Terry Fielden: 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: https://sites.google.com/site/terryfielden2011/Office sought: Naperville Unit D203Age: 48Family: Nancy wife of 17 years Three children Naperville resident for 10 years.Occupation: Senior Project Executive for Gilbane Building Company-ConstructionEducation: Bachelor of Science in Construction Technology, Purdue University CalumetLEED AP, BD+CCivic involvement: Cub Scout Pack 565-TreasurerWheatland Salem United Methodist Church Sunday School TeacherBoard Member Naperville 203Naperville Park District Soccer CoachActive in Illinois Association of School BoardsNEF Board RepresentativeElected offices held: Naperville Community Unit School District 203 Board MemberHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: I have never been arrested or charged with a crime.Candidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 The top priority has to be the continued maintenance of the positive budget currently enjoyed in 203. I will continue to work extremely hard to maintain a solid financial rating in the midst of great financial burdens experienced by other Districts. The budget has been trimmed and will continue to need refinement in areas without affecting the promise of an excellent education that is the expectation of our community. I am focused on reducing costs at the school level by seeking a more corporate standard of school expenditures against specific budget line items. I also would like to review and better consolidate miscellaneous District expenditures such as storage facilities for books and reducing the dependency on paper to distribute information. The joint review committee established in the last teacher#146;s contract can also be an effective tool in controlling costs. The committee can be used as a means to identify successful programs and initiatives in order to better focus resources.Key Issue 2 I want to see a strong focus on increasing the use of technology at the high school level and equalization of technology throughout the District at the K-8 levels. The use of electronic textbooks is growing at the college level and our students need to be better prepared for that transition. I participated in the comprehensive review of the future technology needs for the District. My focused concern is to develop a program that will help provide a computer to all our students allowing them to carry #147;electronically#148; their educational success and work directly into their college career. There already have been strides made in that focus by negotiating discounted rates for computers with major computer manufacturers. These negotiations and access to computers will help our students get the right device that will help them develop in District 203 and onto college.Key Issue 3 I have always supported the use of alternative schools over expulsion. Children placed in the alternative schools have come to better appreciate the education that is offered in District 203 primarily due to the more structured educational environment. I strongly support the effort to continue our focus and commitment to help these students. We must help them better understand the need for educational development not only for their success in school but, also for the greater benefit to society as a whole. Future Boards need to remain committed to finding the correct combination of funding and programs to continue these efforts productively. Coupled with the continuance of our programs is the need to continuously adjust the rigor of our internet safety programs. Almost daily I hear of students who make potentially life altering mistakes in the world of social media. The high schools take time to focus on these matters as they make the news media. Increasingly, social media sites are used at the K-8 levels. I would like to see an increase in focus on teaching the potential harm that these social media mistakes can create in the lives of our children. The issue will not simply go away.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I have served this District for the past four years in an honest and straightforward manner. The community can rely upon me to honor my word and continue as a proactive member of the Board seeking the advancement of education. I stood up in a highly visible manner for the defense and positive support of our students during the labor strike of 2010. I lead the way in the development of the PLA that ended the strike and will remove any potential labor strikes for the balance of the program. I take an interest and the time to understand how the administration makes their decisions in developing curriculum. My singular motivation is the promotion of education to all of our children while keeping a watchful eye on the budget and cost of education. I have a solid understanding of school budgets and the impact of State funding to our resources. I make my decisions by weighing all aspects of the matter and then make the right choice for the students. I remain committed to the overall success of Naperville 203 as I promised when I was first elected.Do you support retaining teacher tenure rules that make it nearly impossible to fire teachers?I would say that the matter of tenure is more of a lack of enforcing District based educational standards for teachers. The continued employment of teachers who are apparently not performing at an acceptable standard is also the subject of National debate. Tenure is a factor in the equation but, tenure is not the sole reason that allows performance standards to be compromised. Tenure is an element of teaching employment that must be realigned with the rigor of desired educational standards. Tenure can and must include the satisfactory achievement of key educational metrics. Those metrics will come about through rational debate in order to achieve a system that provides a fair and impartial evaluation of teacher performance. I believe that Naperville 203 is a highly admired and a well known District throughout the State in setting a standard for educational excellence in both teaching staff and curriculum. I believe that we can set the pace for the change of tenure with sound educational metrics versus having the pace of change set upon us.Do you support merit pay for teachers?I absolutely support merit pay for teachers. I believe that District 203 has taken a step in that direction by establishing a contractually required administrative and teacher based review committee that will review such initiatives in the future. Talented teachers who regularly develop and enhance various educational programs are deserving of merit pay. I believe that we enjoy unique programs for elementary discipline, diversity programs and education that are developed by our teachers. However, I am not convinced we do enough in the area of promotion and acknowledgement for these efforts. Metrics for merit pay will have to be largely based on the overall value and benefit to the community in determining the areas of eligible merit pay. Teachers and Administrators will need to jointly collaborate on the metrics and the community as whole will need to provide some input.The district has managed the current financial storm without slashing jobs and deficit spending. How do you ensure that stability will continue?The budget will require constant monitoring and refinement to maintain the current positive balance that we enjoy. I support a close review of the expenditures at the individual school levels to help keep our resources focused in the right direction. The individual schools need designated budget allocations to help each facility better track costs and help control spending. I participated in the initial set up of the volunteer financial advisory committee that provides invaluable financial feedback to the District. I have supported the recommendations made to reduce costs while not impacting education. I look for areas to trim the budget and encourage the reduction of expendables such as paper and copier supplies. The District has successfully maintained spending projections over the past years in large part due to accurate forecasting. I have actively supported the abatement of funds related to borrowing for the facilities projects. The financial stability of District 203 will continue as a solid foundation has been set coupled with principled practice of cash management.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?Elementary level schools lay the foundation for the success of our students. I would like to see a greater level of collaboration and interaction across all of our 14 elementary schools. I see a unique opportunity to provide guidance to many other elementary Districts in the State based on our success. A Unit District such as 203 affords a greater level of educational continuity across the 13 year career of our students. I want to see an increased effort in identifying those teachers that can enhance development in reading and math skills at the elementary levels. Reading and math skills that are developed and enhanced at the elementary level will have the greatest impact on our students. The District already implements effective programs such as LEAP for reading. But, there is always a need to adjust the programs and identify new learning intercessions very early to help the students. I believe District 203 attracts the best teaching talent in the State. Giving them the means and resources to exploit their talent in the development of new programs will only benefit our students. Our challenge for growth is to find a way to make that effort into reality.