McHenry County Blog

The Southtown has a Phil Kadner column about the negative effects (more later than soon) of shifting the burden of paying teacher pensions from State government to local school districts.

He missed one aspect that some may find significant.  I explain that puzzle piece in the following comment I left under his piece:

Phil Kadner writes, “You paid tax money to fund the pensions. But your elected leaders chose to spend the money on something else.”

The Illinois State Capitol where Democrats plan to shift teacher pension costs to local school districts, which will raise property taxes.

But he leaves out who encouraged the legislators to spend the money elsewhere.It was the teacher union lobbyists.

When I was looking at budgets, there was a section for education.

It was divided into three parts:

1. k through 12
2. universities
3. pensions

The pressure was always to increase State Aid to Education.

The reasoning (not stated publicly, I dare say) was that with higher financial assistance, teacher salaries could be raised, which, in turn, would increase teach pensions.

Kadner’s comments about Mike Madigan’s proposed pension shift deserve wider dissemination.

He points out,

“Chicago finances its teachers’ pension system, the argument goes, and Chicago taxpayers also contribute to the system for teachers outside the city.

“What Madigan and the other Chicago politicians don’t say is that Illinois’ education funding system always has been rigged to shift more money to the city.”

He continues his chain of logic:

“The goal is to spread the cost shift over so many years, 10 to 15, that school districts won’t initially object and taxpayers won’t care.

“The cost initially will be a small fraction of your local school district’s budget. But over time those costs will compound and eventually amount to billions of dollars.

“It’s very similar to the scheme the Legislature used to drive the pensions systems to near collapse.

“By the time the financial crisis hits the school districts, the lawmakers today no longer will be in office. No one will remember who is to blame.”

District 300 teachers show the public that they are striking by carrying picket signs on Randall Road.

Below is a press release from District 300 about the ratification of the contract that came about after a one-day teachers strike.

If you would like to read highlights I picked out of the over 100-page contract, including salary information in dollar amounts amounts,  you can do so here.

If you would like to delve deeper into the 40,000+ word contract, you can find it here.

Board and Teachers’ Union Approve 3‐Year Contract

The Community Unit School District 300 Board of Education (Board) and Local Education Association District 300 (LEAD 300) have approved a 3‐year contract for the time period from July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2015.

The membership of LEAD 300 ratified the contract yesterday (Dec. 19), and the Board voted to approve the contract this evening (Dec. 20).

Contract negotiations focused on several issues that will positively impact the students’ learning environment by lowering class sizes and improving teachers’ working conditions.

The Board and LEAD 300 mutually understand best practices regarding class size and the direct impact these practices have on education.

The Board agrees to make class size a priority and make every effort to keep class sizes at a reasonable number.

To that extent, the Board and LEAD 300 have agreed to form a joint class size committee to monitor class sizes across the district.

Beginning with the 2013‐2014 school year, class sizes will generally be as follows:

The agreement includes a modification of the high school day from eight, 45‐minute periods plus a 30‐minute
lunch, to nine, 45‐minute periods, one of which is a lunch period.

This alteration allows for consistency in both teacher and student schedules, and also makes it possible for students to have greater flexibility in course selection.

Administration and LEAD 300 will create several committees whose representative membership will work
toward creating a collaborative structure for addressing the ongoing needs of District 300 staff and students. The focus of these committees will include:

• A Class Size Committee that will monitor class size and continue to explore options to reduce class sizes in order to create academically sound environments within budgetary and facility constraints
• Collaborative Councils for each instructional level and education services that will help maintain open communication and explore solutions to ongoing issues
• An Insurance Committee that will monitor District‐wide insurance plans and costs in order to ensure fiscal responsibility while maintaining appropriate levels of employee benefits
• A Performance Evaluation Reform Act [PERA] Committee that will create and monitor the procedures for evaluations of certified staff to ensure quality educators for all students in the District
• A joint committee that will help create a more collegial, supportive workplace environment, free from harassment and bullying through policy and procedural changes

The average salary increase for the 3‐year contract will be as follows:

• 2012‐2013: Step plus 1%
• 2013‐2014: Step only
• 2014‐2015: Step plus 1%

“Step” refers to movement on the existing salary schedule and varies depending on employees’ years of service and education, but on average it equals 2%.

Beginning with the 2013‐2014 school year, LEAD 300 retirement benefits will decrease from a 6% adjustment for each of the last four years of service to 3%. The benefit will sunset as of 2015.

Once formatting has been completed for printing purposes, the full contract is anticipated to be available on the Human Resources page of the district website, www.d300.org, by mid‐January 2013.

The instructional day missed on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012, due to the strike will be made up at the end of the school year.

This means that unless any emergency/snow days are used this school year, the last day of school will be Wednesday, May 22, 2013.

