Even since the Huntley School Board decided to share teacher negotiation details with taxpayer-voters on its web site, I have been watching for some other district to follow suit.
Carpentersville District 300, which approved a contract without publishing its contents, just a summary, More details were provided by Board member Joe Stevens.
But no contract. The lawyers are working out details. Check back after June 15th.
Will there be major changes between the board and union approval votes and the final version?
No way anyone outside the process will ever know.
So, imagine my surprise when the Cary Education Association decided to put up a web site and included negotiations’ details…at least from the teachers’ point of view.
Nothing wrong with that.
If the School Board would do something similar, the public might even be able to figure out what’s going on.
The top of the page on negotiations.
In a front page letter to parents and taxpayers, the teachers ask,
“While our stance has always been to remain within the guidelines of negotiations, we can no longer remain silent.
“The simple fact is that teachers’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions. How can our students achieve maximum success when the current environment is not conducive to learning? “
There’s more, of course.
The IEA local union points out that the state gives the school district “ten years” to dig out from under the financial problems.
Apparently stung by the impression that the high average salary paid to Cary Grade School Teachers, the web site extracts beginning salaries for those with bachelor’s and master’s degrees among McHenry County school districts. Those appear below:
McHenry County School Districts
Beginning Salaries (with Bachelor’s Degree)
48,237 – CHSD 155 (Cary Grove High School)
42,068 – Richmond-Burton HS 157
41,203 – Riley CCSD 18
40,958 – Crystal Lake CCSD 47
40,353 – McHenry CHSD 156
39,290 – Woodstock CUSD 200
39,216 – Nippersink SD 2
38,544 – Cary CCSD 26
38,191 – Marengo CHSD 154
38,185 – Harvard CUSD 50
37,098 – Prairie Grove CSD 46
36,640 – Johnsburg CUSD 12
36,519 – Huntley CUSD 158
36,097 – Fox River Grove CSD 3
35,638 – Marengo-Union E CSD 165
35,095 – McHenry CCSD 15
34,521 – Alden-Hebron CUSD 19
31,174 – Harrison SD 36
McHenry County School Districts
Beginning Salaries (with Master’s Degree)
54,749 – CHSD 155 (Cary Grove High School)
46,108 – Crystal Lake CCSD 47
45,324 – Riley CCSD 18
45,308 – Richmond-Burton HS 157
45,100 – Woodstock CUSD 200
44,590 – McHenry CHSD 156
43,378 – Nippersink SD 2
43,213 – Cary CCSD 26
42,997 – Prairie Grove CSD 46
41,664 – Marengo CHSD 154
41,237 – McHenry CCSD 15
41,000 – Johnsburg CUSD 12
39,815 – Harvard CUSD 50
39,655 – Fox River Grove CSD 3
39,530 – Huntley CUSD 158
39,271 – Marengo-Union E CSD 165
38,060 – Alden-Hebron CUSD 19
35,174 – Harrison SD 36
Always good to have more information.
There’s also a page comparing Cary Elementary School salaries to those outside of McHenry County.
The teachers’ web site reviews cost cutting since 2009.
Missing is cost increases going back to the year when the teachers’ union won a solid majority of the school board.
The starting salaries are quite high based on a 9 month/year job. I’m curious if those are benefits & salaries which would be more reasonable?
If it’s such a cushy job, why don’t you do it Jim? Why are the teachers constantly being blasted for making too much money, having benefits that are too good, and retirement plans that are too good?
For someone with a Master’s Degree, if it was a “12-month job”, in Cary they would make approx $57k a year. Too much for someone who has that degree of education? If you look at the following link to PayScale, you’ll see that it may not be that out of line. Physical therapists with Master’s Degrees get paid more as a beginning salary than teachers on average.
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/People_with_Masters_Degrees_(non-MBA)/Salary
Quite honestly I would be bored out of my brains if I had to teach. I prefer constant change and new challenges every day. You know the old adage…if you can’t do, teach! Teachers do have value, and I have no problem with someone getting paid for their performance, but that is not how the broken system works.
I would never compare a public sector job with a job in the medical field. That website does give a quite good comparison on what an average “Instructor, Postsecondary / Higher Education” salary should be…which is $32k/year. Why did you not put that in your comment above? Stop comparing apples to oranges and wake up and smell the coffee!
I am in the HR business and payscale.com is not so accurate as a reference because it only consists of survey results from a small number of individuals who choose to report their own income. In other words, it may not be representative. Try this link for reference, from the US Bureau of Labor statistics:
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes252021.htm