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Post by doctorwho on Aug 23, 2012 16:36:30 GMT -6
I put this in the "In the news" section, but since it has not made the news around here- nor made it's way home to any of the parents /taxpayers yet- just in case you might have any opinion on it.....
this was posted on the 204 web page - so unless you somehow had an alert system for it, you would be unaware:
Tentative Agreement with Teachers
Reported by janet_buglio@ipsd.org on 8/23/12
District 204's Board of Education and the Indian Prairie Education Association (IPEA) have reached a tentative agreement on a new two-year contract for District 204 teachers. Members of the IPEA will vote on the contract on Friday, August 31. Should the IPEA ratify the contract, the Board of Education will take its vote at a special meeting on September 4. Details of the tentative agreement will be shared with the community after the terms of the agreement are presented to IPEA members.
So now the question is : How much ? In a time when unemployment is back rising again in Illinois and reality puts it at close to 20% counting all that should be counted-- how much are we going to pay so ' no one leaves' ??
maybe one wants to ask someone in authority that question- ASAP !
mark your calendars for Sept 4-- I am sure we held the line ;D
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Post by macrockett on Aug 27, 2012 22:06:05 GMT -6
Yes, I saw that on the home page Doc. My understanding is that for every point drop in the ACT test scores there is a 2% raise...
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Post by EagleDad on Aug 28, 2012 15:52:13 GMT -6
napervillesun.suntimes.com/news/14783593-418/tentative-agreement-on-new-teachers-contract-in-d204.htmlTentative agreement on new teachers’ contract in D204 By David Sharos For The Sun August 28, 2012 1:34PM Updated: August 28, 2012 4:24PM A tentative agreement has been reached on a new teachers’ contract in Indian Prairie School District 204. The teachers will vote Friday on the new two-year deal. If the teachers approve the contract, it will then move on to the School Board for final approval. “We plan to have a special board meeting on Sept. 4 at 6:30 p.m. in order to address the contact agreement,” District 204 Superintendent Kathy Birkett said. Terms of the contract have not been announced.
Typical IPSD back room deals. They won't announce any of the details prior to the public meeting, will rubber stamp it, and only then, after it has passed will any information be given. Providing convenient cover for this will be the timing with the long holiday weekend (psst, let's do it while the ignorant masses are all out of town) THIS IS TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION. We as taxpayers have a RIGHT to know what is being considered and comment upon it. Our School Board as representatives of the public have a DUTY to disclose what the parameters of the proposed contract are before it is approved so that there may be public feedback and comment. I would encourage any RESPONSIBLE board member to raise this as an issue if it does not occur with sufficient advance time before the 9/4 meeting and make a motion to defer a vote on the contract to the next SB meeting until such time as prudent public notice and feedback can be given. It will be unacceptable to fast track such a major, major expense to the district with complete lack of information and transparency to the public.
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Post by EagleDad on Aug 30, 2012 13:40:49 GMT -6
Looks like someone may have been listening this just sent via the eNews list: The District 204 Board of Education and the Indian Prairie Education Association (IPEA) have reached a tentative agreement on a two-year contract for teachers. Superintendent Kathy Birkett described the agreement as a collaborative effort that takes into consideration the financial challenges presented by today's economy.
Specifically, the contract calls for IPEA members to receive cost of living increases in line with inflation in exchange for a series of salary and benefit reforms, including:
The elimination or reduction of retirement health care benefits for teachers retiring under this contract.
The reduction of paid benefits for part-time tenured employees.
A freeze on stipends paid to teachers for extra duties such as coaching and clubs.
In addition, the contract includes $987,849 in savings from changes to health care benefits. The cost of living increases, including increases related to experience and education, will be 2.13 percent for the 2012-13 school year and 2.89 percent in 2013-14.
Val Dranias, IPEA President, stated, "The IPEA bargaining team worked tirelessly to reach an agreement that was fair to its members and was mindful of the financial issues facing the district."
