The Champion

Does Your Employer Contribute $69,000/yr To Your 401K Retirement Plan?

By Bill Zettler

To answer the question posed in the headline – I don’t think so. And it’s not because your employer is greedy but simply because it would be impossible to pay that amount and stay in business. They would be bankrupt.

But that’s in the private sector where most of us work. In the public sector this is possible because state governments cannot go bankrupt. They just keep raising taxes to pay whatever exorbitant retirement contribution amounts are needed.

The specific case I am talking about involves an employee of the public school system Linda Jedlicka, campus manager of the Lake County High School Tech Campus whose employer pension contribution will be more than $69,000. And the employer is you the taxpayer.

District 203 referendum runs into opposition in Naperville

From www.hold203accountable.org:

This referendum is not about $82. It's about something much more important than money. This is a referendum about principle and values. It is about holding District 203 accountable. This is the third referendum in 14 years. It never ends because voters keep bailing out the fiscally irresponsible school district.

The 2002 referendum has become the largest taxpayer rip off in the history of Naperville. Taxpayers were told it would cost them $511. False promise. The amount is now $1,200. Parents don't increase the allowance of children who act irresponsibly. Why then would voters even consider handing over tens of millions of dollars more to such a fiscally irresponsible school district? Taxes have skyrocketed 55% over the last six years. The graph above is very distressing. Let 203 get their $82 from the hundreds being over collected from the 2002 referendum. If District 203 cannot makes ends meet with $220M and declining student enrollment, they are incompetent.

Congressional Hypocrisy on School Choice

In his final State of the Union Address, President Bush called on Congress to rescue disadvantaged children from failing public schools. Unfortunately, most politicians on Capitol Hill continue to deny poor children the same opportunities they support for college students and, most importantly, their own children.

President Bush proposed the "Pell Grants for Kids" initiative to give low-income children the same thing that college students get - federal scholarships to attend a school of their choosing. He also highlighted the success of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program, which has helped thousands of low-income kids escape failing schools in the nation’s capital.

Editorial: Teachers unions can take steps to protect our kids

The Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus

Representatives of Illinois' two major teacher unions, the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, declined to answers these two questions:

-- How confident should Illinois parents be that their child's teacher has been fully screened for past criminal convictions?

-- What, if anything, should the state do to further ensure that children are safe from being harmed by those entrusted to educate them?

Those are straightforward, important questions that deserve answers, especially in the wake of an eight-month investigation conducted by Small Newspaper Group.

February 2008 School Reform News

HEADLINES:

Florida Lawmakers Applaud Donors to "Step Up for Students" Program

U.S. Students' Achievement Is Mediocre in International Study

ARTICLES:

Congress Considers Measure Giving School Choice to Foster Kids

Illinois Residents Want School Choice: Poll

Is $224,000 per Year Too Much Compensation for a Driver�s Ed Teacher?

By Bill Zettler

How about $1,174 per day for an Art teacher or $149/hr for an English teacher?

As you can see from the attached spreadsheet, it is not only Drivers Ed, Art and English teachers we should be talking about. There are many subjects being taught by very highly compensated public employees that could be easily outsourced to the private sector for much less.

Another way to look at this issue is how much could these public employees make in the private sector with their education and experience. For example how much do people with BA degrees in art make? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Chicago area the salaries range from $24,000 for Floral Designers to $58,000 for Painters, Sculptors and Commercial Designers working 12 months a year.

Is $224,000 per Year Too Much Compensation for a Driver�s Ed Teacher?

By Bill Zettler

The Following Are All Paid For By The Taxpayer For The Benefit of the Teacher:

NOTE 1: From TRS Actuaries, Employer Contribution to Trust Reserve Schedule XIIB.
NOTE 2: $10 Billion borrowing under PA 93-002 April, 2003 TRS Portion as % of Teacher Payroll.
NOTE 3: State Annuitant Health Insurance payments as % of Teacher Payroll.
NOTE 4: Life, Health, and Disability Insurance Paid At the Local District level, estimated.

Class Size, School Size, District Size

Effects of Reducing Class Size: No clear evidence of improved learning

Smaller classes With same number of students, that means more classrooms.

More classrooms required New construction Spending increases.

More classrooms required More teachers required. More teachers Spending increases.

Adding Up to Failure

By Jay P. Green & Catherine Shock

A good education requires balance. Students should learn to appreciate a variety of cultures, sure, but they also need to know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Judging from the courses that the nation’s leading education colleges offer, however, balance isn’t a goal. The schools place far more emphasis on the political and social ends of education than on the fundamentals...

The issue isn’t whether we should be teaching cultural awareness in education colleges or in public schools; it’s about priorities. Besides, our students probably have great appreciation already for students from other cultures—who’re cleaning their clocks in math skills, and will do so economically, too, if we don’t wise up.

Complete criminal histories of teachers can be hard to find

By Scott Reeder

SPRINGFIELD -- One of the most confounding aspects of checking a person's criminal history is the crimes that don't show up.

This is especially frustrating to those screening for positions involving enormous amounts of trust, such as teachers.

There are a number of ways in Illinois that a person can plead guilty to breaking a state law but avoid having it show up on their criminal history.

These legal tools are increasing being embraced by courts but often hide disturbing incidents that school districts and parents would want to know about those educating their children.