Top Priorities

By Christopher Ray "Chris" McDowell

1. In order to raise the level of education within CPS, we must set high standards for both students and teachers. We must get the parents and the community more involved in the education process. Children cannot learn alone and they cannot succeed if they are only working during school hours. We must work with parents to help them understand the importance of homework and to turn the TV off and sit down with their children and read a book or help the child with his or her math and spelling work. We must get local businesses involved in the education process. CPS is educating the future employees of these local businesses. CPS must partner with business. CPS must determine what skills are needed in the workforce and provide the children with the skills they will need to go on to college and/or to enter the workforce.

2. I will treat the money the people have given CPS as if it were my own. I will watch every dollar that is spent and make sure that each dollar is for a proper purpose and that we are spending the people's money in such a way as to give them the biggest bang for their buck. CPS is a poor steward of our money. Fiscal responsibility must be brought to the system. The people lack trust in CPS to spend money wisely. Moreover, most people have little idea where the tax dollars are going because accounting information is not made readily available to the public. The Board retained a business consultant at the rate of $36,000.00 a year (roughly the starting salary of a teacher) to attend Board meetings and assist the Board with having less acrimonious and more productive meetings. I think spending such as this is not justified and will put an immediate stop to wasteful spending. The Board past a resolution to pay prevailing wage to workers building new schools. This decision will cost the tax payers an estimated $20,000,000.00 over the course of the next few years. This is roughly the cost of an entire new school. The first half of the building program was fine without paying prevailing wage - why the change? I will work to reverse the prevailing wage vote and save the tax payers millions of dollars.

3. I plan to make CPS more open by creating a web site where anyone can go and see where CPS is spending our tax dollars. All accounting should be open and easily available to the public. Newspaper reporters should not be kicked out of meetings, but invited to watch and report on what the Board is doing. Resumes of potential new superintendents should not be sent to a post office box to be opened at the last minute in order to keep information from the public. The people have a right to know what CPS is doing at all times. Our children's education is too important to leave to officials who make important decision behind closed doors and in secret. When people see that decisions are made out of the public eye and in such a way as to keep information from the people, they begin to lack trust in the system.