Sunday, November 26, 2006
A Letter to the Editor re Northwest Herald's Moaning About District 300 Administrator Salary Hikes
Look what popped into my email. It’s a letter to the editor about the Carpentersville District 300 teachers’ contract and what the board gave its top administrators;
Letter to the Editor:Just my luck the family was at Disney World when the contract was approved by the school board. I would have loved to have attended the meeting.
I laughed myself silly after reading the Northwest Herald "Our View" from Saturday, November 25.
The editors it seem were shocked and appalled, perhaps even angry, that District 300 Administrators will receive 5% annual raises and many teachers will get 4.3% yearly.
These approved raises are made possible by a referenda that was passed by voters in March, 2006. The editors say that the only "losers" are taxpayers.
Let me remind the readers of this paper that it was these same editors who approved and encouraged us to vote YES/YES just before March.
The Northwest Herald was the only local newspaper that recommended we vote for both the Education Fund and the Building Fund increases.
These gullible editors didn't see these raises coming, knowing that contracts were due to expire in June.
Imagine.
Paula Caliendo
Algonquin
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Cal -
Glad to hear you and the kids got to enjoy some time down south. From what I hear, you did not miss muchat teh school board meeting. Tucked in on the night before Thanksgiving, it was a non event... oh well....
Glad to hear you and the kids got to enjoy some time down south. From what I hear, you did not miss muchat teh school board meeting. Tucked in on the night before Thanksgiving, it was a non event... oh well....
I wonder how many subscribers the NWH lost when they took the YES/YES stance. Perhaps it wasn't an immediate drop in their reader numbers, but after the tax bills started coming in, the taxpayers had to cut back on expenditures. But don't be too worried for the NWH because the developers who funded Advance300 to push these referenda also buy a lot of newspaper space from the NWH. It's a cozy arrangement.
Being in a position now to say "I told you so..." is not gratifying at all. Yes, the reprehensible scare tactics used by D300/A300 brought them their desired results. However, their true colors are now apparent for all to see. Residents of D300 will hopefully not be so gullible in the future. Invest these dollars well D300-you won't get another referendum passed.
Here's one of the Daily Herald's mini-opinions - thought it was interesting too.
This is change?:
No, Mary, you didn’t “change the world.” You pretty much proved that nothing really has changed in Community School District 300 — except for the bigger bills taxpayers are getting. That’s our reaction to board President Mary Fioretti’s description of the new teacher pact. With wage hikes of more than 4 percent per year for four years (administrators get 5 percent per year) and continuation of artificial wage hikes to pump up retirement largess (6 percent per year for four years), beleaguered taxpayers must be wondering exactly what Fioretti thinks has changed. Oh, yeah, that would be the new health care funds to be paid by the district even as it kicks in 80 percent of teacher and 95 percent of administrator health insurance premiums.
(http://www.dailyherald.com/opinion/index.asp Saturday, Nov. 25, 2006 - this is the on line info but the link seems to be generic)
However, D300 folks should also be reading between the lines sometimes. In a recent Amy Mack column is the following "Community Unit District 300’s Allison Smith asked me to let you know about a neat holiday project." (It's about students collecting for those in need.)
While this brings a good thing to light, Ms. Mack omits the fact that Ms. Smith is the District's recently hired public relations person (whatever the title actually is). Memory says Ms. Smith was a Northwest Herald Reporter who covered the D300 referendum before it was voted on. Some thought her coverage was slanted. Some thought they saw accuracy and fairness and enough digging. Some didn't. (correct the reporter memory part if needed)
The point is that, if Ms. Smith's name becomes a household name associated with "good news" - the might also trust her comments about any future referendums, etc. Therefore, the public s/b told upfront by editors and reporters what her job is.
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The fact the raises come out after the election and at quiet holiday time is not a surprise to me. As the public gets smarter and smarter - it shouldn't be a surprise to them either. Maybe that's when the public will DEMAND accountability.
This is change?:
No, Mary, you didn’t “change the world.” You pretty much proved that nothing really has changed in Community School District 300 — except for the bigger bills taxpayers are getting. That’s our reaction to board President Mary Fioretti’s description of the new teacher pact. With wage hikes of more than 4 percent per year for four years (administrators get 5 percent per year) and continuation of artificial wage hikes to pump up retirement largess (6 percent per year for four years), beleaguered taxpayers must be wondering exactly what Fioretti thinks has changed. Oh, yeah, that would be the new health care funds to be paid by the district even as it kicks in 80 percent of teacher and 95 percent of administrator health insurance premiums.
(http://www.dailyherald.com/opinion/index.asp Saturday, Nov. 25, 2006 - this is the on line info but the link seems to be generic)
However, D300 folks should also be reading between the lines sometimes. In a recent Amy Mack column is the following "Community Unit District 300’s Allison Smith asked me to let you know about a neat holiday project." (It's about students collecting for those in need.)
While this brings a good thing to light, Ms. Mack omits the fact that Ms. Smith is the District's recently hired public relations person (whatever the title actually is). Memory says Ms. Smith was a Northwest Herald Reporter who covered the D300 referendum before it was voted on. Some thought her coverage was slanted. Some thought they saw accuracy and fairness and enough digging. Some didn't. (correct the reporter memory part if needed)
The point is that, if Ms. Smith's name becomes a household name associated with "good news" - the might also trust her comments about any future referendums, etc. Therefore, the public s/b told upfront by editors and reporters what her job is.
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The fact the raises come out after the election and at quiet holiday time is not a surprise to me. As the public gets smarter and smarter - it shouldn't be a surprise to them either. Maybe that's when the public will DEMAND accountability.
Public dissatisfaction/outrage is one thing. Getting viable candidates to run against the incumbant board this spring is something else.
Bugbuster, thanks for reminding us that come April, there will be four positions available on the D300 board of ed. We REALLY need candidates to run. Board members ran unopposed during that last board election. If you have the time, and the desire to make changes in this district, please consider running. The truth is that the current board members do not have what is best for this district in mind, and chances are that it could be an easy win to get in new members.
The fat lady has yet to sing in this opera (no offense intended!). Let's see, Comrade Arndt has concluded the contract with the teachers. And he gave admin a big raise. And for the bus drivers, he gave them bigger raises than they ask for. Now he still won't settle with the non certified staff....Wonder what the budget looks like? How is Ken going to keep his five-year promise? Certainly the bus driver’s raises will blow that budget (which was underwater again in 2006, but you have too look hard to see it was because Ken spent as much on outside services as salaries and over $1 million over budget!)
So where does all this go? Well don’t be surprised when Ken comes back and says the only way to bring the budget back in line is to outsource the non certified staff and the bus drivers again (not his first attempt). This would not make sense, unless he has been successful in leaving the board with no choice to do it to balance the budget. Outrageous! But don’t bet against it. Look for him to go after the bus drivers in a newspaper near you real soon
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So where does all this go? Well don’t be surprised when Ken comes back and says the only way to bring the budget back in line is to outsource the non certified staff and the bus drivers again (not his first attempt). This would not make sense, unless he has been successful in leaving the board with no choice to do it to balance the budget. Outrageous! But don’t bet against it. Look for him to go after the bus drivers in a newspaper near you real soon
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