Palatine School Board Conflict of Interest Article Catches Attention for CL High School Board Similarity

Crystal Lake High School Board Members Set Relatives’ Salaries

A Friend of McHenry County Blog read an article in the Daily Herald concerning the conflict of interest in having relatives of school employees negotiating their salaries.
Having relatives of school board members on school boards has not been limited to District 155.
The leader of a Chicago-based government transparency organization, says a conflict of interest exists for a Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 board member representing the panel in teacher contract talks.

Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, currently chaired by currently chaired by former State Sen. Susan Garrett (D-29), describes itself as a nonpartisan public interest group that addresses the role of money in politics and encourages integrity, accountability and transparency in government.

The organization states there’s a conflict because the teacher’s union bought campaign signs for board member candidates in last year’s school board election.

http://www.dailyherald.com/news/20180201/conflict-of-interest-for-district-211-board-member-in-teacher-contract-talks

Similar to this situation is High School District 155…in fact, it is even worse.

Former State Reps. Rosemary Kurtz and Cal Skinner, and County Board Member Donna Kurtz.

ALL of the current District 155 School Board members, with the exception of Rosemary Kurtz, have received endorsements and campaign funding that included the purchase and installation of campaign signs.

In addition, Kurtz is the only board member who voted against the most recent Teachers Contract in which 4% raises over a 3-year period were given out.

Two of those board members, Adam Guss and Dave Secrest, voted for contracts providing raises.  Both have spouses who are employees of District 155.

Adam Guss

New labor contracts will be up for negotiation and renewal in 2019.

This time there will be three District 155 School Board members with spouses who are employees at District 155.

In addition, to Guss (who is now the D155 Board President) and Secrest, new board member Jason Blake’s wife also is an employee of D155.

These obvious financial ties will likely not bode well for District 155 tax payers who will be stuck with the next round of pay raises.


Comments

Palatine School Board Conflict of Interest Article Catches Attention for CL High School Board Similarity — 7 Comments

  1. CL voters must be some special kind of stupid, to put not one but three goofs, whose spouses are on the 155 dole.

    Just hilarious!

  2. It’s been happening forever. While everyone is hyper focused on townships the teachers family members really stick it to the taxpayers now and in the future. They are financed by the union and usually win elections with the few people that run in opposition don’t stand a chance.

  3. Thanks, Mrs. This is what I have been telling people for the past several months.

    If you are concerned about property taxes, you need to focus on the schools.

    Not the county.

    The county just collects the taxes levied by other bodies plus adds it’s own which is less than 10% of the total.

    All the focus on county board races just diverts energy from the real culprits.

    Only 15% of the voters show up for the school board elections.

    Most of those who do were brought in by the unions, and teachers.

    They mostly have children in school at the moment.

    The rest of the taxpayers stay home, completely oblivious.

    They thought they took care of it when they voted in a November election.

    They didn’t.

    There needs to be an organization that is able to do Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts focused on the off year Spring elections.

    Right now there is nothing.

  4. We tried folks. The teachers have a lock on it as long as people remain ignorant and indifferent to how important it is to vote during these elections. It is incredible that they get away with it.

  5. The IEA and Local Teacher’s Unions are all part of the Corruption in Illinois, they make sure they have Candidate elected so they will beholding to them. Look at JB, all the Unions are baking him, and I know everyone has seen the Ads Rauner is running.

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