Election 2013: Mary Childers for D-207 Board

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Name: Mary C. Childers

Position sought: Maine Township High School District 207 Board of Education, four-year term.

Campaign contact information. Please include any or all of the following: website, email address, phone number, Facebook page, Twitter account, mailing address, etc.

Email: mary.childers04@gmail.com

Mailing address: 835 Pearson St., #207, Des Plaines, IL 60016

Age: 63

Family Include as much info as you like (names, ages, number of children, etc.): Eldest of five children, all graduates of the Maine Township High School District 207.

Education Include degree(s) and school(s):

University of Minnesota, Liberal Arts, B.A. Degree.

Attended Triton Community College and Northern Illinois University.

Occupation: Real Estate Broker

Political Party: Non-partisan

Official name of your campaign committee (if you have one): Friends for Mary C. Childers

Previous Elected or Appointed Offices:

First Ward Alderman of City of Des Plaines, 1987-1993.

Member of the Maine Township Planning Commission since 2002.

Is there any additional experience you believe qualifies you for the position?

Successful experience in multi-unit business ownership (Brown’s Chicken, Pasta and Catering – Des Plaines & Schiller Park) and Active Community Leader – Advisory Board, Center of Concern, Volunteer – Park Ridge Civic Orchestra, member of the Des Plaines Historical Society. Licensed substitute teacher since 2002, working in School District 63, whose students go on to Maine East High School.

What would your priorities be if elected to this office?

Fiscal sanity, safety of students and staff, deploy new technology along with enhancing college readiness.

What are the most important issues facing Maine Township High School District 207 and what would you do as a member of the board of education to address them?

Finances – work for multi-year budgeting, continue abatements when able, zero tax levy; Safety – comprehensive review of all current policies, enforce zero tolerance bullying and establish interactive workshops for students and staff; Technology – introduce new technology developments for both homebound and in class students more successful transfer of Advanced Placement credits; grow Chrome books to their maximum potential.

Why did you choose to run for D-207’s board of education?

To utilize my financial and budget experience from government and the private sector to insure that District 207 is not faced with financial crisis like other school districts.

D-207 and Maine West High School are involved in litigation and investigations into bullying and hazing, and the district has begun implementing new policies and systems to address this issue. What would you do, if elected, as a member of D-207’s board of education to address bullying and hazing at the high schools?

Since I am not a current board member, I am not privy to all of the confidential details of this tragedy. From my perspective, it is a primary responsibility of every single board member and every single adult in the school district to ensure that every student is protected and no student ever suffers in a situation such as this.

D-207 recently voted to approve a $1-million tax abatement for taxpayers in the district. If elected to D-207’s board, what would your position be on similar tax abatements, the tax levy and expenditures on staffing?

Since I have been attending Finance committee meetings since September 2012, I have seen the process unfold and support future abatements, zero tax levies and would hold the line on staffing expenditures.

Why would you do a better job representing D-207 than your opponents?

I have a unique perspective from, one, being in private industry, owning two small businesses, two, elected to represent the community in city government and, three, I have active leadership in community organizations serving all of District 207.  I have lived the majority of my life in District 207 and will represent all of the residents and business representatives without serving any particular special interest group.