greedy teachers. thats a great comment Alexa. Im sure these teachers educate and mentor your children more than you do and will have more of a long term impact on their lives.

Anonymous, this forum is for you to comment on the situation, not about me. And if you had the guts you would probably post your name.

The following letter was written by Mr. Carl Berg, a well-known, Golden Apple award-winning, retired District 112 teacher and member of our local community. It was shared with some community members prior to Monday with hopes of helping to avoid another strike...

Dear Friends,
With a strike looming just a few days away, I just wanted to reemphasize my concern for the situation.
On Friday afternoon the administration sent a letter to all teachers telling them that health insurance benefits will be suspended during the strike. During the unfortunate work stoppages throughout the state this tactic was never done by the administrations of the affected districts.
Some of you know that I led the strike of Highland Park teachers in 1978. It lasted four days and probably would have been longer if it wasn’t for the support of the community who were 95% behind the teachers.
Taking away health benefits? This threat by the Board seems clearly endorsed in order to break the union. That will not happen.
I spent 35 years in this district and I know the wonderful quality of my colleagues in District 112. They are asking for a fair contract and the ability to keep benefits that they already have.
It is time to pick up your phone and call a Board Member in order to get this contract done on Monday. A strike may last a few days or weeks, but the ramifications can last for years.
Please don’t have your teachers walk backwards into the future.
Sincerely,
Carl Berg

Wow....too much anger...

I think this strike is in part due to what has been happening in chicago, Lake Forest and other Districts. However our teachers are payed much better here compared to most of the State. I read they are payed an average of 80,000 a year. They only work 9 months a year. I truely hope the district holds there ground. Perhaps if these teachers payed Taxes here they would be a little more understanding.
Property values have gone down, Real Estate Taxes are going up!!!!!! Pretty soon no one will be able to afford to live here???

Tony it is clear to me that you live in a bubble, just like the greedy teachers. The real world is different. This is one of the richest school districts in the nation. These teachers have a sweet deal, which not all deserve. You talk about the quality of teachers well, guess what, at Oak Terrace 4 students out of 10 do not know math, read or write.....Most want to blame the Hispanic, poor, immigrant parents for not providing the adequeate support to their children, WRONG! There are schools in more modest districts that are doing wonders with poor Hispanic students. Why should we pay more for a failing program, failing schools? We need Reform. I am with the Board, we cannot continue to pay more in this economy. If we follow what Chicago agreed to, we will end up affecting our children because if the district cannot afford it we will have to close schools, consolidate schools, close programs, everything that will be in detriment of the education of our children. Good and great teachers are out there looking for an opportunity to work in a district like 211, lets not compromise the future of our children. Teachers get real. You are not victims. You have more than what you deserve.

Tony S
I was thinking the same thing. Why do a lot of family's move or want to live in HP? Education!

My issue with the bilingual program is that it is failing our students. Do you know that at Oak Terrace 4 students out of 10 do not know how to write, read nor math? 90% of students at OT are Hispanic and poor. OT has been on the AWS list for over 5 years, which means now it has to go through a reform, although the Board and the Principal look over their showlder and ignore the problem. OT feeds into Northwood, Northwood has been ont he black list for 2 years. It is of epidemic proportions, we need to take control of the situation. There are charter schools out there that could take over OT and Northwood. The Board and District need to act fast and stop ignoring the problem. My personal opinion is that the Bilingual program does not work. Students need to be in a fully inmerse English program, like many other schools that are getting better results with this group of students. The problem is that the Union supports and protects the bilingual teachers and it has proven to be impossible to Reform OT or Northwood.

You sound like a Single Bitter Working Mom. Listen, I appreciate your struggles. My Mom was a single working Mom my whole life. I work too. That is no reason not to support our teachers. All is well with our education and we were happy to send our children to school every day with fine educators. Now that contract negotiations are at the forefront here, all of a sudden you're unhappy with teachers and the education your children are receiving? Would you lay down and take it if your boss offered you a .62 pay increase. That's equivalent to an extra gumball a year. I think you should direct your anger toward other things besides your children's teachers or shame on you for dropping them off every day to people you loath.

@seriously. You don't seem to understand that many people in this town have spent the years of the recession with no raises and pay cuts and yes would have taken even the smallest of raises. The teachers appear to be like you saying "can you believe that they want us to....." and then when residents say "yes. Of course that's exactly my situation" they change the subject.

