McHenry County Blog

It is always interesting to see how the journalists and editors in the local newspapers describe something and then compare such descriptions with source documents.

Here’s how the people who made their proposal to the Cary 26 school board described their offering in what little info they gave the board:

“Restricted Use Grant”

The bold lettering was in their original brief proposal.

Also bolded was “12 equal payments.”

How about this little detail in the proposal:

“Any failure to comply with the conditions and terms of the Restricted Use Grant may result in the suspension of the transfer of funds.”

This had its own bullet point.

Seeing how teacher unions legally interpret compliance and non compliance, this is a red flag.

How’s this written detail:

“The Foundation will provide fund verification to the Board of Education after the Board takes an action to accept this proposal.”

The “after” in the sentence indicates a level of unrealism that is laughable for a foundation calling itself “Soar to Higher Heights Foundation.”

How do you trust people who expect a school board to be so naively stupid to agree to this?

They might as well have called themselves

“Taking a Flying Leap off a Tall Cliff Foundation.”

Or

“The Leap of Faith Foundation,”

with apologies to Seren Kierkegaard.

Seeing how the foundation doesn’t really exist yet, at least that’s what the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office just told me

(“We have no record of that.”)

they have time to change the name.

Why don’t these folks want to work through the existing Cary 26 foundation? After all, it already exists.

It is interesting how the newspapers keep referring to the potential monies as a donation instead of “restricted use grant.”

It seems like the word “restricted” is key.

Teacher unions for years have wanted to dictate class size in districts as part of their contracts.

This “Soar” group has proposed specific class size ranges, without including the qualifier of “guideline.”

This is another red flag for any school district.

District 300 was foolish enough to agree to penalty payments to its teachers in the existing contract, if the specific class sizes were exceeded and in this school year it will cost the D-300’s taxpayers millions of dollars.

The D-300 teachers union said no dice to the idea that instead of paying the penalty money to the teachers, that the money go to keeping more teachers.

If the individuals in Cary 26 went about soliciting money for a foundation without registering with the State of Illinois, as may be legally required, what kind of a potential legal mess and legal consequences are there for whatever money has been already obtained or solicited?

The Co-Presidents of the Cary teachers’ union were thanked in writing for their input.

Did they get legal advice on soliciting money for a foundation from their state level teachers union, the I.E.A.? I imagine they had access to such legal advice for the asking.

It seems like any potential violation of State law involving soliciting funds for a foundation might add legal complications to any transfer and receipt of the money.

It will be interesting to see what attorney is involved with the formation of the foundation.

If I was a Cary 26 school board member I would insist on knowing

• what legal advice the group got,
• from whom and
• when, in writing.

If the Superintendent or any administrator was involved in helping the group out, each should disclose to the school board what assistance was given.

It seems a bit odd Superintendent Brad Coleman was willing to make a snap judgment recommendation about considering delaying the start of school for two weeks.

One of the demands or conditions of the group is for the district to report to the foundation on its cash situation on a monthly basis.

This is something a union might like to have, as it goes into contract negotiations at the end of the current school year. Here’s the requirement as written to the board:

“District 26 will provide cash flow and monthly reports accurately reflecting the financial position of the District.”

There seems to be an ulterior motive in making monthly payments and therefore requiring monthly reports.

Seeing how teachers unions interpret the phrase “accurately reflecting,” it would be easy for a union-type lawyer to argue the district isn’t doing what it agreed to.

Financial woman T. Ferrier worked for Huntley School District 158 before going to Cary 26.

Having seen what accounting was done in Huntley while Ferrier worked there, and then was restated by its audit firm, if I were a Cary 26 board member, I wouldn’t touch this requirement with a twenty-foot pole.

Whether T. Ferrier was personally involved in the $1.5 million of accounting and accounting adjustments is a matter of fact finding and interpretation.

I do know it’s not every day an audit firm restates a school district’s previous year’s audit by over a million bucks.

It took vigorous efforts by board members Larry Snow and Tony Quagliano to have the correct numbers become the officially correct numbers.

As I recall, Ferrier insisted she and the Finance Dept. had done the accounting correctly.

Then there was the ten million dollars of on-going construction that was in the Huntley administration’s proposed audit numbers that was for non-existent construction in that fiscal year.

That also was corrected. Ooops!

If the Cary 26 board agreed to “accurately” report to the group, it is an invitation to a dispute whenever the group decides, “We don’t agree.”

The unidentified group made it clear how reasonable it is when it required the board to first take action before verifying the money exists.

This apparently is after missing previous deadlines for verification that it had given the district.

In other words, the group already has a spotty track record to begin with.

