Editor’s note: This Reader Forum article was submitted by Donald Russ. Reader Forum articles represent the writer’s opinions and not necessarily those of GazeboNews. We encourage you to comment on this article, but please include your full name per the GazeboNews comments policy on Reader Forums.
By Donald Russ
The purpose of a strike is to cause injury. There is nothing friendly about it. Your contract expired in June but it would not be disruptive to strike in the summer so you dragged your feet until school started. It may be legal but it is also cruel.
All three issues related to your pay. This was never about working conditions – you are not coal miners. Indeed, you cheapen the labor movement. Stop talking about the future of LFHS. Putting more money in your pocket does not inure to the benefit of the students nor the taxpayers.
The two tiers and the health insurance have been resolved – the only remaining question is the amount of your pay raise over the next three years. Compounded, the board offered you 9.7 percent. You still demand 18.8 percent. This at a time that the national unemployment rate has exceeded 8 percent for an historic 43 months.
You are not willing to agree to a pay increase and you are not willing to work. Two-thirds of my real estate tax goes to schools. The courts, county records, the streets and the sheriff are all paid from that last third. I don’t think you appreciate what an unsympathetic bunch you appear to many of us.
But you still have an individual option: You can work without a contract. Just show up at school and you will be welcomed. Instead of saying that you care, you can show it. The district will pay you and discussions can continue. It would show good faith. That is the basis of most employment relationships where there is no union that substitutes a contract for mutual respect.
Don’t take advice from Mark Stein. You are most useful to him as martyrs.
Right now, you ARE like the rest of us. You don’t have a contract and you are not entitled to a job. A requirement of employment is that you show up for work. I can’t imagine how you think that not working strengthens you position. I know that 30 of you voted against strike authorization. Cross the picket line before you are locked-out. LFHS can carry-on without you.
Take Chuck Gress, for example. He is a good calculus teacher and a good round-ball coach by all accounts. But he is also $150K when he is teaching and coaching. $75K is half his price but it is still a lot of money. We could get another good teacher/coach. We could get two. A taxpayer has to wonder why we shouldn’t take this opportunity that he has given us.
At the parents meeting on Sunday, Principal Hoffmann posed the question, “Why don’t we just fire them all?” which drew applause. He then answered it saying, “Because they are great people and we really want them back.” Which also drew applause. What you must understand is this:
The same people were applauding both times. Get back on the job or get out of the way. Your choice.
In the meantime, the silence is deafening.
Rob—according to D-115 PR, the info will be made public after the Lake Forest Education Association ratifies the contract and the D-115 Board reviews it; the BOA’s next meeting is Oct. 19.
” Compounded, the board offered you 9.7 percent. You still demand 18.8 percent. This at a time that the national unemployment rate has exceeded 8 percent for an historic 43 months.”
I am not going to dispute your numbers, but I will say that it is deceptive at this point to describe the LFEA’s proposal in terms of compound interest to get the numbers higher. The the LFEA asked for 2.5% in year one, 3.25% in year two, and 2-4% in year three. In addition, they asked for a one-time payment to account for pay freeze last time. All these numbers are perfectly in line with what other Northshore communities are paying. A two-tiered payment system is a thinly veiled way to cut teachers salaries and a recipe for disaster as good teachers will leave for greener pastures quickly after being here a few years. The whole re-opener thing would be non-starter in my book…what dufus would sign a contract that says the other party can unilaterally change the terms down the line?
From my standpoint, and many will disagree, I want LFHS to be one of the most desirable places to teach both from a student body standpoint and a financial one…we will attract the best and keep them. It is not a matter of whether we can afford it….we can as evidenced by the huge surplus sitting in the schools funds right now. We all may disagree on what a teacher “should” make in salary, but I personally have no problem whatsoever with the current structure. It is money well spent. Needless to say, I lean towards favoring the LFEA in this one.
So…I sure would hope that both sides can figure out how to come to deal that both sides can live with and that neither gets hung up on ideology…that will only hurt the kids.
I agree with you Doctor Hunt that it is not a question of “whether we can afford it” and that we shouldn’t get “hung up on ideology”. The question is: Should we give the teachers union whatever they ask for? Because that cannot go on for long.
The historic shift that began in Wisconsin 19 months ago is a reaction to the unchecked demands of public-sector unions. A private sector union cannot ask too much or the employer goes out of business. We can afford it and LFHS will never go out of business but that does not entitle the union to carte blanche.
According to the Tribune of September 12th, the school board offered 2.6 and 3.4 and 3.4 percent increase in each of the next three years. Respectfully Doctor, did you think that the average of about 3 percent is the board’s offer? The three rate hikes are not averaged, they are added – or more exactly they are compounded.
The math is 1.026 * 1.034 * 1.034 = 1.0969
According to that same source the union is demanding 5.6 and 6.5 and 6.5 percent increase in each of the next three years.
The math is 1.056 * 1.065 * 1.056 = 1.1876
And that 19 percent raise is in addition to “step” increases which are automatic raises that every teacher receives each year regardless of merit. Which are in addition to “lane” increases for college degree attainments of the teachers.
Naturally the unionized teachers of Deerfield, Highland Park, Stevenson and New Trier High Schools have joined the Lake Forest picket line. They want to be able to tell their school boards that these extravagances “are perfectly in line with what other Northshore communities are paying”.
“The historic shift that began in Wisconsin 19 months ago is a reaction to the unchecked demands of public-sector unions.”
I am not sure the shift is exactly historic rather kind of a sad statement that certain business interests have taken over in Wisconsin and have somehow painted public sector unions as the “bad guy.” Irrespective of the whole underfunded pension issue (which is huge), public employees should absolutely have the right to collectively bargain…if I am not mistaken, Mr. Walker’s law has hit a bit of a snag and has been declared unconsititutional/illegal albeit at a circuit court level.
As for the the “source telling you the union is demanding 5.6, 6.5, and 6.5…I would like to see the confirmation of that because that is not what has been reported from their side. I don’t think we should necessarily give the teachers everything that they ask for either. My point was that that their published offer to the BOE was reasonable in my estimation and in-line with the other Northshore districts. The whole two-tier salary scale thing and re-openers would be non-starters in my book.
I will solve the whole thing right here….give them 2.5,3.5. and between 2-4% for three years, can the two-tier issue and get rid of the re-openers, and in return, the LFEA drops the one-time payment thing.
This is an emotionally charged situation and I think we need to be careful not to get loose with the facts. Adding annual percentage increases over a period of time is a non-standard way to discuss the topic. Typically, if you are discussing varying rates of increase or growth over a period of time, you use the concept of compound annual growth rate which is similar to taking the arithmetic average but also factors in the effects of compounding. Using this metric and the increase rates discussed above, you would have a compound annual increase offered by the Board of 3.1% versus the compound annual increase requested by the union of 6.2%. There is certainly a difference here, but I agree with Dr. Hunt that saying the union’s requested increase is 19% is not the most accurate way to express the situation.
Is it true the two-tier and health insurance issues have been resolved? If so, as the article expresses, the remaining issue centers around the teachers’ avarice and their desire to grab some of the surplus funds.
Sounds like the BOE has caved in somewhat in an attempt to settle the strike. A lock-out should be considered. I hope today goes well with the substitues and everyone realizes the teachers cannot hold the students hostage and the public is determined to see this through.
Stand Strong !!!
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