10-Year Suburban Teachers' Contract Puts Taxpayers on Hook in Rigged System

Guest view by state Rep. Tom Morrison, R-Palatine

Last month the Palatine-area District 15 school board approved an unprecedented 10-year teachers’ contract that hurts taxpayers and potentially harms students. Area residents should be outraged over a contract that was approved behind closed doors without being given the opportunity to express their views.

The contract provides a 40-percent pay increase over its term, far above increases that most taxpayers have been able to earn in their own jobs. It preserves pre-retirement, 6-percent yearly pay spiking to boost teachers’ pensions. It also increases sick days from 15 to 24 per year – giving teachers quicker access to early retirement. It freezes health insurance and prescription drug costs for district employees for 10 years, while those in the private sector have seen their premiums and deductibles soar.

Defenders of the contract said one of their goals was to save taxpayers money by encouraging highly-paid teachers to retire early and replacing them with younger, lower paid teachers. But our students deserve the best teachers regardless of seniority. And Illinois state taxpayers don’t deserve to be on the hook for all of those spiked-in, expensive early retirements.

This contract would prevent District 15 taxpayers from taking advantage of pending legislation in Springfield aimed at saving schools and local governments money through more local control of collective bargaining, bidding, and contracting. Efforts are underway to limit end-of-career salary spikes and other benefit sweeteners that are unsustainable. If the bipartisan negotiations in Springfield lead to reforms, taxpayers might miss out on the savings for another 10 years.

Surprised and angry residents are wondering how the board could approve such a large payout to the teachers union.

The fix was in when teachers union campaign dollars were used to elect a pro-union school board. Then, without a public application process, this new board selected the former president of the teachers union as the administration’s human resources director. The school superintendent, who is also a former teacher union member, sincerely believes the district can be fair to both the teachers union and taxpayers. In fact, he claimed in an email that serving as union president or as a district administrator makes no difference, it is just “switching roles on the same team.”

But, one cannot, no matter how sincerely motivated, discard a career in the union while negotiating with that very union. The union’s goal: maximize membership, pay, and perks. Taxpayers’ goal: maximize value and provide excellent education at reasonable cost. The undue union influence over the school board has resulted in an unfair, unaffordable contract that will have detrimental impact on taxpayers and students.

Variations of this story have played out across Illinois for decades. It’s the primary reason we have America’s highest property taxes and most inflated public pensions. Illinois politicians are often elected by public sector union ground operations. They receive campaign cash from the unions with which they negotiate. Unlike businesses, Illinois schools and local governments can’t move or declare bankruptcy if public sector union demands are unaffordable. When public sector unions have outsized influence over elected officials, it rigs the system with an unfair conflict of interest and sadly, it’s our taxpayers who suffer and seek to move.

Other states have begun to figure this out and have taken action to restore a balance between taxpayers and unions in schools and local governments. Thirty-seven states do not allow teachers unions to strike. Most states prohibit the forced payment of dues for teachers who don’t want to join the union. The vast majority of states remove one or more elements from collective bargaining with taxpayer-funded unions. Even the federal government does not allow its employees to strike or to collectively bargain most issues.

Our teachers should be highly compensated. But pay should be based upon quality and effectiveness with students, not just seniority. There must be balance among the interests of our students, teachers, and taxpayers. It’s time we end the rigged system and restore balance in Illinois.

Recommended: Rahm Emanuel accuses Gov. Bruce Rauner of 'running down' Chicago's economy

Like what you see here from Reboot Illinois? Then sign up for our daily email to get more great content right to your email.