The Cost of Breaking a Union

Apparently, it is costing taxpayers in Cary a lot of money to break the District 26 teacher’s union.  And for all the talk about fiscal responsibility coming from the board this smacks of hypocrisy.

In addition to paying the Board’s “standard counsel” $1,500 a month, the Board decided to hire another lawyer.  “[He] had come recommended,” Board president Chris Spoerl explained.  In the month of June alone, they paid him $13,789.25.  Then, the following month, Chris Spoerl lamented about the district’s financial situation.    “We have found ourselves in a position where we have to continually fight to stay afloat,” he stated.

I guess “fighting to stay afloat” implies that a high-priced lawyer is needed to bail the water from the ship.   As of July, the board has paid out over $29,000 in legal fees for the ongoing contract negotiations.

Not to mention the hiring of two new administrators at the junior high.

Or $15,000 for some used computers.

Or concluding a new contact with Superintendent Brian Coleman that includes raises based on CPI and up to 4% extra a year upon completion of some undefined “goals.”

Or the unknown amount of money paid to Advantage Analytics, LLC for making the highly informative and enlightening powerpoint presentations Spoerl uses at Board meeting to put us all to sleep.

Nothing like trying to keep a boat afloat which is overburdened with cargo that you yourself have added to the hold. 

Thanks, Chris Spoerl, for showing us that the children really aren’t at the forefront of the Board’s decision-making.  That’s comforting to the thousands of parents who have no choice but to send their kids to District 26 schools.

The Northwest Herald recently reported that $29,000 figure after the documents were secured through Freedom of Information Act requests.  This figure, however, reflects information only through July.  This means that the money given to lawyers is much higher---could even have passed the $40,000 mark, considering that the negotiation team has met several times in the last month and the board apparently thinks nothing of forking over $13k in a month period for legal fees.

The Board wants nothing more than to drag this out as long as possible.  And when this happens, more money flows from Cary taxpayers into the pockets of lawyers.

That is unacceptable. 

Especially considering that this money could have paid for a full time art teacher at one of the schools.

Thanks, board, for showing us your true priority.

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If you feel that the board is not acting in the best interest of the children or citizens of Cary, please consider signing the petition of no confidence.

Click here to add your name.

Johnny Cash and the Northwest Herald

McHenry County is lucky to have such a high caliber newspaper as The Northwest Herald.

Okay, maybe not.

My wife and I cancelled our subscription to The Northwest Herald a few years ago due to the fact that the paper lacks balance. And there have been some serious flaws in reporting over the years. Amateurish, actually.

When we got a call from them last year to renew our subscription for a 4 day delivery, including Sunday, for a one-time price of $20 or so, we decided to give them another try. After all, if they were offering a subscription like that they must be hurting for readers.

And we just wanted to help them out. We’re like that, you know.

Today, the editor of The Northwest Herald went on his usually tirade. He does that every week. And this time, it was against the teachers of District 26, of course.

Chris Krug likes to do that.

He took issue with the fact that several teachers attended the last board of education meeting wearing black. The headline states, “Back out on the blackout.” Then he goes on to ridicule those teachers for their choice of color, stating, “Teachers wearing black in support of the deal that has been imposed on them is as short sighted as….yada..yada..yada.”

Chris Krug, they were not wearing black in support of the deal. They were wearing black to show that they were not in support of the deal…because, it was not….a deal. A deal implies a mutually agreed upon outcome. The fact is, the board has refused to deal.

He didn’t tell you that, however.

In fact, there was much that Mr. Krug does not mention. Of course, he laments about teachers’ salaries. “No tears will be shed for someone who can’t get by on an average salary of $69,000 a year,” he writes.

But did he tell you that the Superintendent’s base salary of $147,000 is subject to possible increases based on CPI and another 4% a year extra if he meets performance goals?

No, he did not.

Did he mention that this Board of Education has a new budget that includes 2% more allocated to Administration this year?

No, he did not.

Did he mention that the teachers have offered to give up retirement bonuses and end of career bumps?

No, he did not.

Did he mention that teachers have offered to pay 30% more for health insurance?

No, he did not.

Most of the column, actually, was devoted to the lyrics of Johnny Cash’s familiar song, “Man in Black.” In fact, the entire song was reprinted there in the column, taking up perhaps 1/3 of the space.

See, that’s what happens when people have nothing to say. You see this much in high school writing, actually. Kids like to quote songs or a famous person to show that they know how to write and make a point. This happens often in The Northwest Herald.  And these are people who supposedly know something about journalism and the writing process.

Thanks Mr. Krug for showing us that you can Google Johnny Cash lyrics.

I can, too. In fact, maybe you should have used the lyrics for Cash’s song, “First Grade Old Maid Teacher.” I’m sure you could have worked that into your column in a “clever” way, too:

First grade old maid teacher

Getting' ready to go home

Thirty happy children

Once again are on their own

They climb aboard the school bus

She smiles and waves goodbye

But the first grade old maid teacher

Wants to cry

The fact is that The Northwest Herald has come down quite aggressively on just one side of this issue. Many of us were pleasantly surprised by Katie Anderson’s article of last week. That just doesn’t happen often in The Northwest Herald.

Perhaps Mr. Krug was on vacation that week.

No one here is saying that the teacher’s shouldn’t make concessions. I believe the teachers have to make some major concessions.

But the board has to meet them at the table and give some things up as well.

But that is not what they appear to be doing.  And that is something that The Northwest Herald should also be reporting.

But Chris Krug doesn’t want that side of the story to be told, apparently.

