Scrooge.
Pat Fioretto, a member of the Park Ridge school board, wrote and accused me of being less than accurate in my post yesterday about the current state of employee – management relations in District 64.
Just to be clear.
He suggested I had made judgments about the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement between the PREA and the board.
I didn’t.
He suggested I had made judgments about the current content of bargaining between the PRTAA and the board.
I didn’t.
He suggested I called the board scumbags.
I didn’t.
He said I called them Scrooges.
That’s true.
What they are offering the non-union secretaries, health assistants and custodians qualifies as Scrooge-like.
He claims collective bargaining “works.”
While I am a die-hard defender of the right to collective bargaining, I make no claim that it always works. Not for the employees anyway.
It is better than the alternative.
What is the alternative?
Exactly what the current District 64 Board of Education is doing to the secretaries, health assistants and custodians.
Giving them a take-it-or-leave-it compensation package.
Tell me Pat. If you believe collective bargaining always works, why don’t you and your colleagues engage in collective bargaining with all your district employees?
Fred Klonsky 
We’re talking about people trying to make a living in today’s “I got mine and the hell with everyone else world” (except those near and dear to me). And this bozo (no offense meant to bozo) keeps wanting to play the same old .001% games, disgusting!
Thank you SO MUCH for standing up for the secretaries, custodians and health assistants. When I taught a bilingual Headstart before getting an endorsement and bringing my Spanish up to an intermediate level, my teaching assistant carried the lioness’s work meeting the children’s language needs and making the parent program function. Even after I was better trained, she was indispensable for all the things that a fluent speaker can facilitate. All those extras on a poverty wage. It really humbled me and I don’t get why more people don’t understand that.
Fred, thanks for your updates on issues. We must be involved and address what they are trying to do to public pensions. You are bringing attention to what they doing. Those in power don’t like to be questioned, or called out when they try to defend another unconstitutional proposal. Madigan is up to something again on Thursday Feb. 28, so we must be aware and and let all of them know we are watching.
Fred, I hope you stay focused on this. If Park Ridge can get away with this sort of thing certainly other districts will try the same. I really hope you will become active in IRTA and serve on the board in some capacity. It was a pleasure meeting you at a recent luncheon. Joan