M. Bryan Neal: Candidate Profile

Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioKey IssuesQA Bio City: Rolling MeadowsWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Palatine-Schaumburg H.S. D211Age: 47Family: Married, three childrenOccupation: Orthopedic SurgeonEducation: Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Vanderbilt University, 1985Medical Degree, Wake Forest University, 1990Orthopedic Residency, Wake Forest Unversity 1990-1995Hand Surgery Fellowship, Thomas Jefferson University, 1996Civic involvement: PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS:American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS)Mid-America Orthopedic Association American Society for Surgery of the Hand Fenestra Program ParticipantJefferson Medical College Alumni AssociationJefferson Orthopedic SocietyBowman Gray Orthopedic Department Alumni AssociationClinical Orthopaedic SocietyCyberKnife SocietyElected offices held: Offices, committees, and organization assignments Township High School District 214 Buffalo Grove High School team physicianNorthwest Community Hospital medical staff service:• Bylaws Committee• Orthopedic Department Chairman• Orthopedic Department Vice-Chair• Surgical Section Chiefs Committee• Surgical Pavilion Committee• Physician#146;s Assistance Committee• Emergency Care Committee• Pharmacy and Therapeutics CommitteeHoly Family Medical Center medical staff service• Trauma Committee• Clinical Performance Improvement• Infection Control CommitteeAlexian Brothers Medical Center medical staff service• Total Hip Arthroplasty CommitteeVillage of Twin Lakes Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District Committee• Aquatic Plants Committee• Chairman, Water Quality, Lake Habitat, Fish Fishing CommitteeHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: noCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Educational Excellence:I understand the value of a high quality education. I did receive my high school education in District 211 nearly three decades ago. As a recipient of an excellent high school education and as a resident in the district for the last fourteen years, I hope to serve this community and to be part of a Board of Education dedicated to see this continue. I will dedicate my term towards the goal of persistent innovation and courageous willingness to change as the district maintains and advances educational excellence on behalf of our community. New and different ways of teaching students and providing the environment for successful learning will be asked and expected from board members, administration, educators, and those who provide services on behalf of this district. I hope to have the privilege of serving as a Board of Education member in order to advance the current high standard of excellence bestowed upon our respected school district. I am firmly committed to explore and implement necessary changes in the constant and never ending pursuit of educational excellence and distinction. Darwinian no doubt, it is not the currently strong or favored but the school district that can best adapt over time that will succeed and thrive. This will need to be pursued and advanced in an increasing difficult public financing landscape where the public may demand greater value for the resources allocated towards the education of our children.Key Issue 2 Fiscal Responsibility:Elected school board member must be a wise steward of the community#146;s resources and oversee operations so as to promote the most efficient utilization of our resources. This has the goal of bringing about the greatest educational value and results achieved in our schools. I envision a major issue in the upcoming years will be the challenge the current economic environment exerts on our district#146;s budget. Each Board of Education member has a fiduciary responsibility to the public. Now more than in recent memory there will be even greater tension and deliberation about how the Board of Education uses and allocates taxpayer resources. In a perfect world all necessary resources would be available for all worthy educational endeavors. This is not and never will be reality. I understand in education, as in most societal undertakings, ultimately resources are always limited. As a board member I will have to respect financial reality, gauge the community#146;s willingness and ability to fund our school system, and intelligently allocate resources on behalf of our students.In observing the Great Recession continues, I expect local, county, and state taxes are destined to increase. I expect there will be greater competition for funds distributed towards education, both at the state and local level. If elected, I pledge to this community I will not vote for any tax increasing referendum during the next four years of my Board of Education service. This pledge is made with the most serious and solemn understanding that static revenue in the face of increasing expenses will financial challenge the Board of Education and the school district they serve . A pledge not to seek any tax raising referendum for the next four years will demand continued #147;operational efficiencies#148; must be found and employee salaries and benefits appropriately held in check. I do not subscribe to the false concept we must spend more money in order to improve our current educational system. It is possible to spend less and achieve more within the field of education. To believe this one must accept past practices must change and, more importantly, change past practices.Key Issue 3 Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers Evaluate how the District 211 has used the money from the 2005 tax-hike referendum.District 211 utilized 2005 tax-hike referendum revenue to replenish district reserves depleted as a result of imbalance between district revenue and district expenses. 2005 tax-hike revenue is monies taken from taxpayers, held in reserve by the district, and are destined to be spent. The result of this revenue augmentation inevitably will diminish self imposed motivation to restrain and control expenses. The greater the reserves the more likely the school board will spend the money with worthy intentions of improving the educational experience of our students. The greater the reserves the more aggressive unionized workers in the collective bargaining process will assert the district can afford the demands of the unions and the more forceful union tactics will be at extracting these reserves at the bargaining table. The greater the reserves, the more likely the school board will bow to union pressure, defended in terms they cannot risk that the education of our students is disrupted or made to suffer.What steps must District 211 take to further bolster its reputation as one of the best high school district in the state?The district#146;s current reputation of excellence is not guaranteed or assured. It must not to be taken for granted. With focused institutional vigor and energy our academic reputation can ascend to even greater heights. Inattentiveness and distraction can cause our reputation to plateau. If careless