Teacher pay hike in Dist. 220 is madness
Stop the madness! I nearly fell off my chair this morning reading the news about the lucrative new contract for the District 220 teachers. The last contract gave the teachers a 15% raise (5% per year for 3 years). Over that same three year period of time, the CPI increased a total of approximately 6.4%. Inflation (CPI-U) for the most recent 12 months was (1.3%). Yes, that is deflation! The article also states that teachers will pay more out-of-pocket expenses for health care. However, their 3.9% raises are retroactive to September 2009 but the burden of additional out-of-pocket health care costs do not take effect until Fall 2010. The contract also guarantees teacher raises in each of the following two years in the range of 1-3.75%.
Wow!
This District 220 School Board needs to get in touch with reality. Such generosity runs counter to the economic times. Wednesday's headline story was about the foreclosure crisis in the suburbs. On page 3 we saw a story about the tough measures taken by District 207 to cut costs to fill a budget shortfall.
Given the generosity of the 15% raises granted in the last contract, I would have expected the District 220 Board to play hardball with the Teachers Union.
Most people are screaming mad about the Cook County tax bills that hit mailboxes this week. If your bill was painful this year, it looks like you can expect 3.9% more pain next year. Who's up for a TEA Party? Stop the madness!
Carl Wenz
Barrington