A press release from the District 300 School Board:

BOARD RESPONDS TO TEACHERS UNION IMPASSE

On Monday, November 5, 2012, LEAD 300 declared impasse in collective bargaining.

By definition, the declaration of impasse implies that the teachers union is not moving from their current bargaining position and believes that the parties have exhausted the prospects of reaching an agreement.

The Board of Education and District administration are disappointed that LEAD 300 has reached this conclusion; we believe the parties were making significant progress in the effort to reduce class size and improve teachers’ working environment.

Within seven days after the declaration of impasse, both the Board of Education and LEAD 300 must submit their final offers – including a cost summary – to each other, the mediator, and the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board.

Seven days after receipt of those final offers, assuming no settlement has been reached, the IELRB will make the final offers public, including the cost summaries, by posting them on its website.

According to the President of the Board of Education, Anne Miller, “The Board is dedicated to negotiating a contract that is good for students, fair for teachers and fiscally responsible to our community. It is our sincere hope that a strike will be averted.

“We are fortunate to have a caring, competent and highly qualified staff.”

Given today’s economic environment, the Board has offered a strong salary and benefit package to its employees with the knowledge that the fiscal strength of the District is in the best interests of its students, its employees and its taxpayers.

The Board will continue to work within the parameters set forth to achieve an agreement with LEAD 300. Updates on progress will be provided on the district website at www.d300.org.

At 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 7, 2012, the Board forwarded its final offer to LEAD 300.

Major components of the Board’s package proposal include

• salary, insurance, retirement, and extra pay;
• elementary class size;
• high school schedule and teacher load;
• issues related to education services (special education);
• teacher plan time;
• teacher arrival and departure time; and
• other issues related to working conditions.

Joe Stevens

A synopsis of the full Board proposal is available on the district website at www.d300.org.

According to Board of Education Spokesperson, Joe Stevens, “We believe we were making good progress to address the union’s top priorities including class size and working conditions. Now that the union has declared impasse, we are waiting to receive their final proposal to resume future negotiations.”

Here’s a YouTube just out from ChampionNewsOnline wishing Mike Madigan a nice day.

It made me smile and might amuse you, too.

If you can’t make the above work, click here.

The pro-abortion Personal PAC launched its second mailing on behalf of Dee Baubien (Ind.-Madigan) in her race against Republican David McSweeney. It arrived on the last workday of the third week of October.

It features former George Ryan Lt. Gov. Corrine Wood (not implicated in any of Ryan’s misdeeds), along with candidate Beaubien. It has a lot of panels, which you can see below:

The address side of the Corrine Wood piece from Personal PAC.

Here’s the back of the piece as it arrived in mailboxes:

Famous pairs, including Thelma and Louise, who into eternity off a cliff in a convertible, are shown on the back of the mailing.  Click to enlarge any image.

Inside is a foldout,

First appears Dee Beaubien’s photograph.

The second in the feature pair in this mailing comes next.

The pair appear together on this panel.

Text appears on the next panel.

A more detailed explanation of the joint Dee Beaubien-Corrine Woods message appears here, compliments of Personal PAC. Click to enlarge.

The piece has two more panels that are meant to be read together. You see them chopped up below here, so put them together in your mind.

And, the final part of the mailing has a large photo of Corrine Woods.

Corrine Wood appears on this part of the flyer.

While Beaubien’s campaign was going after abortion, McSweeney’s was warning of the real estate tax hike that Mike Madigan wants to impose upon all parts of Illinois outside of Chicago.

This could be a knock-knock joke from the address side of David McSweeney’s post card.

On the back McSweeney links Beaubien to Madigan.

The text talks about how Democrat Mike Madigan wants to increase school district taxes to bail out the obligation that state lawmakers did not fulfill over the years. The copy does not reveal that teacher unions urged legislators to divert the money allocated for pension payments in numerous governors’ budgets to State Aid to Education. With the pension guarantee in the State Constitution, teacher union lobbyists believe they could increase the pension base with higher salaries without having to worry about the resulting pension payments being made. Click to enlarge the image.

Illinois Policy Institute Local Pension Accountability Tour panelists in Crystal Lake were, from left to right, IEA Spokesman Mike Sayre, a District 155 teacher at Harbor Oaks Annex Academy, Crystal Lake Grade School Board President Jeff Mason and Illinois Policy Institute staff member Diane Rickert.

I went to the Illinois Policy Institute’s Pension.  Got there a little late and was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was over an hour after it started.

Mike Sayre

Representing the Illinois Education Association was Crystal Lake High School teacher Mike Sayre.

I waited in vain for him to accept the responsibility his union and the Illinois Federation of Teachers had in helping create the teacher pension mess.

As I thought about it, I conclude he was too young to know what IEA and IFT lobbyists had done over the years to shortchange the Teachers Retirement System.

