After finding the email from Harvard School Superintendent Lauri Tobias, I contacted State Senator Pam Althoff, whose name she invoked in her email to McHenry County school superintendents, and asked for her reaction.

Althoff called this morning. Here’s what she told me:

We were discussing financial constraints that many school districts were facing after the passage of the legislation and how it affects current contracts and their ability to meet educational demands.

What I offered to do was collaboratively gather some information.

I’m very supportive of that (the 6% cap). I voted for that.

The IEA (Illinois Education Association—the name of the biggest teachers’ union) went back and promoted and got passed 10 exceptions (to the 6% cap), which I also supported.

Harvard wishes more.

The conversation we had was about where to go and how to address this.

I explained to them that the IEA, when promoting supporting, promoting and ultimately passing the exceptions, agreed that would be all the activity and action that would occur with regard to the 6% cap for at least two years.

So, they would take at least a 2-year hiatus from addressing that subject.

It is our (and I’m talking about the General Assembly) position that you can hire experienced teachers for mentoring (or coaching) and pay them more or do any of those things that would affect the 6% cap.

It’s just that the state is not paying for it.

The school districts would just have to be responsible for paying for it themselves.

To go through an educational process, I told District 50 that we needed to have a larger collaborative effort to see if other schools are similarly hampered by this 6% cap.

The whole idea was to bring everybody together and talk about the issue.

I’m just trying to give them historical background and determine if there is a possibility of defining other exemptions, if they are appropriate…or whether it is just a lack of funds at the local level.

So, while the Harvard School District 50 superintendent and Harvard Education Association teachers’ union leader may be “launching a campaign to eliminate the six percent limitation on TRS [Teacher Retirement System] earnings,” Althoff is not supporting such a sweeping measure.

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State Senator Pam Althoff is seen making a point when she spoke to the Crystal Lake Kiwanis Club at the Colonial Cafe. Here is a second article I wrote about what she said.