Here's a little test for you, courtesy of Forbes: Who is the smallest government spender since President Eisenhower? Yes, indeed, it is President Obama!

For proof of the answer, go here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/05/24/who-is-the-smallest-government-spender-since-eisenhower-would-you-believe-its-barack-obama/

As Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, "“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”

if you had been fortunate enough to attend a school with well-paid , qualified teachers, perhaps you would be able to compose a grammatically correct diatribe.

amp

Unions destroy!!

Do you want the best of the best teaching your kids? The pay them like the Orr north shore schools...otherwise lfhs will be hiring teachers that can't get jobs at other schools

@boxcar, google is your friend. But here are a couple of the top articles from reliable sources that address your unstated blame on Pres. Obama for the current deficit.

PolitiFact: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jan/22/rahm-emanuel/5-trillion-added-national-debt-under-bush/
CNN Money: http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/22/news/economy/obama-spending/index.html

Facts are facts, even if you don't like them.

Here are the actually facts, Chris:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/09/why_blame_obama.html

Your article about Obama being the lowest spender since Eisenhower is factually inaccurate and has been debunked throughout the Internet. Perhaps you should Google it. Democrats like yourself try to put FY 2009 all on Bush, since the fiscal year started in Sept 2008. But the Stimulus, the second half of TARP, the Omnibus ($1.6 trillion!) were all put in place by Obama in 2009 under his direction. Accounting wise it was still FY 2009, and hence why you try to put that on Bush. In the next years, that Trillion plus became part of the baseline, and Obama %-wise in FY 2010, 2011, 2012 has not increased it as much, so it looks like he doesn't spend on a % increase basis when you do not include FY 2009 in his record.

Got the facts Jack? You have been duped into thinking that even though the debt has increased from $11 trillion to $16 trillion in 3.5 years (took Bush 8 years to do that, from your own other article), somehow Obama is the lowest spender since the 1950s. What a lesson in the power of the mainstream media to shape opinion. We are hanging by a thread...

Thanks, Jen. I like my alternate universe that's based on facts & reality.

Oh my gosh I agree with everything you said, Think Harder! The Board had boatloads of money to fund the last Superintendent's inflated and ridiculous pension. They can find it when they want to! And Chris, the district did not allocate millions of dollars for track fields and football stadiums. They were being offered a GIFT from a fundraising organization at the high school, which, by the way, they TURNED DOWN!

@P. Jocelyn - thanks for setting the record straight. I honestly didn't know that the district turned down the $$$$ for the track field.

Good point about the administrative salaries for this district.

P. Jocelyn,
I agree with you that the current and past administration is bloated and needs to be looked at and reined in. The immediate concern needs to be the teachers that walked out on our children. I am tired of hearing their platitudes about it being about the children. Puhlease!!! Gym teachers making $170K with lifetime pensions in the $130K range. As for the donation of the gift for a new track and field, the board was prudent in turning it down. The "gift" was composed of 90% long term pledges which means the beleaquered taxpayer was going to put up the initial $2,000,000 and hope the long term pledges showed up down the road. Pretty much like the LF Garden Club promising to raise the money to "fix" Forest Park and then say oh no, we only wanted to pay for the plan, and let the taxpayer actually pay for the renovation. Pledges historically have a very high failure or "no-show" rate. You are being dishonest

"think harder" your comments are what's wrong with America today. Say something bad about the President, and you are a racist. With that logic, all the blacks that voted for Obama are anti-white??? Your statements are so liberal. You bring up the fact people in this community donate to campaign funds, so what? It's their money, let them donate where they want. It's called freedom on choice! Pay them more? Go to http://www.familytaxpayers.org/salary.php and see the numbers. We are paying a health teacher $80,000, a PE coach $102,000, a football coach $140,000, the list goes on and on. Let’s not forget, most teach 3 or 4 classes a day, giving them 2-3 hours a day to grade work and update lesson plans. They also get 18 sick days a year, which they can bank for early retirement. We as a community need to demand more return for our money. Daily updates of Edline and PowerSchool, before and after school hours, reduced number of sick days. In the three years our student has been in LFHS, she hasn’t gone a week without a sub in a class. Most days it’s at least one sub. That needs to stop. We’ll pay them the highest salaries if LFHS was the number one school in the state, which it is not. Is that due to the teachers, no, God no, you can’t blame the teachers for that fact. Oh, but if we were number one, would that be due to the teachers….yes, of course. Funny how it is one sided when it comes to scores and rankings.

