The majority of union leaders for the Huntley teachers don’t live in the school district where they teach.
So it should be no surprise if they don’t care about deficit spending and future tax increase.
They get paid by local property tax dollars, but most don’t take part in their payment to District 158.
They live in places like Elgin, Crystal Lake, Marengo and Wonder Lake.
Perhaps Huntley residents should be concerned that two-thirds of their teachers live out of district.
Perhaps Huntley residents should be wary of the “my next door neighbors won’t be ticked at me if I strike” and “my taxes won’t go up if I get a whopping raise” syndromes.
If you look at this Northwest Herald news report by Jenn Wiant (now back from the Denver Democratic Party National Convention and not assigned to cover the Republican counterpart in Minnesota), you will see something that shows how Huntley union leaders are blowing off the Board of Education.
In a seven-hour meeting on Wednesday night, the teachers spent less than one hour actually talking directly with the Board.
Less than one hour!
That’s not how leaders act when they actually want to get a deal done.
It is how union leaders act when they go through the motions and want to strike, hoping for a big board cave-in resulting in a big pay day.
If the out-of-town union leader majority hasn’t followed the Huntley school board, then someone may want to tell them this:
out of the six board members on the negotiating committee they have two chances of getting four out of six (Larry Snow, Aileen Seedorf, Tony Quagliano, Shawn Green, Kim Skaja and Kevin Gentry) to voluntarily screw up the district’s finances for many years to come:
Slim and None
Strike or no strike, I am betting on “None.”
If this school board caves, then the union will have learned a “Last, Best and Final“ offer really means, “We’re ready to make more concessions.”
While the Huntley Education Association – school board meeting was supposed to start at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the word on the street is the Board was kept waiting by the HEA bargaining team for two hours so one of their out-of-town co-presidents could show up.
The Huntley union leaders wear “Respect” buttons.
Maybe it’s time for the Huntley School Board to require employees to live within District 158 School District boundaries.
Previously, such a policy didn’t make a lot of sense to me, but, put in the perspective of out-of-towners forcing up taxes without having to help pay the piper, it’s beginning to make more sense.
And with the housing recession, there ought to be a lot of reasonably priced housing in Huntley and Lake in the Hills.
Even more if the board caves and another tax hike passes.