or imprudent, our reputation can diminish or be lost. To paraphrase another, continued academic excellence is promised to no one. To improve and bolster our excellent reputation requires persistent innovation and courageous willingness to adapt and change. Innovative and more effective methods of teaching and constant incremental improvement in academic programs to foster successful learning are not a destiny, but a never ending journey. We need to never fear to try the new and different, navigating the uncertain with due consideration and caution. We should not be afraid to try and fail but we should never be afraid to try. The Board of Education approves policy which administration oversees and is to be effectively implemented by qualified and competent teachers in the classroom. How well does the district spread resources and funding among its five schools? Is there equality or do things need to change? Cite examples, if you can.District 211 does a good job at fairly spreading and appropriately allocating resources and funding among its schools. I am not aware of any significant issues relating to inefficient or unfair distribution of resources being raised from any one part of our community. If such allegations exist or develop, they must be seriously considered, investigated, analyzed for merit, and remedy sought if appropriate.If elected, you will participate in negotiating the next teacher contract. What should change, if anything, in the next contract, and how well does Dist. 211 balance the need to retain top teaching talent with fiscal responsibility?Teacher contract negotiations and the collective bargaining processes are complex and critically consequential to our district. As a very large majority of District 211 revenue is expended on employee salary and benefits, these financial agreements may ultimately determine whether the district experiences financial difficulty or the most efficient purchase of the employee#146;s skills and services to the betterment of our students. The ultimate value of resources the community devotes to the educational system on behalf of our young adults is highly dependent upon achieving mutually acceptable agreements most favorable to the community resident and taxpayer. The district needs to negotiate with a goal of obtaining the highest quality employee talent at current cost, the same personnel quality at a more favorable cost, or some combination of the two so as to maximize the value of each educational dollar spent on behalf of our students. This most critically important and demanding process is one of the highest responsibilities of the Board of Education.As a Board of Education member, I would not hesitate to expend reasonable monies to hire, retain, consult with, and utilize the expertise of individuals who have a proven track record of accomplishment in the collective bargaining arena. There may be tremendous benefit to utilizing the skills of others who have successfully done battle in the arena of collective bargaining. I suspect union counterparts have expertise to draw upon on their behalf in their negotiations with the district.Having never been involved in a teacher contract negotiation and admittedly not yet reading the current teacher contract agreement in entirety, I find it challenging to submit to the Daily Herald concrete proposals about what should change in the next teacher contract. However, may I submit a few current thoughts which may serve as a biopsy of how I will approach the process of collective bargaining negotiations?I would not favor a proposal to continue to honor and abide by the constrains of tenure within our teachers contract if the Illinois legislature was to either alter, amend, or rescind the outdated and educationally harmful institution of tenure. Our contract should not be anymore supporting or protecting of tenure than state law forces us to bear. Tenure should permanently retire.Current health insurance benefits provided by the taxpayers of this district are exceptionally munificent. Given the average District 211 teacher salary is significantly greater than the average district#146;s privately employed taxpayer, our teachers need to bear the financial burden of their health insurance benefits in proportion, with respect to coverage and expense, as does the average community private sector taxpayer. I expect it is most reasonable teachers bear somewhere in the neighborhood of 25% of the cost of their health insurance, about the proportion of burden the average privately employed resident taxpayer must endure. I favor departing from the long standing practice of paying bonuses to teachers with advanced degrees, such as Masters Degrees, as the bulk of educational research demonstrates paying for advanced degrees has very limited educational value. This practice is an example where the marginal return on such expenditures is minimal whereas the marginal cost is unacceptably high. The financial savings from discontinuing this practice can be redirected back to the taxpayers in the form of lower taxes, augment educational services (more teachers, smaller classrooms, improved facilities, etc.), or some combination of the two. Such a change would improve the value of current expenditures which enhances the student#146;s education experience and the value of residing in our community. Hardly radical or extreme given the United States Educational Secretary, Mr. Arnie Duncan, appointed by the President of the United States, has expressed the belief, as I have read in respected print, that paying teachers more just for the possession of an advanced degree is not of significant educational value. My understanding about past collective union agreements is that concerning the amounts of monies which will be given to employees on a year-to-year basis, it is unionized entities that determine how much teachers are paid concerning some variables. The past practice of significant pay raises at the sunset of teachers careers, pared back to 6% (or with subsequent financial penalties to the district), is something geared not in the best educational interest of our children, but rather principally for maximizing teacher pension benefits in retirement. With regard to the issue of teacher pay, for any lump sum of money devoted to teacher salaries, I would favor a higher starting salary for newer teachers and a relatively lower salary during the final few years of mature teachers. My rationale is based upon an understanding there is no definitive evidence that teachers later in their career have or deliver a quality educational experience significantly greater than those in the earlier phase of their career to justify the two to three fold greater salary from those about to retire compared to those recently starting. Without a metric demonstrating a teacher late in their career having a significantly greater quality yield compared to a teacher earlier in their career, I do not understand the necessity for such a great pay differential. I favor a less diverging salary scale based purely on years of employment.I do not favor paying all teachers of any given number