Protection comes at too high a price

Protection comes at too high a price

To the editor: Palatine has recently announced it will install traffic cameras in 10 intersections. Here we go as the village is again going to pursue protecting me through my wallet.

It's wonderful when technologies come by that in the name of safety can legally fine people and generate revenue for the village. Traffic light cameras are one of those horrible ideas.

True story. A friend of mine made a legal turn on red in an intersection that had one of these cameras. The camera shot a picture and the ticket was sent. When he went to prove it, the village has so many complaints they did not have time to deal with it and just told him to pay it.

These devices and systems do not protect as much as harass. It appears nobody has enough guts to stand up and say enough is enough and stop authorizing such things, because it's in the name of safety.

I am not sure how the village is funding these but if it's from tax money (which we have just had a 40 percent increase) camera fines just add insult to injury. I hope the people will at some point have enough brains to stop this stupidity.

Please stop protecting me; I can't afford it.

David Njaastad,

Palatine

Reality check needed in Dist. 211

I read with amusement the comments from teacher's union president John Braglia in today's Daily Herald. Given his comments, I think the teacher's union might want to consider getting a new leader that understands reality a bit better.

Let's recap what brought us to this point in time:

• The citizens of District 211 were forced to approve a tax increase in 2005 because the district was essentially bankrupt. Bankrupt due to the teachers contract and years of prior superintendents caving in to excessive demands from the union.

• The teachers in District 211 have the third highest average salary in the State of Illinois, yet the students rank among the worst in performance (63rd) in the State on ACT test results.

• Now, the union thinks it might want to strike if it doesn't get its way.

So how do we solve this issue?

If teachers were made to earn tenure every four to five years, maybe we would see an renewed emphasis on excellence in the classroom. Once tenured, it appears as though our highly paid teachers have little in the way of incentive to get our kids to learn.

If you think I'm wrong, I invite you to go and meet a teacher who has less than four years of teaching in our schools and then meet one who has been here 25 years. The difference in attitude, energy, and excitement towards educating our kids is amazing!

What's clear to me and many I talk to is the current way of doing things is broke. I know it, the Superintendent knows it, and more importantly, the teachers union knows it, too.

Arguing about nominal changes in class size or boasting about the 5-10% who do well in class and scores isn't going to change anything. Its the other 80-90% that are being short-changed. District 211 has always boasted about how good it is, but the reality is we are only an average district with less than average results.

I give Roger Thornton a lot of credit. He has put a stop to the practice of saying yes to every demand. He has brought reason back to the administration of our schools and has actually been an advocate for the citizens served in District 211.

Is he flawless? Nope. Has he made mistakes? Yep. But for the first time in a long time we have something we have not had, and that's a Superintendent who truly cares about our children's education and responsible management of the money the citizens have given him to provide the best education we can to our children.

Mr. Braglia take note, if you or the teachers of District 211 think for one minute that the citizens of District 211 will be held hostage by unreasonable demands that end up bankrupting this district again, you sir, are sorely mistaken.

We did not vote for a tax increase in 2005 to bankroll your demands. We voted for a tax increase to bail the district out of bankruptcy. Your sense of entitlement is outdated but evident when you state, "District 211 is in a good position to pay the requested pay increase, especially after voters approved a tax-rate increase in 2005." What audacity!

In closing, if Mr. Braglia thinks that a strike is necessary to bully the district and its citizens into paying even more for mediocrity then they have to do what they have to do. If things are so bad in District 211, I might suggest to Mr. Braglia that he go and find other districts for his union members to teach in and earn as much as they do in our schools.

Once that happens, we can recruit new educators who care about education first and foremost. Education is and should always be a partnership built on trust between citizens, administrators and educators. It's clear that does not exist in District 211.

For those of you who aren't fed up with this sense of entitlement, you should be.

Steve Safley

Schaumburg

Town losing a piece of history

To the editor: I was saddened to read about the demolition of the Charles Lindbergh School. It was also sad to read that the Peter Lilliebridge family cheered the school's destruction. Their flippant comment, "It's not really historic to us, we just moved here" shows a lack of appreciation with a piece of history. We can learn from history. In other words, let's just tear down every historic building because it does not affect our lives or have meaning for us. What a callous statement.

I have lived in this area for only four years and I hated to see that school destroyed. It was a symbol of days gone by.

I have a question for the village board: if a deal was struck between the village, developers and trade unions to save the school in 1998, what happened? Why did you allow the teens to destroy and vandalize this piece of history?

Why wasn't something done sooner?

Vera Gojewycz

Hoffman Estates