With negotiating teams from the and the meeting with a federal mediator today, ?
Should the two sides reach an agreement there will be no worries for the many Lake Forest High School student athletes but if they do not, there could be a work stoppage as early as Sept. 11, three games into the football season.
A teacher's strike would not just send students home from school just as they begin fall classes. It could also leave athletes not just out of the classroom, but from the field of play.
All fall sports teams began officially practicing August 8. They include football, boys’ and girls’ golf, field hockey, boys’ and girls’ cross country, boys’ soccer and girls’ tennis. All, with the exception of football, have begun playing games. The Scout football team entertains Buffalo Grove at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
According to the Illinois High School Association bylaws, in the event of a teachers’ strike, "no team or other entity representing a member school may participate in an interscholastic contest or activity during the time the member school is not in session".
This could be interpreted as saying teams cannot practice or play games if there is no school. But Illinois High School Association communications director Matt Troha said that is not the case.
"They can hold practices as long as the school administration and school board approve and licensed coaches can continue to coach," Troha said, adding that sometimes the teacher's union will not let coaches mentor players if they are also teachers.
Not all coaches are faculty members while others, like Scout football coach Chuck Spagnoli, is a member of the faculty. He had no comment when questioned by Patch.
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I think the demands of the teachers are unrealistic in this economic environment. Stop being greedy and be grateful you have a job.
Our teachers are among the highest paid in the country. Why are we negotiating with a union? The purpose of a union is to collectively protect the individual worker against: 1. Being coerced into working in hazardous conditions... our teachers are in a safe environment. 2. Being underpaid ... we pay top dollar. 3. Being unfairly treated by management ... the management (the taxpayers) have been very fair to our teachers, and would continue to be fair regardless of their union association. I just don't understand why we negotiate with the union. Offer each teacher a reasonable deal and replace those who refuse. We have to get the control of our schools back in the hands of the taxpayers.
Gress, Charles $149,852 Gigiano, Thomas$104,785 Gilbert, Scott $118,609 Abrams, Ryan $90,802 Alexander Collier, Cindy $93,208 Antrim, Wendy $132,483 Aronson, Steve$81,721 Barndt, Darren $103,829 Bassill, Robert $91,500 Benson, Rhonda$151,701 Berkshire, Jacqueline$125,969 Bielski, Carolyn$98,605 Birtman, Amy $104,321 Bower, Diane $120,567 Brandes, David$142,452 Brown, Denise $121,219 Burkhalter, Timothy $137,306 Chantler, Julie $113,140 Christofylakis, Elizabeth $88,433 Clark, Carol $101,263 Clark, Diane $151,530 Clegg, Laura $112,843 Clegg, Stephe$133,945 Coad, Daniel $130,594 Cooney, Tama$134,325 Davenport, Candice $110,663 De Rosa, Joseph $96,025 DeBartolo, Laura $82,809 Del Fava, Raymond $116,977 Donlon, William $124,643 Doucette, Melissa $105,762 Douglass, Stephen $101,430 Dukats, Mara $94,973 Dunn, Stephen $93,551 Eccleston, Jane$102,732 Ferges, Lance $111,065 Finley, Christopher $109,777 Flangel, Laura $107,596 Freedman, Keith$128,428 Gantt, Lloyd $135,403 Gatta, Jennifer $78,243 Gibson, Laura $142,201 Goldstein, Paul$84,295 Haskett, Timothy$130,099 Hawkins, David$127,865 Heroux, Kathryn$130,695 Hoak, Bradford$129,221 Horan, Sandra $122,846 Jensen, Elizabeth $127,347 Jerch, Janie $134,242 Johnson, Pamela $131,344
Al Boese, Lake Bluff
Since there is an impasse - fire the Board, and any strikers also get fired.
You are so right. These teachers are grossly overpaid, at the top of the scale nationwide, and they want more, more, more.....They aren't worth it. We would all be better off if they left our community..they aren't part of it anyway! People don't realize the LFEA, the cute cover name for our teachers union, is really the SEIU, the hardball union that only cares about itself and has said they could care less about the children until they become union paying dues members.
You in fact are the one that sounds deranged. No one on this site appears unstable or out of control. Most just want our kids educated in a decent school and feel we as a community have paid dearly for this privilege. Is that paranoia? I don't believe our teaching staff deserve a 6% pay raise and no raise is warranted at this time as they have had outsized raises in the past that have caused their salaries to become too high and stress the taxpayers too much. Hold the line on pay increases. If they demand more, let them look elsewhere for it! Just my opinion.
As you said, "This is the United States of America. People are allowed to negotiate and have freedom to bargain." And that is exactly what has happened. Unfortunately the process requires flexibility and rational thought from both sides. It also requires an interest and passion in the best interest of those being served...our children. Your definition of those who work the jobs and pay the taxes to financially support the teachers, while raising and supporting the children that attend schools that employ the teachers as "a bunch of paraniod and mentally unstable people" is insulting. The social apathy that is evident in your comment alludes to your lack of understanding, commitment and involvement in the issues being, or not being, negotiated and that will directly impact the future of our children, as well as the well-being of the community. Take an interest, educate yourself, take a side and let your voice be heard. Otherwise you sound just like another complainer that sits on the fence with all the other 'mentally sane' bystanders.