Indian Prairie Education Association's members will vote on the contract on August 31. An update will be posted on the district's website, www.ipsd.org, once the voting concludes on Friday. If approved, the Board of Education will vote on the contract at a meeting on September 4 at 6:30 pm.
In June, the Board of Education approved a two-year agreement for its clerical and support staff. The Indian Prairie Classified Association's (IPCA) contract also includes a sunset of retirement health care benefits and $186,000 in savings from the implementation of a more efficient medical plan.
In addition to health care and insurance savings, the fiscally responsible terms of the contract called for IPCA members to see cost of living increases of 2.41 percent for the 2012-13 school year and 2.89 percent in 2013-14.
At its September 4 meeting, the Board of Education is also expected to vote on cost of living increases for administrators in line with both inflation and the increases for teachers and classified employees. The proposal includes a sunset of retirement benefits and calls for administrators to see a 2 percent increase in 2012-13 and a 2.5 percent increase in 2013-14.
In all three salary areas, the district has worked to keep the total compensation, after taking into consideration benefit concessions, at or below the rate of inflation over the two-year period. FWIW, the inflation rates in May, Jun, July were 1.70%, 1.66%, 1.41% respectively. |
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Post by doctorwho on Sept 2, 2012 8:32:19 GMT -6
napervillesun.suntimes.com/news/14783593-418/tentative-agreement-on-new-teachers-contract-in-d204.htmlTentative agreement on new teachers’ contract in D204 By David Sharos For The Sun August 28, 2012 1:34PM Updated: August 28, 2012 4:24PM A tentative agreement has been reached on a new teachers’ contract in Indian Prairie School District 204. The teachers will vote Friday on the new two-year deal. If the teachers approve the contract, it will then move on to the School Board for final approval. “We plan to have a special board meeting on Sept. 4 at 6:30 p.m. in order to address the contact agreement,” District 204 Superintendent Kathy Birkett said. Terms of the contract have not been announced.
Typical IPSD back room deals. They won't announce any of the details prior to the public meeting, will rubber stamp it, and only then, after it has passed will any information be given. Providing convenient cover for this will be the timing with the long holiday weekend (psst, let's do it while the ignorant masses are all out of town) THIS IS TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION. We as taxpayers have a RIGHT to know what is being considered and comment upon it. Our School Board as representatives of the public have a DUTY to disclose what the parameters of the proposed contract are before it is approved so that there may be public feedback and comment. I would encourage any RESPONSIBLE board member to raise this as an issue if it does not occur with sufficient advance time before the 9/4 meeting and make a motion to defer a vote on the contract to the next SB meeting until such time as prudent public notice and feedback can be given. It will be unacceptable to fast track such a major, major expense to the district with complete lack of information and transparency to the public. If you take their percentages it is still over a $6M raise. Where is the backup if the $987,849 doesn't come in ( and I've seen enough creative math here over the years to sure as hell question this !!) This is over a $7M raise! - are you kidding me ? can we count on anyone to be there ? Are we all just going to go quietly into the night ? It's what they are counting on I assure you..... can we disappoint them and make them explain all of this ?
It's up to you -- this affects each and every one of us here-- there are no boundaries that divide the cost of this.....Be there Tuesday Sept 4 - |
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Post by southsidesignmaker on Sept 2, 2012 17:39:47 GMT -6
6 million with a operating budget of 1/4 billion. Sounds like the board will have no real issue coming up with the coin. Taxpayers may have to pay an extra buck or two a month.
I suspect turnout will be low as the BUSY masses will be busy with daily life activities.
