Michael Casey
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I am happily married and a proud father of three - two of whom are current students in the district. They keep us busy with various Park District sports and activities, but we also enjoy spending time with friends and cheering for our Chicago teams throughout the year (as disappointing as that may be). I work in manufacturing as an Industrial Engineering Manager. I have over 15 years of military service, and I continue to serve in the National Guard. I received my MBA and Bachelor's Degree from the University of Illinois (I-L-L!). I hope to bring my experience and qualifications to the Board so I can better serve my community.
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Questions | Answers
According to the Illinois Association of School Boards, one crucial characteristic of a school board member is the ability to represent the entire community and not special interest or partisan groups. What will you do to support the needs of the diverse population within our community?
This is one of the driving factors behind me choosing to run. We’ve become increasingly politically divided and it’s getting worse every day. I think there’s a large group in the middle that are tired of how polarized the country has become. I intend to represent this group that have many beliefs that don’t fall neatly into Republican or Democrat talking points. It’s important that a board member be open minded when considering the issues and situations the district faces and it's just as important that that person can keep politics out of those decisions.
How would you address the increasing concerns surrounding mental health and bullying within schools? Please be specific with changes you would like to see or additions you would recommend.
Parents need to be part of the solution. There needs to be a mechanism to inform parents that their kids are bullying - I would want to know. This doesn't all fall onto the schools to raise the kids. Parents need to contribute to resolving bullying, and a big step forward is keeping them informed of these situations in classrooms. There should also be school resources available for counseling and working with kids that are the target of bullying, but without addressing the problem of bullying itself, we'll continue to fall behind.
Do you feel it is a conflict of interest to have financial investments with any companies that our district contracts with? Why or why not?
This is a pretty broad question as it can be difficult to define what level of "financial investment" becomes a conflict of interest. There's a difference between being a general investor in business, and being a major shareholder. Conscious or not, we would have a bias towards our own interests. This is ultimately the purpose of the Statement of Economic Interest that candidates must file. There should be transparency in these types of situations.
This is one of the driving factors behind me choosing to run. We’ve become increasingly politically divided and it’s getting worse every day. I think there’s a large group in the middle that are tired of how polarized the country has become. I intend to represent this group that have many beliefs that don’t fall neatly into Republican or Democrat talking points. It’s important that a board member be open minded when considering the issues and situations the district faces and it's just as important that that person can keep politics out of those decisions.
How would you address the increasing concerns surrounding mental health and bullying within schools? Please be specific with changes you would like to see or additions you would recommend.
Parents need to be part of the solution. There needs to be a mechanism to inform parents that their kids are bullying - I would want to know. This doesn't all fall onto the schools to raise the kids. Parents need to contribute to resolving bullying, and a big step forward is keeping them informed of these situations in classrooms. There should also be school resources available for counseling and working with kids that are the target of bullying, but without addressing the problem of bullying itself, we'll continue to fall behind.
Do you feel it is a conflict of interest to have financial investments with any companies that our district contracts with? Why or why not?
This is a pretty broad question as it can be difficult to define what level of "financial investment" becomes a conflict of interest. There's a difference between being a general investor in business, and being a major shareholder. Conscious or not, we would have a bias towards our own interests. This is ultimately the purpose of the Statement of Economic Interest that candidates must file. There should be transparency in these types of situations.
