Mike Jaensch: 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: NapervilleWebsite: http://www.203board.comOffice sought: Naperville Unit D203Age: 51Family: Married to Rebekah for 23 years Daughter Elizabeth, 20 Son Alan, 18Occupation: Retired US Air Force Fighter Pilot, Pilot for American AirlinesEducation: BS Aeronautical Engineering, US Air Force Academy, 1981Masters in Aviation Science, Embry-Riddle University, 1990Civic involvement: Current:President, Naperville 203 Board of EducationPreviously:President Madison JHS Home School AssociationMember District 203 Finance Facilities CommitteeMember District 203 Elementary Foreign Language CommitteeMember District 203 School-Family-Community PartnershipMember Naperville Partnership for EducationChairman of Madison JHS School-Family-Community PartnershipMember and Treasurer of Neighborhood Swim Team BoardPark District Swim Conference Representative Competition JudgeYouth soccer coach and refereeElected offices held: Member, Naperville District 203 Board of Education, 2007-PresentHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: No.Candidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Continued excellence in education.Our students consistently outperform their peers in neighboring and benchmark districts. We must continue to set high standards and hold our teachers and students to them.Key Issue 2 Continued excellence in fiscal management.While other districts and government bodies all around are fighting deficits and cutting their workforces, we have managed to balance our budget every year since I have been in office and are projected to do so for the foreseeable future. However we cannot relax our fiscal discipline one bit going forward, especially when we enter our next round of contract negotiations.Key Issue 3 Plan for the future.We cannot rest on our laurels and must constantly strive to be innovators in education. We must incorporate new technologies into our schools and constantly adapt our curriculum to today#146;s rapidly evolving society.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?Experience, vision and leadership.It takes a fair amount of time to learn all the things necessary to be an effective school board member and I am confident the experience I have gained over the last four years, in addition to the other volunteer work I did before being elected, put me in the best position to serve our community. Combined with a relentless drive for continuous improvement and the leadership skills necessary to effectively work with the Board and the administration, make me the right person to continue serving the citizens of Naperville.Do you support retaining teacher tenure rules that make it nearly impossible to fire teachers?No.And we are not permitting unacceptable performance. We are being much more proactive in identifying poor performers early in their careers, and if necessary, letting them go before they attain tenure. Also, though difficult, we are actively addressing poor performance at any level.Do you support merit pay for teachers?Not at this time.There are two reasons I don#146;t support merit pay at this point. First of all, I have yet to see a model that works. Though many people are eager to jump on the bandwagon, they usually are short on ideas when it comes to designing a merit pay system.Secondly, I grew up in a culture where you were paid a fair salary and then expected to deliver. I never expected a bonus for doing a great job, and there are many other professions that operate the same way. We need a motivated workforce that is committed to excellence by a sense of duty and a love of the job, not one that is driven solely by potential monetary gain.The district has managed the current financial storm without slashing jobs and deficit spending. How do you ensure that stability will continue?Never relax.We must continue to maintain an extraordinary amount of fiscal discipline and continuously evaluate every dollar being spent. Most importantly, we need to keep control of our labor costs, since they are by far our biggest expense.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 satisfied that our graduates are entering the adult world extremely well-prepared, but once again, the world is changing rapidly and we cannot sit idly as it passes us by. We must adapt to new technologies and continue our emphasis on producing life-long learners. Producing a graduate who can continue learning and think creatively is far more important than graduating someone who can recite information, but cannot evolve and adapt as the world around him changes.