Obama racists? the fact that you brought race in to the issue makes you a racist. hows that one? Think harder you are a left wing nutjob and your posts are always junk, much like the one above. Your a joke

@Neighbor, they need a union so they can strong arm Districts into higher pay, increase their union dues, and then flow the money back to their Democratic cohorts to keep them elected and for more unions. Public sector unions fight for more money so they can flow it back into Democratic coffers. It's corrupt political greed using our children as the bait.

Gary, some of the folks listed retired over two years. This site is not 100% accurate with the salaries and years, though it is pretty close. Regardless of sentiments - one way or the other - the union did in fact take a pay freeze last year.

In the real world, a salary freeze means you don't get paid more.

In the magical world of government spin a salary freeze means you only get 6% pay increases per year. Gress is still out there saying the teachers took a salary freeze last year when it clearly didn't happen.

This begs the question, what kind of increases would there have been if the "freeze" hadn't been in place?

Many of these teachers earned a third or fourth degree
Gosh, who wants our kids being taught by people constantly becoming better experts at what they do
How much do people in the private sector make with two masters degrees?

@Jeff - Do you really need a PhD to teach high school PE or drivers ed? Seriously. That is pure garbage.

Gary, I don't understand what the confusion is... the teachers literally got paid the same amount last year as they did the year before. This is a fact as I have seen it with my own two eyes. The pay checks show it regardless of what familytaxpayers.org reports. There's no catch here. The freeze was an actual freeze not some empty, semantic gesture. Now, whether or not they deserve a raise from the freeze rate is another issue entirely.... and one worth debating.

But the freeze wasn't really a freeze. The union sees it as less of a freeze and more of a chill (a frost perhaps). They are saying that the teachers should claw back that freeze in the form of outsized salary increases.

That sounds fair Chuck's Teacherland. Unfortunately for the taxpayers, real world employers and tax collectors have never been to Teacherland and they aren't understanding when I tell them that Chuck says it should work this way.

Yes, when you look at it like that then you are correct. I was starting with the premise of what they have actually received and not what they are currently asking for in the future. So yes, indeed, if they are attempting to roll the freeze year into the new contract then it was not really a freeze. Agreed.

@Me
You also could just have some hacks come in and let the kids answer questions at the back of the book. I know you dont need a degree for that. But then again, your kids won't be getting many degrees themselves as a result.
Do you want to live in a community that respects higher learning as a model for the kids, or one in which it chastises people for honing their craft to the best of their ability. Pretty sure there are no phd's in gym at LFHS...would I want my child learning World History for a man with a doctorate? Hell yes.

@Jeff - It is interesting how you twist other's words. I said nothing about not wanting qualified teachers for the core learning subjects. However, teachers of drivers ed, PE, etc. are not positions worthy of salaries in the $150k range. These are positions worthy of the top salary bands as proposed by the BOE. These are salaries that should be attained only by the best of the best. Simply maintaining a pulse and not getting caught texting photos of your dangly bits should not qualify you for these salaries. If you can deliver consistently and at the highest levels, then you get to the top. Otherwise, you get paid at a level consistent with your performance.

So that it is clear for you, I will state it again. I AM NOT SUGGESTING THAT WE CUT ALL SALARIES. THE BOE PROPOSAL OFFERS GENEROUS INCREASES. I AM PROPOSING THAT INCREASES SHOULD BE MERIT BASED AND SHOULD NOT BE HANDED OUT AS A DEFAULT. INCREASES SHOULD BE EARNED AND LAGGARDS SHOULD BE LET GO.

