Robert A. Paliani, 2 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 H.S. D120, 2-year termAge: Candidate did not respond.Family: Married with two children, both Mundelein High School students.Occupation: Risk Manager in the financial services industry.Education: Bachelor of Arts in Economics, University of Michigan, 1987. Masters of Business Administration, University of Michigan, 1996.Civic involvement: Big Brothers Mentor as part of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Chicago.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 Increase student achievment as measured by both higher standardized test scores and higher percentage enrollment of graduates in post secondary education, vocational training, or the military.Key Issue 2 Enhance the district's facilities in order to meet the needs of the student population. The original section of the school building is 50 years old and the entire campus is only 38 acres. Significant repairs are needed to key parts of the building and enhancements are necessary for other sections of the campus in order to accommodate the 2,300 student population.Key Issue 3 Continue to support the administration's efforts to ensure financial soundness. It's admirable that the district has achieved ""Recognition"" status with respect to managing its finances and it is imperative that the district retain this status given declining property values and uncertainty with future state payments to schools. The importance of this issue is supported by the fact that local news sources continue to report about nearby districts experiencing financial hardships leading to staff layoffs and other expense cuts.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 am satisfied with the district's goal to enroll 100% of MHS students in post-secondary education, vocational training, or military. The district's partnership with the Lake County High Schools Technology Campus provides MHS students with sound vocational preparation and the district offers advanced placement and other college preparation courses to those students that wish to continue with post-secondary education. While I am not satisfied with Mundelein High School's ACT college entrance exam scores, I am satisfied that the administration has developed plans and is taking actions in order increase them. Some of the most notable examples are the creation of a data warehouse in order to track individual student performance, lowered class sizes, and the implementation of professional development programs for staff. It is expected that some plans may need to be tweaked as preliminary results are observed, but overall I do not believe that the administration needs to make significant changes to its plans at this time. It is important to note two things with respect to the district's plans. First, it is natural for there to be a lag in time between the implementation of such plans and the realization of their benefits; and second, the district needs to ensure that it has the financial resources to fund them on an ongoing basis.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 needs to be able to finance necessary enhancements to its aged and obsolete facilities. As such, I voted yes on a proposal that will appear on the April 2011 ballot to increase the amount of the district's debt service extension base (DSEB). Since I do not support a tax increase, a positive aspect of increasing the DSEB is that it will not result in an increase in taxes. Also, no material cuts to any programs or expenses are needed because the administration as done a commendable job to ensure that the district operates within its means.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 would of course provide educational insights while support from a union would not be detrimental as long as it was understood that the union's needs would be addressed equally with those of other stakeholders. I do not have experience as a teacher in the traditional sense. However, as a manager I have taught and trained professionals throughout my career, and as a parent, I have two children that attend Mundelein High School. While my educational insights may not be the same as those of a teacher, my experience as a manager and parent provides unique insights that are useful for serving on board of education.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?The district needs to ensure that it maintains its ""Recognition"" financial status so that it has flexibility to meet its needs. Furthermore, the district needs to balance the needs of all of its stakeholders. These would include: students, parents, taxpayers, teachers, support staff, and administrators. By reviewing the status of the district, one can see that there are shortfalls directly affecting both students and their parents; namely student achievement (i.e., test scores) and facilities. Also, while the current economic recession is impacting all stakeholders, it is primarily affecting the district's taxpayers who are experiencing high unemployment, high home foreclosure rates, and lower compensation. In order to balance the needs of students and their parents with the other stakeholders, it is important to address the above listed shortfalls without increasing taxes. As such, the board's contract talks with an employee group should consider the following four factors in order to fairly determine if employee costs should change: first, the performance of the employee group; second, how requests from the employee group would impact the other district stakeholders; third, how terms of a proposed contract compare with the market (i.e., other similar districts); and fourth, how much the district can afford.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?In Illinois, a substantial increase in pay beyond a set threshold in order to boost pension benefits would result in a penalty that would need to be paid by the district granting the increase. To be fair to the superintendent or other administrator nearing retirement, I would recommend that the board follow the same four factors that I proposed with respect to contract talks with employee groups. Furthermore, I would propose a fifth requirement that would limit any increase up to the state threshold so that it is not punitive to the district.