Decatur School Board Candidate Andrew Taylor Responds to Eisenhower Students

These questions were created by Eisenhower High School students during Illinois Public Media’s YES! Civics: Youth Engagement Summit in Urbana on March 13th.

How can you better bridge the gap between the study body and administration in order to build strong relationships?

It's always difficult to communicate in an inherently unequal relationship. Teachers and Administrators are in positions of authority (as it should be), and those positions must be respected to maintain order. However, this shouldn't prevent regular, open and respectful conversations with the staff as well as the Board about the student body's concerns and perceptions. This is why we have student government as well as student advisory positions on the Board.

What are you doing to create more jobs for the youth that are not only in fast food restaurants?

It is in fact my job to help create jobs in the community. I've been central to planning "Manufacturing Day" over the last three years as well as the upcoming "Health Care Day." Event's like these are excellent ways to bring interested students to the attention of potential employers as well as letting the students know about the options available to them our community.

How can you give those with disciplinary problems a better route that involves rehabilitation and not continuous punishment?

Discipline as a matter of policy is a complicated matter and largely handled administratively except in the most serious cases likely resulting in expulsion. If a student feels they are being treated unfairly (and by that I mean differently than others), I would hear them out but I would not undercut the authority of the teachers or the staff without serious proof and never outside of a collective Board action.

What are some ways that you can foster a more positive environment with non-honor classes?

In my mind, a student is a student. Every class room should be a positive environment and I've never met a teacher who disagrees with that. That being said, enthusiasm breeds enthusiasm. Teachers are human beings. If they are perceiving that the students are less than enthusiastic about being there, that affects them, which in turn affects the students leading to a spiral of dissatisfaction. It's incumbent on everyone in the room to get the most out of the experience.

A lot of times students get sent home for non compliance with the dress code policy. How can you change the impression that the dress code is more important than the education the students are getting?

I would work to help the students understand that standards of dress and conduct are not capricious or superfluous; they are there to help them learn the realities of professional expectations. Given the personal choice, I would spend the rest of my life in cargo-shorts and flip-flops but that would be unacceptable in my professional life today, to say nothing of my time in the U.S. Military. Individuality can be a desirable trait but it's not always appropriate.