If the BOE had been a respectful group of people who were not out to get the teachers to begin with maybe you would be believed. Most of the above statements are just conjecture. Luckily for Grayslake the majority of you will not be involved in those future decisions. Vote for what the mediator came up with and if there are issues with teacher lay offs or schools closing (most likely because of attrition) then so be it. I am willing to accept that is a possibility. It will be for a whole other board with broader ideas and more community support to decide. Your childish antics have lost my confidence in anything you say. Vote and move on.

Current climate does not predict the future. The board is a lame duck - sign something now, get out and let the new board whittle their pencils.

There are many members of the community who understand and support you! Stand strong, We get it!! For those who do not agree with this, that is your choice. I choose to be realistic.

The BOE twiddled their thumbs and screamed at each other for two years rather than working to come up with a viable solution to this. It isn't a surprise that the contract expired and we are in this predicament. This BOE has failed Grayslake and cannot be trusted to tell the truth or make the right decisions. The levy issue and admin raises prove that they do not care one iota about the teachers or the students.

Rumor has it the Board is going to cancel on Sunday night. The BOE is supposed to meet with the Fed Mediator an hour early at 5pm and the negotiations would start at 6pm with the Union.

Whatever side you are on, make sure BOE doesn't care more about their 3-day weekend plans and shows up to settle this.

If the BOE doesn't show up, this strike is going another week. With 2 weeks of striking, the BOE will have made enough money up to pay the teachers but the lost school days won't be made up.

Wouldn't it be sad if this whole strike was the BOE's attempt to put money aside at the sake of our children's education? How sad would that be. I wouldn't be surprised if that was their intention the whole time.

I would expect a refund for the days of education your children don't receive.

Make sure the Board of Ed shows up on Sunday for the meeting.

BB

The Official School Calendar is the single document around which a school district functions. The School Code mandates a minimum of 185 days in the proposed school calendar to insure 176 days of pupil attendance. The School Code also defines the “types” of days which may be included in the calendar, i.e., Teacher Institutes, Parent/Teacher Conferences, etc.

The BOE has clearly proven that they are not interested in our children's education why would they threat parents with school closures and teacher layoffs why aren't they getting rid of all of these administrators that are making 85,000-120,000!! Look up all the administrators in the district office are they really necessary if we are in such financial strain!!!! Do they need 2 special Ed directors and a curriculum director!!!

The presentation from today's townhall meeting is now available at http://ForOurChildrensFuture.com. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

The data is from the ISBE as stated. The names DID work in the district in 2012 as shown by the data unless you are claiming the district and ISBE are now using false data on their websites.

The salaries presented are correct, the year is what is in question for 2011. Again, unless you believe the district or the ISBE is reporting false data.

I also pointed out other false data coming from both the district and union. Why don't they want the people to know the truth?

Why is the union, knowing there will be RIFs, negotiating for higher classes (40 -50) is projected with their offer?

Want to start finding money to pay teachers, get rid of the highly paid superintedent and administrative staff. That's what is happening on the private side. As all three of my kids went through the GL system I was shocked to meet an assistant principle, paid around 90K per year, who admitted spending much of his time monitoring the dress code of students. Lets get real, teachers don't need baby sitting to teach, and kids will be kids. Quit bashing teachers and let them do their job, just like all of do without others looking over their shoulders.

350 people showed up Sunday in the freezing cold to support the teachers of their district. That’s:
• 10 times the number that showed up for either of the For Our Children’s Future town halls.
• 10 times the number, on average, that shows up to BOE meetings.
• 5 times the number that have ever shown up for a BOE meeting (in recent history).
30 local business showed their support for the teachers by supplying food, providing parking, providing warming shelters, allowing access to their bathrooms, and donating cash to help teachers that might need it in a prolonged strike. Residual benefits went to local food banks through excess donations. That’s:
• 10 times the number of local business’s that spoke at any levy hearing.
• Equal to the number of attendants at any For Our Children’s Future town Hall.
• Equal to or greater than the average attendance at a BOE meeting.
Actions speak louder than words. I applaud the board for listening to the public. I only wish the silent majority had been more vocal at the levy hearings. It’s too late to do what the public really wanted.