Your Feedback
(comments from readers)

Zip Code 60178: Boy does your point on the need for school districts to be "willing" participants in economic development efforts hit home. We're chasing jobs away at the same time that we're insisting on only expensive new homes being built. Those people moving in aren't working in Sycamore. Keep going with this, good job!

Zip Code 60115: What would the projected increase in the flat income tax rate be to bring balance to what schools need and tax relief to property owners? The replacement revenue loophole prevention would be a challenge but none of this will happen without work.

My kids are grown. I do have a great nephew living with me who goes to Clinton Rosette. I can't afford a Christian school or he would be going to one. His teacher makes over 80,000 a year (close to retiring would be my guess.) My taxes are $3900 a year. When the house is paid off I will be 68. If my taxes were to remain the same and not go up I am sure my income will be cut so much I would have to sell the house or lose it. Thanks for your time in researching this issue. If we agree with your comments what is our next step?

editor's response: Using the numbers derived by proponents of HB750, if the state income tax was increased from the current level of 3% to 5%, $5 billion new dollars would be generated annually. Replacement revenue loophole prevention must be explicitly written into the legislation but there would need to be a transition period for needed investment in technology and training. That transition period should be aligned to the teacher/administrator retirement schedule through 2009 and tax payers must then accept that property tax relief will not occur until then. Using FY 2010 as a target date for dollar for dollar property tax relief and FY 2006 as start date, along with simple math, $20 billion would be invested in technology as well as the infrastructure and training necessary. Teacher staff size would be reduced without lay-offs. Administrative payroll could be reduced at a faster rate. Manipulation by end of career exorbitant raises (over the last five years) in order to spike the retirement benefits must be banned.

I am pessimistic that legislation would be crafted, without loophole, by the Illinois House and/or Senate based on following the money of campaign contributions. I believe it will take citizen-based referendum and a bringing together of the true reform groups in Illinois to craft the wording of the legislation. I do not believe the CTBA (crafters of HB750) is a true reform group because they completely fail to acknowledge and account for even a slightest bit of a spending problem.

As for school choice: True separation of church and state requires that parents be allowed to make informed choices for the education of their children. I am a proponent of some sort of voucher system that would help parents who want their children to attend private schools (religious or otherwise). I don't believe a 100% voucher is appropriate as we should all share in the overall costs of education so that no child or parent is left behind. The Heartland Institute, here in Illinois, has a school choice voucher reform proposal that is very worthy of consideration.

The following email response is from a reform group based in Harvard. Mrs. Peschke (who I have not met) is correct.  Networking among the various reform groups in the state, all inclusive of ideas, must occur immediately. I have asked for dates and times of her proposed meeting and will post when informed. I must mention that I am not a part of any of the groups and I am not aware of a formal reform group here in DeKalb County.  Let's start one. Count me in.

Zip Code: 60033: Great website. Excellent research. We are in the process in getting education reform groups across the State such as your group together in January. Please contact me if you are interested. We will be meeting at the Family Taxpayers Network in Carpentersville, Illinois.

Thanks,

Cathy Peschke
Citizens for Reasonable And Fair Taxes
CRAFT

Zip Code 60112: There's a lot of people in DeKalb that think we don't pay our share in Cortland for educating our children. I pay over $4000 a year in real estate taxes and I don't have any kids going to school. DeKalb County has one of the highest tax rates in the state. Enough already. I just thought that I would point that out and I would also like to suggest that they change the name to DeKalb-Cortland-Malta School District. It might help keep our kids from being treated like lepers.

Zip Code 60115: I read in the Chronicle that NIU president John Peters makes $272,000 a year. How come you aren't making a big deal about that? It's not just the superintendents.

Zip Code 60178: You forgot to mention that teachers and administrators pay property tax, too.

editor's response: Yes, they pay high property taxes too. School finance reform that shifted the burden, dollar-for-dollar as REPLACEMENT REVENUE, from property to income tax would benefit school employees like it would all other citizens. The villain is NOT the individual teachers or administrators... it's the system.

Zip Code 60178: I don't trust any attempt to shift from property tax to income tax. It will somehow just end up being a tax increase. There isn't enough money in the world for these people. The tax cap laws haven't made a dent in their spending. Frankly I am embarrassed by our school district's shameless greed!

Zip Code 60115: Mac by your logic, medical costs would dramatically drop if all doctors and nurses worked at the same salaries that missionary medical people accept.

I think you really need to document your argument. First, you compare costs of the top administrators, pretending that they reflect the overall costs of teachers. Provide average salary figures for teachers and do so in comparison to what people with B.A./M.S. generally earn in the economy. Next, your comparison with private schools I suspect is tainted by inclusion of religious private schools that pay very little because people serve out of a sense of mission. Fairness would indicate that you present all the figures, not just glosses.

Educational achievement in the past was easier because we were educating a more homogeneous population and were basically ignoring or eliminating those with special needs.

The only part of this last piece that is convincing is that we must continue to talk about the issue (and of course, the continuing thread to reduce education's dependence upon property tax.)

editor's response: I do not think public school teachers are paid too much. I think most earn their living and do the best they can for our children. I highly suspect that a few of those teachers are way over paid but tenure prevents us from doing anything about that. I think there are too many of them and that we need to make better use of our expanding information technology as the baby-boomer generation retires. We can reduce teacher payroll through attrition if we do. Are you saying that public school teachers do not serve out of a sense of mission? It is the system that needs changed. I do believe that every superintendent in Illinois who is making more than the Governor is overpaid and they are not held accountable for their job performance.

Zip Code 60135: I am sending Don Manzullo a link to these reports along with a letter asking him to oppose HB 750. We've just got to get spending under control!

