Like teachers, U-46 drivers chose wisely

The standoff between bus drivers and Elgin Area School District U-46, resolved at the last minute last week, reflected the continuing ghostly presence of former Superintendent Connie Neale.

Since the school board sold out to her contract demands last year and she shortly thereafter departed into a very golden sunset, every other district employee has been licking his or her chops, something that was predictable to every district resident but those on the board.

Teachers who felt ignored and pushed around took the district to the brink of a strike, mostly to get the attention of the school board, before accepting a more-than-fair contract.

Then bus drivers, though they acknowledged they were already among the best paid in the area, publicly balked at an offer that seemed more than fair. That was just a message to the board, too, it turns out. They eventually approved the deal on a 186-130 vote.

In both cases, the wage offers were starkly better than the vast majority of private-sector workers are getting in an economy long in the doldrums and teetering on the brink of or already well into recession.

The four-year bus driver deal provides for 4.4 percent pay hikes in each of the first two years, followed in the second two years by increases of 5.5 to 6 percent each year.

No matter how much taxpayers might agree with teachers and bus drivers on the matter of Connie Neale, they still have a financial limit and little tolerance for those who take insult at offers they've not seen in years.

Private-sector workers have faced layoffs, wage cuts or wage stagnation, and increasing benefit costs while public sector wages continue upward. Always upward.

Thus U-46 bus drivers, like teachers, were wise to accept a deal that was more than fair in this economic climate. In doing so, they did no lasting damage to the respect they've earned as an efficient, responsive transportation department, one that moved 10,000 kids to new schools after a major boundary reorganization a few years back with few problems.

Had drivers rejected the deal, it would have been seen as greed in the face of a compelling economic downturn and more evidence of a continuing disconnect between the public sector and the private sector -- between government workers and those paying for the government.

At some point, reality has to set in. People who are losing their homes or jobs or benefits simply can't afford to continue picking up a higher tab for others.

And they certainly have no sympathy for those who can't see they already have it pretty darn good compared to many of their far more financially beleaguered neighbors.

Luckily for U-46 residents and themselves, bus drivers and teachers both recognized that truth in the end.