To the Editor: Thanks, Chuck Sweeny, we’ll follow your lead
In Sunday’s Register Star, Chuck Sweeny bemoans the REA’s “Mercedes-Benz” contract; he’s either unaware or disingenuous about how they arrived at it. To clarify the issue, for most of my 35 years in the district, educators agreed to a less than cost-of-living increase. Instead, we settled for holding on to pension and health-care benefits, so our families could benefit in the future, accepting the less-than-adequate salary increases (if any at all) offered by past boards. An ignorance of history never is justified, but that history is conveniently omitted by Sweeny in his latest, thinly-veiled scapegoating of educators.
Hey, Chuck, if you want our children to get a Mercedes-Benz quality education, treating those who provide it as if they were ’58 Edsels will result in inadequate educational mileage and result in irreparable damage to quality down the road. The children of District 205 deserve better.
Those who purchase the Register Star also deserve better. I would hope you at the Register Star take the lead and become public models of that spirit of sacrifice by voluntarily reducing your wages and benefits by whatever percentage you recommend should be taken from the educators. Please send what is taken from your wages to District 205, for the sake of the children.
And I’d also encourage District 205 downtown administrators and other economically comfortable civic-minded citizens and area businessmen to do the same, for the sake of the children. Then, we could actually see the balance sheet reflect a sacrifice on the part of the entire community instead of scapegoating the many fiscal problems of District #205 on the many dedicated teachers of District #205.
Chuck, set the process in motion. We anxiously await your lead. Thanks.
Michael Cannariato
Teacher, District 205
Rockford
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4 Comments
Hey, Mike, I always stand up FOR the teachers BUT at this time, it is important for all teachers to accept pay and step movement freezes. You must also accept that it is time to pay MORE for your healthcare and put more into your pensions. The REST of the community has had to do both MANY times over. It is unacceptable for teachers to NOT fall inline with the rest of the community. These are just items that the rest of us have had to adjust to–it doesn’t affect the quality of my job performance NOR should it affect yours!! It is what it is so graciously accept it as the rest of us have to or change jobs. I don’t like it either but I don’t have a choice and neither do you at this time!!
Funny how private school teachers make much less than public school teachers, yet the students do so much better, get better educations, and advance further in post high school studies than those that go to public schools/
Listen to the teacher stating his dedication for quality education for our kids, what a joke. I was a product of 205, went to Kennedy in 82′ when they closed Roosevelt as a middle school. The neighborhood kids including myself were passed on to 8th grade with 6 to 7 e’s on every report card, including numerous days skipped, moved out of 8th into 9th at West with the same kind of results. Same thing at West. 205 has been failing the kids now for almost three decades! What a shame! But, they make alot of money doing it? Wonder why when we get to College we have to take all the basic H.S classes all over again? The State needs to take over dist.205, it’s been a long time coming.
pls resign mr. sweeney–your articles on ‘the great white state’ of Arizona was another example of your over-reaching ‘love’ for the millions of illegals who stormed our country. Never in history has 20+ millions left a nation for another. The male pop. of mexico left the nation in the control of the cartels. Chuck you are typical of many Rockford media-types. The two police unions in AZ asked and helped pen/draft the law.