Union spending on school candidates?

The Naperville Unit District 203 school board has long been governed by a majority who were endorsed by the teachers union. Coincidentally, these same union-endorsed school boards have been the ones consistently approving contracts and retirement packages that totally disregard fiscal and societal common sense.

Money is critical to every election, and every two years the union spends thousands of dollars and actively campaigns on behalf of specific school board candidates. In 2007, the teachers union surreptitiously funneled tens of thousands of dollars to an organization called People United for Responsible Education (PURE) to campaign on behalf of board members Mike Jaensch, Terry Fielden and Suzyn Price.

Not surprisingly, it was a former D203 teachers union president who helped create PURE. Do taxpayers realize board members who owe their election in large part to union funding and campaign efforts are the officials approving these incredible union contracts?

Board members will undoubtedly insist independence from the very union that helped get them there. Perhaps. Nevertheless, in the spirit of transparent government, the teachers union should be required to publicly disclose how much time and money was spent on the elections of every board member who will be voting on their multimillion dollar union contracts.

Mike Davitt

Naperville