Dear North Shore School District 112 Community Members:
Many of you have reached out to me over the past two days to ask that the board do everything possible to avoid a teacher strike.
District 112 Contract Negotiations: The Story So Far
I want to assure you that board members are committed to doing everything we can to arrive at a settlement that will be fair to our teachers and responsible to our community.
I want to let you know that the situation we face is personally painful to me and to my fellow board members. Our community has a long, rich history of commitment to excellent schools. People who grew up here often return as adults because they want their children to benefit from the same outstanding education that they received. We became board members because we share that same commitment and passion for our schools.
I am so proud of our hard-working and dedicated teaching staff. Last year, our district boasted four Golden Apple finalists---an unheard of number for a district our size. Next week, several of our teaching staff will be honored with an Illinois State Board of Education Those Who Excel Award, and several received the very highest category of that award. We have teaching staff who present at national conferences, and teachers who go above and beyond every day to provide our children with enriching experiences both inside and outside the classroom.
Our offer at the table has nothing to do with how much we respect, value and appreciate our teachers. If it were possible to give our teachers the monetary raises that the union is asking for, we would do so. But when we signed on as board members, we took on the obligation to ensure an outstanding education for all students who walk through our doors. The simple truth is we won't be able to meet that obligation if we agree to the current union proposal, or any settlement which will keep us in the situation of spending more than we can by law collect.
Over the last three years, my fellow board members and I have been in the painful position of having to make millions of dollars in budget cuts, including laying off employees, in order to preserve the financial health of the district. If we agree to a contract that is beyond our means, we will be forced to choose between making deeper and more painful cuts, or depleting our finances to the point where we imperil our future.
School finances are complicated, and as board members we have devoted countless hours to understanding them and doing our best to do what we were elected to do: provide sound financial stewardship.
What has been particularly disheartening during this negotiation process is that the union leadership has contended that this is somehow a made-up problem. They are telling their members that the district has adequate funds to cover what they are asking for. They have said that the board's position is a tea party politics mentality and that we are using the weak economy as an excuse to take advantage of our teachers. This is misguided and inaccurate. This has nothing to do with politics and the economic environment is not an excuse but a reality. For those who want more information on the specific issues, click here for a document that addresses the many myths that the union leadership has promulgated during these negotiations.
We want to continue to negotiate and we believe that given enough time and a concerted effort on the part of both sides, we can come to an agreement that will be acceptable to the union and responsible to the community. Unfortunately, the union leadership has said they will strike if no agreement is reached by October 16, and legally they are within their rights to do so. Union leaders still have the right---and in my opinion the ethical obligation---to withdraw their threat to strike, and to continue to focus all their efforts on negotiating a settlement while allowing teachers to continue teaching and children to continue learning. It is as disheartening to me as I'm sure it is to you that children and families will be those most hurt in this process.
Bruce Hyman
District 112 School Board President
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Your story is certainly inspiring. No one here, or in this community is "against the teachers". It's the Union, and their tactics that are so upsetting. Scaring children...yes, kids of all ages are frightened by the black outfits...seeing the teachers marching, and the uncertainty. The hypocrisy of Mr. stein to show that when you don't get whatvyou want...be a quitter. I am sure you would never instill that in your students. The problem is that the citizens who will take a hit either finamcially or via cuts to programming are being kept hostage by a Large...very well funded union. It is very sad to see peope tae a single working mom to task for saying that she is in a difficult situation. Child care is expensive.
Why aren't you a teacher if you think it's such an easy profession? Please don't judge until you've actually done the job.
The teachers fund only a very small fraction of their pensions. The majority is funded by the taxpayers and investment returns. Think about it ... if a teacher like yourself gets a $50K pension, plus annual COLA, for 30 years, that's well over $1.5 million ... probably about 6X what you contributed during your teaching years. Plus, it's not subject to Illinois state tax, unlike our 401(k)s.
What I expect is compromise on both sides, not rhetoric.
Dada's compensation is a red herring and you know it. If you cut adm. by 50%, it wouldn't come close to meeting the teachers' demands. I suggest that you move off of Stein's talking points. That's the same guy who lost the few supporters he had by recently suggesting that our unpaid, voluntary BOE members are tea partiers. Mr. Stein, we don't tolerate that type of inflammatory rhetoric in HP, and you didn't do your local members any favors from a PR perspective. Save that type of talk for your work in the Chicago schools.
Since the board can't seem to juggle all their "facts" and "myths", I did some investigations of my own. There are a lot of bitter people out here this evening on the Patch. They are NOT representative of this community. We are better then that. The people who care about education and the future of HP (and not just themselves) are pulling for you!! PS My children aren't not afraid of your t-shirts or your black clothing :)
You're right. We are bitter. Rightfully so. Our kids are going to be out of school because the union has, ironically, miseducated its members. You're also right that this is about the future of HP education. We're either going to have (1) improved facilities, more accelerated classes, and smaller class sizes; or (2) resources disproportionately focused on salary and benefits. The second sounds like the Chicago Public Schools. Not exactly a model we want to follow.
Check out NSSD112's as well: http://www.nssd112.org/pages/Northshore112/School_Board/Negotiations_Update It's appears to be the BOE that is fact twisting. We should all do our homework. And we shouldn't be bitter. They are teachers. They deserve our respect and our support. You really should have a look at the information on both sides. Fact checking does take time, but it really does help to see both sides.
Concerned about HP - I can only presume that you don't have a child with special needs.