I remember that some of my friends and even relatives bought Jimmy Carter’s “Trust Me” pitch.

There seem to be some similarities in the Cary proposal.

The spirit and specifics of the group’s “Restricted Use Grant” is not caring about whether the district remains subject to State takeover as it is now.

It’s callous.

Perhaps the teachers’ union figures that, if the teachers are re-employed in Cary 26 and then a State takeover occurs, the people in charge of the State takeover will opt for higher taxes, rather than a large cut in the number of teachers.

The Rev. and State Senator James Meeks’ voucher bill (Senate Bill 2494 ) to allow Chicago Public School students from failing and overcrowded schools to attend the private school of their parents’ choice with a relatively small portion of the State Aid to Education was shot down by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans.

It failed 48-66-2 , according to the person in the Speaker’s Chair in the video below.  60 votes were needed to pass the bill. (Who voted how is in the linked article.)

Friday, the Chicago Tribune provided a list on its editorial page in a piece entitled,

You lose, kids. Tough.

It is simply disgraceful that Chicago children cannot get a decent education. Here was a chance to do something about the fiasco by supporting Senate Bill 2494 and the following Republicans voted,

NO WAY!

• Dan Brady of Bloomington
• Rich Brauer of Springfield
• John Cavaletto of Salem
• Sandy Cole of Grayslake
• Roger Eddy of Hutsonville
• Renee Kosel of Mokena
• Sidney Mathias of Arlington Heights
• Bill Mitchell of Decatur
• Jerry Mitchell of Rock Falls
• Donald Moffitt of Galesburg
• Rosemary Mulligan of Des Plaines
• Sandra Pihos of Glen Ellyn
• Raymond Poe of Springfield
• Robert Pritchard of Sycamore
• Randy Ramey, Jr., of Wesst chicago
• David Reis of Olney
• Chapin Rose of charleston
• Jim Sacia of Freeport
• Angelo Saviano of Elmwood Park
• Jil Tracy of Quincy
• Jim Watson of Jacksonville

Some of these folks at one point during the roll call voted ,“Yes.” When it appeared the bill would not pass, however, they switched to “No” or “Present.” (“Present” has the same effect as a “No” vote because sixty affirmative votes are required for passage of most bills.)

Among the many Democrats opposing the bill was McHenry County State Rep. Jack Franks. His Republican colleagues Mike Tryon and Mark Beaubien supported the bill.

The Illinois Education Association (IEA) is a most powerful lobbying group.

State Senator Kirk Dillard has been endorsed by the Illinois Education Association.

That’s a good thing for him.

The IEA can put people on the street when it wants to and certainly can get the word out to its members.

It could also cough up good money, if it desired.

Here’s what the Chicago Tribune’s Clout Street Blog attributed to IEA President Ken Swanson in its story about the announcement:

“We believe at the end of the day, (Dillard) is interested in finding reductions and efficiencies that make sense.

“But if and when that’s not enough, he can pragmatically reach out to the other leaders and work out a (revenue) solution that’s good for the state.”

That sounds as if this teachers’ union leader thinks Dillard will support an income tax increase.

That would mesh with Dillard’s refusing to promise not to increase taxes.

Before he got the IRA endorsement, he called such pledges “gimmicks” on TV and in this interview. (I never signed such a pledge.)

As he said in the WTTW debate, he might want to rearrange the tax mix and he does favor increasing some source of revenue to pay for a road, school, etc., building program.

Thursday, the mailing below came from opponent Andy McKenna, who has taken the “no tax hike pledge.”

Happened upon the endorsement of State Senator Kirk Dillard by Crystal Lake’s State Rep. Mike Tryon.

If anything has been made of it, except listing it on Dillard’s web site in a press release announcing that the Sangamon County Republican Party (can’t get much more Establishment than that) was endorsing Kirk, I’ve missed it.

Also listed there is Family PAC right next to the Illinois Education Association. That’s the first time I’ve seen those ideological opponents on the same page.

Found Irene Napier of McHenry County Right to Life, as well. She attended State Senator Pam Althoff’s breakfast at 1776 for Dillard.

McHenry County Treasurer Bill LeFew has signed up, too.

And, on Pete Gonigam’s First Electric Newspaper, I discovered that Democratic Party State Rep. Jack Franks supports State Comptroller Dan Hynes for governor.

No big surprise there.

Franks was willing to hold hearings on Governor Pat Quinn’s “Catch and Release” prisoner program.

Some call it by the “Revolving Door.”

As U.S. House Democratic Party Speaker Tip O’Neill said,

“All politics is local.”

So, I guess that puts McHenry County Blog in the right place for those who want to know about “local.”

