U-46 arithmetic doesn't add up

I am not surprised that the passionate teacher taking a stand for House Bill 174 is from the English Department. Surely, he is neither a mathematician nor a teacher of finance.

I have followed lightly the woes of U-46 even though my children are educated in District 303. I am a strong supporter of public education and know that it produces highly successful Americans. It is one of the structural foundations of our society.

Simple math caught my attention in following U-46's troubles. Let's see, they serve 41,000 students (as stated in Daily Herald) with 2,583 full-time union teachers; 2,583 classroom teachers not support staff (Daily Herald figures listed educational assistants separately). That is a full-time employed teacher for every 15-16 students in a classroom.

I realize that not every teacher teaches every subject but it sounds like the scheduling manager isn't doing their job if they have overstaffed by 732 to 943 teachers. The figure 943 represents a teacher for every 25 students. And for how long have they been operating with 30 percent more staff than needed? The 732-teacher cut, times just a rough figure of $66,000 in total payroll costs for an employee (salary, payroll taxes, workers comp, unemployment taxes, health insurance, etc.), is more than $48 million per year in cost overruns.

It's not appropriate for the taxpayer body to support this overstaffing and mismanagement in scheduling. Full-time employed teachers should work a full schedule with a full classroom. All successful operations know their producers, keep the best 70 percent.

Denise Juriga

St Charles