McHenry County Blog

How would you like to be paid double time to meet with a child and his parents after school?

If you're an elementary school teacher in Huntley School District 158, that is what would happen if the school board agrees to the teacher union's request.

Grade school teachers in the Huntley school district want their work day with students limited to 4 1/2 hours per day.

That's it.

Unless you taxpayers are willing to pay double time.

No lunch room supervision.

No helping kids get on the right bus.

The “for the kids” slogan touted by the B.E.S.T. political action committee 55-cent tax hike referendum supporters will have to be changed next time to


Somehow I don't think that will have the same ring as "For the Children."

Instead of "For the Kids," they want


The Huntley Education Association made this crystal clear in their contract proposal:

"Teacher contact time with students at the Elementary level will be a maximum of 270 minutes/day per teacher within the published school attendance hours."

What about helping students before or after school?

Not unless it's within the 4 1/2 hours per day of teacher contact time with students.

How about supervising students before school or after school, like walking them out to the bus?

The answer is, "No," according to the union's proposed contract.

Unless you double our rate of pay for the time.

"Teachers are not to supervise students prior to the start of the student day or after the end of the student day.”

Elementary teachers want double time compensation for any student contact time over 4 1/2 hours per day.

"Any contact time scheduled over the maximum of 270 minutes per teacher must be agreed to by mutual consent and paid at the pro rata amount of the teacher's salary."

In other words, they get paid for being there without students and again because they are in contact with students.

Huntley High school teachers would be responsible for teaching a maximum of 235 minutes per day.

That's five minutes shy of 4 hours.

Huntley Middle School teachers would get one individual planning period and one "team" planning period every day.

Why teachers would want to get paid for "team" meetings while those in the private sector dread once a week staff meetings as a necessary waste of time is a mystery to me.

When I taught state and local government at Harper and Rockford College, the first time around was difficult because I had to draft notes. I guess teachers would call them lesson plans. It was a breeze after that first time.

Teachers have to "collaborate" (discuss) new plans with their team members on a daily basis. I can only wonder why.

Huntley middle school teachers would be eligible to be assigned "up to 300 minutes of student contact time per day" under the teachers' proposed contract.

When a class in the elementary schools has a reading specialist teacher in the class room, along with the regular classroom teacher, both teachers would be getting credit for "teacher student contact time."

Supervising a study hall is considered "teacher student contract time."

The Huntley teachers' union has also proposed working 3 fewer days, 180 in all.

If the elementary school teachers had 4 1/2 hours of student contact time per day, that would be 810 hours per school year.

A typical work year is over 2000 hours. That's 8 hours a day, 50 weeks a year. Two weeks of vacation.

With the salary schedule Huntley teachers have proposed, some grade school teachers would be pulling down $100 per hour (or more) for each hour they have contact with students.

That includes supervising kindergarten nap time.

How would you characterize Huntley's grade school teachers' being willing to be with students for 4½ hours per day without getting paid double time for "Extra Duty?”

The last school board majority gave the high school teachers fewer work hours per day in the existing contract.

Now, it seems to be the elementary teachers turn.

A big raise for doing less work.

Try that on your boss .

Tell me how it works out for you.

= = = = =
Cars of teachers packed the Huntley School District 158 parking lot last Monday night as district and union teacher contract proposals were revealed.

The middle photo is of Huntley school district teachers at the 2006 meeting at which the contract was expected to be signed.

At the bottom is newly hired Superintendent John Burkey telling teacher union leaders that their 5.75 % and 6.75% pay hike contract in 2006 would not be approved at that night's meeting. Pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them.

Labels: BEST, Huntley Education Association, Huntley School District 158

Assuming she doesn’t work the phone and computer from home, Huntley School District 158 B.E.S.T. campaign organizer is off to Glen Ellyn frequently to help pass Grade School District 89’s $24.8 million referendum.

No.

That's wrong.

Daily Herald reporter Hafsa Naz Mahmood writes

Cheryl Meyer “says she has no direct involvement in promoting the referendum proposal, noting that would be inappropriate. But she said she has been offering tips.”

“And as part of her job, Meyer said she needs to ‘provide advice on how to present informational campaigns.’"

Meyer is “she's working part-time as the Glen Ellyn district's communications assistant” was told.

And, of course, readers of McHenry County Blog know the fun-loving Meyer was paid to work to promote the District 300 $150,000 Advance 300 campaign for a 55-cent tax hike and massive bond issue.

The DuPage County school district is paying Meyer $45 for 15 hours a week--$27,000 so far--the article says.

Guess what else the enterprising reporter found?

For the District 300 campaign, she called herself Campaign Solutions. But the fact that it was Meyer was kept secret for a long time.

“That business first registered with the state on May 9, 2006 -- after Meyer completed the work involving District 300. In May 2007, she filed to change the business name to Cheryl L. Meyer Consulting Services Inc.”

And, this gem:

“Meyer said that since her time with the District 300 group, she hasn't worked on any referendum campaigns and doesn't plan to do any more in the future.”

There’s a discussion beginning on the message board of Glen-Ellyn.com. No one has linked to McHenry County Blog, however.

There is this nifty link to the Huntley District 158 referendum video that was produced and shown in school rooms. It is on the Election Interference section of Jim and Cathy Peschke's web site, Citizens for Responsible and Fair Taxes.

Labels: Advance 300, BEST, Cheryl Meyer, Distrrict 300, Glen Ellyn School District 89

Cheryl Meyer is the honcho of the Huntley School District 158’s B.E.S.T. political action group.

Except for Larry Snow, her organization put all the current Huntley School Board in office.

She also was instrumental in passing the falsely promoted tax hike referendum in the Huntley School District.

So, it was no surprise that someone of her talent should be hired by the Carpentersville School District 300 tax hike committee, Advance 300.

As reported on February 13th, Myers, hiding behind something called Campaign Solutions, received $6,750.

The District 300 tax hike committee identified Campaign Solutions as Lake in the Hills resident Cheryl Meyer.

Nancy Zettler wrote in an open letter:

We hired Campaign Solutions based here in Algonquin which is owned and operated by Cheryl Meyer, a Lake In The Hills resident. Ms. Meyer specializes in grassroots campaigns and has over 7 years experience in political and referendum campaigns.

Since January, another $26,873 was paid to Campaign Solutions, presumably still controlled by Meyer.

With Meyer’s Campaign Solutions on the District 300 tax hike committee payroll, so to speak, is it any wonder that the Huntley District 158 School Board members she helped put in office were willing to send a letter condemning Larry Snow for analyzing the District financial situation? In their political salvo, the Ruling Six even urged people to call the Huntley school district “at (847) 659-6158 regarding any concerns about representations by Snow.”

I was not able to identify Campaign Solutions as a corporation in February.

A corporation called Campaign Solutions, Inc, was not incorporated until May 9, 2006. The company’s agent is listed as Huntley attorney Michael J. Fleck. The company’s incorporator was Thomas L. Schnmid, 10,771 Rt. 47, PO Box 992, Huntley, Illinois. The street address is the same as Fleck’s. Meyer’s name appears nowhere. The Secretary of State’s Office told me that the corporation’s officers would usually show up on the firm’s second report, that is, in 2007.

Labels: Advance 300, BEST, Campaign Solutions, Cheryl Meyer, Nancy Zettler