@ Seriously?
Just because they're in a union they have a right to demand how big of a raise they should get? I would have said thank you to a .62 pay increase. All of a sudden we're not happy with the education our children are getting? Hello..they aren't getting educated today, are they?

You seem to forget that this is a job for these people. This is how they make their living and all you can think about is how this affects the next three days of your life. This affects the next 30 years of these teachers lives. Have some perspective and think of someone else for a change.

And for all of you who say how great it is to be a teacher b/c you have 10 weeks off during the year: Go ahead! Nothing is stopping you. Go back to school, get your teaching degree, spend tens of the thousands of dollars to make under 30,000 for your first job, have everyone on the planet have an opinion about how much you make and how you should sacrifice for their lovely children (who are no different than any other children on the planet btw). Is your contract up for public debate?

mom of two
Really??? "This is for our children, right?"
Don't you want to spend top dollar on your children???

HP Parent
Your children are definitely getting educated today. To see people stand up for themselves, nnd how to make it in this world. By not relying on someone else to take care of their problems.

father of your student...you are so right. How is it that a teacher supposedly goes into the profession...knowing darn well what salaries are, claiming to want to help kids, and then they walk out. Then don't be a teacher. I have a child with an IEP who relies upon structure...now what. These little kids also don;t understand what a strike is? Do you lie to your child and say the teachers left for a meeting? Of course, not, but they cannot comprehend this situation, and I certainly do not want to discolor the teacher because my child will most likely be with that teacher after the strike and I do not want my child to dislike the teachers and have a bad relationship. TEACHERS!!! Look what you are doing to these little kids.

I support the district, but why did they say the programs for the kids ,while the strike occurs, will be given priority to those kids that have free lunches? Isn't that reverse discrimination???? My child does not get free lunch, I work full time. Why do I not count? Where do all of the sudden I find daycare? I am not some mother who is inconvenienced because I can't go to the spa or play tennis today. This is a real problem. I hope by boss understands. Why do kids with no lunches get preference?

Do you really think the teachers do not care for your child? The Board has constantly lied about the negotiations. They have gone back on their written word. The teachers at most are going for a 3% raise. That is nothing. They are trying to get health care for part time teachers. They are tryong to get back money that the administration promisec if they took the classes. It is time you taught your children what is right and waht is wrong. If you feel comfortable about bait and switching that is what you need to teach. I do not feel comfortable about that. I would not tell my kids hey if you work hard I will send you to college then when they get in say hey I am not going to do that. If you want to complain about Health Care look at their deal. It is not that great. If you want to complain about Pensions just talk to your board. They hired Dada who is getting a double pension. That is 2 more then me. I would love to get a double pension. If you are for that please let me know.

Moms & father - I completely agree. My special needs child doesn't understand why mom is not at work - and why he is not at school.

The teachers have just demonstrated to my son that the best way to get what you want is to (proudly?) refuse to do anything other than what you want to do...in stark contrast to what they've been trying to teach HIM to do.

Why weren't programs established for special needs childen who NEED structure & predictability? Robocalls at 5am don't provide either.

in the last several rounds, the board made concessions on most of those issues. Last night's negotiation was only about raises and lane changes and reimbursements. In other words money, not benefits.

father of your student
only negotiated until 12:15??? I suggest you read this article
http://www.ieanea.org/featured/in-the-news-october-15/

If we want to maintain the mighty HP as home to "my kids go to the best schools" we need to invest and foster the CONTINUED growth and education of our teachers. TEACHERS FIRST=KIDS FIRST
ps would it be possible for any of our administrators who enjoy free health insurance 365 days a year sponsor any of the activities for our kids today. At least buy the kids lunch at Fruddruckers!!!!!!

If the teachers truly didn'ty want to strike they could walk in tomorrow and return to work while continuing to negotiate their contracts. Instead they chose to hold our kids hostage.

Sure they don't get paid during the strike, but, by law, they will be in the classroom for the designated number of days...getting paid for that time. Those make-up days will not be out of their own pockets unlike working parents who have to pay to childcare. Sure they work extra hours to get their jobs done...who doesn't. Ask anyone who works and is salaried in the business sector if they work extra hours, if they think about work issues during family time, if they respond to emails when not on the clock? The answer would be a resounding yes. Why are the teachers so special that they should be applauded for doing the same?

