labor costs. I will not support giving long-term, guaranteed contracts that act like we are immune from the instability of todays economy. Also, I will not support spending money just because we currently have it without knowing the long-term affect it will have, like the Board has a history of doing. For example, the Board has launched several long-term programs using temporary government stimulus funds without knowing how those programs will be covered in the future. Also, the Board has committed to spending almost $3 million on security issues at a couple of schools that we were told would cost about $700,000 in the original referendum. When confronted about this at a recent Board meeting, all 3 of the incumbents running for re-election said that because they are under budget on the Naperville Central project, they have ""extra"" money to use on these buildings however they want. While it appears that the Board is willing to continue spending money like they have been for years, despite the bleak economic realities, I am committed to addressing the budget issues now, as opposed to waiting until we run out of money and then addressing them. How satisfied are you that your district is preparing students for the next stage in their lives, whether it be from elementary into high school or high school into college or full-time employment? What changes, if any, do you think need to be made?Graduating from Naperville North less than 10 years ago, I can vividly recall how well I was prepared to enter college. I was able to test out of a number of college classes successfully, which is a testament to how the curriculum is aimed towards college readiness. While I have heard parents talking about how hard their high schooler works and how the workload is too much, I believe that once their children enter college, they will understand and appreciate the intensive curriculum.