Lori Price: 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: AuroraWebsite: http://www.LoriPrice204.comOffice sought: Indian Prairie Unit D204Age: 45Family: Married for 19 years to husband, David, with two children - Colin, a 7th grader at Still Middle School and Katie, a 5th grader at Owen Elementary.Occupation: Stay at home momEducation: B.S. in Consumer Affairs, Eastern Illinois University, 1987Civic involvement: President, Indian Prairie Special Needs PTA - 4 yearsMember, Indian Prairie Parents' Council - 4 yearsActive in PTAs in District 204, serving on Owen PTA and Still PTSA boards.Serves on D204's Special Olympics Advisory BoardServes on State Rep. Darlene Senger's Educational Advisory CommitteeOrganized ""Caravan to the Capital"" last spring and met with State Representatives and Senators to discuss opposition to budget cuts in education.Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Improved Academic Achievement - I want to preserve and improve upon the educational excellence that will enable all students to succeed. I#146;ve participated in many meetings and have been involved in numerous discussions which have allowed me to see the needs as well as the progress of our students. Overall, we are a great school district, as many of our test scores indicate. However, we need to be great for every student. Systemic change is needed in some areas. I believe we also should be focused on attracting and retaining excellent educators. Through continued professional development opportunities, we have the ability to increase our teachers#146; skills and proficiency. By addressing areas of weakness and encouraging professional development, we are setting the stage for increasing the academic achievement of every student. We need to keep our focus on this goal to insure their success and prepare them for further education opportunities and careers. In that process, I believe we can also encourage our students to become lifelong learners.Key Issue 2 Financial Concerns for the District - State budgetary issues will continue to be a concern for District 204. Because of proposed cuts to education, our district has already had to cut over $21M but still was able to submit a balanced budget. We need to continue to look at ways to be more efficient and look at programs that have shown consistent success so there is more return on investment. If the state#146;s budget necessitates the need for further reductions in the district#146;s operating budget, the school board will need to look at ways the district can further reduce expenses without sacrificing the quality of education or increasing the liability to taxpayers.Key Issue 3 Be an advocate for every student - In addition to monitoring academic achievement and establishing district policies, I believe that some of the key roles of a school board member are to represent the district as a whole, approach each issue with an open mind, and to serve as the leading advocate for students and schools in the district. In my role as President of a district-wide PTA, I am engaged with parents and schools from every part of the district. A school board member needs to be able to do the same. I listen to parents and forward their concerns to administration in hopes of achieving a viable solution. A school board member needs to do the same. I am an advocate for students, teachers and families within the PTA and I have found a passion for advocacy in education. I believe a school board member needs to have that passion to be a true advocate for their school district. Through their actions, a school board member represents their community and helps foster understanding and support for the schools. I believe I have represented this community and school district well through my advocacy efforts, not only in the PTAs I represent, but through my efforts locally and state-wide.Questions Answers Do you support retaining teacher tenure rules that make it nearly impossible to fire teachers?There needs to be some kind of reform. No other profession guarantees employment after 4 years on the job. Under current law, teachers employed by a school district after 1998 are eligible to receive tenure after four years of consecutive service in a school district, regardless of performance. There are proposed changes in the #147;Performance Counts Act of 2010#148; that include performance evaluations in determining tenure eligibility or revocation of tenure status by being put on #147;probationary#148; status. I feel this is a fair way of holding our educators accountable to their profession and, more importantly, to our students. There is still the question of how these performance measures would be finalized and that particular piece is something that needs to be left to administrators, not lawmakers.Do you support merit pay for teachers?I don#146;t feel there is enough information to give a definitive #147;yes#148; or #147;no#148; answer. There is very little agreement in the education community on what constitutes #147;merit pay#148; which makes answering a question like this difficult. I do believe we ought to reward strong teachers who are qualified and excel in their profession. I believe there are opportunities for that within the National Board Certification process. Based on current information regarding merit pay, I think there are more cons to the general idea of merit pay because of the impact it could have on our students. Additionally, research has not shown merit pay to be successful. Currently, there is a team approach to teaching in our district. We have Professional Development Wednesdays, where teachers collaborate, both to improve their own skills and to identify targeted strategies for addressing the needs of straggling learners. Unless a merit pay program were carefully designed, it could be detrimental to learning in the long run because teachers may want to save all of the #147;good ideas#148; for themselves in hopes of earning more money by being able to advance their own students. Similarly, if merit pay were based on success in the classroom, #147;success#148; would have to be clearly defined, which would be difficult. There are diverse groups of students in which success is measured very differently. We have English Language Learners, students with special needs, students from different socio-economic backgrounds - all of which can have different measures of #147;success.