He would rather talk about Johnny Cash and teachers wearing black.

Pay freezes and superintendents....

I have nothing personal against Brian Coleman, the Cary District 26 superintendent.  I know that may be hard to believe as I publicly called for him to be fired at the Community Engagement Committee meeting last week.  I was a little emotional, I admit.  In fact, I almost came to tears talking about my 2nd grade son who doesn't like school.  The fact that there is no longer art, music or gym in the grade schools doesn't help his situation.  When it comes to my kids, I get a little more emotional than someone perhaps watching this debacle from the sideline.

At the last board meeting, a Cary resident stood up to publicly defend Brian Coleman, saying that he was disgusted by the anger directed at the superintendent.  No doubt, he was referring to me, among others, who have taken public swipes at the superintendent.  He talked about how Brian Coleman was an outstanding teacher for his daughter.  That may be true; I personally have no knowledge of Brian Coleman outside of his superintendency.  He may have been a fabulous teacher.  I don't know.

This is really not about Brian Coleman, however.  It is about the Board of Education and what they say and do.  This is about the inconsistencies in actions.

But let's be clear:  in this time of financial trouble, the Board of Education has been very generous to Brian Coleman.

This year, Brian Coleman's contract was renewed with the school board.  He will continue to be our superintendent until June, 2016.

According to reports, Brian Coleman "voluntarily" took a pay freeze for 2011-12.  Therefore, his base salary continues to be a little over $147,000.  With the other benefits he receives, his salary is boosted to $181,000 or so.

But is this really a pay freeze?

For the next four years of his tenure in District 26 beyond this school year, Brian Coleman's salary will be tied to the consumer price index.  This means that he could receive a boost next year.  Who knows?  The CPI for 2010 was 1.6%.  Which means that Brian Coleman would have received a 1.6% raise.  If the CPI for 2011 is 3.6%, that means the superintendent gets a 3.6% raise (If the CPI declines, does his salary decline, too?  We don't know, as the contract specifics were not made public).

Plus, according to his contract, he can get 4% extra each year if he completes some performance-based goals.

That means that Brian Coleman in actuality is eligible for close to $6000 in raises each year outside of CPI "adjustments." Even though he "voluntarily" contributes 10% to his board-paid health insurance, the superintendent can actually get pay raises each year.

Ooops.  Not actually a "freeze" is it?

The kicker is this: the teachers have offered a pay freeze as well.  In fact, they have offered a "hard freeze," meaning there is no increase based on CPI.  There is no step increase either.  (This was the situation with the offer made on August 9.  This may have changed, as the CEA has since offered another proposal.  But the details are not yet public.)

When the teachers offered that pay freeze, the board responded that a pay "freeze" is not a "cut."  They need cuts, they keep telling the teachers and the public.  Brian Coleman himself stated at a Finance Committee meeting in February, "We have to live within our budget." 

So why was a pseudo-freeze acceptable for Brian Coleman's contract?  After all, a "freeze is not a cut" they keep saying.  And as we have seen, Brian Coleman really isn't experiencing a pay freeze, after all.

There is no consistency on the part of the Board of Education.  The words and explanations that are offered by the board are not backed up by facts.

Nor are they backed up by actions.

And that is the problem.

The Rant: Will the Board Accept the New Offer to Sit Down?

As most of you have heard by now, the Cary Educational Association has submitted another offer to the Board of Education.  As was abundantly clear on Monday, the teachers are still willing to sit down at the table.  The problem:  Is the Board of Education willing?  I am not too sure.  That is why we need to keep up the pressure.

Here is another edition of The Rant.  In this episode:  viewer mail, pseudonyms and the Community Engagement Committee meeting.



Let the board know that you want them to sit back down and work it out with the teachers. Before it is too late.

Is District 26 serious about cutting (or does this philosophy only apply to teachers)?

Cary District 26 claims they do not have money.  They wanted the teachers to come up with $2 million in cuts.  And the teachers did that on August 9.  But still no deal.  The board refused to continue the negotiations and, instead, implemented their "last, best offer."

From the public opinion survey, it is clear that people think administration should endure cuts as well.  Since closing two schools, what has happened to the administrative center and those jobs there?  Let's look at the way things were in the Spring of 2009.  This was back when District 26 had six schools.  How many people were working in the Administrative office in 2009?  Twenty*  (Click on the link to see an archived page from 2009)

How many now? Nineteen

What's the difference?   Currently, Brian Coleman has one less administrative assistant. The Curriculum Coordinator position was removed as was the position of Accountant.  The Administrative Assistant to Curriculum and Special Education was moved to become Executive Administrative Assistant to the Director of Special Services.  However, three positions were added in this time:  Finance Coordinator, Payroll Clerk and receptionist in the Finance and Operations Office.

In addition, the board was able to hire 2 assistant principals for the Junior High, plus allocate $15,000 to buy 546 4-year-old used computers from another district.  Good deal on the computers, perhaps.  But should the district really be spending like this when they are in a "dire" financial situation?

Chris Jenner and Julie Jette voted against the hiring of the two administrators.  Jette thought it was more important to work on getting class sizes down.

Jenner voiced support for cutting administration.  "In the last six years our student population has gone down by 20 percent, at what point do you change the structure of the administration," he said after the vote.

Now, I may have said many things about Jenner on this site, but on this point, he was right.  The administration needs to be restructured so that less money is spent there.

It just doesn't seem like that is happening in a substantive way.

Especially since the teachers are still willing to negotiate.


* In 2009, the speech pathologist was listed on the Administration and staff support page.  She is still employed by the district and was never considered an administrator.