@Jeff - we RESPECT the teachers - they have just lost track of financial reality. Let's look at Gress' salary as an example. He is earning about $150K/year - decent salary. Add to that the fact that he really works at most 10 months/year (with all vacations, holidays, etc). Scaling that figure would result at around $180K/year if he worked a full 12 months. Now, figure in healthcare, of which they pay nothing. That is at least an additional $6K/year in "benefits". If we said that Mr. Gress was retiring soon and his final 4 years of salary would be around $150K, that means he would get $120K/year pension - with COLA. If he retires at 55 and lives another 25 years, that would be another $3,000,000 - how much would you need to put away each year for that type of annuity, $40K/year, $50K/year? Now, we are looking at an "adjusted" compensation value of $230K/year or more. Isn't that enough?

Strike will last very long with this attitude
I don't suggest changing the entire educational system on the local level during a strike
Please think of the illogic in your statement

But how does one quantify teacher performance without reducing teaching to an information assembly line that culminates in standardized testing? This reductionist model is precisely why America is falling behind in education. Teaching and learning are not the same as making widgets. The problem with this “merit” sentiment is that it operates under the assumption that teaching can be reduced to a "science." The obvious problem with this perspective is that you often end up only measuring the things that can be measured. We need classrooms that develop critical and inferential habits of mind and not a 19th century factory model where the teacher is nothing more than a drill and kill instructor. The psychology of learning demonstrates that authentic learning is too dynamic to be reduced to rote information acquisition. Yes, the system needs to change but....”merit” is not the way to go.

Don't often agree with LF Resident but she has hit the nail on the head, no doubt with a drill & kill. Test results are a fairly lousy way to measure a teacher's effectiveness, at least by themselves, except for very low level skills. You know what is a good measure? Student surveys. Ask a kid if he learned anything. They know. But that is a flawed measure too. There has to be a basket, a matrix of measures.There will be implementation of a newly mandated teacher evaluation system at both districts very soon. It likely will lead to merit pay in the long run. But should our kids miss school while these two parties, who play with the calendar and don't respond to offers, mess around? Keep your eye on the issues here. It is a fight about money. Should we open discussion about capping certain subject matters as soon as we can after we sign this contract? Sounds like some people would think so.. Should we implement the new evaluation system and test how it works as a compensation metric? Probably. But get the kids back in school. Jeff is right. We are never going to change the world. The issue is money. Stop dragging up every desire you ever had about changing the schools. We are not going to address all our gripes in this negotiation, and people need to stop moving the magnifying glass. Its the money. The question is who is going to pay the costs? The answer is the kids--every day this continues.

John Utah, I think you surround yourself with like-minded people, and don't realize that not everyone agrees with this Board's actions. Both sides need to COMPROMISE. Each can't simply dig in their feet and wait. Both have to give. I agree that it is ridiculous that the highest paid teacher at the high school is a gym teacher. How we got there is a problem. BUT, incoming teachers get paid very poorly. If you look at other districts and what their teachers earn (Hinsdale is one I just looked up), they are pretty much the same. And the raises at Hinsdale were really high from one year to the next. It is just frustrating to watch the process stall and no one is moving in any direction whatsoever.

I know that other districts pay the same way, which is why SOMEONE has to start the process of getting it under control. Where does this end? Will the teachers ever stop asking for more regardless of ability to pay? LF can be a model of reform. And reform in this case is only a 3% raise! C'mon, point your figure at the teachers, not me.

@P. Jocelyn - The problem is, prior boards "compromised" themselves so much that we are now in this unsustainable mess. After taking pensions into account, actual months worked, benefits, sick-time payout, etc - are these teachers really worth $230K/year or so? Is the job THAT difficult? Are you ready to give each of them basically $3,000,000 when they retire?

You know, maybe the BOE can tighten its belt AS WELL - not as a substitute so the teachers can have more.

