I don't think parents should be "scared." I think the more appropriate description would be "fed up." The school boards and administratators of our districts have always operated on the premise that taxpayer funds would be forever pouring in for administration and teachers' salaries, pensions, compensation packages and perks. I think board members, administrators, and state officials should be "scared." Tough choices are going to have to be made, and we've yet to hear from any adults in the room, both locally and statewide. There is no money.

I'm tired of the schools using scare tactics to get what they want. The administrators are trying to get more money from us to make up for the late payments from the state. The key word here is LATE. They will get their money from the state just not when they want it. They can use their reserves and then pay back the reserves when they get the money from the state. Lincolnway already is not in line with college requirements and now they want to reduce the credits needed for graduation! That is just a way to get the parents to pay more money because the parents that care will pay for zero hour or summer school to make sure their kids have the requirements that they need. Lincolnway does not even require foreign language and most colleges do! Maybe they need to quit getting raises for awhile like everyone else. My husband has not had a raise in awhile because of the economy. The teachers and administrators should also have to tighten their belts just like everyone else that is not represented by a powerful union,

Debbie,
I have looked at all of the salaries and the highest salaries are not administrator salaries. In fact, alot of staff in administration make less than the regular teachers. I think this attack on administration is a common argument used against non union employees, but it doesn't hold water. Sure you have some administrators with doctorate degrees that have been employed for 35 years making a nice salary...but you also have PE teachers with masters degrees making $140,000.00 a year. Roughly the same???? I don't even see alot of the PE teachers coaching after school. So why do they have such inflated salaries? They make more than physics and chemistry teachers that coach 2 sports. Could someone please answer this question for me?

SW Burbs,

The teacher salary has nothing to do with what subject they teach. Years of experience plus degrees are the only things factored into that.

And, yes, most teachers have been severely tightening their belts in recent years. Teachers not only have been receiving minimal raises, but also are being charged significantly more for health insurance. Not to mention--teacher pensions are at stake because of the state's financial instability. Who is going to pay for teacher's retirement when the state robs it?!?!

One would think that the teachers who spend day in and day out with our nation's youth would be treated better than that!

One would also think our nation's youth would be treated better than that.

Can someone answer this question for me? On the site where Illinois teacher salaries are listed (thechampion.org), do those dollar figures also include other benefits? I have emailed that site in the past and never got an answer. If this is the case -- say, a $70K salary is actually a combination of salary plus benefits, then that teacher/admin is not really making $70K a year.

Salaries plus any other payouts like for coaching. Also includes special annuites or banked paid off unused sick/personal days, special car allowances, stipends, unused vacation days, one time extra retirement cash payouts, etc. In a nutshell it does not include payments for benefits such as medical, dental, required employer pension payments, life insurance, etc. Hope this helps