This article about says it all. Is this a "privelaged" class in the making? When will Blago and the rest of our imcompetent public servants wake up before it's too late?

http://www.thechampion.org/article.asp?id=6728

Ditto. No wonder the State, DUpage County, Cook COnty and City of Chicago all want the largest tax increase of all time implemented.

Since there has yet to be any tort reform, perhaps there is a way to stage a personal pocketbook injury lawsuit, make it class action, and compensate the personal injury attorneys with 33% of the money saved. Their fees would reach into the $$$$Billions$$$!


How else can we stop these thiefs?

I would respectfully ask who you are calling "thiefs" (thieves).

I ask because I HOPE you are not accusing teachers of thievery. It is the system, developed by a relatively small group of individuals - most likely with strong philosophies of "entitlement", that developed that system. I did not. I do not agree with the way the pension system is structured and I believe we are headed for a disaster. That said, I haven't become involved with any groups dealing with our pension system because I simply am not a strong "numbers" person. My number-thinking is based more on experience and logic than understanding the far more complicated pension, social security, or any other system.

If it was not directed at teachers, please clarify and if it was, please consider that you have just made a very sweeping statement about a huge number of people....

I love teachers. I do not love the teachers union and parts of their agenda, including:

quote:

he Illinois Federation of Teachers Department of Political Activities shall promote legislators and legislation which shall protect and enhance the professional integrity and bargaining rights of all members. The DPA assists in the development of IFT and AFT policies and supports legislative and political objectives at the state and national level, consistent with those policies. This mission is carried out through an organized program of political and legislative activity as well as year round monitoring of various regulatory agencies.

The following ten areas further delineate but are not meant to limit the IFT agenda.

Revenue and Finance

quote:

Pensions and Insurance

Seek and/or maintain:

* Early retirement options for all systems
* An increase in the ceiling from 75% to 80% of earnings for all retirement systems
* A “30 years and out” with no penalty retirement option for all systems
* Extension of survivor benefits to eligible dependents under 25 who are full-time students in accredited schools, colleges or training programs
* Expansion of the State Employees Retirement System alternative formula to : Security Officers in forensic units of the Department of Human Services, Polygraph Examiners of the Department of State Police, Mechanics of the Departments of Central Management Services and Transportation, and Fire Prevention Inspectors of the State Fire Marshall’s Office
* An ad hoc raise for annuitants in all retirement systems
* Inclusion of domestic partners in dependent health insurance plans for all IFT members
* IMRF retiree health insurance
* Credit for private/parochial school service for all certified personnel

Juicing up the salary in the last years before retirement to enhance the pension is something that I have only heard of in the education arena. The money is not benefitting the kids....only the administrators and teachers.

quote:

Originally posted by Main Streeter:

Juicing up the salary in the last years before retirement to enhance the pension is something that I have only heard of in the education arena. The money is not benefitting the kids....only the administrators and teachers.

Legislators and "public servants" are the ultimate pension hogs. Just ask Bobbie Steele. Retire and become a consultant for the very people from whom you are collecting a pension. It used to be the case that we wanted public service. Now we want professionals to run government. That means compensation packages on which you don't get no say so.

Unfortunately, most people are not numbers people. That's why you are treated like chumps when it comes to property taxes, government spending, and school funding.

how about this superintnedent in elgin?!!! while i certainly don't wish ill health on anyone did the taxpayers have to pay to move her to MISSOURI? and how about the 60K raise? come on!

Man, it really is getting harder and harder to imagine a set of circumstances in which that Elgin supe was dealing in good faith when renegotiating her last contract. And why in the world the school dist would pay to move her possessions out-of-district and out-of-state?

I'm a big fan of privacy, but IMO someone's gonna have to disclose some info to assure those voters that something hinky wasn't going on.

Dear Amy: we all sometimes, could have chosen better words to describe a situation. Personally, I think some teachers are UNDER PAID (probably like you) while others are grossly overpaid, a great many of which I can think of here in GE, most being near EARLY retirement and on cruise control. Maybe it would be of great self-interest for the Teachers Unions to be pro-active and find out a better method of compensation for their members that would reward extra effort, enthusiasm, and RESULTS. It is really wonderful to hear students rant and rave about the teachers they love. It is equally painfull to hear about the ones that are just "going through the motions".

