involvedcitizen writes:
April 14, 2012 at 10:40am
Rally some community support to show up and speak at the next board meeting. The board appreciates and takes into consideration what it hears from all stakeholders.
Deerpathmom writes (after reading the information that centennial sam posted about admin raises under the main article of “D73: FATF Results – ‘reduced staffing‘”):
April 14, 2012 at 7:32pm
I was enraged to read this comment. I think this needs to be addressed, flyers mailed and posted all over VH so that everyone can have this knowledge. You know, there’s just no defending it. LOOK AROUND VERNON HILLS! Open your eyes and see what a dismal state Illinois is to be in right now! Tighten the darn purse strings even when it effects your wallet! The Teachers – Admins wouldn’t be the first of the employed that didn’t receive an annual raise if they didn’t get one this year. Contrary to belief, we are working just as hard with just as much education (outside of the double usless Masters paid for by taxpayers) in the private sector. Someone explain to me why the Board agreed to this! Really. Please, someone with insight explain. As well, I’d like to know why the Superintendent thinks it’s only “fair” that Admins receive what the Teachers Union contracts force us to up. How is it “fair” to the kids that they have to endure cuts in their education so we can pay “fairly” to Admins that may or may not be worth a nickel raise? I hold accountable the BOARD OF EDUCATION. I want this addressed to area taxpayers.
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H73PG editors’ note – Thanks for your patience in the (eventual) posting of reader comments. This site gets quite a bit of spam, and even with filters, quite a lot gets through. So, to counter that, we now hold all comments in queue before approving.
Ok, as to what to do. Send letters; send emails, directly to the board members; show up at the board meetings; briefly address the board; get friends and neighbors involved; and run for the board!
Also, the reason this site started in the first place was because we realized in early 2011, after reviewing the five-year financial projections AND the bloated five-year union contract, that, well, our district would soon be in a whole world of hurt, all self-inflicted. Slow down the raises -especially in light of what our country has experienced in the past four years- and get your house in order! Who suffered? The kids, of course. And those lowest on the experience totem pole.
Folks, the only way to fix this is to never sign such a hands-tying contract again. This site will publish, when the time is right (late this year, early 2013?), what the next contract should look like. We’ll have a list of reasons why the community should support it.
Special note to Deerpathmom. The Board signed a bad union contract – they know it. Why they would consider across-the-board raises as only “fair” for the administration staff, we don’t know. We can’t explain it either.
For some time, I have written down the board meeting dates and glance at it on my calendar at work prior to the Monday meetings… I always think I’m going to try to make it but my workday on Monday general doesn’t end before 7pm. I will make an honest effort to attend the next one, and hopefully, not solo. I become so upset by this and politics in general over the last few years that part of me just wants to ignore what goes on around me. I’ve found that I am of a small percentage of my friends that have begun to educate themselves in what is going on in our District and State and that deflates me. I wish we had a Scott Walker in Illinois! I think it’s scandalous that Walker’s up for recall. I also find it pathetic that his reform has had such a major positive impact on WI yet been reported by the media as an assault on “the working class” and I wholeheartedly believe that the way this recall has come about is as crooked as the Unions driving it. But few care about that. Wonder how they’re going to manipulate the voting (and get away with it) to get him recalled…
http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/8211/scott-walkers-full-speech/
We agree wholeheartedly with your comments. Don’t give up hope yet, however! It’s only six months to the filing period to run for the board (election next year, April 2013). We can get the board we need. Or at least get those running to largely agree to H73PG’s suggestions for how to maximize taxpayer dollars. As for Walker and his cost-saving measures:
“(Tom) Barrett, who lost in the Wisconsin gubernatorial race to Walker by five percentage points in 2010, has come under fire from public-employee unions for utilizing many of Walker’s reforms to balance his own city’s budget. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Walker’s plan to require public employees to begin making payments toward their own retirement accounts and pay more for health-insurance benefits saved Milwaukee between $25 and $26 million in 2012.”
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/295060/milwaukee-mayor-enters-recall-race-against-walker-christian-schneider
Has anyone noticed that besides the 2.5% increase given to the Admin last year, the superintendent gave 5 of her staff over 6% raises and 3 of them over 10% raises last year? How does this happen? For the most part we have a Board that pretty much just rubber stamps whatever the superintendent wants. Does anybody care? Where’s the money for the students and for learning?
The superintendent actually saved the district $30,000+ in doing so when the Coordinator of ELL and Federal Projects resigned in late June 2011. Instead of posting and filling the position, the responsibilities were redistributed to 4 Central Administrators and their salaries were adjusted to be more in line with other area administrators with similar positions and responsibilities. Once again, doing this, the district saved $30,000+ and was able to retain 4 outstanding administrators. I can assure you, we do not have a rubber stamp board.
Dr. Zook -
I respectfully submit to you that administering raises in the area of 6% and 10% while saving the District $30,000 deserves little fanfare. $30,000 wouldn’t pay one Administrative salary. What needs to be done, will not. We let 31 aids go but we advocate for raises? It’s confusing. We are introducing a Spanish exploratory program at the elementary level which I frankly can’t make sense of (40 minutes a week? Where’s the studies on retention at this level and for this type of program structure? What’s the cost?) We steal from Peter and give to Paul. That’s all. Yet we have these illusive ideas of cost reductions. Sigh.
In case you all missed last night’s board meeting, the board unanimously rejected Dr. Zook’s request for a 3.95% raise for the administrators. So much for rubber stamp…..
On the table is a possible 2% raise with some on the board talking no raises. Decision to be made at the next board meeting.
Sadly, there were very few people in attendance again… only one brave soul spoke during the public comment time. Wish to have seen more “involvedcitizen” at the meeting.