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The purposes of BETA are to seek to foster enlightened government and improved education, library and park facilities by serving in a constructive role to eliminate waste, and supporting those expenditures that are perceived to be cost/benefit effective. It will promote the common good and health, safety and quality of life of residents in the Barrington area. BETA will provide financial and operational oversight for the taxing bodies that impact the Barrington area.
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- Barrington, Illinois, United States
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7 comments:
I think teachers in general are paid fairly although I do feel that they have a difficult job. Among my teacher friends I find that many of them do not understand just how hard we folks work who are employed in the private sector. They do not understand how benefits are being taken away from us. I work for a blue chip company and my pension is now eliminated. Except for a small portion of a vested pension, I will have to depend on my 401k and my savings.
School District Trustees:
I am writing because I am outraged at the response by Trustee Hull to the question set forth below. This country is melting down due, in large part, to government and education costs spiraling out of control (see attached Forbes article). Here is a highlight from the attached article – “In public-sector America things just get better and better. The common presumption is that public servants forgo high wages in exchange for safe jobs and benefits. The reality is they get all three. State and local government workers get paid an average of $25.30 an hour, which is 33% higher than the private sector's $19, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Throw in pensions and other benefits and the gap widens to 42%.” Taxpayers in our district have seen their wealth cut in half by the financial markets and will have to spend the other half of their wealth to educate their children. What is the response of public officials? Double down on spending the taxpayers’ money, raise public salaries and, most of all, increase taxes.
Here in Illinois we have seen large increases in sales tax and there is a proposal on the table to increase the income tax 1 or 2 percentage points. Lake County just had the nerve to increase the assessed value of my home. Illinois, Cook County and Chicago are all running substantial deficits. According to Forbes our public pensions in Illinois are only 52% funded and it is likely much worse due to the unrealistic investment return assumptions being used to exaggerate even this level of funding.
I have news for all of those parties busily spending other people’s money. Soon that money will be gone; a casualty of the market meltdown and of taxpayers fleeing to other states or countries. How will you fund your fat salaries, pensions and benefits then? There is no longer any balance between the public and private sectors. The public has crushed the private. If your goal is to turn Illinois into Detroit or Cuba or Haiti, keep doing what you’re doing. Otherwise, get a clue!
My child is a second grade student in the district, I have lived in the district since 1998, as such I have the following observations and questions for the board in its upcoming negotiations with the teachers:
With declining property values, it would be irresponsible for teachers to assume any pay increases, or benefits increases, at this time.
Most of the taxpayers in the district, if they are working in the private sector, are paying a portion, sometimes a substantial portion, of their medical insurance. Do the teachers in district 220 bear any of the costs for their medical benefits? If not, why do they deserve better medical benefits than those who are funding their pay and benefits?
Are there any pay for performance considerations being considered in contract negotiations?
Will the board put tenure on the table in its negotiations? What is the value of tenure to our children? What is the value of tenure to the teachers?
The board has a tough task in front of it, specifically how to balance the quality of education in the district with current economic uncertainty. I hope that there will be continuing public discussions about how to strike such a balance, and that the board will consider what it is spending per pupil, and what results are gained by that level of spending.
I hope the board is up to that task.
I have always wondered why an employee group that's arguably the most educated - minimum entrance is a college degree, among all the employee groups that are unionized. Are these well educated people concerned that they won't be able to understand a job offer placed in front of them?
I am not against unions per se, especially to those employee groups that have the higher propensity to be taken advantaged of: low skilled labor, uneducated workforce, high percentage of immigrants, english as a second language, and dangerous work environment. I guess that last could be debated on which school district you speak of. But if you use each of these reasons as a litmus test, school teachers in general fail to justify the need for a union.
During these unsettling economic times, it is hard to imagine tax receipts rising or even staying even with last years receipts. It seems prudent then, to negotiate a zero percent increase until such time as the economy allows. While no one like a zero percent increase in income, this would be less damaging to families in these times as inflation is very low, perhaps non existent. The net effect is the same buying power as last year. Of course, this would also assume no increase in other taxes on a federal, state and local level.
When compared to compensation levels in private industries our teachers a extremely well paid especially when you compare and contrast some of even the basic facts:
The number of work days for teachers approaches only 9 months how many in the private sector have this benefit. The work hours for teachers are unlike the 60 hour weeks required in the private sector. Our teachers and administrators have very lucrative pension plans that are state funded and thus are rampantly abused due to union work rules and just plain poor judgment as salaries are "beefed up" prior to retirement to increase the retirement payout. (because this is funded by the state the local school districts look the other way as it is "good" for everyone) except the taxpayers of Illinois. I would welcome the excessively generous retirement package in the private sector yet it is not available and if it was it was canceled with most of the other benefits. It is long past time that these folks were required to live within OUR means not those of their unions choosing.
The teachers have the best gig going. Their pay is more than equal to those who work the full 12 months a year and the benefits are way above what is provided in the private market. In most professions its produce each year and you don't have the job security that teachers do. They have been getting better raises than industry has been providing for years becuase they always hold the scholl boards hostage. Why do the union contracts have to come up as school starts? To give the unions leverage of course. That should be changed.
The scholl boards need to stand up to the abuses going on at the tax payers expense. I wish I had gone into teaching so I could now benefit for the health care and retirement packages that they now receive. They are not underpaid!!!!
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