The problem is this whole subject of public education is one big hot potato. Politicians are loathe to take on the problem as it exists, both on the republican and democrat side due to the strenght of the union, which I must add, is in the pockets of the democratic party. I must give some sort of acknowledgement to Madigan for recognizing the issue of 40% pay raises for a teachers final 2 years of salaries in order to inflate the pension. But, this was only brought about by desperation due to the health of Illinois state pension plan. Again, it took a crisis for someone to notice. If this was a private entity like a corporation, it would have died but being public with the never ending well, as it seems, of resources at hand, it will recover eventually. It will take a REAL crisis, which I hope none of us EVER see, to correct the situation to reflect what the private sector has to deal with as well as what REALITY really is.

I wonder who will have the GUTS to step up to the plate and rectify this situation. The NEA does not seem intelligent enough to recognize that they are being HOGS with unlimited GREED as their agenda.

Right now I am sitting very quietly watching Blago and his socialist policies he wants to labor the state with, policies that even his faithful democratic members are unwilling to support. At some point in time, Illinois will be like Michigan and rank as one of the worst places to start a manufacturing company due to the high cost of operation in this state.

To all: here's another article worth reading:

http://www.thechampion.org/article.asp?id=6510

My father always said to me, "nothing is guaranteed in life". Guess this isn't the case at all.

quote:

Originally posted by Gus:
Dear Amy: we all sometimes, could have chosen better words to describe a situation. Personally, I think some teachers are UNDER PAID (probably like you) while others are grossly overpaid, a great many of which I can think of here in GE, most being near EARLY retirement and on cruise control. Maybe it would be of great self-interest for the Teachers Unions to be pro-active and find out a better method of compensation for their members that would reward extra effort, enthusiasm, and RESULTS. It is really wonderful to hear students rant and rave about the teachers they love. It is equally painfull to hear about the ones that are just "going through the motions".

While a different evaluation system that values merit would be difficult to develop, I agree that it would be a major step in the right direction.

quote:

Originally posted by Gus:
The problem is this whole subject of public education is one big hot potato. Politicians are loathe to take on the problem as it exists, both on the republican and democrat side due to the strenght of the union, which I must add, is in the pockets of the democratic party. I must give some sort of acknowledgement to Madigan for recognizing the issue of 40% pay raises for a teachers final 2 years of salaries in order to inflate the pension. But, this was only brought about by desperation due to the health of Illinois state pension plan. Again, it took a crisis for someone to notice. If this was a private entity like a corporation, it would have died but being public with the never ending well, as it seems, of resources at hand, it will recover eventually. It will take a REAL crisis, which I hope none of us EVER see, to correct the situation to reflect what the private sector has to deal with as well as what REALITY really is.

I agree. But legislators have so many big issues on their plate, that I think this is one they put off because ultimately, kids (overall) are still getting a good education. Unfortunately, I think it will continued to get "back-burnered" UNTIL we are at a crisis point.

quote:

Originally posted by Gus:
I wonder who will have the GUTS to step up to the plate and rectify this situation. The NEA does not seem intelligent enough to recognize that they are being HOGS with unlimited GREED as their agenda.

I would argue that it isn't about intelligence. But the idea of a major change in the system is daunting and for so long, the one major benefit of teaching was the security of one's job once tenure happens. Of course, things have improved immensely since I started in education - which hasn't been THAT long. So, there are other benefits that cost more money. I think some are just used to the mentality of security in one's job....

quote:

Originally posted by Gus:
Right now I am sitting very quietly watching Blago and his socialist policies he wants to labor the state with, policies that even his faithful democratic members are unwilling to support. At some point in time, Illinois will be like Michigan and rank as one of the worst places to start a manufacturing company due to the high cost of operation in this state.

Blagojovich is an idiot. I don't know how he got re-elected. I say the same thing about Bush all the time. I'm an equal opportunity criticizer.

Dear Amy: Do not under estimate the power of the democratic machine here in Illinois and especially, in Chicago. For the life of me, I can't understand why the people of Cook County re-elect year after year, the same cast of characters in the Cook County Govt, and then have their prositions assumed by sons, daughters, and relatives. We are a bunch of chumps to accept this BS and they KNOW It.