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I have undergraduate and master’s degrees in finance, marketing, and business policy from the University of Illinois and Northwestern. Professionally I’ve worked in financial analysis, public relations, and fundraising. I have a second master’s in education with a special education endorsement. My 20 years of front-line educational service – including my work with special needs students -- gives me an understanding of the whole-child needs of all students. I’m also adept at understanding educational data and research to guide Lake Park’s school’s continuous improvement. That combination of business and education expertise would allow me to provide governance focused on both fiscal stewardship and academic achievement.
Teacher morale is a critical issue since teachers are the backbone of our education system. EdWeek Research Center’s The State of Teaching 2024, puts teacher morale at a negative 13 on a scale of 1-100. Teachers face an increased workload, lasting post-pandemic challenges, student behavior, challenging parental involvement and lack of recognition. School leaders need to prioritize recognition, provide professional growth opportunities, involve teachers in decision making, address burnout proactively and enhance resources and support.
Achievement is varied. The Illinois Board of Education's new Comprehensive Literacy and Math plans are exciting and will enhance core reading and math instruction statewide. However, it’s challenging to address learning difficulties in high school. Coordinating curriculum, instruction, and assessment across our elementary feeder districts would smooth high school onboarding and enhance academic outcomes for all.
All schools are facing financial pressures. Federal revenue remains uncertain, we are in a rising cost environment and Lake Park is undertaking a facilities plan that will require investment. I believe in three disciplines: 1) cost-benefit analysis, 2) assigning priority levels to capital and operating costs and 3) participatory democracy. Participatory democracy invites students, parents, teachers and taxpayers into fiscal decision making.
I define diversity, equity and inclusion in the context of high school education to mean student success. In the classroom, multiple perspectives should be encouraged. Research shows "belonging" leads to better academic, social and emotional outcomes. creating broad school clubs and activities allows every student to find a peer group. In school or online bullying should be reported anonymously through a tip line. A culture of kindness and respect should be modeled by adults throughout the community.
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My background uniquely positions me to be a member of the school board. I started my career as a high school teacher. This gives me unique insights into the needs of our teachers as they work to teach our students. I am the mother of a current and two future Lancers, so I understand the perspective of our students and community. I am also a small business owner, so I understand the challenges of leading and making decisions between different alternatives like our Administration must. My experiences allow me to understand the different stakeholders so that as a board member I can work to collaborate with them to make the best possible decisions for our students.
The two biggest issues facing our school district are our curriculum and our facility needs, and the current school board is already working hard to address them. Under the leadership of Assistant Superintendent Doyle, Lake Park is going through a multi-year curriculum review department by department. This is ensuring that our students are being taught to be successful and to make sure it is in line with state assessments and our Lake Park District Strategic Plan & Portrait of a Graduate. It is also ensuring that our teachers are equipped to effectively teach this information. The board needs to continue to support these efforts.
As for the facilities needs, the board has commissioned a study which will lead to a facilities strategic plan
Our students are doing incredibly well! If you look at the measurements of achievement (state testing, school report card, ap, pick a metric you have info on) you can see that Lake Park continues to equip our students to excel both during their time at Lake Park and once they graduate.
Lake Park continues to have balanced budgets. Every year the board works with the business office to ensure that the right priorities are being set for the allocation of our funds. They do a great job of managing the tensions inherent in a budgeting process and ensure our students have what they need to succeed. Beyond this they continue to make wise decisions like paying off debt early to save taxpayers unnecessary interest expense.
Diversity in the context of education is students that come from many backgrounds be it race, socioeconomic circumstances, family situations, abilities, faiths or LGBTQ. All the research shows that if a student does not feel safe they will be unable to learn and succeed to their fullest potential. Therefore it is the school's job to create a safe environment for all of our students.
Lake Park does a great job already by ensuring that it has a very strong safety program and a committee on diversity. The administration also has a bullying tip line that allows students to report issues anonymously. As a board member, I would continue to support these programs.
I am no stranger to stressful settings filled with passionate people trying to achieve what they feel gets the best outcome. I have had countless late nights collaborating with intelligent people across various backgrounds and areas of expertise finding ways to come up with great solutions to urgent problems.
What I have found over that time is that the best solutions are most often born from supporting the people closest to the problem. One of my mentors expressed it best to me as “hire smart people, and then actually listen to what they say.”
That advice has served me very well in working with teams both large and small to get the best possible results.
The school board's role is to set a vision for the district, and I happen to agree with the current “Portrait of a Graduate.” I especially love the emphasis on critical thinking, being a resilient learner, and being a global citizen.
Chronic absenteeism remains the biggest challenge facing this district and many others. I don't think there's a simple answer for solving it. Evaluating current bus route efficiency may help, and ongoing listening to community members for what support might be beneficial to return to pre-pandemic attendance is key.
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Lake Park 108 is a high school district actively paying down debts and ready to make fiscally responsible investments in it's students and community.
I'm a 40-year-old straight white guy raised in the suburbs. My definition of diversity isn't the important one. I value all perspectives, but especially ones different from my own because they offer rich learning opportunities for me.
I'm listening. I'm ready to amplify. That's the best way I can prove how much I value other perspectives.
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