Northwest Herald Smack Down

First, the Daily Herald whomped both the Huntley Education Association and the Huntley School District 158 board on Sunday.

The teachers were asking way too much (double-digit pay hikes) and the school board was offering too much (more than a cost of living increase).

On Tuesday, the Northwest Herald followed suit.

In spades.

“Teachers’ union in need of check”

That’s the headline.

The NW Herald says the double-digit salary hike requests proved the HEA was “in need of a reality check.”

“Even in good economic times, 10.5 percent salary hikes are rare,” the editorial points out. The editorial also points out the teachers’ hope for total payment of health insurance premiums by the taxpayers for teachers (90% for families).

The editorial perceptively advises asking, “…how much of their (taxpayer) premiums are paid by employers?”

I would point out that the editorial writer still is underestimating the size of the requested take home pay increase.

Besides the pay hikes and 100% insurance premium payment mentioned in the editorial, the union is also asking that

  • the entire 9.4% presently paid by the teachers to TRS, plus
  • an additional 4/10ths of one percent for the Early Retirement option, plus
  • an additional 0.84% to Teachers Health Insurance Security Fund, with after tax dollars be paid by the taxpayers. Since such a school board payment would be an employee benefit, it would be tax free.

From page 28, item 2: The board shall contribute the full TRS payment for each member of the bargaining party. (Not only in bold face type, but underlined in the teachers’ union proposal.)

That’s 10.24%.

Including that percentage with the pay hikes figures mentioned in both the Daily Herald and Northwest Herald stories is how I got over 20% in my original article.

Despite the underestimation of the compensation increase, the editorial notes the bad shape the economy is in, calling the teachers’ request “selfish.” (See foreclosure rate in Huntley in yesterday’s McHenry County Blog article.)

Like the Daily Herald editorial, school board members get dinged for offering more than the cost of living in their initial offer.

One of those commenting on the article, calling him or herself “db,” asked,

“Who wrote this editorial? Larry Snow?”


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