Ben Yomtoob: 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: Lake ForestWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Lincolnshire-Prairie View D103Age: 46Family: Married, wife Laura, sons Joshua (19), Jacob (17)Occupation: Senior VP of Operations, Delta Dental Plans AssociationEducation: B.S., Computer Science, University of MichiganM.B.A., Policy Studies, University of ChicagoCivic involvement: District 103 Board Member: 2007 - 2011Citizens for District 103: 2006Cub Scout Pack 78 Cub Master: 2002 - 2005Spring Lake Sports League Coach: 2000 - 2007Elected offices held: Distict 103 School Board: 2007 - 2011Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: No.Candidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Our three top administrators are retiring. Successfully transitioning to new leadership is the biggest challenge facing our district.Key Issue 2 Continuing to maintain the District's solid financial status and living within our means.Key Issue 3 Finding innovative and creative approaches to eduction that will truly make our District live up to its motto of ""Leaders in Learning""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?Very satisfied. From all the data points available, our students perform well at Stevenson High School. That said, we need better data to truly measure whether we are effective or not.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?There will never be as much money as we would like for everything we potentially could do. Over my current term, we've managed to build a reasonable reserve which is critical to our future. We have to continue to live within our means and figure out how we can be more efficient. A tax increase is something to be avoided at all costs. Everyone on our board works hard to avoid ever getting to the point where a tax increase will be necessary.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.I believe that a good school board will have a mix of people with different experiences -- including experience within the public K-12 world. Given that teachers are one of the most important stakeholders in public education, right after the children, considering their perspective will help a board make the best decisions for the district. As someone who doesn't have this sort of experience, I'm glad we have others on the board that do. I welcome the support of anyone who believes I've done a good job as a board member, but am not interested in organizational endorsements from any group.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?This is a very difficult question to answer as it depends on the economics at that time. For our district to continue to be successful, it's important that salaries be competitive with similar districts. I do support moving away from the traditional tenure-based pay within existing teacher contracts and a moving toward compensating based on effectiveness. Test scores need to be part of that equation, but there are other dimensions of effectiveness to consider as well.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?I don't support this practice as it is extremely harmful to taxpayers and the viability of the state pension plan. Unfortunately, this is an existing feature within both teacher and administrator contracts across the state. I applaud the work that the Daily Herald and others have done to shine light on this practice. It has become an entitlement expected from educational professionals and I am working to eliminate it.