Wendy -- you forgot, the teachers also work all summer! Heroes of Labor!

But have at least ten weeks off during the year.. Nice.. We should all be teachers in this district.

Ernest: this is a great comment...
"Sure they don't get paid during the strike, but, by law, they will be in the classroom for the designated number of days...getting paid for that time. Those make-up days will not be out of their own pockets unlike working parents who have to pay to childcare."

Thanks Ed...

They should fire the big lout with the bullhorn first.

The Trib reports that the teachers' beef is that 18 other Lake County School districts' TOP salary is higher than 112's TOP salary. Note that they don't say the overall pay scale is higher at 18 other districts. So you can be sure this strike is driven by the oldest, highest paid, and least caring teachers in the union, not that any of them care. Fire them all; it's the only way to get the toxic greed out of our school district.

They first should fire themselves. Chilawyer why don't you put your name in this Patch? The big lout you don't even know. Has he taught your child? Do you hold a grudge against him let us know.

Chilawyer-

You should read up on both sides of the story before commenting. That "beef" is not what is driving the negotiations stall. That comment about the TOP salary was an ADDITIONAL change made last night. The board has proposed to drop the maximum possible salary by nearly $20,000. That would put us behind all 18 surrounding districts.

Here are other statistics (all based on CURRENT contract):
First Year Teacher with Bachelors: 13th out of 18
First Year Teacher with Masters: 12th out of 18
Maximum Salary with only a Masters: 16th out of 18
*Proposed* Maximum Salary with 45 hours post-Masters: 18th out of 18

Chilawyer - name calling, really? Big lout? Why don't you think before making offensive posts. The big lout I believe you are referring to is my husband. Do you even know him? He has been dedicated teacher to HP for over 20 years. Every year, there are tons of parents requesting that their children be placed in my husband's classroom. Every year he also receives the most children with IEPs because he provides individualized eductaion and works so well with children with special needs. I should know, two of our children have disabilities and I couldn't ask for a more caring and dedicated father. Anytime my family is out in HP we are stopped by parents and former parents that tell us what a diference my husband made in their chid's life. He receives many emails from former students thanking him for the effect that he had on their lives. And during those summers off" my husband is working in the classroom preparing for the upcoming year. We spend thousands of dollars each year, few of which is reimbursed, on his classroom so that he can provide the best learning environment for his students.

Think again before your name calling.

No, I don't know the big lout, just judging from his oafish, hostile demeanor. The self-appointed guy with the bullhorn is usually a loudmouth already without the amplification. No grudges here, just judging for what it is the blatant greed and selfishness of the teachers striking against the children of this community. Fire them all and hire eager, new teachers who are willing to take the job without demanding that the District's taxpayers all take out a second mortgage.

Chilawyer - mroe name calling and you can't even identify yourself? WHy don't you get to know someone first before you name call and make assumptions.

If you think it's such an easy job to replace, why aren't you teaching? Oh, maybe because being a lawyer's salary pays much higher wages than educators. I know we couldn't even think about affording to live in HP, like you, chilawyer.

Stop your offensive and demeaining language.

Ditto AP - I dislike the strike very much and have issues with both sides in this case but that gentleman is an elementary school teacher and part of our commuunity. If you are prepared to walk up to him, his wife, kids or parents who have been taught by him and be disrespecful in person as much as you are online, please post your phone number or a place to meet.

Thank you SRF.

Bringing the maximum salary down to around $87K from $107K sounds good to me. What's wrong with $87K?

As for the comparisons to other Districts - I've always been against entering an Educational Arms Race - whether it's based on facilities or salaries, it doesn't matter. All keeping up with other Districts does is to cause salaries to spiral ever-upward, which takes our tax bills ever-higher as well. Somehow I suspect that once we lock in a lower rate, other Districts will be emboldened to do the same, and that scares the Union...

David I don't understand if you are so happy to bring the teachers pay down but you are happy to pay Dada 2 pensions and Behlows high salary? If you we're a fair man you would be screaming about it. Let me hear you.

Richard, I don't find Behlow or Dada's salaries/benefits to be fair at all. I have personally appeared before the Board, sat a few feet from Dr. Behlow and said that we needed to find someone at half the salary because we couldn't afford him any more. To retain balance, I also discussed the outlandish benefits detailed in the Teacher's Contract. I've posted the comments I made to another Thread on this site.

