Maria J. Bidelman: 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: ElginWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Elgin Area Unit D46Age: 46Family: Married, 2 children, ages 10 and 8 years old.Occupation: School Social WorkerEducation: BA in Biology, University of ChicagoMA in Social Service Administration, University of ChicagoMA in Educational Administration, Northern Illinois UniversityCivic involvement: NENA (Northeast Neighborhood Association)Elected offices held: U-46 Board of Education MemberHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: noCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 My top issue is to continue with the district's campaign to increase student achievement and promote college readiness, ensuring the most promising futures for our U-46 students. Specifically the district needs to continue its focus on eliminating the achievement gap. Ultimately, none of this can happen without raising the academic bar for all of our students.Key Issue 2 Community pride and partnership with U-46 continues to be an important focus. U-46 needs the entire community to rally around our students and work with the district to meet its goals. Moreover, the district needs to continue to reach out to create those vital connections. This important work is best achieved by everyone working together.Key Issue 3 Fiscal responsibility is obviously a serious concern for U-46. However, I place this at number 3 because I believe that U-46 needs to have a strong commitment to its focus on student achievement in order to make the best fiscal decisions to support this goal. Moreover, these tough fiscal choices need to be supported and shared by our entire community in order to be able to keep moving forward and upward in the academic community.Questions Answers What prompted you to run for U-46 school board? If you're a newcomer, how will you make a difference? If you're an incumbent, how have you made a difference?Originally, I was prompted to run for U-46 Board of Education because I have a passion for public education and I wanted to become more involved in my community#146;s educational system. With my background in education, I have been able to bring a unique perspective to the Board room. I am keenly aware of the small nuances of what goes on in the school house and balance that with the policy work of the Board. I have also worked hard at promoting communication throughout the district (something that continues to need improvement) and in the Board room. It has been an incredible learning process to be able to understand my role as a board member and how to balance this with my professional life as an educator (and my life as a parent). However, I believe that, although these roles are very unique, I have been able to use their differences to enhance my board work and my professional work.With many area high school graduates having to take remedial classes before they can take college-level coursework, what can U-46 do to better prepare students for college?Preparing students for college begins the moment that our children walk through the school doors in kindergarten. The discussion of life-long learning and the value of education needs to begin at that tender, young age and continue to promote education that is focused on the goal of preparing students for college. U-46 has the unique design of educating grades K-12. This allows for the continuity of vertical articulation so that the district can indeed align the curriculum from kindergarten on through twelfth grade. Furthermore, U-46 has the opportunity to impact over 40,000 students with this preparation. U-46 has committed to programs such as AVID and #147;No Excuses University#148;. I support these types of proven programs which are designed to help students to access education enthusiastically and promote strong study skills so that the content delivered by teachers can be retained and utilized as building blocks. Lastly, the board needs to continue to raise the bar for our students, giving them the content they need to move easily into the college curriculum. Again, this must begin at the earliest possible moment, building a strong foundation of information. This content, combined with strong study skills and an enthusiasm for learning, will give students what they need to be college ready.Are you committed to eliminating U-46's operating deficit? The administration has set a goal of erasing it by the 2014-15 school year. Is that too aggressive or not enough? What areas would you target for reduction? Is anything off limits?It would be irresponsible to the community of U-46 to not commit towards eliminating the deficit in the operating budget. However, in order to do this responsibly, our student#146;s education must not be compromised any further. Therefore, I believe that we need to plan to work at this deficit mindfully, by not cutting too deeply too quickly. U-46 staff continues to need important resources to provide the best education possible during these times. The district has made very difficult cuts in the last two years and I am not sure that the district can withstand more. However, every aspect of the budget needs to be considered to make sure the district remains balanced to operate most efficiently and effectively during these times. I would also encourage working hard to look for more sources of revenue, such as grants. Although revenue sources such as these are not sustainable, they can bring needed enhancements to the district as a whole and to the classroom.With all union contracts up this year, how should the district approach negotiations? In light of the continuing deficit and state funding issues, do you support a salary freeze? If not, do you support contracts that tie increases to inflation?Negotiations are very complicated. Although the bottom line is salary, there are many aspects of the labor contract that involves job expectations that help to provide the best possible learning opportunities for our students. Interest based bargaining has been an effective tool to help meet the needs of the entire U-46 community, staff and students. The issue of salary freeze needs to be carefully considered. I believe that if our budget can afford it, the district should do its best to provide competitive salaries for the staff. U-46 continues to need to attract and retain the best staff for our students. Increases that are tied to inflation can help to keep salaries competitive and help to fairly compensate the staff.While the district has not yet had to borrow to meet payroll, it has struggled with cash flow in recent months. What should the district do to manage cash flow so it will not have to rely on tax anticipation warrants? Should it restructure existing debt?Because the district has worked hard at increasing its bond rating, U-46 has had the fortunate opportunity to obtain tax anticipation warrants under very good conditions. Fortunately the district has not had to use them because they are costly. School funding is very complicated and bound by many policies and laws. The current board is moving towards increasing the Working Cash Fund by issuing bonds that would bring this fund#146;s balance to a more appropriate level with our current budget. I support this type of debt restructuring because it will allow the district to have more flexibility towards paying all of our bills within the law. Moreover, it will allow the district to maintain its positive bond rating, thus allowing for future financial stability.