Sigh
This is high school buddy
Do you really think fundamentally changing the entire education system makes sense at this time at such a local level
You are complaining about things that are not being discussed by either side
Focus on facts and use some rational logic to form an opinion

So will all of these parents on here who seem to want to spend all the money in the world for thier kids except for their education.
That movie has nothign to do with what his happening here.

Yes the movie is relevant. It is about teacher unions.

@Me, she was fortunate enough to go to the University of Chicago, so that's all you need to know about her and her ability to teach....

I still want to know who she is and what she teaches.

wow that's a pretty rude statement. She is a great teacher.

You must not have any children at the high school or you'd know who she is. I bet most of the bashers here have no kids at the high school. Arm chair quarterbacks with no vested interest.

Huh???? No vested interest???? ALL taxayers (especially property taxes since that is what funds the schools) have a vested interest. Having a child who attends the high school makes it a little more personal for YOU since your child is the one being held hostage by the union.

John U.,
If I had to listen to that whiney,old battleax, I would not be excited to go to skool!

Free markets are great! If ANY employee feels they can earn more somewhere else, then GO. Nobody has your feet nailed to the ground. Most of the teachers I have spoken with know and completely understand they have a great deal (pay, pensions and benefits) but are afraid to stand up to their OWN UNION! Without the union's strong-arm tactics to hold us hostage, this would have been resolved back in early August. The days of thinking the public sector jobs can keep forcing 6% pay raises when the private sector is only averaging 3%, is delusional. Where do you think your pay check comes from? TAXES. The people paying into that tax pot are losing their jobs, getting 3% raises, already pay way more than 10% of their health plans and have ZERO guaranteed pensions. Be real.

That one girl who handed out cookies... can you say teachers pet. let them all go, see what they do. hold your ground boe

Stevie- we've read your posts. Clearly you were not well taught (you can't spell) and I would hope no one posting here is a "nut job" but you're in the running. Most people in LF care about teachers pay as reflected here. Some of us clearly respect teachers and their role in our community more than others do. That means, in simplist terms, those like you (who have no manners or respect) don't You're a troll and probably some BOE member's kid. You write like one.

Great point. Bill Mitz, former head football coach at Stevenson, "retired" 2 years ago as the highest paid teacher in the state, around $192k. He is in his 50s. He will live off his pension FOR 30 YEARS UNTIL HE DIES under the terms Nancy described. So what did he decide to do? He went to Jacobs and became their head football coach, coaching full-time and living off that nice GUARANTEED FOR LIFE pension. If being a PE teacher in an IL HS is not the greatest career in American history in terms of pay, pension, time-off, and stress level...I'm not sure what is.

Outstanding suggestion!

Yes. I agree! That's the way the real world works. If I don't like my job, the pay, work environment, etc. I work the my peers, boss and HR and things don't change, I move on. Personally, I've done just that without even a new job to go to. Crazy, yes. But I stood up and made my choice in July 2011 and had a new higher pay job by October.

www.lakeforestteachers.com

That thing is a joke! Cool you went to a good college and now you have a job. Sweet you want a pat on the back? Do you job, and be thankful that you make as much as you do

Keep it up Mr. I Make $150K Gress....again, you are helping our cause.

What a joke, even their leader knows they are in the wrong

For some reason it seems like all these parents forgot what teachers are doing here. They are spending all day with their most important possessions, helping them at the most critical time in their lives.
I don't know why anyone would choose to live in a distrcit as good as this and then want to short change their child's education

You are crazy - if you adjust for the "real world", add another 50% to their salaries. I think Mr. Gress earning an adjusted $230K/year is pretty good.

So, you're a concerned LFHS parent, but the teachers are dealing with "your" snotty ass kids? You think the Board should pay someone $500k to teach?

You're a teacher, a stupid student, or a union hack posing as a parent. #Caught

Really! Guess you are part of the problem with education these days. My mom, a teacher, taught me to be a part of the solution or keep your mouth shut.

Actually, I am neither. I work and live in lake forest, but have nothing to do with lfhs other than my two children attending there. I personally believe the teachers should start at $500k, if I can get paid that for working less, why not the teachers?

