McSweeney Working to Defeat Rauner-Madigan Teacher Pension Shift to Local Property Taxpayers

State Rep. David McSweeney took up the fight to prevent the enactment of the shift of burden for teacher pensions from state taxpayers to local real estate tax payers. He has introduced House Resolution 27, which “States the opinion of … Continue reading

Reick: Remap Decision Bodes Poorly for GOP

State Rep. candidate Steve Reick’s latest post on his web site: Dance Band on the Titanic There’s an old saying that bad news comes in threes. It’s certainly true today for Illinois. First comes the news that Illinois’ insurance rates … Continue reading

Figures on D155’s 4% Annual Teacher Salary Increases

After I received the press release (15 comments so far) about the contents of the contract from Crystal Lake District 155 last night, I submitted some questions. Those questions and the answers supplied are below: What will the starting salary be … Continue reading

Retired D300 Supt. 18th Highest School Pension

From Reboot Illinois: 18. Norman Wetzel • Title: District Superintendent • Employer: CUSD 300 • Annual Pension: $246,521 • Employee Contributions: $179,203 • Age at Retirement: 55 (Retired June 2002) • Pension Paid to Date: $2.50 million • *Estimated Lifetime … Continue reading

Teachers Union Wanted It Both Ways

Crain’s Chicago Business has a really good article by Dave McKinney about how Illinois got into the pension mess that now exits. I found this particularly insightful: Education Association President Cinda Klickna was not in union leadership in 2005. But she … Continue reading

McSweeney Reaffirms Opposition to Shifting Teacher Pension Burden to Property Tax

A press release from State Rep. David McSweeney: McSweeney Says Supreme Court Pension Decision Means Opposition to Cost Shift Needed More Than Ever‎ Cary, IL… In response to the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the state’s pension reform … Continue reading

The Teachers’ Union Role in the Pension Shortfall

You will perhaps remember my writing that when a Governor presents his education budget it comes in three parts: higher education k-12 pensions In the 1990’s (at least) the IFT (Illinois Federation  of Teachers) and IEA (Illinois Education Association) lobbyists … Continue reading

Thieving School Superintendent to Lose Pension

The Cook County State’s Attorney has cut a deal with retired West Harvey-Dixmoor Elementary School Superintendent Alex Boyd. But, he won’t get to keep his pension because he was allowed to plead guilty only to felony counts of official misconduct. … Continue reading

District 155 Press Release on New Teachers’ Contract

Looking for whether my son’s school district will follow Chicago’s example and close school Monday, I found this press release.  I thought it might be of interest: DISTRICT 155, EDUCATION ASSOCIATION RATIFY CONTRACT The Community High School District 155 board … Continue reading

Cary Grade School District 26’s Stand on Pension Reform

Taken from a statement from the Cary Elementary School Board:.  Considering House Speaker Mike Madigan is insistent on transferring teacher pension costs to local taxpayers and this is the last week of the legislative session before extraordinary majorities are required, … Continue reading

The Role of Teacher Union Lobbyists in the Pension Debacle

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 … Continue reading

What is the Effect of Having Taxpayers Pick Up Teachers’ Pension Payment, plus the Employers’ Side?

The Daily Herald has figured out what the late former Huntley School Board member Larry Snow discovered in May two years ago. Taxpayers pick up the bulk, if not all, of the teachers’ side of pension payments to the Illinois … Continue reading

District 300 Board and Teachers’ Union Ratify New Three-Year Contract

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 … Continue reading

The New District 300 Teachers’ Contract – Highlights

Today, Carpentersville District 300 teachers were voting on whether to ratify the contract recently negotiated by the LEAD300 union folks and the school board. You can read the entire contract here, complete with red color to indicate last minute changes. … Continue reading

District 300 Strike Ended after One Day

A robo-call from District 300 Board member Joe Stevens tonight announced the settlement of the LEAD300 teachers union strike: “Good evening. This is Joe Stevens, member of the District 300 Board of Education and District spokesperson regarding the ongoing negotiations … Continue reading