#148; The most commonly suggested solution is using standardized test scores, but I believe that teacher accountability based on test scores alone does not work. Because of NCLB and ISAT#146;s, there is already some criticism that there is too much #147;teaching to the test#148;. If merit pay were based on the results of test scores, this concern would certainly become more prevalent and would move our district in the wrong direction.The district is trying to reconnect with the community and regain its trust through open communication and more transparency. Is that mission being accomplished?Yes, I think there have been great strides made in this area, especially when you look back at where we were two or three years ago. I believe technology is playing a role in that reconnection. Every week there are various communications sent out from the district such as Points of Pride, Around the District, eNews, ConnectEd, the Superintendent#146;s message. In addition, board meetings are now available on 204OnDemand. More importantly, though, our Superintendent has been very visible and is talking to different parent groups face to face, trying to bring those messages directly to the parents and community members through PTAs, community organizations, Rotary clubs, etc. Last year, she spoke with each school PTA during at least one of their meetings. This year, there are efforts underway to meet with faculty in every building and again have those face to face discussions. Communication is also going out not only to District 204 parents, but to the entire community through a quarterly newsletter so those in the district without school aged children can be kept informed of how our tax dollars are being spent and the accomplishments of our school district. In these ways, the district is demonstrating how we are educating our students at the level our community expects and within the financial constraints that our community understands to be reasonable.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?Until revenue and spending begin to stabilize in our state, I believe our school district will always be confronted with budget issues. It#146;s becoming painfully clear that we cannot rely on the state to make timely payments so we will have to be constantly watching for ways to save, even if there is a minimal savings, and making decisions on whether to reduce or eliminate a service, program or even more staff. Certain programs are mandated, either by federal or state laws, and have to therefore be funded at certain levels. Those items would need to be examined first to determine what remaining programs or expenses could be addressed. Tax increases are painful, especially in this economy. Under current General State Aid funding formulas, school districts like ours will not see the benefit of a tax increase like other districts might. The question of the need for a referendum always comes up. The information available from the district seems to indicate that our district is not in a position to need one right now. Provided there is continued fiscal responsibility and the state begins to meet its obligation to make on- time payments to school districts, the need for a referendum is not urgent. Even if the state continues to be late in their payments, I feel confident that the district has allowed enough of a cushion to bear that hit.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 think the district is doing a good job in this area. Our ACT scores continue to increase, even with the significant population growth over the span of several years. Many districts#146; test scores tend to level off when growth occurs, but in District 204, there#146;s been evidence of a consistently upward trend despite that influx of students. I think there are areas that do need more attention. Writing is an area that will no longer be tested by Illinois State Assessments; however, this cannot be an area we no longer concern ourselves with. The district should hold itself accountable in this area and ensure regression does not occur and improvements are being made. Test scores in reading drop at the middle school level, so this is also an area that needs to be addressed. The district recently engaged a consultant group to identify weaknesses within the special education program. Administrators have started to address those key areas and there will need to be a continuation in these efforts so those students leave our schools with the ability to enter the work force or go on to an appropriate level of further education and feel a sense of independence. We also need to look at 21st Century Skills and make sure our students graduate with not only a knowledge of core subjects, but with the knowledge and skills it takes to be a successful employee or entrepreneur: collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking skills. One area that I feel plays an indirect role in this is our fine arts program. Participation in the fine arts allows students to develop in all areas of the 21st Century Skills initiative. Whether they go on to a career in the fine arts or not, research has shown that participation in the fine arts enables students to excel in other areas of their lives, even beyond the classroom, so I think it is important to continue to encourage our students to pursue skills such as these that are not directly associated with core academics.