James Leslie: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: James G. Leslie

City: Aurora

Office sought: Board member West Aurora School District 129

Age: 42

Family: Wife, two daughters and a son.

Occupation: Firefighter paramedic

Education: Bachelor's Degree from CSU

Civic involvement: ILFFPS, KoC, NPFFAC (charitable organizations)

Previous elected offices held: None

Incumbent? If yes, when were you first elected? No.

Facebook: @jamesgleslieforwestaurora129

Twitter: @jamesgleslie

Issue questions

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

The most important issue facing the district is student achievement. How I intend to address that problem is by forcing current and any new money into the classroom and using it to reduce class sizes. The second part of improving student achievement is freeing up our instructors time for preparation and instruction by systematically eliminating organizational drag on their time. What does that mean? Have you ever at work been assigned a pointless task, been to a pointless meeting, or read a pointless email? Exactly. In the educational setting that intrusion happens at the expense of your child and your child's teacher interaction we each other. There is nothing that takes priority over that.

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?

Four schools in the district has been labeled as "underperforming" by the Illinois State Board of Education. 50 percent of our students who enter college need remediation. West Aurora 129 doesn't need the next new hot concept in education, what SD 129 needs is a process audit. Anything uncovered in that audit that interrupts the teacher's classroom or increases the size of the classroom needs to be reviewed aggressively and targeted for elimination.

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.

Internally - I don't see major changes coming in the next four years. Financial pressures haven't been as extreme as some nearby districts. Externally is a much different story. The Illinois State Board of Education places SD129 at 57 percent district financial capacity to meet expectations. The 101st General Assembly is likely to make several changes on how the state collects revenue. The next school board absolutely needs to engage our local legislator to make sure that proper funds are being allocated to the local school districts.

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?

No.

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?

The AEA-W (the teacher's) has a contract due for renewal in 2019. Negotiating collective bargaining agreements is something I've quite a bit of and I have seen it done the wrong way and the right way. The most successful, mutually beneficial contracts I've seen is where the parties view negotiations as a problem solving session rather than a fight to be won. Confrontational negotiations is outdated thinking and the only people who get rich in that situation is the lawyers.

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?

No. Pension spiking destabilizes the whole pension fund and that threatens the retirements of the common teacher and the taxes of the taxpayer.