Dist. 207 teachers sell their colleagues out

Teacher union solidarity and a lot of basic human kindness died Tuesday night when Maine Township High School District 207 tenured teachers looked their untenured fellow teachers in the eye and stabbed them in the chest.

Tenured teachers wouldn't give up or delay a contractual 3.2 percent "cost of living" increase. They must have voted overwhelmingly to pocket the money, virtually assuring about 75 teaching positions - held mostly by the newest, eagerest and lowest paid untenured teachers - will vanish.

Apparently, 55 of these positions might have been saved if the tenured teachers had voted to skip their 3.2 percent increase. And the cost of living has not even increased!

Tenured teachers wouldn't forego gravy and whipped cream. So their newer colleagues will forego their bread, butter and health insurance.

Wonder what the next local teacher's union meeting will be like? Bet it's a closed meeting. Think things are going to be tense around the teacher lunch tables?

I'll bet the teachers who voted to keep their raises will also be the first to complain when programs get cut and class sizes go up, "hurting the students," because they sold their untenured colleagues down the river.

These teachers are being paid by a public of whom 15-20 percent are out of work but have to pay higher taxes to fund teacher pay increases; whose assessments are going up and home values down; who are, on average, making considerably less in a year than the average tenured teacher in District 207 makes for 8-9 months' work.

Will the kids in the district learn valuable life lessons about extending a helping hand, selflessness and standing by your workmates when times get tough?

Too bad the district doesn't have the option to cut teacher staff from the top. Some of those tenured teachers probably make three times what the new, untenured ones did.

You could make up the budget shortfall pretty quickly cutting much fewer higher salaried teachers.

What a sad day and what an ugly example - a lousy 3.2 percent.

Don Ruhter

Barrington