@ John:

Number of households with income > $200k:
Lake Forest: 39.3% (2,701)

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/income/income-Lake-Forest-Illinois.html#ixzz26JAafVEG

Why is it that teachers are not allowed to make $100,000 when nearly 40% of the community makes over $200 a year? I totally understand that finances have changed since 2009 (the most recent data I could find) - I'm not arguing for or against the teacher's position, but merely against the preposterous notion that those dedicated individuals who have the potential to change a student's life shouldn't have equal access to a salary. Maybe not now, but it shouldn't be denyed to them just because they are a teacher.

@Concerned - by your own numbers, that means the number of households with income LESS THAN $200,000 is 60.7%. LF has MANY high level executives here - that does not mean teachers have to be paid like high level executives. They work at most TEN months out of the year, maybe NINE. They get a FULL PENSION at 75% of their inflated final years income.

Also, average salaries are higher in LF than the surrounding schools, yet for some reason Stevenson, Deerfield, and New Trier do significantly better than LF students on the state tests.

Get rid of the union or adopt a law to make striking illegal. My sister teaches in Kansas and a teachers strike is against the law. My mom taught for 40 years and never taugh somewhere that teachers went on strike.

the teachers love to do that "extra stuff" near the end of their service as they do get paid and it does increase that wonderful annuity we pay called the "pension"
Also I wonder how good the HR dept is in managing performance based on how well they did with Mr Griffins " photogenic" principal who embarrassed the Community last year. GE is an example of a well-managed public company and in good times would annually screen out the bottom 10% of managers. Our schools would benefit from a similar model of excellence

@Another LF Mom: If you are really a mom with a kid who has gone through the HS, you are SO lucky if you didn't have to suffer the experience of having a kid with a bad teacher and going through "The Process," (and by bad, I mean verbally and emotionally abusive before even talking about ineffective).

Hate to burst your bubble, but yes, it's virtually impossible to even discipline (much less fire!) an abusive teacher (and for teachers who are just bad but nice, forget it!). "The process" is designed to take so long that by the time it's through, your kid is done with the year. Meanwhile, the teacher knows about your complaint and gives your kid undeserved bad grades and a hard time. So much for going to Harvard like the teachers in the video brag about having the opportunity to do themselves!!!!

Good teachers probably do want to get rid of these lemons too. But what are they supposed to do? The union held an open vote to strike and ostracized those opposed. I think a decent group of teachers are being held hostage along with us parents and our kids and the taxpayers. Enough is enough!

@Blue - are they also deserving of a $3,000,000 (that is MILLION) dollar pension - that is not taxed? We keep hearing call for "fairness" - here is an example. Also, what is LF going to do when the state pushes pensions out to the district that granted them? Are we going to be able to afford paying the each retired teacher $3,000,000? Chicago is stating that almost (or soon to be) half of school funding is to pay for pensions.

RationalTht: Blue 44 is not discussing money alone, but the speed with which people are so quick to point out that it is a gym teacher. It shouldn't matter whether a teacher teaches gym or chemistry. Teachers of any type can change lives.

I agree with you!

The school board has given many good reasons for standing their ground and letting a strike occur. The teachers' union has given no good reason for striking. The union's primary cause for striking is the new salary schedule for new employees which slows down the rate of salary increases, the kind of reform that will have to occur all over the State before we can hope to start chipping into that $95 billion dollar pension shortfall.

Big structural changes are going to have to happen in Illinois, and the board is proposing a very small change. The teachers are trying to hold on to a fiscal model that has completely collapsed, and must be reformed. If they refuse to become part of the new reality, they will simply vanish. Not because I want them to, bet because our economy won't support them. Good intentions do not trump the laws of economics, and demonizing the people who pay the bills will not fill the pension fund.

Big changes are inevitable. The more the unions fight them, the more certain they ensure their extinction. Go ask the people of Detroit.

