Unreasonable People

Vladimir Putin

Place your military on display over peace loving nations. Rattle your sabers near NATO military training maneuvers, and send your military fighter jets into attack mode over US ships on training missions with NATO. Say it is OK for you to do so. But what then would you say, Mr. Putin, when one of your pilots makes a mistakes and either crashes his plane or accidentially fires upon the US ship? What then would you say about defensive response by NATO nations and the US military? Would you blame them for the result when you and your policies were the cause of the error in the first place?

Yes. I suppose you would. But I understand. Vlad, you have to maintain your popularity among your citizens so you can continue to be the president for life of mother Russia. Too bad when a mistake begins World War III and your people no longer exist. But mutual annihilation of everyone else means no one will be left to gloat or sneer.

You see the childish game you are playing, Vlad? I know you get it. Too bad for you that everyone else does, too. Just not your citizens who have little access to the world press to learn what shenanigans you are up to.

Well, I guess that leaves other adults to take responsibility and do the work you refuse to do. Too bad. Peace is so near.  But now?...

Chicago Teachers’ Union

Let’s see what is unreasonable about the teachers’ union demands:

• Past contracts provided salary increases that were not fully paid for unless vacant positions were kept vacant, or a small percentage of positions were eliminated. As long as no one lost their job, then no one complained. Now they are complaining because they haven’t been paying attention for how many years?
• The independent Chicago Public School System with its elected board was chronically unable to balance its budget without help from the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois. Generations of this practice were silently allowed by all who should have known better. When the system was hopelessly broke, the City of Chicago took it over and managed it with nationally selected talent.
• Still, budgets were held hostage by union contracts. Union delegates assumed power broker positions and frustrated the CPS management team to really solve endemic problems.  Even systemic problems were glossed over by union personnel daring the CPS and the City of Chicago to keep them quiet and pay their demands.
• The State of Illinois bailed out this broken system for another generation. The union sat silently aside raking in generous salaries and benefits ignoring judgment day which inevitably would arrive.
• Judgment Day is here. The state is broke. The city is broke. The union is not yet broke but will be if it strikes. 

Here’s the deal: teachers in Chicago and in many other school districts in the state have their personal portion of survivor insurance benefits and pension contributions paid for by union contracts from the school district’s tax levies. Most other public employees covered by state and university pension programs still pay their 8% gross salary contribution into the benefit programs. Just like the rest of the nation’s working class, they pay their share of such benefits just like FICA levies for employees and employers.

Not so CPS employees. Theirs is paid by the CPS. 8% of gross salaries. This should not be. The employee ought to pay this cost. Saving 8% of salary on the budget would likely balance the CPS budget. But the union doesn’t want this to happen.

Everyone in the nation has bitten the bullet on benefits, vacations and insurance plans, to say nothing of pension plans. Everyone. We now receive lower benefits, lower insurance coverage and lesser pensions. Some pensions are broke and no benefits or as little as half of the expected defined benefit will be paid out. Not so teachers. They are protected in their mind and in the mind of their union to be spared the pain of what everyone else is experiencing.

Yes, Chicago teachers have it good in many ways and bad in several other matters. But they could count their blessings and work toward common solutions to the problems. This is not a union/management problem. It is a greed problem. And teachers need to be held accountable to the standard.

They are no longer the lowest paid workers in America. Many others take that dubious prize home with them; remember the minimum wage battle? Those are not teachers fighting the fight. Those are hard working people who pay taxes and earn damn little income.

Not so teachers. They earn between $70,000 and $120,000 annual salaries. And they have contract provisions to earn more for taking on additional tasks and programs. They also earn very good insurance benefits, hefty vacation benefits and sick time allowances. Pensions are good but then they don’t pay for them. And still they complain.

There are salary and wage problems in the CPS. There are professional standards problems in CPS. There are effective teaching result problems in the CPS. All are worthy issues in need of solutions.

If teachers are the professional educators they say they are they ought to be setting their inventive abilities on solving those problems for everyone in the system. Let management people solve the budget and salary/benefit problems.

Act as a team member and not a spoiled child!

April 19, 2016