Although I have written about this before, let me repeat the scenario that went on year after year after year after year.

The Governor’s budget would have “X” hundreds of millions of dollars for education.

Included would be recommendations for K-12, universities and pensions.

As the session went on teacher union lobbyists would ask for more money for State Aid to Education.  In other words, for current salaries.

Where would that money come from?

The pension portion of the education budget.

Concurrently, those same lobbyists would be trying to improve teacher pensions.  Think  early retirement.  (I was astounded that one of my high school classmates who went into teaching was able to retire at age 52.)

The effect?

Higher teacher salaries, which, in turn, led to higher teacher pensions…while the pension fund was being shorted.

So, when Mike Sayre blames the legislators for not paying what they should have over the years, he is partly right.

The part he doesn’t know about is that his union urged those legislators to do what he complained about Tuesday night.

He said the IEA wants a guarantee that the General Assembly will put money into the Teachers Retirement Fund.

It is virtually impossible for one General Assembly to bind a future General Assembly.

It would be like telling future IEA lobbyists not to try to improve benefits for current dues paying members, that is active teachers.

Just trying to parcel out the responsibility for the mess all parties got us taxpayers in.

= = = = =
On the IEA handout for the event was the following assertion: “The pension crisis was caused by politicians who diverted the pension system payments to other programs.”

What other programs?

State Aid to Education so current salaries could be raised with the assumption that pension payments would take care of themselves. After all the Illinois Constitution says pensions can’t be impaired.

Even I told teachers that for years when they expressed concerns.

A press release from the Illinois Policy Institute:

Illinois Policy Institute to host debate on teacher pension reform

Debate 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 14 at McHenry County College in northwest suburban Crystal Lake

A crowd showed up to heard McHenry County Sheriff’s candidates, plus state and Federal legislative candidates in October, 2010.

CHICAGO (Aug. 13, 2012) – On Tuesday, Aug. 14, the Illinois Policy Institute will host a debate aimed at exploring who should pay the employers’ share of teacher pension costs: local school districts or the state.

Tuesday’s debate will be held in the auditorium at McHenry County College, 8900 Route 14, Crystal Lake. The debate starts at 7 p.m., and is free and open to the public.

The Crystal Lake debate will be moderated by state Rep. Tom Morrison and Kevin Lyons, news editor at the Northwest Herald newspaper in McHenry County. Panelists will include:

• Mike Sayre on behalf of the Illinois Education Association;
• District 47 school board president Jeff Mason; and
• the Illinois Policy Institute’s Diana Sroka Rickert, an award-winning journalist on the topic of pensions.

In June, the question of who should pay the “employer” portion of teachers’ pensions prompted legislative talks over pension reform to come to a standstill. The results of a new poll commissioned by the Illinois Policy Institute finds that public opinion on this issue is mixed, not only across the state but across the political spectrum.

The poll found that nearly half of likely Illinois voters oppose asking school districts to pay the employer share of teachers’ pension costs, while the other half of likely voters are split between indecision and favoring this proposal.

“The Institute’s poll indicates that the public needs more information on how local pension accountability would affect schools and taxpayers, and that they’re confused about who owns this policy in the statehouse,” said Kristina Rasmussen, executive vice president of the Illinois Policy Institute.

“To improve understanding of this issue, the Institute is launching this statewide tour to engage stakeholders and move toward consensus on much-needed pension relief.”

In addition to Monday’s stop in Crystal Lake, the Illinois Policy Institute is planning debate stops in Rockford, Skokie and Kane County. Debates already have been held in Quincy, Carbondale, Lemont Springfield and Decatur.

= = = = =

The Illinois Policy Institute sponsored a candidates’ night at MCC in October, 2010.  Democrats ducked the Congressional part.  The Institute call the appearance a “Turnaround Tour.”

The irony in this part of his interview with Governor Pat Quinn is that Neil Steinberg and maybe even the Governor do not know the pension problem is directly attributable to stealing money allocted to pensions in years past to increase State Aid to Education.

Neil Steinberg adds to the pressure to address the public pension mess Monday morning in a column featuring an interview with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn.

There is one part that I found interesting, accurate as far as it goes, but missing the main point.

“The folks who put us in this mess are from both parties,” Quinn said.

He’s got that right.

“Every governor and every session of the legislature, the choice at the end of the year came down to: ‘Do we pay this pensions thing or spend a little bit more money on other things?”

Correct again.

“They always picked now over requiring pension payments. So it got worse and worse.”

The Governor again speaks truth.

But not the whole truth.

Each year I remember the Governor’s budget would allocate so much for education.

It would be broken down into State Aid to Education, university subsidies and pension payments for those employed in higher and lower education.

Each year, the teachers unions–I’m talking the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers–would come in and argue that the pension money would be better spent “NOW,” to put it in the Governor’s word, on State Aid to Education.

