Community Corner

Letter to the Editor: An Alternative View of a 'Fair' Contract

Letter to the Editor: Resident Ron Skiba debates fairness of contract proposals.

At this point whether you support the District 46 Board of Education position or the teachers' union position, I think there is consensus that the longer the strike goes on, the more the kids are hurt. Per the signs they carried, all the teachers want is a fair contract.

From a previous article on the Grayslake Patch, the two proposals are this:

Board of Education: Two-year contract

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Retirement:

  • 5.75% salary increase for four years if retirement notice submitted by March 1, 2013.
  • 3% for three years if notice submitted after March 1, 2013.

Compensation:

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  • First year: No increase in salaries or stipends. No step or lane changes.
  • Second year: $1,000 off-schedule stipend for all certified staff who have not submitted for retirement.
  • Maintain at current levels professional growth at $110,000.
  • Flex payment ($6,292) for 1/3 of teachers.
  • 6% raises for retirees who already submitted retirement notice.

Teachers' Union: Two-year contract

Retirement:

  • 6% salary increase for four years if retirement notice submitted by March 1, 2013.
  • 5.75% for four years, three years if notice submitted after March 1, 2013.

Compensation:

  • First year: No increase in salaries or stipends. Lane changes allowed in Feb. 2013.
  • Second year: Two step movements: Sept. 2013 and March 2014. Current contract lane changes provisions.
  • Maintain at current levels professional growth at $110,00.
  • Flex payment ($6,292) for 1/3 of teachers.
  • 6% raises for retirees who already submitted retirement notice.

They disagree on two points, salary increase/percentage three to four years before retirement and staff increase/percent amounts for all non-retiring teachers.

I think the majority of us in our past employments have received increases based on our work performance with no guaranteed increase percentage regardless of how we performed.

I also believe that few, if any of us, ever receive guaranteed higher than standard increases for our last three to four years before we retire from our employer. So how about making a fair offer to the teachers that is more in line with the fair compensation standards that apply to the majority of the working people?

First, no more higher guaranteed salary increases the last three to four years from retirement, as this is not a standard business practice in any industry I am aware of. Our state is in a financial crisis because of pension mismanagement.

Giving additional income boosts in the years used to determine defined benefit retirement payments compounds the problem and is financially irresponsible. Whatever a teacher makes in their final three to four years without this boost is a fair business standard and should be used to determine the defined benefit amount they receive in retirement.

The final sticking point is compensation for teachers not retiring. I think applying standard business practices would be the fair way to address this.  Why not have a pool of funds that allows each teacher to receive up to a 3% increase based upon their work performance during the year.

Each school administration would be responsible for managing their 3% increase pool and would be responsible for fairly doing performance appraisals for each teacher in their school.

If you had a high performing teacher, you could give them more than 3% as long as you did not exceed your total 3% increase pool, but that would also mean poor performers would have to receive something less than 3%. It would also mean that higher performers would be more fairly rewarded for their efforts. To me, this would be the fair contract the teachers are asking for.

In the spirit of fairness, if additional revenue sources would be needed to help fund a 3% increase pool, I saw a suggestion posted earlier on Wednesday that seemed rational and fair to the tax payers.

Increase the student registration fees by $125 per student. Assuming 4,000 students, that would guarantee the district an additional $500,000 a year every year without fail. This also fairly puts the financial burden on those utilizing the schools, no different than the fees parents pay if they want their child in band, or football, or after school intramural programs.

I'm sure there will be those that don't believe what I have outlined is "fair" to teachers, but if it is "fair" for the majority of the working community, I don't see why they should be treated more fairly than the rest of us.

Ron Skiba

Grayslake


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