Charmala Anderson, 4 years: 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: MundeleinWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Mundelein Elementary D75, 4-year termAge: 41Family: Married, 2 children (8 and 10 years old)Occupation: Litigation Paralegal and Strategic Litigation Analyst for a multi-state defense litigation law firmEducation: B.A. Policital Science (1994) University of Miami, Coral Gables, FloridaCivic involvement: Treasurer and Board Member for the Mundelein Park District FoundationCo-Chair for the Citizens for District 75 Referrendum CommitteeElected offices held: NoneHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Educational opportunities and continued improvement balanced with fiscal responsibilityKey Issue 2 Accountability and transparencyKey Issue 3 Candidate did not respond.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 believe that our district is working hard to prepare our students for the next stage of their education. Our district has made many improvements in assessment of student needs and consistency in curriculum as evidenced by the improvement in student scores on the ISAT tests. There is always room for improvement and continued identification of what is or isn't working.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?The district is currently facing difficult budget issues due to the funding shortages from the federal and state government, along with the decrease in funding due to the projected decrease in property tax revenue and projected declining enrollment. Any decisions that are to be made with regard to reductions should be made carefully and keeping in mind what is best for ""all"" of the children of the district. I do not have a position on which programs and expenses should be cut as I have not looked at them line item by line item. I do believe in providing the most rounded educational opportunities for the children of the district. This would include music, art, and other programs that are not mandated by the state/federal government.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.Experience as a teacher does provide educational insights that are valuable, but does not preclude one from becoming educated to the issues. I do not have experience as a teacher, but I have served on the District's Building Leadership Team, the District's Leadership Team, and on the Organization of the School Day subcommittee of the Ad Hoc Committee (these committee's have been comprised of teachers and administrators), Chair of the District Volunteer committee, volunteer coordinator at multiple schools and for various teachers and Co-Chair of Citizens for District 75 (the recent ""successful"" referrendum effort) has provided me valuable educational insight. As it pertains to union support, it would be beneficial if all stakeholders work together for the common good (providing the best education for the children of our district); to that end, if a candidate had the support of the union, some might see that candidate as having a pro-teacher bias; however, I am not seeking nor would I reject union support. I am neutral on the issue. Respecting one another's positions and working toward providing the best education for the children of our district is what is important.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 that all of the issues would need to be looked at on an individual line item basis and compared to the funding that will/won't be provided by the federal and state governments before any decisions could be made. If funding is there to support increases in pay or benefits and they are within acceptable industry/regional ranges, I would not be opposed to them; however, if the funding is not there to support increases then I believe it would not be in the school district's best interest to provide increases.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?No. Increases in pay should be based on job performance and board established evaluation criteria. A person's decision to retire should not be factored into a decision to approve or not approve a salary increase.