Tomorrow would take care of itself was the implicit message.

Since those still employed as teachers or professors or support personnel were so much more influential than the retired folks, the money was allocated by General Assembly after General Assembly for current expenditures, rather than future pension payments.

Hard to criticize the political sense of the judgment at the time, because most of the representatives and senators voting for the budgets wouldn’t be around to pay the piper, so to speak.

But doing so had more than political advantages for incumbent legislators running for re-election.

Sending extra money to local schools had the unintended effect of increasing the pension burden on state taxpayers.

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, higher teacher salaries meant higher teacher pensions.

Having said pointed that out, I remember thinking time and time again that I might be around to have to figure out how to pay for extravagant programs.

That was before I voted, “No.”

Maybe someone can find someone who voted against more budgets than I over the 16 years I served in the General Assembly, but I doubt it.

At this point, it would be appropriate to remind readers that I receive a legislative pension, but one that was not hopped up by having a post-GA job at a higher salary than I received as a state representative. Because of the 3% annual so-called “cost of living” increase–which is a flat rate not based on inflation–my pension is substantially higher than my final salary in the Illinois House of Representatives in 2000.

I remember voting for only two pension bills. One was in the second year of my first term that affected the General Assembly pension system. I remember asking the legendary C.L. McCormick from Vienna what it was all about. He told me not to worry about it and I voted in favor.

That was the favorable last pension vote I remember until a McHenry County Judge called me in the 1990′s about supporting a bill that would put his bifurcated judicial service on an equal footing with those who had only served as a judge. He had been an Associate Judge after serving as Assistant State’s Attorney, gone into private practice and returned to the bench to finish his career.

Huntley School Board President certainly has an interest in the legislative process.

Just look at the agenda for the District 158 Committee of the Whole meeting coming up June 9th:

Skala is the Chairman of the Legislative Committee and giving a report on June 9th.

Of course, the newly-reconfigured 66th District in which he lives has an incumbent–Mike Tryon.

Tryon’s political base has been split by the Illinois Democrats’ reapportionment map. He lives in the northernmost precinct in the district, just south of my precinct, which abuts the South Shore of Crystal Lake (the lake).

Mike Skala

While the 66th District has 67% of Republican primary voters, the rest are in Kane County.

The district in which my Algonquin 7 precinct is the southernmost precinct, on the other hand, has almost all of its residents in McHenry County. It does dip enough into Lake County to reach JoAnn Osmond’s home in Antioch, however.

Osmond has not decided whether she will run in the district whose number she now represents or the McHenry County-dominated one.

Tryon is considering whether he and his wife should downsize from their Four Colonies home into something smaller located in the district in which Osmond lives.

If Tryon does decide to move, that would leave the 66th House District empty.

Being an elected official in the governmental body that probably has more constituents than any other located in that part of McHenry County, Skala would seem to be well-positioned to run for State Representative.

After being narrowly defeated for school board when he was last President by Aileen Seedorf and his ally Jim Carlin, Skala was reappointed to the board when Carlin resigned about six months into his term.

In the next election, Skala then matched himself against arch-foe Larry Snow and beat Snow. The campaign saw Tryon endorse Skala and was akin to a state rep. campaign in intensity. He even had the same campaign manager that Tryon used.

Skala has been a large contributor to Tryon’s campaign war chest and participates in a now annual fish boil fund raiser for Tryon in Huntley.

So, if Tryon decided to run in the northern district, his blessing would undoubtedly be bestowed upon Skala.

No other possible candidates for the lower House have been brought to my attention should Tryon abdicate the seat, but, if one should arise, Tryon’s school board leadership could cut both ways.

Skala was one of those who pushed for the school district tax rate hike and, while apparently legal, I’m told he voted for the teachers’ contract before the current one, even though his wife teaches French at Huntley High School.

His wife is a former Co-President of the Huntley Education Association. That would mean to me that teachers would be favorably inclined to support Skala throughout the district, a nice geographically spread base.

When he was Minority Leader, Lee Daniels was known for recruiting those with school board or school administration backgrounds.   They were called “IEA Republicans.”

With both House Speaker Mike Madigan and House Minority Leader Tom Cross supporting Cross’ pension reform bill, the Illinois Education is contacting members urging them to contact their state legislators.

No mention is made by the IEA of how their lobbyists convinced legislators in decades past to move money allocated for pension payments to State Aid to Education. (See Teacher Pension Mess Brought About by Teacher Union Requests for Current Salaries Out of Money Earmarked by Pensions.)

Here’s the IEA web site today:

Today's IEA web site.

The IEA pitch to contact legislators follows:

The IEA memo telling why the pension reform bill should be killed. Click to enlarge.

Here’s the memo about what the pension reform bill will do to teachers’ pensions: