MONROE - Five men have stepped forward as candidates for Monroe's School Board in the April election: Michael Boehme, Larry Eakins, Brian Keith, James Ploude and Chuck Vierthaler. Only three will be chosen to join the six other board members.
Dwindling state aid and state-imposed levy limits remain challenges, but are no longer surprising, for school board members.
Boards now face state-supplied academic challenges with target goals to be achieved by 2017.
To prepare graduates for the future world of work and technology, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction is advancing education reforms by implementing more requirements.
Common Core standards, student assessments, technology development, school accountability, educator effectiveness evaluations and finance reform are racing into school districts' vocabulary and classrooms.
To supplement voters' knowledge of their candidates at the polls, The Times is publishing each candidate's profile and responses to a basic questionnaire.
In addition, each was asked to give his best recommendation on an issue he specifically noted in his candidate profile.
Michael Boehme advocates for getting the community involved as a partner in education.
"I think if you want to be successful, you have to do it in pieces," Boehme said. "At every turn, you have to bring people into the schools."
As an example, Boehme pointed the use of forums in preparation for the 2011 referendum to inform citizens.
Going forward, he'd like to see more speakers brought in to address issues such as bullying, academics and art and music programs. The community would be invited to attend these events.
"I don't think we're going to change people's lives; people's lives are very, very busy. But we all know it'd be better if we got involved a little more," he added.
Larry Eakins expounded on getting students prepared for success in the future.
"We need to continue to improve math, science and reading scores to educate those children for their best possible outcome for the future, whether it's for entering the workforce or college," Eakins said.
The school likes to be proactive, but getting feedback from graduates helps the district react to the ever-changing needs in the world, he added.
Eakins noted one area the schools are now teaching, compared to a decade ago, is "financial accountability," getting students prepared to handle their own financial responsibilities. Basic courses are not long, he said, and include reading a bank statement and realizing the implications of interest on paying credit cards.
"Historically, that was a parent's role," he added. "It seems fairly simple, but everybody seems to have lost track of (teaching) it."
Brian Keith has taken an active interest in the district's budgets, and he intends to continue keeping a close eye on the financial details. With fewer dollars per child coming in from state aid, he said the district is "now at the point of eating into the fund balance" for a million dollars.
"Next year it'll be another million," he added.
For his own assurance, he reconciles the district budget about four times a year,
"After the financial mismanagement a few years ago, I wanted to make sure what we're seeing is what is actually there," he added.
Keith said he wants to continue to ask questions, especially about new expenditures, and to ask, "What can we do better?"
James Ploude wants to seek creative solutions to move the district forward. To meet the new finance reforms and accountability challenges, the district needs to find ways to use its current resources in new and better ways, he said.
"Because we have so many changes coming ... and a lot coming very quickly," he added.
The demographics of the schools' population are also changing, requiring the school district to meet more and different needs, Ploude said.
"This is not the same community it was a decade ago," he said. "There's a new range of issues the schools have to meet."
The set performance standards are good for most students, but unfortunately, not for the top and bottom 10 percent, he said. The top needs more challenges, while the bottom has learning or behavioral problems, he said. And all kids learn differently, he added.
"The school has a lot of programs - a lot of good stuff, good things in place," he said. "We need to bring it all together ... pull together all the educational components to help all our students succeed."
Chuck Vierthaler finds the community needs more understanding about its current and future employment situation.
After decades of job losses caused by poor decisions by politicians, and watching Americans sliding into poverty, the community doesn't have much strength left, except for education, he said.
"It's a desperate situation," he added.
"The goal is to graduate students with a much older understanding," he said. "Tell them the truth," he added, particularly about handing personal finances, so they don't "get in over their heads before they start" life independently.
Students today need to "learn how to learn," he said.
"As long as we have standards like Common Core, even at a minimum - and we are not always going to measure ourselves at a minimum - but students find out they can learn and be successful," he said.
