By: Diane Benjamin
Unit 5 has another Community Engagement meeting tonight! 6-7:30 at Parkside. See the other two meetings in this story: https://blnnews.com/2022/05/18/middle-of-the-road-college-at-veterans-pkwy/
Maybe somebody will ask them to explain this:
Remember Superintendent Kristen Weikle claiming on video nobody got 7+% raises between 2019 and 2020? https://blnnews.com/2022/05/07/unit-5-word-salad/
OpenTheBooks.com showed total salaries increased 7.9%. Since their data is difficult to manipulate, I FOIA’d the amounts reported to the Teacher’s Retirement System and got 2 Excel spreadsheets. Putting them together produced the data on who got raises.
Between 2019 and 2020 LOTS of people got big salary increases. I am ignoring (for now) all of those who were less than 6%. That leaves 346 people between 6% and 32.8%.
Yes, promotion to principal does raise your salary considerably. I’m still researching what position the 85 people who received raises between 11% and 32.8% hold. Obviously all weren’t promoted to principal.
The below is a teacher. She isn’t long term and her bio says nothing about anything more than a bachelors degree. Unit 5 needs to explain why she got a 10.1% increase between 2019 and 2020. It wasn’t to compensate her for working during Covid, it was a permanent wage increase. I have 85 names who received raises of 10%-16%.
The name is redacted for now. I have a lot more work to do. Is this why Unit 5 needs a property tax increase?
I remember Kristen’s comment when the question was asked about 7% salary increases. She looke to her left at someone who came to the microphone to “answer” the question. These people are liars. They are deceitful. They are robbing us blind and want more money. I say HECK NO. They do not deserve it.
Go here to see how every schools in unit 5 is failing miserably to teach students. https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/
Do these people deserve raises? Do they deserve more tax money?
They think that if they throw more money at the problem it will be solved. They think that filling our students heads with questionable social ideologies will bring science and math grades up.
They are grasping at straws. They don’t deserve blank checks. They need to be shown the door.
The proficiency numbers are abysmal. They do not deserve more of our tax dollars.
You wouldn’t last two minutes as a teacher. Teaching is a hard job that requires hours and hours outside of the classroom grading test, extensive lesson planning, breaking down curriculum and standards, contacting parents, parent teacher conferences.. Many teachers invest hundreds to thousands of dollars out of their own pocket for materials and supplies for their classroom every year. I just scratched the surface of what teachers do for their students.
Teachers have to engage their students in order that their student learn. To disparage teachers is a new low that your engaged in repeatedly.
“They think that filling our students heads with questionable social ideologies will bring science and math grades up.” That a total lie. Teachers are not “filling” any student anything other than what is on the curriculum. It seem to be that you’re fighting far right culture wars that aren’t happening in the classroom but just in your imagination.
Yes, teachers earn every single cent of their salary and more. In fact they should be paid more.
Do you know some Unit 5 teachers got big raises and some didn’t? Don’t you have a contract that spells out salaries? Is it my imagination that kids run amok in schools and their are no penalties? Boys use the girls bathroom?
@C Parker,
I’m sure you work very hard at your job and I appreciate what you do. I know about hard jobs too. I come from a manufacturing engineering background so my comments are based from there. If we were making a product that was failing and/or the company as a whole was losing money (I did live through that) we would not be getting any raise at all until things turned around. We would be working harder, longer and with more responsibilities for the same or even less pay. Money for capital projects would be nearly impossible to obtain. Many people would probably lose their jobs and or quit.
So I look at the evidence provided by the state and it shows that the product Unit 5 and others produce is miserable. Our children are failing to learn. The number of parents looking for other options is increasing. They don’t want to buy the product unfortunately.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe the at the ISBE feels that one solution to better grades is a new pedagogy called Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading.
As an insider, is this true? If not what is the problem? What do you need to be successful?
Thanks again for your hard work. No I would not want to be a teacher right now.
Please attend the Community Engagement Meeting on Monday at 6:00 pm at NCHS on Raab Rd. You’ll have an opportunity to ask Weikle a question.