Well, it is the PEOPLE who are PAYING THE TAXES - they are the TAXPAYERS. Do you expect us to take MORE OF A CUT to give the teachers their lavish salaries, benefits, and pensions? How GREEDY are you? It is time for teachers to "adapt" to the new reality like the rest of us.

@common ... The reason why corp profits are at all time highs is because people in the private sector are losing their jobs or being forced to take pay cuts...You need not say more... You need to read more.

With competition also comes overcrowding and lack of resources in the "best" schools. Those schools would of course ave the bet test scores... How much innovation can there e when you are teaching for higher test scores in order to get more students, and thus more money?

Gary, go to Springfield and do it then. But our kids need to be in school. The parties need to compromise. This is not the time for the wish list. The BOE is not going to create a charter here, and you are not getting a voucher next week. You may be quoting the Beatles but you are Stoned. You can't get no satisfaction with that list.

@Concerned - we don't have overcrowding in LF, yet our test scores are not higher than Stevenson, New Trier, or Deerfield. LF Students tie with Libertyville where the average salary is MUCH less.

You cannot compromise when one side is not aware of the current fiscal reality. The teachers are the highest or 2nd highest paid in the state. Also, you cannot "ignore" pensions because that is a BIG part of the overall compensation. A teacher making $150,000 will pull in a $120,000 per YEAR pension - around $3,000,000. The fact that they get that needs to be looked at. To get annuity to pay something like that after 25-30yrs of work would be worth $30,0000 to $40,000 or more PER YEAR. Also, there are the FREE BENEFITS (that will expose the district to the "Cadillac" tax) and there is the fact teachers work at most 10 months a year. That $150,000 salary "adjusted" for these factors is now in the neighborhood of $225,000 to $230,000 per year. That is not FAIR. It is time for teachers to PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE!

@Rational That--Go to Springfield and solve the pension problem. The current negotiations will not address the problem, which is real. It is unsustainable, and the BOE is rightly concerned that costs are going to boomerang. But the Illinois state pension system is not on the table. It is the elephant in the room, however, and both parties are dealing with the uncertainty. But the parties need to negotiate on the issues before them, which are largely just two--percentage increases and the two tier system.

Yes, what's up with the new superintendent? Is he out of town? Suspiciously quiet...

@Hmmm6 - the issue with the pensions is that teachers want to IGNORE it as being part of their overall compensation. They want to compare straight salary alone, saying they deserve the same as other "professionals", yet don't want to count the $30K-$50K annual benefit that is their pension.

As for "helping" the pension crisis, one way would be for IL to start taxing pensions (or at least that which is over maximum SSI). IL Teachers pensions would be treated as IL income, so we would be getting an extra $5-$10K back from the teachers each year - that would be "FAIR".

LF Mom - the salaries may have been "what they were" from the prior contract, but that does not mean they should not reflect the new fiscal reality that the TAXPAYERS are facing. Do you know many people that are getting GUARANTEED 6% pay increases each year (is that on top of the swim lane increases)? Are you aware of ANY other industry that gives an automatic pay increase for additional education, WHETHER OR NOT IT HELPS WITH THE JOB?

This is not bullying - I do respect what the teachers do, but I don't see how we can afford to continue to give lavish increases, benefits, and pensions. Each teacher is going to cost us $3,000,000+ for pension - where do you think that money is going to come from?

@RationalTht
Most people in the private sector have the ability to get promotions or new jobs that result in higher salaries. They are also in the private sector that focusing on profit.
Teachers cannot negotiate individual salaries, and do not get promoted (unless becoming administration). You cannot compare private and public sector jobs. You can look at how other comparable schools pay their teachers for an accurate barometer.
Secondly, if you fully understood negotiations you would know that no matter how the contract ends up, your tax dollars are not effected. So the fiscal reality you face does not relate at all to this current strike. Its fine to complain about, but completely irrelevant to the topic at hand.

You don't like the "fire them all philosophy"? You think that's incendiary?

Well then, what do you call it when the teachers shut down the school? Isn't that a "screw the whole community, win at all cost philosophy"? ... and they're not just talking about it. THEY'VE DONE IT!!!

