Pension changes must not hurt school employees

To the General Assembly:

As a resident of Illinois, I urge you to vote no on the conference committee’s draft plan on pensions. I urge you to vote no on any plan that illegally reduces the compensation guaranteed by the Illinois Constitution. Schoolteachers teach children to follow the law, not to find backdoor ways around the law.

The pension law was written as it was to keep crime out of it. Not one person voted for you to continue the history of sleazy politics rife with crime in Illinois. Adjusting the crimes of your predecessors is not a solution. Posing an illegal penalty on the victims (public employees) of a theft is not a fix to a crisis but business as usual in Illinois.

You say you want more jobs, good education and an economically strong Illinois that will attract business. Really? Time for a reality check. Change requires a change. More of the same will get more of the same. Work as you were elected to perform. Stop blaming anyone not in Springfield. Springfield goofed; they hurt all of Illinois and now everyone (sadly) has to make up the shortfall.

Stop blaming the public worker and threatening him. That threatening behavior resembles the playground bully at school. We know you are against bullies; you said that, too! Vote no on any measure to hurt schools and their personnel. Do not advance ideas that will be illegal and unconstitutional. That is wasteful of time and money and kicks the can down the road. Let us not be “usual” again.

Alan P. Murdoch

Arlington Heights