Shortly thereafter, I served on the D112 Citizens Finance Advisory Committee - we recommended many cost savings items (some which have been enacted), and discussed other issues such as infrastructure, redistricting, etc.

So please don't get the impression that I believe the Admin salaries shouldn't be addressed - they absolutely should. However, the topic at hand is Teacher Salaries/Benefits so that's what I'm focusing my attention on. Once we're past this issue, we ought to certainly move on to Admin Salaries, Infrastructure, etc...

If we got rid of the unions, the teachers would get an automatic raise as they would not be paying union dues...what is the rate now for union dues??? I know it is higher than the raise they are fighting for. The unions keep this tactic to pretend they are valuable and get the dues. If there were no teachers union, I would lobby myself for higher taxes to pay the high qualified teachers and get rid of the dead weight.

The pay schedule for 113 is much, much higher. I think that the teachers would very much like to be paid as much.

Richard- Imagine that.... Well fine. We should force the teachers to adopt the same pay schedule as Chicago. They should learn what its like to get paid outside the wealthy suburbs. That would teach 'em!

Sign me up for a District 113 salary! That's about a $10-15,000 increase for similar experience

Sorry Scott - any taxpayer who reviews the salary schedule for 113 and thinks their tax bills are too high will likely stand their ground. We need RELIEF for taxpayers. To do that we need to operate more effectively and efficiently - that includes costs, infrastructure, staffing, curriculum...

Agree. At the end of the day the union is trying to strike a deal for every teacher regardless of their performance. This is bad policy. In my Company we turn over the lowest 10% - period. There are no entitlements here this is a career and some are truly devoted and perform extrodinarily. Reward them. Those who perform below the bar are cut. No tenure, no guarantees. I empathize with the pitiful increases and if the district went back on promises for reimbursement, shame on them but that whole arguement.scenario does not smell right. My Company provides reimbursement to pursue additional education - partial assistance not full reimbursement. Kids are losing here, PERIOD. Finally, the system appears rigges to me by government and/or unions. How inefficient to have a County negotiating seperately with dozens and dozens of disctricts - seems inefficient and insane.

Again, this is not your Company. Public education is not the private sector and all comparisons to the private sector are meaningless. You may WISH it to be like the private sector because you are unhappy with your salary and benefits and you want the teachers to feel the same pain as you. That seems to be a common theme here. But ultimately the board and teachers will work within the framework that they have, no more no less. Elected board, public union. Deal with it.

@Mr.White. You destroy any credibility of your arguement by pointlessly speculating that my post reflects an issue or concern in my professional life. The framework they have is, to my point, inefficient. I dont need you to point out the blindingly obvious. The original post reflected on how to better "measure the quality of education and teaching." The strike (within the inefficent public framework) rewards everyone at a fixed level. The framework needs to be changed - but perhaps that is irrevelvent to you.

Rewarding everyone at the same level regardless of performance = a race to the bottom at worst, and mediocrity at best. We demand better. We demand performance based consideration for potential pay raises that come out of a fixed pool of money set aside for raises.

Joe-

As I have said earlier. The teachers submit a form for lane change during the previous school year. This form is signed by the principal and received by the district office. The form specifies the year of the lane change AND the lane that the teacher will move to. This has never been an issue in previous contract negotiations.

Teachers should get reimbursed if they have a signed document stating they could take the class, and they received the grade necessary for reimbursement.

Beyond that - fair compensation? They're asking for something that's about 2x the CPI; we can't levy more than CPI, so that extra money has to come from somewhere. There's absolutely no reason why it should come from the reserves of the District - we need that money for infrastructure, etc. We ought not to use it to fund unsustainable raises.

Finally - respect is earned. You don't earn respect by weaponizing children in a stated battle against the District (and by extension, the Taxpayers). Earning some respect in this economy is simple: Recognize that few if any have received pay raises of 1.5% - recognize that many are paying lots more for their health insurance - then share the pain, take the small raise, pay more for your health care and move on.

It was a completely ANONYMOUS vote. I promise you that anyone who felt bullied was completely free to vote against a strike without anyone knowing who it was.