Right now our community doesn't have a problem with angry people posting on a web site. We have a problem with a radical teachers' union engaging in scorched earth destruction of our town to get what they want.

I think we need to put the pressure on the people who are doing the damage. Stop beating up on your neighbors and force the teachers back into the school.

We'll settle our other disagreements in November. ;)

Well said!

@Jeff - the problem is, teachers are always wanting to compare themselves to others in the private sector. Also, don't heads of departments get paid more?

My big issue is that teachers get paid more for additional education, whether or not it helps the students. Would getting and advanced degree in French History help a teach Chemistry better - not really, but the teacher would still get paid more for it.

Tell the BOE to put kids first - their goal, along with others, seems to be to break the union, don't compromise. Put the kids before anti-union demands.

Kids first.

@ Gary. Your inflamatory rhetoric is so holier-than-thou it is becoming laughable. "Immoral"....."economic slavery"....really? We are all responsible adults here. You are not speaking to a bunch of morons who will gobble up your every word and believe everything you say. Please be calm and discuss the issues at hand and quit spouting this stuff. It sounds like you are a paranoid "commie" hunter. How about some all-American concepts like negotiation and comprimise.

@Another
I don't think you recognized the rhetorical device I was using.

I agree on the compromise part though. The teachers should compromise and take the pay raises offered by the board.

Now we're getting somewhere. I like RationalTht's spirit of getting on with negotiations. I know that many teachers are with you on these points. The BOE needs to start moving, and the LFEA needs to start moving. That's my point!

Another thing....the new super needs to get off his ass and get involved.

Finally, Gary's pontification about vouchers and pensions, etc., is fine, just does not belong in this discussion.

When looking at LF as one of the "highest paid in the state" - this is an average salary. Teachers dont want to leave here. 25% of teachers are retiring in the next few years, so they are all getting paid a ton. The average salary will be much lower then.
If you look at starting salaries for teachers, LFHS is below average compared to other high-performing north shore school.
If you want to attract the best...

@Jeff, LF Mom
Thank you for bringing some rational thinking to this. The end result WILL BE the kids back in school with the current staff. That's a win-win. How can we make that happen, and soon? And make it happen in a way consistent with fiscal responsibility AND salaries and benefits commensurate with surrounding districts of similar stature? Forget discussions of vouchers and pensions and feelings about unions.

Did you completely make this up? Because this is quite ridiculous.
I would say issues of inserting union-busting clauses and a two-tier pay schedule into the contract are quite more significant than your fantasy-land insurance complaint.
And most teachers are not paid over 90grand...just those with multiple degrees and 25+ years of experience...they probably deserve the money.

@Jeff - I am sure the BOE would like to have the newer scale for ALL teachers, it is just that they won't accept it. It is the reality of what CAN be paid.

@Jeff - Well, the salaries posted here for LF teachers tell a different story than what you are stating. If there were 150 teachers on strike, giver or take, the salary posting, after taking out administrators, part timers, etc, gives us 103 that earn more than $90,000. This is assuming there were no adjustments since I believe this is last years data.

You understand that most teachers that retire in more than ten years will most likely not have a pension, right?

@Jeff - if we can turn it over the PBGB, that would be great - let teacher be paid 30-50% of pensions, but I don't think states can do that. The only thing we can do is implement a "fairness" tax on all pensions over SSI level, maybe at 50%, or whatever the democrats say we should hit the "wealthy" with.

We are not bad-mouthing the teachers - we are pointing out that in the current economic climate, their demands seem ridiculous. The taxpayers took hits all the while they were getting 5-6% raises, and now they want more.

Let's put out some job ads, offering say.....2/3rds of what these overpaid primadonnas get.

There would be a stampede of applicants that were just as qualified!

You hear that folks? If you want to stop the fiscal bleeding, fix the $93 billion dollar pension mess, and create a sustainable model for education in the future, you are anti-education.

It seems to me the only "anti-education" people are the teachers who just shut down our high school.

Jeff, aren't you supposed to be on the picket line?