Relationship with teachers is way out of balance

Your editorial pointing out the irresponsible leadership at District 220 is a good start, but we have yet to get to the core issue. The school board and administration have paid a high price in real money, both on behalf of the district and the citizens of Illinois who support the teacher's pension, without getting anything tangible in return.

One indication of this comes from Scott Herr's comment about the inadequacy of future starting salaries. If he's correct, the 10-year contract will ultimately cost more than projected because the schools will have to close the gap in starting salaries.

Teachers deserve to be paid fairly and great teachers should be rewarded even more, but that isn't happening in this contract. Long-tenured teachers are getting a salary spike that will effectively allow them to retire in four years at today's current salary.

One reason for the six-week delay could be that even the teacher's union is self-conscious about the victory they've won and want to deflect attention from the unprecedented games.

Something is way out of balance in our relationship between the community and the teachers union that needs to be fixed.

Willard Bishop

Barrington Hills