Brian G. Battle: 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: BarringtonWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Barrington Area Unit D220Age: 50Family: Married, 2 childrenOccupation: Financial and Management ConsultantEducation: Master of Business Administration, Harvard Business SchoolBSIE, Bradley UniversityCivic involvement: Youth baseball coach, 2005-2010Committee member, Barrington Sesqicentennial CommitteeElected offices held: Member of the Board of Education CUSD 220, 2003-presentHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 My first priority is maintaining a healthy a dialogue between the schools and our community as we seek to balance our desire for a strong educational program with the current budget realities of District 220. I anticipate the need for continued budget reductions in next few years as revenue growth softens due to the economy and the fiscal condition of the State of Illinois recovers slowly. Upcoming contract negotiations will be vital to our fiscal health. It is important that we engage our schools and community in thoughtful dialogue regarding these issues. I am committed to balancing our recurring expenditures with our recurring revenue.Key Issue 2 My second priority is to support efforts to renew our educational programs to maintain the relevance of our curriculum in a rapidly changing world. Meeting the needs of our students will require more differentiated instruction. Meeting the needs of our teachers will require effective support and professional development.Key Issue 3 Continue to support our district#146;s and community#146;s focus on issues affecting students' social and emotional needs. National statistics support the need for more focus on the social and emotional needs of high school graduates. I believe our community has worked extremely hard on this issue. The Board of Education should reflect this commitment in its decision making.Questions Answers 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?I am very confident that District 220 provides a solid educational foundation for our students in their pursuit of higher education or the beginning of their employment career. Recent surveys conducted of our graduates indicate that they feel they are well-prepared for college work, at either a two- or four-year institution. Our curriculum, like most schools, needs to continue to adapt to our evolving world. I expect to see more instructional technology incorporated into our curriculum. I also to see increased articulation between elementary, middle school and high school courses. District 220 has a clear advantage being a unit district (preK-12) in this effort, and our partnerships with Harper College and the University of Illinois (Chinese Immersion) is an indication of our awareness to expand this effort beyond high school for the benefit of our students and parents.What budget issues will the district have to confront? What measures do you support to address them? If cuts are needed, be specific about programs and expenses that should be reduced or eliminated. Do you support any tax increases for local schools?Over the last 8 years we have solidified our financial position and have been one of only 27 school districts in the country to achieve an AAA bond rating. Our current budget issues reflect our existing commitment to maintain a balanced budget. The recent cuts to the State of Illinois#146; budget impacted District 220 more than many suburban districts by reducing our transportation budget by approximately $1.8 million. I support budgets cuts in all areas of our budget, teacher staffing, administration, and co-curricular stipends. It would be my hope that our cuts for 2011-12 will not result in the elimination of any vital programs. Budget cuts for 2012-13 will be dependent on the financial terms of collective bargaining agreement with our certified staff. One area I am hesitant to cut significantly in our capital expenditure budget for our buildings, as I believe deferred building maintenance will cause larger expenditures in the future. I do not support referenda for tax increases in the next few years. I believe we can negotiate employment costs to maintain both a balanced budget and our key educational programs. I do believe that a referenda needs to be part of the community dialogue when the economy recovers and the rate of student growth in our district returns to its historical patterns. Is experience as a teacher or support from a union valuable because it suggests educational insights or detrimental because it creates pro-teacher bias? Please clarify whether you have such experience or would accept union support.Issues presented to the Board of Education cover a wide range of education and finance topics, and I believe that experience as a teacher does create a valuable perspective for a member of a Board. But the collective Board perspective has to find a healthy balance between the influences and viewpoints of education, finance and the community. I am not clear that #147;pro-teacher bias#148; is in conflict with #147;educational insights#148; as the question is premised. I consider myself advocate of education and accordingly an advocate for our teachers and students in the education process. It is important for any member of the Board of Education to weigh all aspects prior to casting a vote.While I have taught part-time at the graduate university level before, I have never been a member of a teacher#146;s union. While I have not historically enjoyed the endorsement of our local teacher#146;s union, I would welcome support from any constituency in our District 220 educational community. As contract talks come up with various employee groups, what posture should the board take? Do you believe the district should ask for concessions, expect employee costs to stay about the same as they are now or provide increases in pay or benefits?I believe the posture of the Board in contract negotiations should be one of creating long-term stability for the District#146;s financial position as well as the District#146;s educational curriculum. With our current budget hovering near break-even, the next round of contract negotiations for District 220 will be critical in determining our ability to manage employment costs in a manner that preserves our key programs. Like previous negotiations, I expect there will be concessions in some areas, no changes in some areas, and increases in some areas of compensation. Taken as whole, each contract will need to provide the District with the confidence that employment costs will not create deficit spending, program cuts or the need for a referendum to increase taxes.If your district had a superintendent or other administrator nearing retirement, would you support a substantial increase in his or her pay to help boost pension benefits? Why or why not?I fully support the elimination of end of career salary increases for administrators and teachers that currently are allowed and indirectly encouraged by the existing state law. Let me explain my position in greater detail.I support offering local administrators the same benefit negotiated with local teacher#146;s unions. But I continue to advocate for the General Assembly to allow the provisions of the current Early Retirement Option (ERO) to sunset as scheduled in 2012. If these provisions are eliminated, I believe Boards will eliminate the end of career increases. I have never met a Member of any Board of Education that endorses the end of career salary increases (although I acknowledge that some may). The current practice of increasing a retiring teacher#146;s/administrator#146;s regular increase to 6% accomplishes two objectives: (i) avoids the penalties associated with the State#146;s Early Retirement Option (ERO) law which allows teachers and administrators to retire early and receive full benefits with small penalties for the employee and large penalties for the District and (ii) create cost savings by replacing higher salaried teachers with lower salaried entry level teachers. The State allows the employee retiring under ERO to work part-time after retirement, creating a situation where the employee can easily pay their portion of the penalty by working part-time, and leaving the District with a large bill for their retirement. The average penalty paid by District 220 for employees retiring under ERO is $50-60,000. Each District cannot prevent this. In this context, one can understand why a District may offer a lesser amount in end of career increases in return for a promise to retire with no penalties accruing to the District. This practice, while logical for local taxing bodies creates a larger burden on the state pension system funded primarily by employees and state taxpayers. This is not a new issue, as it was the subject of conversations when I started on our Board eight years ago, the current fiscal crisis of our state has caused us all re-examine this law and local practice. While I support the elimination of this provision from District 220 collective bargaining agreements, I recognize this is only one component of our total employment costs and will always advocate a holistic approach to our costs. Any single District that eliminates this provision today risks local impact to teacher recruitment and even taxpayer equity issues as local taxpayers are still responsible for the state#146;s overall pension liability. This practice must be stopped by State legislation that eliminates the ERO penalties, and restructures the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) to prevent such end of career increases to affect pension benefits. This is probably necessary to insure the future solvency of TRS,Eliminating ERO, coupled with last years reform to TRS, creates a situation that could cause a school district#146;s employment costs to increase over time as experienced, higher paid employees work longer. I believe this issue will need to be addressed in upcoming collective bargaining agreements.