David Hess: 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: Arlington HeightsWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Prospect Heights Elementary D23Age: 43Family: Married, wife - Lisa Daughters - Lauren (13), Emily (9)Occupation: Director - Online Business Intelligence for SearsEducation: B.A. Psychology - University of Wisconsin - MadisonPh.D. Cognitive Psychology - University of TexasCivic involvement: Candidate did not respond.Elected offices held: Board of Education - 2007 - 2011Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 To provide a superior education to the children of district. To the district's credit, I believe our students receive a top quality education. That being said, the level of competitiveness in our world is increasing, and to keep pace we must place increasing emphasis on math and science. Key Issue 2 To secure the financial future of the district.Key Issue 3 To ensure a smooth transition to grade level centers.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 District 23 does an exemplary job of preparing students for high school and beyond. The district has repeatedly received positive feedback from District 214's administration on the level of preparation of students graduating from MacArthur Middle School. In addition, MacArthur Middle School was recently recognized by Chicago Magazine as one of the top 20 schools in Cook County. From a quantitative perspective, the district's students have regularly scored above state averages and on par with area school districts.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?Poor economic conditions and declining home prices have negatively affected the district's budget situation the past two years. These two factors have combined to negatively affect district revenues on two fronts. First, because district revenues from property taxes are capped by the CPI, historically low inflation rates have presented a situation where the rate of increase in district costs exceeds the increase in revenues. Second, economic hardships for families in the district have reduced the rate of property tax collections by approximately 5%. The current board has confronted these issues by cutting $1+ million from this year's budget, and plans to cut an additional $1.5 million from next year's budget. In addition, I supported the move to grade level centers which will take more than $300k out of the district's cost structure. Additionally, in my role on the Board Building and Sites committee I have made a number of recommendations to delay or cancel projects that weren't immediately required for the operation of the district.While I believe there are additional cost savings/revenues in the areas of shared costs of benefits by district employees and additional fees for extracurricular participation, these items will not change the long term financial structure of the district. I support the proposed referendum in April 2011 as a vehicle for putting the district on firmer financial footing. I believe our recent experiences with cost cutting has shown us that even if the referendum passes (the first in 20 years), we must cost justify every financial decision to ensure that the burden on the taxpayers of the district will not be increased for another 20 years.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.I have neither experience as an elementary (or secondary) teacher nor the support/endorsement of the teacher's union. I don't believe that either are necessary in order to be an effective board member. I would accept a union endorsement of my candidacy, but would not accept financial support. I believe our district is small enough where a candidate can run without spending money on a costly campaign.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 expectations for increases in salaries and benefits should be in line with the experiences of the community that employs them. Community members that work in business have had little to no increases in salaries while being faced with increases in benefit costs. I believe that district employee compensation should be closely aligned with the experiences of the community that pays their salaries and benefits. If either side of the equation gets out of balance the result is resentment. When district salaries and benefits increase at a rate that is significantly higher than that of the community it creates resentment by the taxpayers. Conversely, when the rate of salary/benefit increase for employees is lower than that of the community at large, it increases the likelihood of attrition. I advocate an approach similar in concept to that taken by District 21 in Wheeling where teacher salary (and benefit) increases move in relation to the CPI.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 am not an advocate of maxing out pay increases in the years prior to retirement for the purpose of inflating retirement pension benefits. While it is the state's responsibility to pay out administrator pensions, I believe it is financially irresponsible to pass on the additional burden to the taxpayers of the state for up to 25+ years.