I would agree with everything you said. Voting yes was a sign of solidarity. Voting yes was standing up for the ~100 teachers that would be out of significant raises PROMISED by the district. Voting yes was standing up for the ~40 teachers that were going to lose their health insurance THIS YEAR. Voting yes does show the school board that the teachers are sticking together. If the teachers are not united, the school board has no incentive to make any movement in their proposals.

So you are arguing that the teachers are weak minded and incapable of thinking for themselves as adults?

I'm sorry to hear that your child was told that. I don't know the circumstance, whether the teacher was out of line or trying to make light of the situation. A conversation between a teacher and student is much different depending on the age of the student. The fact is that the district has collected all computers and locked teachers out of email.

They shouldn't have mentioned that to the student (its in poor taste). It could have come out if a student asked about emailing the teacher during the strike. (The laptops were confiscated and they were told their email would be shut down). I understand this may be tough on some students but its a learning experience. Your child in their life will at some point face some form of adversity. I think parents ought to try and make sure their children aren't raised to be so delicate. This is not the end of the world by any means. Life will go on.

The district said that teachers needed to turn in their laptops by 3:30 to the school offices. Students were still in the building when teachers were required to turn in their laptops. In many buildings, there was not any way for teachers to turn in their laptops without students seeing them.

The BOE already has won the PR battle, but, in order to increase its leverage, it needs to tell the union at the next negotiating session that the district is going to reopen the schools with substiute teachers by Friday if no deal is reached. That way, there will be fewer make-up days at the end of the year and the union will, in fact, lose pay. As it stands now, the union is suffering no economic consequences as a result of its actions. Any subsitutes who refuse to work should be permanently removed from the substitute list. Believe me, I strongly prefer my kids' regular teachers to the subs, but the union can wait this out for weeks because of the lack of any harm to its members.

I agree!!! Replace them with people who really want to teach and would appreciate having the job!

According to a recent ISBE report on teacher employment, there's 60,000 candidates in the pipeline. Certainly out of that set we can find qualified replacements who will be happy to accept our offer.

What's the Board waiting for? The employees already quit - it's time to start hiring.

Wow, maybe the board really is a level headed bunch and doesn't buy in to your insanity. How is it possible they are not listening to such rational ideas?

David--

Go ahead, have the Board call in substitutes for a day of "school" and see what happens. Have you heard about the disaster in Lake Forest when this occurred? Their "school" days with these substitutes did not even come close to counting for actual days of attendance. No learning took place.

Rachel--

You're simply incorrect. Lake Forest relied primarily on community volunteers and aides. That was glorified babysitting, which we don't need because some of our great community organizations are fulfilling that role. We need to have subsitute teachers come in and fill the positions. Otherwise, the teachers union can wait this out indefinitely, as its members aren't losing a dime since, without subsitute teachers, all of the days missed now will have to be made up at the end of the year.

so true!

Dan, you are absoulutely right. Pension reform is on its way and the Board needs to be prepared and not stuck with a Teachers contract that can bring the district to economic dispare. I do belive that pension cost is going tobe shifted to the Suburbs, perhaps in a slow motion mood but we are going to have to pick up the tab. Something will have to be done, becasue what is clear is that the state is broke.

mr:

It might surprise you to know that younger teachers in CPS got a reduction in pay as a result of their strike, which was much more about non-pay issues than what you believe. Tenure is a state law, and there are changes coming in that area. The biggest pension abuser in the state may very well be the District 112 Business Manager, so lets start there.
The bottom line is that both sides have blame in letting the situation get to this point, and we should hold them all accountable,

Anyone from the Union or Teachers themselves could certainly set up a blogging account on The Patch, and post their own information. They can also freely post links within the comments...

The Board spins, the Union spins. We all know that. But the problem with all this spinning is it's making us nauseous. This strike needs to end - either side can end it now. The Union members can go back to work, or the Board can fire the lot of them and hire replacements. Let's get the kids back to school.

Thank you for FINALLY bringing this to everyone's attention. A one-sided story is NOT the full story. Especially when that side is spinning numbers and viewpoints.

thank you so much.

Talk to who is REALLY taking your tax money, honey....the 15-20 Administrators and their co-administrators, and then their co-assistants and the biggest crook of all MOSHI.....

Not true....there are more parents that support the teachers and wonder how the Board was ever elected. Besides, teachers don't ask for gifts...why do you even mention something so petty?

