Activist Toolkit

1. What motivates you to seek this office? What skills, experiences, and perspectives would you bring, and why would those contributions be valuable in the office you are seeking?

    I have two children in District 100, one in 2nd grade and one in kindergarten. They attend the dual language program at Komensky Elementary. Having seen first-hand how dedicated and enthusiastic their teachers and administrators are, I wanted to get involved. I was moved to serve my community in a way that can continue and improve upon the educational experience not just for my own kids but all the kids in our community. I am also inspired by my father’s service on my hometown school board (in Storm Lake, Iowa), where he has served since I was in school more than 20 years ago. 

I am an attorney and have worked as a Cook County Public Defender for the past 11 years. As an attorney, I have a unique perspective in terms of evaluating problems and finding solutions while keeping in mind applicable laws and regulations. As a long time public defender, I have the (unfortunate) experience of seeing what happens when students are failed by their public schools and the communities that support them. All of this has inspired me to seek this office and give back to the greater Berwyn community.

2. When in the past have you had to balance competing interests? What process did you use? What did you learn?  

    My job as a public defender is defined by balancing competing interests: the goals of my clients, which is my primary focus, with the competing interest of what may be a realistic outcome in their case. Since I exclusively represent clients who are charged with felonies, the stakes are extremely high and there is no margin for error. This is combined with my abilities to cooperate (in an adversarial environment) with judges, prosecutors, and other court personnel, as well as litigate high profile trials. Performance under scrutiny and pressure is essential to any elected position, and it is an area under which I excel. 

    As a full-time working mother of two young children, my other experience in balancing competing interests has been put to the test during the pandemic. Whereas in my normal life, I send my kids off to school while I head off to work, the past year has taught me (as well as I’m sure many of you) how to juggle all of these responsibilities at once. Prioritizing and triaging what needs to get done (versus what you would like to get done) is the only way I have succeeded in balancing these competing interests during the past year. I can relate to and identify all the other parents in our district who have been put in impossible situations due to a historic health crisis.

3. What does transparency in government mean to you?  How would you put it into practice? 

    Transparency is openness, accountability and honesty in elected positions. In local governance, this especially includes the ease in which community members can access the process and identify what is happening. I will adhere to all the legal requirements of the Open Meetings Act. Transparency can be achieved  in a school board setting by publicizing school board meetings (especially to citizens who do not have children currently attending the schools and to those who do not have access to social media), and also having an open channel of communication between the board and the community we serve. Feedback and input from our community is essential, and I will work hard to achieve this goal by working with other board members and the superintendent.

4. As more of our local discourse happens in social media, what is your view on how local elected officials should communicate with and respond to constituents? How will you engage with the breadth of the community, and not only those on social media?

    I believe it is extremely important to engage with constituents, both on and off of social media. As a potential school board member, I am excited to attend school functions to engage with the community and identify the strengths and weaknesses in our community. It will be my priority to serve on an engagement committee within the board to ensure continued dialog between members of the board and constituents. As a candidate, I have already demonstrated by willingness for open dialog by participating in forums with the stakeholders in our district, including teachers and parents. I feel strongly that I be present in future conversations in order to better serve the needs of everyone within our community.

5. What barriers do you see for community members who wish to engage with District 98? How would you work to reduce or eliminate those barriers?  

    As a parent with children attending school in District 100, I receive communication about meetings and decisions made by the board. This type of engagement may not be as easy for members of our community who do not have children attending the schools. I believe it’s important to reach out to other community members who may not have the same access. As a board member, I will advocate for outreach to community members who may not receive the same level of communication. Even after the pandemic makes in-person meetings possible again, I will advocate to continue to stream the meetings on Zoom to make them more accessible for all. I believe an engagement committee would be an excellent opportunity for further community involvement as well.

6. What do you feel are the three biggest issues facing District 98, and how do you intend to address them? 

1. Pandemic – it is extremely important to get the students in District 100 safely back to school and to catch up academically. This is going to take a partnership between the school board, the administration, and parents. I will support the teachers with professional development around social learning and academics, as well as ensure that our schools will be held to a high safety standard when in-person learning begins again. 

2. Engagement – We will continue to support parents to be actively engaged in their children’s education, knowing that they have been playing a crucial role in their children’s educational journey over the past year. I want to improve and emphasize communication with the community as a whole, especially targeting those who do not have children who attend our schools currently.

3. Resources and facilities – My goal is to ensure that I am consistently improving on our facilities and providing the most up to date resources in order to support the students and families in our district, while at the same time keeping in mind our fiscal responsibilities to the community.

7. How do you define equity? Have recent events and discussions in the larger community informed or changed your thinking? 

Equity is a central focus of my campaign. In the current climate of activism and backlash against the activists, I believe it is more important than ever to focus on anti-racism in our educational institutions, and this includes comprehensive plans that focus not just on students but also on teachers, administrators, and the community as a whole. My own life’s work as a public defender has been about fighting for justice and I hope to bring that same passion to my role as a member of the board. I believe that every student should have access to the same opportunities in order to be prepared for college and careers. I am committed to supporting the needs of our district and our greater community to ensure that students are equipped to be enter a society that (I hope) becomes more equitable with their contributions.  

8. How do you plan to solicit feedback from people who may be experiencing this community in a different way than you? What barriers do you believe may exist in this process?

    The District 100 board needs to work hard to identify the people in our community who are underrepresented, and then develop a comprehensive plan to involve them in the decision-making process. This needs to be a purposeful outreach effort and include in-person connection that takes place both on and off-line. Meaningful engagement may require the use of interpreters and translation of materials, meetings that take place at more convenient times to working people, and childcare options. District 100 owes it to our community to ensure that we have feedback from not just the loudest voices, but also those who are silenced by their circumstances.

9. Name an influential Berwyn community member. How did this person’s influence change Berwyn? As an elected official, what do you imagine your influence will be on the community?

[The candidate did not answer this question.]

10. Educational and business leaders have begun to use a "cradle-to-career" framework when talking about education. Please discuss the role of District 98 within the “cradle-to-career” framework.

    As a school district, it’s essential that we support our students not just in academics, but in the wraparound supports that guide their social developments. Our role as a school board is to meet the needs of our students in their social and emotional needs that will allow them to succeed in whatever career path they choose. I am committed to continuing to meet our students needs from birth to adult, including in collaborating with the high school and college programs, as well as preschool and early education.

11. What lessons learned from the implementation of remote and hybrid learning during the pandemic do you believe will be applicable going forward, even after the pandemic abates?

    I am very proud that District 100 navigated the pandemic so successfully, and part of the reason why is that they were already equipped with the technology that made the switch to remote learning possible. In these trying and unprecedented times, parents, students, teachers, and the entire community have struggled to cope. Students having the immediate ability to see their teachers and classmates on their iPads was incredibly beneficial, especially in the first few uncertain months. Remote learning can continue to be helpful for our students in the future in the case of inclement weather, stopping the spread of other (less catastrophic) illness in our schools, and even allowing teachers to communicate more easily with parents via online platforms like Zoom. As a board member, I will work to ensure that District 100 stays up to date with technology and continues to equip our students for a future that increasingly depends on their use and knowledge of technology.

12. Special education is mandated by federal law. How will you set up structures to ensure ongoing concerns of families engaged with special education are addressed? What do you believe are the biggest issues facing families and children with special needs, and how will you work to see their needs are met?

    Although it will not be my role as a board member to set up structures for special education (or any other structures), I will continue to support the superintendent in enacting federal polices that are mandated and to focus on evidence-based research in further promoting our goals of equitable education. Identifying students who need services and communicating effectively with parents of these students should be our number one goal, as well as prioritizing accessibility of the programs. 

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[The above answers were supplied on 3/10/21.]