Becky McCabe: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Rebecca "Becky" McCabe

City: St. Charles

Office sought: School board member, District 303

Age: 66

Family: Married to Ken McCabe almost 45 years. Ken and I have two grown sons who are married and have children - they all live in D303. Two grandchildren attend D303 schools and one grandchild is a baby.

Occupation: Retired educator. Currently working part time as a principal coach for school improvement. I work for North Central College and the DuPage Regional Office of Education through a federal grant.

Education: BS, MS and Advanced Degrees in Education from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Civic involvement: Secretary of Homeowners Association; numerous grass-roots organizations; Past moderator, UCC Hope Church, Naperville

Previous elected offices held: I have been elected as leader in a variety of organizations but never a publicly elected office.

Incumbent? No.

Website: www.electbecky.com

Facebook: Becky McCabe: Candidate for CUSD303 School Board

Twitter: @electbeckymcca1

Issue questions

What are the most important issues facing your district and how do you intend to address them?

The main issue I see running throughout the district is the lack of connectedness. There seems to be a lack of unity and an articulated vision. Educators tend to work in isolation from each other. Collaborative teams have helped but there still is a lot of work to do to better understand how schools and classrooms are all connected throughout the system. What role do parents and the community have in this connectedness? What part do they play in the vision of this school district and their child's learning? What does the community expect from the school system? How does the district then connect with parents and the community? Finding answers to these questions is critical to bringing unity to our district. The Board must lead by providing a vision and then asking how their decisions are connected to that vision. This transparency will provide the "whys" behind Board action. Finding the connections and vision is what this job is all about - this gives direction to the district, parents and community as to what is valued and how our students and everyone involved become an integrated part of the whole.

How satisfied are you that your school district is adequately 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?

D303 does a very good job educating our students. I have two grandchildren in the D303 schools, and their futures are extremely important to me. I care about all of our students and what choices they will have when they graduate. I know that the schools and district are on the right path, providing opportunities to all students for life after high school. There are many programs in our secondary schools that support students' interests and goals. It is exciting that we are reaching out to the community for student internships and entrepreneur work. D303 and Elgin Community College are now providing dual credit for our high schoolers. This will give students additional options for careers and higher education. There are areas where we can do better. At all levels we need to be sure that the transitions and communications are clear and understandable. Teachers should be able to see how curriculum builds from elementary to high school. Students' work should scaffold into the next level. We need our students and families to see how the levels all fit together. This is about communication and vision. The pieces are there, we just need to solidify them for every student.

What budgetary issues will your district have to confront during the next four years and what measures do you support to address them? If you believe cuts are necessary, be specific about programs and expenses that should be considered for reduction or elimination. On the income side, do you support any tax increases? Be specific.

D303 has done an outstanding job of lowering taxes for our community and providing a very good educational system for our students. At this time, it appears that this will continue for the next few years. It will be critical to look to the future and see how we can continue to excel with our students and keep taxes lowered. Having good fiscally sound information is what I will want as a board member.

Are you currently employed by or retired from a school district, if so, which one? Is any member of your direct family - spouse, child or child-in-law - employed by the school district where you are seeking a school board seat?

I retired in 2016 with 35 years of educational experience as a teacher, principal, district and state administrator. I was Illinois Principal of the Year in 2004. I worked in 3 Illinois districts and at the Illinois State Board of Education. My last position was Area Assistant Superintendent for Early Childhood and Elementary in D303 - 2009-2016. Living in St. Charles and having grandchildren in the system, I feel strongly that the school system is vital to our future as a community. It was a privilege to work with the students, staff and families of D303 and it would be an honor to be elected to the D303 School Board.

As contract talks come up with various school employee groups - teachers, support staff, etc. - what posture should the school board take? Do you believe the district should ask for concessions from its employees, expect employee costs to stay about the same as they are now or provide increases in pay or benefits?

I strongly believe that the relationship between the Board and employee groups should be cultivated to become problem solving partnerships, transparent and student-focused. This should be ongoing and not just at negotiation time. Having negotiated many teacher contracts I know that the more transparent the Board and employee groups are about finances, concerns, challenges and conditions the better they are at solving the problems with reasonable and fiscally sound solutions. The financial condition of the district is key to answering this question. In St. Charles, there was a year that teachers and administrators took a pay freeze because the Board was clear about the financial future of the district. It could have become an "us vs. them" scenario. Instead it was about how we could be fiscally responsible and protect our students' education. We want the best people working for our students without adding additional burdens to the taxpayer. As a board member I would want to continue this trustful and transparent relationship, keeping the district focused on students and community.

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?

D303 has been able to lower taxes for our community over the past two years - and it looks likely that will continue for the next two years. I helped work on that accomplishment. We need to compensate people appropriately throughout their employment, rather than hurt our taxpayers with large end-of-career bumps.