of years of service the same amount, regardless of their subject skills or educational capabilities. This process this interferes with the free market system where professional teachers who effectively teach educationally scarce or difficult subject matter can command a higher salary. An administration that can not pay extra for talent worth it does not have the flexibility to attract these teachers is restrained from hiring more qualified and effective teachers. For any total amount of teacher salary expenditure, the ability to pay some teachers more and some less based on an unfettered labor market, the same amount of taxpayer resources can be used to purchase a greater amount of teacher talent. This is in the best interest of our students and represents a greater educational value for our community. It also is more consistent with American capitalism.Always needing to respect that the future is unpredictable, we must not agree to collective bargaining agreements which excessive limit the Board of Education#146;s ability to respond in times of exceptional difficulty. In the unlikely but sadly possible circumstance where teacher layoffs are mandated because of extreme financial circumstances outside of our control, I do not agree with contract limitations where teachers are laid off on a #147;last in, first out#148; basis. If we ever must painfully let teaches go, being bound to lay off the most recently hired without any ability to consider professional effectiveness, past performance, merit, or the scope and value of the subject matter they can teach is not in the best interest of our students or the residents of this community.Lastly, I offer one very specific proposal about what might need to change in the next teacher#146;s union contract, explaining the basis of my reasoning with the broadest philosophical defense. The specifics do not apply just to the subject of math and the defense is a bedrock principle that can guide many decisions needing to be made in collective bargaining negotiations. Currently, by union contract, there is a cap allowing at most 32 students in algebra and 28 in trigonometry/calculus classes. I do not support such micromanagement of administrative decisions with absolute rigid constraints in a union agreement, not because I favor larger classes but rather such restrictions could be problematic in times of extremis. As the United States Constitution specifically limits and enumerates powers of the federal government while granting all else to each state, our teacher union contract should be rather limited in absolute constraints on Board of Education and administration powers and instead allow the Board of Education wide latitude for flexible responses as they respond to the totality of the times which the community may find themselves. Ultimate judgment with effective checks and balances about Board of Education policy will be democratically exercised each election day at the ballot box.Is experience as a teacher or support from a union valuable because it suggests educational insights or detrimental because it creates pro-teacher bias? Please clarify whether you have such experience or would accept union support.Experience as a teacher is not an absolute necessity or an unconditional disqualifier to serving the community as a Board of Education member. The experience of being a teacher neither guarantees nor prohibits one from carrying out the major responsibilities and duties of a board member, well described in district documents as ""#133;to express and represent the view of the community in matters affecting education, determine education standard and goals, adopt policies for the administration of the school system, employ superintendent of schools, authorize the appointment of teachers and their staff members, approve curriculum, secure money for school operational needs, and building programs and authorize expenditures.""The ability of an individual to successfully carry out the responsibilities and duties of a Board of Education member reside with the intrinsic character, capability, and competence of a prospective board member and not upon the presence or absence of any particular teaching credential. Union Support:Support from school district unionized employees is valuable, perhaps invaluable if covert, and greatly assists one seeking election of the Board of Education. It is a disservice and is in misalignment with the best interest of the residents of the community and their students. School board elections are usually sleepy in community interest although #147;priceless#148; in importance. To the extent elections require money to operate a campaign and communicate with voters, unionized employees have money to fund their preferred candidates, an organization to funnel energy and support to these candidates, and significant financial self interest in seeing their preferred candidate(s) get elected. The teachers union is a powerful political force who will forcefully exercise their power. It best serves our children and the taxpayers trusting their financial resources to Board of Education members to see these are efficiently spent in educational pursuits when there is minimal or, preferably, no element of either perceived or real beholdment to unionized employees. There is necessary friction and tension between the taxpaying residents of a community who seek the greatest educational value at the most favorable cost and school employees who seek the greatest personal wage for their employable skills. A mutually agreed upon collective agreement contract where each party acts in good faith serving only the interest of their respective constituents is the fairest and soundest process. The Board of Education members, being ultimately responsible for the agreements they conclude on behalf of the taxpaying resident will best serve the community if they have absolute and total devotion to community residents and no perceived or subliminal obligations to unions that can play a role in their election or re-election. Individual teachers are welcome to support my candidacy. I would be grateful for their support. Concerning union support, I do not expect any union support. I do not seek any union support. I will not seek or accept any union support, financial or otherwise, because of my conviction it will be in the residents and taxpayer#146;s best interest for this prospective board member to be detached and unaffected by union influence. Educational Credentials and Experience:My college and medical degree demonstrate extensive years in an educational system. My five years of orthopedic residency followed by a one year hand surgery fellowship, six years after obtaining a medical degree, and the total of ten years of medical and surgical training after college, was a long and grueling surgical/educational process. More senior residents do assist and teach younger residents as well as medical students and other individuals training or working in the healthcare field. This is but one type of teaching experience.Please see my Curriculum Vitae, included above, for a more complete educational summary.