Photo: Springfield Journal-Register
While the IEA is focused on improving education for students in Illinois, they also must fight the perception that their overriding concern is the well being of teachers. One of Klickna’s goals as president is to change how the general public perceives her organization.
“If you say ‘association,’ everyone thinks you’re great. If you say ‘union,’ all of the sudden you’re bad,” she says. “And to me the union is simply a group of people who have a voice about their profession.”
To counter the belief that unions are only interested in protecting their members, Klickna points to the “Performance Evaluation Reform Act” that was signed into law in 2010, a bill the IEA supported. It enacted major changes to how teachers are evaluated so that student performance is taken into account, not simply tenure.
Fred Klonsky 
Fuc#in’ time for Charlie McBarron to go. How does he let a picture like this go out. She looks like she laughing it up with Gov. Quinn or Ty Fahner or thinking about her fat-cat pension or how she is bilking the state. The only thing this was missing was a video of her twiriling a handlebar moustache. She is just plain horrible, but Charlie McBarron is just an incompetent, idiot. We need a new media relations person ASAP!!!
Please check the following Performance Evaluation of Cinda Klickna.
A. Clueless
B. Out of her depth
C. Actively betrays IEA members
D. May be a drinker of the Kool Aid
E. Should be recalled and fired due to lack of tenure
F. Screwed-up every day in every way
G. Has successfully mastered double-speak
H. Is a member of the Fifth Column
I. Secret nickname is Judas
J. Cannot define “union” or “leader”
K. Braggart, especially about her part in destroying teacher security
L. Either sold-out or played-out
M. Lackey to political and Civic Committee
M. ALL OF THE ABOVE – and more
My comment: She’s disgusting.
Smiling Cinda: we have simply a photo shoot for a filler for an online newspaper. This is not the issue. Besides, it’s good to see her smiling these days.
The issue is PERA. PERA spawned SB 7. Student “growth” became a “significant factor” in the “rating of a teacher’s performance.” There were also new rules for dismissal of an “unsatisfactory” teacher, for attaining tenure, for impasse procedures, etc. that were established, via Kimberly Lightford, IEA, et al.
Though we can remember what unions used to do for their members many years ago, we can either satirize a union leader, or we can fight against corrupt politicians who are hell-bent on re-interpreting the State and U.S. Constitutions and destroying our profession and our defined-benefit pensions.
Since I have already satirized her, I choose to ALSO fight against the corrupt politicians who are presently the lapdogs of the Civic Committee.
We are all in this together.
Klickna should be removed from office immediately because she does not represent the membership she has pledged to support. By her own statement she has admitted dereliction of duty and abdication of her authority. She’s a disgrace to her office and a serious threat to the IEA membership.
Yeah–right! IEA officers supported it without ANY input from the delegates beforehand!! It was another deal done “at midnight” without our knowledge! At the 2012 RA, my last RA before retiring, I stood up against this abomination to warn the delegates of its vicious nature especially against veteran teachers. She should be careful of what she boasts as an accomplishment! It was far from that as many teachers are now realizing. And to top it off, an Illinois legislator, was given the Friend to IEA award as one of the composers of this awful law which is bound to kill the profession. My heart goes out to all Illinois teachers who now must live with this unjust “evaluation .” I tried to help but now it’s up to them to make the necessary changes. Good luck!
Back to school! Good luck to all!
HAWKS WIN!!!! Sent from my iPhone
Every entering IEA President needs to complete a course on Union History, including studying the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, Pullman Strike, organization process of coal mine workers, and many other historical events. They need to view Norma Rae, Silkwood, and many other pro-union and workers’ rights films. Reading list might consist of books like Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. Studying the Civil Rights Movement and other social justice movements is highly recommended.
Human beings, male and female, of all backgrounds, gave their lives and any sense of security to fight for unions. That tradition needs to be deeply respected, and its values acted upon assertively.
Kinda Slickna
Just saw this post now.
I disagree with almost all of the policy positions that Cinda has articulated, and I think she’s taking the IEA down a path to self-destruction. It’s a trend across much of the NEA, from what I can tell. Every time Dennis Van Roekel gets in the press, it’s something about how we need to raise the bar for teachers.
Nevertheless, she was elected, and she can be defeated by a better candidate through a process.
The thing that really chaps me about the IEA is that the executive director is still in place long after Jonah Edelman exposed the fact that she’s basically one of his fellow travelers. Edelman either exposed her or played her for a fool, or both, and the IEA’s credibility evaporated at that moment. I don’t know how any member can have confidence that the hired people aren’t whispering unratified opinions into the ears of lawmakers or lobbyists.
It’s obvious that Audrey was doing so.
Mix that in with the governance message that we need to “raise the bar” for entry into the profession, and what you get is a union determined to destroy a profession.
If I were suddenly to find myself in an IEA local, I would elect to become a feepayer until such time as the association corrects its staffing/credibility problem.