Zip Code 60178: I hope someone from the Sycamore school district reads your report. They have no interest whatsoever in becoming "willing partners" to bring in new jobs. They got theirs so the rest of us don't matter.

Zip Code 60115: You've published the top salaries. What about the average salaries. And, how do the top salaries in education compare with the top salaries in businesses with the same size budgets?

editor's response: The average salaries of local teachers and administrators are published on the DeKalb County School Unit Comparison report (those figures are based on Illinois State Board of Education data). Comparing top salaries to private sector companies with similar budgets is not appropriate, in my opinion. In the private sector those salaries are usually dependent upon job performance as it relates to the bottom line profits and market share of the company. If that scenario was shared by school superintendents, for example, then 80% of the superintendents in Illinois would likely lose their jobs as they are in deficit spending and have not improved "market share." If the 'profit' is the education of our children, then 40% of the superintendents could be "on the bubble" because, according to A-plus Illinois, more than 1,600 of Illinois' 3,919 public schools failed to meet the annual requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind act. Your question must be addressed by the legislature at both the state and national level. The American Association of School Administrators have formally adopted such a policy in their 2004 platform. I guess my question back to you would be: Should a public servant's salary be based on anything related to the ability of the public to pay?

Zip Code 60178: I tend to agree with the folks from CRAFT. Most private enterprises have significantly reduced the level of administrative overhead to less than 25% of what existed 10 - 20 years ago. Schools on the other hand, have doubled, tripled, and is some case quintupled their administrative structures. Further, many of the classroom-related cost increases have been made as a result of unfunded mandates by state & federal government. I favor giving total control back to the local districts, let them determine where to spend their [limited] funds, and hold them accountable for the financial management of their districts.

Zip Code 60178: How about you publish your salary? What about the salaries of your employees? You are attacking our school districts and that includes our teachers and our children. Everyone can complain but its funny nobody ever has any suggestions. If you want your children educated you have to pay for it. I am sick of all the neocons like you whining.

editor's response: My highest paid employee is Grace Mott, who is underpaid a salary of $24,000 per year. My son, Matt McIntyre is underpaid $12,000 per year on a part time basis. I have many checks written to myself that I can't cash but I sure hope I can some day. It's a common practice for small business owners. My actual salary last year was $9,800 and I hope to improve on that this year but I was counting heavily on a check that is not going to come. This is an attack on the system, not the people in the system. The purpose in doing this is to hopefully open up the think tanks and get ideas for solutions flowing. Reports four and five will contain suggestions for improvements, many that come from readers. Stay tuned. Also, I am not a neocon. I am an independent voter.

Zip Code: 60115
This report hit me like a ton of bricks!!! I have supported each of the last three referendum attempts. Never, ever again will I fall for their tactics. Someone needs to step in and get control of this situation. How can they possibly explain these raises?

Zip Code: 60115
I have never seen an objective study that could correlate either class size or per-student spending to scholastic achievement. Until we, the taxpayers, say "enough" to the consistent cries of "do it for the children", we will continue to be held economic hostages of the teachers unions, school boards, and local school administrators. Were American industries run to the same fiscal standards as are our schools, they would quickly bankrupt themselves. Only when we demand the same levels of financial accountability from these public sector managers as does Wall Street from the private sector will we ever begin to extract ourselves from the economic "black hole" that we have created, called "public education."

Zip Code: 60115
I have two children in school and I rent so I feel like I should apologize for it. My husband left us a year ago and we live pay check to pay check. I wish there was a better way to pay for education but its all I can do to pay the fees now. I'm trying to find another part time job just to make ends meet. Please be careful that reform doesn't raise rents. I will never get a home if that keeps happening.

Zip Code: 60112
I'm all for turning school financing over to the state. The sooner the better.

Zip Code: 60548
Not to rub it in or anything but we love our schools here in Sandwich!

Zip Code: 60112
This is all a waste of time. Superintendents get their money. Teachers get their money. Lose my job still got to pay. Job security -- guaranteed! They won't do nothing about it. Never will. As long as they get their money. You don't matter.

Zip Code: 60115
My wife and I would really like to move to a new construction home in DeKalb or Sycamore. We've lived in DeKalb for over 30 years. With our equity we can move to one of those homes without a big bump in our mortgage but there is no way we can afford the tax bill! The school district really needs to get with the program. We paid our dues. This isn't fair.

Zip Code: 60178
I see that some people actually put thoughts and comments on here, instead of attacks. These are the people who might actually help the situation with their ideas and thoughts. On second thought bad mouthing will probably resolve it and it's fun, yeah right! If the school districts had to run like any other business they would all be out of business.

Zip Code: 60178
I sure don't like what I am reading here. But I thank you for doing this because I haven't found this kind of info anywhere else. I think you are maybe too hard on the teachers.

Zip Code: 60135
I hope you don't have any kids in the school system.

Zip Code: 60115
Run for the school board if you have all the answers. Otherwise shut up because you are only ruining any chance of getting a referendum passed.

Zip Code: 60115
We should only be teaching english and no child left behind should include gifted children. Middle class Americans are disappearing. The no child left behind doesn't challenge the gifted and we are not going to be able to compete at the collegiate level. All our lawyers and doctors are going to come from overseas. But hey, everyone will know how to speak English by the time they graduate college. No wonder Europe thinks we are nuts!

Zip Code: 60178
It's time for the school board to fire administrative staff for their smoke & mirror antics!!

Zip Code: 60115
I hope your relationship with builders doesn't color your "reports."

Priorities

1. Change funding source
2. Allow vouchers to promote private schools
3. Spending will fix its self with the first two in place.