{"id":579,"date":"2013-02-17T17:26:46","date_gmt":"2013-02-17T22:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/napervilledemocrats.org\/ntdo\/?p=579"},"modified":"2013-03-08T15:23:43","modified_gmt":"2013-03-08T20:23:43","slug":"neil-samuels-candidate-for-district-203-school-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/napervilledemocrats.org\/ntdo\/neil-samuels-candidate-for-district-203-school-board\/","title":{"rendered":"Neil Samuels, Candidate for District 203 School Board"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NeilSamuels\"<\/a>The NTDO has offered\u00a0candidates<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0April 9 Municipal Elections<\/a>\u00a0an opportunity to address our readership. \u00a0Neil Samuels, candidate for District 203 School Board, offers the following:<\/p>\n

I am running for school board because the decisions and actions of these seven people have enormous impact on our\u00a0entire community; not just the 17,000 kids, but also every teacher, staff member, administrator, business owner and\u00a0resident. Real change happens at the local level and there is nothing more local (nor more important) than our schools.\u00a0I want to bring my experience, expertise, and personal strengths to take our board and our schools to the next level. We\u00a0can and should be a national benchmark for K-12 education.<\/p>\n

I will focus my efforts on three significant issues facing the district; 1) increasing the school board\u2019s engagement with the\u00a0community; 2) using our resources effectively and efficiently; and, 3) successfully implementing the Common Core State\u00a0Standards (CCSS).<\/p>\n

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  1. I believe the board and district administrative staff could be more effective by increasing their level of engagement and\u00a0transparency with the community. In 203, we have a broad group of stakeholders including students, teachers, staff,\u00a0administrators, parents, businesses, retirees, etc., all of whom matter. These groups sometimes have conflicting wants\u00a0and needs. The key to success is finding new ways to more fully engage with everyone early and often so that people\u00a0know that their voices were heard, their perspectives valued, and their input considered. I know because I have spent\u00a0the past twenty-three years consulting on organizational change with businesses, non-profits and education.<\/li>\n
  2. We must maintain our district\u2019s strong financial position so that we can continue to provide the high value education\u00a0for which we are known. A recent article in the Tribune cited one of our high schools among the top performing in the\u00a0State. Of the 15 schools noted, we had the lowest spend per pupil. That is only one measure but still a clear indication\u00a0of efficient spending. That should be welcome news for those of us with children in school. And for the approximately\u00a060% of our community without children currently in school, who know that our schools are the biggest driver of their\u00a0housing prices AND want to keep their taxes reasonable, we must continue wisely managing all of our resources.<\/li>\n
  3. I believe that successfully implementing CCSS will affect every student and teacher in our schools, every family in our\u00a0community and nearly every aspect of our operations. Kathy Birkett, Superintendent of District 204 got my attention\u00a0when she said; “CCSS is the biggest change in education in my 34 years in education- on par with the invention of the\u00a0printing press.” As someone who has spent over twenty years helping organizations deal with transformation, I know\u00a0what it will take for us to successfully manage this complex change; engage broadly with our community, build on our\u00a0strengths, and act quickly and adapt.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I ask for your support so I can join the board to deal with these and the other issues we face.
    \nMy requests of you (in order of difficulty)<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Visit my\u00a0website\u00a0<\/a>and like my campaign on\u00a0FaceBook<\/a><\/li>\n
    2. Vote on April 9th (and get all of your friends and neighbors out as well). Absentee and early voting are easy. https:\/\/www.dupageco.org\/Election\/Voters\/37319\/<\/a><\/li>\n
    3. Talk to your friends and neighbors and tell them why you are supporting me.<\/li>\n
    4. Put up a yard sign (let me know and I will get one posted toward the end of the month)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n