Thats hardly the main issue, all pro-union arguments seem the same--emotional, qualitative pleas to just recognize the hard work the teachers do. But this strike is over a host of financial issues which should be driven by quantitative and data driven argument and debate---whats available and what it means for city finances--- and not some soft and unmeasurable issue like the ultimate worth of a teacher. This is not an oppressed class of people. Striking over financial issues in times of economic retrenchment and then arguing non economical issues is misleading and dishonest. Tell me why they should be rewarded more at this time and why its worth cutting other services to do so.

"netted a surplus" or performed to budget so that they could bank the money needed for additional infrastructure projects in 2012-2013-2014?

If the guy is a lawbreaker, why isn't he in jail?
I personally don't believe the district is broke. I understand that the raises being asked for are more than the net additional revenue that the district can bring in by law. That's deficit spending that can't last very long, and means something else - physical plant, classroom upgrades, field trips, whatever - needs to give.

Great post Here is the info on Dada. That is what we need more people like him.

Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54 Assistant Superintendent Mohsin Dada's salary is $341,747 — thanks to a 22 percent pay raise he received not once, not twice, but three times

Ed, where do you get your facts from on the budget? Are you referring to Moshin Dada's presentation that uses numbers from 2011 which does not include receivables that were late in being collected by the district?

Until Dada's numbers are scrutinized by a nonpartisan expert in finance and accounting, I question whether the district's income projections are correct. Dada actually insulted the teachers by saying that they really do not understand his numbers anyways.

Moshin Dada is definitely a lawbreaker, however, the district is ultimately responsible. They were charged $645,320 in fines due to him breaking the law. http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120412/news/704129949/

You all should be embarrassed that you are falling pray to a man like this, with a clear agenda to benefit himself. What value to society does Moshin Dada's inflated salary and pension add? What value to society does a teacher salary add? The latter is invaluable.

I am not sure all the accounts on here are "real". I've posed questions such as "What do you think the median salary is for a NSSD112 teacher". All I get is silence. People on here don't seem to concerned about facts and figures as much as propaganda based on general gut feelings.

The fact is that the IEA is filing unfair labor complaints against the board for lying about union offers and withholding information about premium payments teachers have made for their health insurance. (they shut off health insurance but still gladly collected health insurance premiums from the teachers). I've even heard a rumor of a teacher who's insurance denied her prescription over the weekend well before the strike.

They confiscate school laptops and turn off school email (as to prevent the teachers from getting grading and course planning done one can only assume?) The whole thing is just silly.

Tony S
I looked at your link about Moshin Dada. According to the article the board gave him a contract that created state penalties. It was not illegal, unbelievably stupid action by the Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54 board, but not illegal. Words and facts matter.

Richard, if you read beyond the first paragraph, the article talks about the 2005 law capping raises. Moshin Dada himself is quoted talking about seeking legal opinion over the raises.

Nancy, the same is happening here. the Facebook page is:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/NSEA-District-112-Teachers/489396547745133?fref=ts
and in a discussion there, a Chicago school teacher just told me to question the D112 Board of Education and claimed this is "supposed to be inconvenient" and "democracy in action." I told her that I voted for this board, she didn't. We'll see if she's back. :-)

uhhh "Seriously"... the average salary in NSSD112 is $70500 (compared to an Illinois state average of $65000).

How are you coming up with 100k???????

Won't really have to worry about that because it's a blatant falsehood. Just like your 70/30 claim that you pulled out of your behind.

Dont't forget to normalize those number to a full year as they are for 9 months work.

The average salary is $100,000?! That is a joke! Pay starts at $41,192-- only a handful of the teachers make $100,000 and over. Get your facts straight.

OK, well based on my anecdotal evidence, it seems more like 70/30 in favor of the teachers.

Seriously? - Average is calculated as the sum of a series of number divided by the number of items in the series.

I think you got this mixed up with NPOOTA (Number pulled out of thin air) which is calculated by staring at a document and picking a random number out of the series and labeling it representative of the entire series.

Anyone who is curious... you can find the teacher's salaries here:

http://www.nssd112.org/files/_hLBNd_/447d79000568da443745a49013852ec4/SALARY.INCREASES.COMPARED.TO.INFLATION.10.10.12.pdf (from the boards site)

it doesn't take more than a cursory glance to see that there is NO way the average is even close to what is being claimed.