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Post by doctorwho on Sept 2, 2012 23:13:34 GMT -6
6 million with a operating budget of 1/4 billion. Sounds like the board will have no real issue coming up with the coin. Taxpayers may have to pay an extra buck or two a month. I suspect turnout will be low as the BUSY masses will be busy with daily life activities. I wish I worked for you as you have no trouble giving money away - especially in these times- at least as far as our 204 board is concerned. As all of those bond issues come due- it is going to be far more than a buck or two my firend - and the orchestrator - Dave Holm is now gone. Is there any amount of money that would not be OK with you? I'll bet you could solve the CPS mess in one day- just give em the 30% they want to work the same school day as the rest of the country. amazing-- this is why our taxes suck in 204 - and will only get worse. And hey- for stellar performance too.. sadly the apathy will probably be the order of the day- but not because it should be |
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Post by doctorwho on Sept 2, 2012 23:16:47 GMT -6
6 million with a operating budget of 1/4 billion. Sounds like the board will have no real issue coming up with the coin. Taxpayers may have to pay an extra buck or two a month. I suspect turnout will be low as the BUSY masses will be busy with daily life activities. -- funny you are comfortable with them finding almost $1M in 'savings' - yet many who actually support the district are far less confident than you are......it's a crap shoot..but hey balance sheets in 204 are for suckers hell we haven't even reconciled the final cost of Metea yet- but hey, who cares, anything goes here, we're rich |
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Post by southsidesignmaker on Sept 3, 2012 19:45:31 GMT -6
C'mon Doc,
You know me better than that. Real estate taxes for most are set up to be paid with one's mortgage. It is only cheep skates like me that "cut the check" twice a year.
I remember the days when public education was +/- 50% of the total tax bill... not the almost 80% it has become today. The simple fact is there is complete voter apathy as the masses have been conditioned to "a monthly billing cycle", with no idea the huge chuck that education now represents on a yearly or decade basis.
No.... Doc a 2% raise does not bother me much at all when compared to the "real train wreck" of defined pension plans and our states new idea of dumping those pension plans right in the lap of the taxpayer.
Of course in my case it makes little difference as the pastures are starting to look a bit greener in other more financial prudent states.
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Post by macrockett on Sept 3, 2012 20:29:22 GMT -6
6 million with a operating budget of 1/4 billion. Sounds like the board will have no real issue coming up with the coin. Taxpayers may have to pay an extra buck or two a month. I suspect turnout will be low as the BUSY masses will be busy with daily life activities. As has always been the case SSSM, you are predictable in your ignorance of financial math. In general, $6million in and of itself is not a big deal. It is the exponential nature of the year after year % increase that is the demon. Also, in addition to repeated salary increases themselves, those yearly increases impact the pension payout as well. When you increase salaries, you increase the pension payout by .75% of the same increase (in general). Anyone who does not understand how disasterous exponential growth can be should review the 43 minute video prepared by Kleiner Perkins: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnD0daTCcbg To put teachers salaries in perspective with private sector salaries, just look at minute 10-15 of the video discussion of a family budget. In our case, private sector wages have been flat, in real terms (after inflation) over the last decade. Public sector wages, on the other hand, have grow over 20% in real terms over the same period. Applying exponential math to this disparity can show alarming growth in one while the other stagnates. Eventually, you have a tremendous disparity in the two. The same is true of the pension gap that has been created in Illinois. When the actuarial assumptions are incorrect, the unfunded liability simply blows up as it has in Illinois, to over $83 billion. I did the math on this as an example at least two times. Returns in Illinois were roughly 3 1/2% over the last decade whereas the actuarial assumption was over 8%. When there is such a disparity in what is assumed and what is reality, the result is something that no one imagined could happen. And don't forget that roughly $3.5 million in added costs for operations of Metea. Do the compounding yourself for 20 years using just a 2% growth in that figure. See what you think of that! Finally, look at the number of growing municipalities that have budgets that are unsustainable because of the pension and OPEB costs. All of these are growing exponentially and they are, in many cases, becoming a significant part of the entire budget. We are in serious trouble locally and as a nation. Anyone who does not understand that should spend some serious time educating themselves. Personally, I have spent several thousand hours over the last 4 years doing just that. |
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Post by macrockett on Sept 4, 2012 11:46:53 GMT -6