That’s what McLean County Pundit reminds readers on its masthead.

Today my mailbox was graced with a large envelope from State Senator Pam Althoff (R-McHenry).

I figured it was an invitation to a fundraiser. A fancy fund raiser. It was about that size. It had a stamp, although now that I look at it closely, it’s probably a bulk mail stamp. (Did you know people are more likely to open a letter, if you put a commemorative stamp on it?)

Anyway the letter wasn’t personalized. It was to

“Dear Republican Neighbor”

That seems to be stretching it a bit since I don’t even know where Pam lives, but politicians take liberties with words like “neighbor.”

People skim letters like this. At least I do.

There’s bold face type to help skimmers figure out what is important.

I see former Governor Jim Edgar’s name first.

Befitting a letter endorsing Kirk Dillard, Edgar’s name shows up twice.

But looking at it again, I see this paragraph:

“The people of Illinois deserve nothing less than a Governor who will put taxpayers first…”

Had to stop there, because my one big beef with Kirk, which I talked to him about at his reception held at his wife’s great-great-great something grandfather and former (first elected in 1865) Governor Richard J. Ogelsby‘s and grandmother’s home in Decatur during the last GOP state convention and, more recently, when he came to talk to the ladies at 1776 in Crystal Lake, was his vote to triple the RTA sales tax.  It ill cost McHenry County taxpayers on the order of $9 million a year times three.  And we are the smallest collar county

And, now I see he has the endorsement of the IEA, the Illinois Education Association, for those of you who don’t follow state politics. That the biggest teachers’ union and one does not have to watch state politics too closely to know what they want—higher income taxes.

Anyway, the letter arrived yesterday.

Remember the smoking Nazi guy from “Laugh-In” who used to say,

“Very interesting”

That was my reaction as I read this article in the Daily Herald yesterday.

It is so typical of Illinois school politics.

The Federal government is trying to bribe states to improve teacher evaluations.

So, states like Illinois are rushing to pass laws that might put them in the Winner’s Circle.

Last week Illinois passed a law to impose tougher evaluations for school teachers and administrators.  These standards will evaluate how their students perform.

BUT, parents and taxpayers won’t be able to see the evaluations.

The General Assembly and Governor Pat Quinn have exempted the evaluations from Freedom of Information requests.

How typical?

And how symptomatic of how powerful the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers are.

Perhaps the Church Lady from “Saturday Night Live” had a more appropriate comment:

“Isn’t that special?”

“Public employees first” ought to be the new slogan for the State of Illinos.

One commenting reader suggested the Bell Curve would look funny with 85% of the teachers being rated “excellent.”

Would the Springfield Democrats and teacher unions still be talking about raising the income tax 50%?

(Almost forgot, the Illinois Education Association–90,000 teachers strong–want a “revenue increase,” not a tax hike.)

Of course they would.

They’re Democrats.

When I was in Woodstock Saturday, here was State Rep. Jack Franks’ message to Route 47 drivers:

Lots of teachers—90,000 in the Illinois Education Association advertising for a “revenue increase” on radio this weekend—and nurses.

Meanwhile, State Rep. Mike Tyron (R-Crystal Lake) is still advertising on the side down Route 14 that he is “working on veterans legislation.”

I again wonder when Tryon and Republican State Senator Pam Althoff will announce their opposition to an income tax hike the way Franks did.

Year after year, when the choice came down to pump more money into State Aid to Education or pay pay the state’s share of pension payments, teacher unions took the money and ran.

As far back as the 1970′s, current teacher raises trumped paying for future pensions time and time again.

That’s what hit me while I was reading today’s Chicago Sun-Times editorial entitled,

Teacher union leaders knew that as long as the Illinois Constitution is interpreted by the Illinois Supreme Court–who are in a public pension system just like they and I are–pensions promised would be pensions paid, even before future State Aid to Education.

How disingenuous it is for those in the know (and I’m not counting the Sun-Times editorial writers as necessarily being among such folks) to argue

“That liability, it’s important to note, cannot be blamed on excessively generous pension benefits.

“Instead, it is largely reflects failures year after year by the sate to pay its fair share.”

If you are or were a legislator beholding to the Illinois Education Association or the Illinois Federation of Teachers (and way too many Republicans recruited by Lee Daniels were and are) would you chose to come down on the side of

• the teachers lobbying you and living in your district for higher wages or
• retired teachers who may or may not live in your district, when you know future legislators will have to come up with the pension money, not you?

= = = = =
These striking teachers are from Huntley School District 158. Last year they “settled” for 5.25%, with less in salary in future years, but the difference going to lessen their share of the current teacher pension burden.

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.

= = = = =
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.