Ultimately, a better educated population, one that has learned how to learn, can vote without ignorance in the next 10 years, he added.
Dwindling state aid and state-imposed levy limits remain challenges, but are no longer surprising, for school board members.
Boards now face state-supplied academic challenges with target goals to be achieved by 2017.
To prepare graduates for the future world of work and technology, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction is advancing education reforms by implementing more requirements.
Common Core standards, student assessments, technology development, school accountability, educator effectiveness evaluations and finance reform are racing into school districts' vocabulary and classrooms.
To supplement voters' knowledge of their candidates at the polls, The Times is publishing each candidate's profile and responses to a basic questionnaire.
In addition, each was asked to give his best recommendation on an issue he specifically noted in his candidate profile.
Michael Boehme advocates for getting the community involved as a partner in education.
"I think if you want to be successful, you have to do it in pieces," Boehme said. "At every turn, you have to bring people into the schools."
As an example, Boehme pointed the use of forums in preparation for the 2011 referendum to inform citizens.
Going forward, he'd like to see more speakers brought in to address issues such as bullying, academics and art and music programs. The community would be invited to attend these events.
"I don't think we're going to change people's lives; people's lives are very, very busy. But we all know it'd be better if we got involved a little more," he added.
Larry Eakins expounded on getting students prepared for success in the future.
"We need to continue to improve math, science and reading scores to educate those children for their best possible outcome for the future, whether it's for entering the workforce or college," Eakins said.
The school likes to be proactive, but getting feedback from graduates helps the district react to the ever-changing needs in the world, he added.
Eakins noted one area the schools are now teaching, compared to a decade ago, is "financial accountability," getting students prepared to handle their own financial responsibilities. Basic courses are not long, he said, and include reading a bank statement and realizing the implications of interest on paying credit cards.
"Historically, that was a parent's role," he added. "It seems fairly simple, but everybody seems to have lost track of (teaching) it."
Brian Keith has taken an active interest in the district's budgets, and he intends to continue keeping a close eye on the financial details. With fewer dollars per child coming in from state aid, he said the district is "now at the point of eating into the fund balance" for a million dollars.
"Next year it'll be another million," he added.
For his own assurance, he reconciles the district budget about four times a year,
"After the financial mismanagement a few years ago, I wanted to make sure what we're seeing is what is actually there," he added.
Keith said he wants to continue to ask questions, especially about new expenditures, and to ask, "What can we do better?"
James Ploude wants to seek creative solutions to move the district forward. To meet the new finance reforms and accountability challenges, the district needs to find ways to use its current resources in new and better ways, he said.
"Because we have so many changes coming ... and a lot coming very quickly," he added.
The demographics of the schools' population are also changing, requiring the school district to meet more and different needs, Ploude said.
"This is not the same community it was a decade ago," he said. "There's a new range of issues the schools have to meet."
The set performance standards are good for most students, but unfortunately, not for the top and bottom 10 percent, he said. The top needs more challenges, while the bottom has learning or behavioral problems, he said. And all kids learn differently, he added.
"The school has a lot of programs - a lot of good stuff, good things in place," he said. "We need to bring it all together ... pull together all the educational components to help all our students succeed."
Chuck Vierthaler finds the community needs more understanding about its current and future employment situation.
After decades of job losses caused by poor decisions by politicians, and watching Americans sliding into poverty, the community doesn't have much strength left, except for education, he said.
"It's a desperate situation," he added.
"The goal is to graduate students with a much older understanding," he said. "Tell them the truth," he added, particularly about handing personal finances, so they don't "get in over their heads before they start" life independently.
Students today need to "learn how to learn," he said.
"As long as we have standards like Common Core, even at a minimum - and we are not always going to measure ourselves at a minimum - but students find out they can learn and be successful," he said.
Ultimately, a better educated population, one that has learned how to learn, can vote without ignorance in the next 10 years, he added.