Here is another piece of information for the uninformed: winsome.cnchost.com/MAC/fy11cafr107_118.pdfThis is the 2011 audited financial statements for the Illinois TRS. Take a look at pages 116-117. There you will see the average annual benefit for retirees based on year of retirement and years of service. As you move from the lower left to the upper right, you move toward those retiring currently with the most years of service. Looking at the top row on page 117 you will see that monthly compensation for the year 2011 retirees averages: for 30-34 years of service: $5190/mo (page 117 top line is that of current retirees) for 35-39 : $5708 40+ : $6527 These figures are for pension benefits alone. In addition teachers receive healthcare coverage from retirement till they reach eligibility for medicare. What was the outstanding unfunded liability in D204 for fiscal 2011? over $29 million. |
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Post by southsidesignmaker on Sept 5, 2012 6:28:04 GMT -6
Big Mac, Financial Ignorant?  Inflation now is around 2% ...Raises to teachers about the same... Pension obligations---- A train wreck in the making (I noted this, you choose not to respond) Contract passed ... well at least there was some decent at the board level. And how was the turnout at that board meeting... Was everyone up in arms??? |
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Post by macrockett on Sept 5, 2012 11:14:38 GMT -6
Big Mac, Financial Ignorant? Inflation now is around 2% ...Raises to teachers about the same... Pension obligations---- A train wreck in the making (I noted this, you choose not to respond) Contract passed ... well at least there was some decent at the board level. And how was the turnout at that board meeting... Was everyone up in arms??? Sorry SSSM, nothing you've stated here changes my opinion. As for the pension obligation, I have commented on that ad nauseam... Finally, when you have a Board composed of a President who states that the gap between the referendum for the third high school and the actual cost was funded by "allocated funds" and another Board member who challenges the explanation of where the funds really came from, along with the overall general course pursued by a majority of this Board, and don't forget the Superintendent, who thinks the District is still "growing"... well you may just decide that it isn't in your interest to waste your time going to a Board meeting... |
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Post by EagleDad on Sept 5, 2012 18:22:03 GMT -6
Inflation now is around 2% ...Raises to teachers about the same... Just to reiterate, the July Inflation rate was 1.41%, and the raises are approximately double that. Add in how public sector salaries have outpaced private over the past 5 years on top of that. Pension obligations---- A train wreck in the making (I noted this, you choose not to respond) Agreed, this is the larger issue and the contract does nothing to address that, nor does anything else our state and local governments are doing Contract passed ... well at least there was some decent at the board level. if "decent" = "spineless, with lack of trust for the public oversight", yes there was a majority for that! And how was the turnout at that board meeting... Was everyone up in arms??? Don't ask me, I like many in the district was away on vacation for a long weekend - a convenient time to address that issue if you are seeking to attract sparse attention, if you ask me. |
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Post by doctorwho on Sept 5, 2012 21:15:12 GMT -6
Big Mac, Financial Ignorant? Inflation now is around 2% ...Raises to teachers about the same... Pension obligations---- A train wreck in the making (I noted this, you choose not to respond) Contract passed ... well at least there was some decent at the board level. And how was the turnout at that board meeting... Was everyone up in arms??? well when the 'deal' is made without the knowledge of some SB members- again a middle of the night back room deal- and then the 'announcement' for the meeting to review it is simply adding an update to the district web page and not notifying people - you expect what ? People here are either so used to getting screwed behind closed doors or don't pay any attention since it doesn't seem to matter--- $124M becomes $152 M and it's normal business -- debt is extended 14-16 years and it's normal business -- millions of dollars of recurring transportation debt added every year by placing a high school so far from the population center, somelikely don't even know it's in 204. much like the crap that Madigan pulls on every taxpayer in the state - it becomes maddening to try and get people's attention. It's not that they wouldn't care if they took the time to pay atttention. If there was a review of all business transactions over the past 5 years held - let's say on a parent school visit day - curriculum day etc. -- then we'd see. but yes it's hard to motivate people who feel they have no say in anything. even people who claim to sqeak when paying bills, seems perrfectly fine with $28million dollar overruns based on lies re: attendance figures - debt restructuring you would NEVER do for your own household or business etc. the ONLY thing that riles everyone up is boundary changes- but wait-- we have some more of those not too far away...we'll see if that lights a fire in at least those areas. |
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