If you look closely at the document the Board has posted, you will understand it more. Teachers who have had a large percentage increase (mostly 15%--not 30-40%) completed a Master's degree, or added on credits to their Master's degree. Mind you, it costs the teacher at least $20,000 out of their OWN pocket to obtain this.

Yes because comments on a message board tell the entire story. The parents I've spoken to support the teachers.

Walter,

Of course they tell you that ... they don't want to offend the teachers or the teachers' family members. Otherwise, their kids are going to face the consequences at school. The last four weeks, I've discussed the pending strike with other HP parents at Bar Mitzvahs, soccer games, and other community outings, and I haven't met one parent who agrees with the union other than those with teachers or retired teachers in the family. Again, very few are willing to go public about that opposition, but I suspect that will change because of the the way the union botched the public relations side of this negotiation. Memo to Stein: calling the unpaid, voluntary Board members tea partiers rings hollow in HP.

I'm not a teacher or a teacher's family member so why would they lie to me? I've met very few parents who agree with the board. So apparently we travel in very different circles.

Yet, curiously they are professionals and do belong to a labor union. Interesting.

Yet, curiously their actions are not that of a , professionals. We could go round and round here.

Not really. You are wrong, by definition.

I would if I thought you had a clue what you were talking about.

Yes, and my 2nd grader could define the word "professional" for you.

No, Walter, I'm part of the 112 community (2 kids still attending schools in 112). I gladly pay my property taxes and vocally supported the failed 113 refererendum. If you're on the side of the union on this one, you're taking the position that less money should be spent on accelerated programs, the already decaying facilities and smaller classes.

Actually I'm taking the position that less money should be spent on administration. There's plenty of money to do everything we want.

Walter you are a chemistry teacher, right?

High school.

The 39 teachers that will lose health insurance because they are part time teachers WILL leave. The teachers that have been told that the district is not honoring their pre-approved lane changes WILL leave. The teachers that will have their highest possible salary decreased by nearly $18,000 will definitely THINK of leaving.

Sure, and where will these teachers go? No one else is hiring

"Why would someone leave this great job...foe what ...a lower paying , non existent position somewhere else?"

Where is this lower paying job? The current board offer would make NSSD112 easily one of the lowest paying districts in the area. Any teacher who is less than 10 years (your cheapest teachers as they aren't making the big bucks) will seriously consider leaving as they will likely have over a career a higher overall compensation level at other schools. There is a desperate need for bilingual teachers... expect them to go. Math and Science teachers are in huge demand... expect them to move along.

I agree.. you likely would get many young first year teachers eager to jump in place. It would take 2 years before they find their groove as other teachers take their time to train them and supervise them. After 2 years, due to the lower long term expectations there is also a good chance those young teachers would leave for another school district as another school district sees the bargain in getting a young teacher that another school paid to train but couldn't retain.

Welcome to the new economic reality - benefits that you already have, have begun costing the District (and companies) more and more - so the employees need to share more of the costs.

The taxpayers want a fair contract too - one which doesn't take money out of reserves to give away to fiscally unsustainable salary increases.

Already explained to mine about public employee unions and how they hold the public, including the kids hostage. Took them a bit to understand, but they get it now.

Congrats on passing your bias on to your children. What a great parent you are.

No bias. Just layed the facts out. Not sure it makes me a great parent or not, but it certainly makes them better citizens.

Actually it creates kids that aren't allowed to think for themselves. It's no different than telling your kids to dislike another race or religion.

Calling this community sick doesn't exactly help the situation. Calling Dada a crook is libel. If you support the teachers, support them. But dont insult the people of this community. The teachers care deeply for the community. I hope this animosity between the board, teachers, and administrators fades away when this conflict is resolved. It will be harder to serve the mission of educating our children if everyone can't work with each other.

No one would bad-mouth other public sevants such as the police or the fire service in such a vitriolic was. Our children are just as important as our property.

Hi Jerry, In what post did I ever say a Negative comment about the individual teacher, My grip is and always was with the public sector unions. I like and care about many teachers in 112. Now as far as your puppet reference, I had grown up and had my first job before that show ever aired . But I kind of like the one they call Grover he seems nice.

Benefits are an attractant to EMPLOYEES - once someone walks off the job, they're not an employee any longer, so why should we give them any benefits? The Board's done the right thing.

Was done in a child friendly manner. No worries nor need to be dismayed.

