Some cost-saving ideas for Dist. 211

All candidates should state their positions on the following potential cost savings before the election to help insure future D211 property tax increases cannot occur for several years:

Ÿ Eliminate Driver Education: Why should taxpayers pay as much as $150K+ per year for $35K jobs.

Ÿ Reduce the wage scales for gym teachers to about 30-50 percent or less than those for science and math teachers. Also considerations should be made for using retired military drill sergeants as gym teachers so that more graduating students are in better shape.

Ÿ Freeze all teacher salaries for at least five years to get them more in line with private industry.

Ÿ Eliminate all step and advanced degree wage increases — make increases by merit only like everyone is treated in the rest of the world.

Ÿ Eliminate all pension padding. Terminate D211 superintendent if they are not 100 percent eliminated.

Ÿ Strongly support decreasing the number of school districts in the state as done successfully in other states to save considerable costs.

Ÿ Have all extra jobs in the schools done by teachers made as must-do jobs shared by all of them without extra pay. Use outsiders or outsider volunteers as an alternative.

Also, these candidates should offer an opinion as why after spending all of the money provided by the referendum a few years ago the ranking of these schools really stinks, considering the amount of money spent. Out of the top 100 high schools in Illinois D211 had just two schools that were ranked 26th and 65th in 2010. Some of the schools that are in the top 100 are located in the sticks where teachers earn peanuts compared to those in D211.

Candidates should state whether they have friends or associates who are D211 teachers, and whether they have received campaign contributions from teacher unions.

Robert Kellstrom

Schaumburg