I am passionate about my job. I have no plans to leave the district. When we have reached an agreement, I plan to come back to my classroom with the same enthusiasm and effort I put into my teaching every day. If NSSD 112 cannot afford to support my continuing education, I will continue to do the best I can with the expertise I currently hold. It is, however, my firm belief that investment in our teachers' education is money well spent, attracting and developing talent in our classrooms. As it is our common goal to educate our children, it is my hope that the NSEA and the BOE engage in meaningful discussion and negotiation. In the meantime, I hope we can treat each other with compassion and kindness, teaching our children that it is possible to behave with dignity and respect even in trying, difficult situations.

Yep, continuing education is expensive. If someone wants to take a class, they need to do the ROI and fund it on their own, If they choose to take courses and obtain an advanced degree - that's great. We should certainly give them additional weighting on consideration of a raise.

We should also have achievable and fair metrics for measuring teacher performance so high performing teachers can be considered for raises vs. the status quo of handing out raises to everyone regardless of their performance (all that does is encourage a race to the bottom).

You have interesting ideas David. The one argument against differential pay is the environment that it creates. I am not sure that it is the silver bullet you are looking for. This could create a situation that pits teachers against each other and encourage teachers to not collaborate with their competition (fellow teachers). Taken to extreme you could start seeing teachers playing politics to influence which students they get assigned (so they get the best students the following year). You could see teachers sabotaging fellow teachers in an effort to move up the rankings. You would start seeing teachers shy away from taking on the more challenging students with the most problems in fear of it negatively affecting their compensation. I don't think its quite as simple as you would hope.

Scott: All of your scenarios are certainly plausible, and whenever setting any type of policy it behooves us to consider how people will try to skirt it or abuse it. One possible method of mitigating the politics of getting certain students would be assign students to teachers randomly (obviously we're not going to assign special ed students to a non-special ed teacher).

Part of the performance metrics could certainly be levels of collaboration. Collaboration brings value to education and ultimately to the taxpayers (cf. the many peer-reviewed articles that are written by teams).

If we could enumerate "challenging students" with some fair metric, that could be used as additional weighting in performance ratings. So if someone's randomly assigned such a student, they're not going to get zinged for it. Again, we need to delve into the metric design to prevent gaming the system.

I really do want to see our District continue to shine academically, and I really do want to see high-performers given high consideration for raises. That will drive quality. If we have a year where we have more high-performers considered for raises than we have money available for raises, then we can certainly have the conversation to increase the available pool of money for raises because we're demonstrating that the value add is there.

Certainly there might be methods of mitigating this. However, the law of unintended circumstances reigns supreme. I thought about this when I read an article about Best Buy where a shopper complained that a cashier harassed them terribly to get a warranty. Apparently the cashier was so rude that the customer put their purchase aside and walked away. I thought to myself... How would this employee look according to their metrics. Well, he upsets customers so much that the ones who wont purchase a warranty cancel the sales. This would mean that as a percentage of sales he would achieve a greater level of warranties per completed transactions. In essence.. this employee would look like a rock star.

The current system of assigning children to classroom involves the social dynamics as well as the strengths of the teacher. Some students might respond better to a stricter teacher, some might respond better to a "fun" teacher. Some students are easily distracted by their "friend" and need to be separated. Maybe one teacher is stronger at teaching math and a student needs more help in math. When you randomize the student placement, you lose much of this. Laws of unintended consequences.

You bring up interesting points. Many of these ideas, including performance evaluation and merit pay, are not currently being negotiated by either side. I agree that these are areas to explore as we continue to strive for excellence in education.

My argument was that the new contract provides a substantial disincentive to continue higher education. It would take me 8 years to pay off the $12,000 degree program in which I am enrolled to earn my reading specialist certificate.. (This is an extremely affordable program; equivalent programs at top-tier universities like DePaul cost closer to $29,000.) I cannot afford the upfront investment to continue my courses. Like the district, I have to make difficult decisions to keep my family’s budget balanced.

Given my district experience and that I hold a Master’s Degree, I have an advantage in recouping educational investments compared to a starting teacher. Our newer teachers starting at a lower base salary will need to invest significantly more years of service to repay their tuitions. They will have the least incentive and most limited ability to continue their education. I worry that this will affect the quality of incoming teachers, as those motivated to continue in higher education will be encouraged to look to neighboring districts.