Huntley Teachers Walking Picket Lines Today

Huntley School District 158 teachers are on strike today.

A notice was sent posted on the school district web site at 3:30 AM, after negotiations went well into the night.

Teachers had rejected an average pay raise of 5.43% in the school board's "Last, Best and Final" Offer of August 18th, the details you can see in a story below.

Previous stories that might be of interest:

September 15, 2008 - Huntley Teachers on Strike - No Agreement Reached

August 19, 2008 - Huntley School Board Makes Last, Best Offer

August 22, 2008 - "Hire Replacement Teachers," Northwest Herald

August 22, 2008 - “Quid pro quo”

August 22, 2008 - Message of the Day – Picket Signs

August 26, 2008 - Huntley Teachers Not Ready to Negotiate Sunday

August 30, 2008 - Prairie Grove Teachers Settle for 3.4%

September 04, 2008 - McHenry County School Operating Fund Balances

September 05, 2008 - Out of District Teachers Driving Huntley to Strike

September 11, 2008 - If You Missed the Huntley School Board's Negotiations Update Yesterday...

September 11, 2008 - Huntley School Board Makes Information Easier to Find

September 11, 2008 - Huntley Teachers' Strike Set for Monday

September 12, 2008 - Huntley School Board Urges Continued Negotiations Today at 5 PM

September 13, 2008 - Huntley Homecoming Parade

September 14, 2008 - Chris Krug is Back and Huntley Teachers Are His Target This Sunday

September 14, 2008 - School Board Issues Press Release; Decide to Negotiate Until 9 PM Sunday

September 14, 2008 - District 158 Strike – Maybe “Yes” and Maybe “No”

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On top is the Huntley School District web site at 5 AM this morning. Phone calls and emails went out to parents announcing the strike at 5:30 AM.

You see the web page of the school district on top. The picketers were practicing before the August 21st school board meeting. (That was the "Quid pro Quo" meeting. More photos of the teachers in that story and most of the stories before Sunday.)

All images may be enlarged by clicking on them.

Information published first on McHenry County Blog.

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Teachers in Huntley to Strike Monday

Just before tonight's Huntley School District 158 Board meeting, Huntley Education Association Co-President Julie Hunter handed a sheet of paper across to the board and superintendent.

On HEA letterhead, it said,

“This letter is to formally notify the Board of Education that without a tentative agreement, the Huntley Education Association will be going on strike, Monday, September 15th, 2008. We hope to reach a tentative agreement with the Board by Sunday, September 14th, 2008.”

Teachers' union officials have repeatedly said they won't go on strike while they are still negotiating.

Teachers marched from a remote parking
lot to District 158's administration building.

En mass they entered the Administration Building.

They filled the room to overfilling.

One teacher even raised the Venetian blinds and opened the windows
so teachers standing outside could see and hear what was going on.

Only one teacher, 29-year veteran Jean Ziller, spoke to the board. A Learning Disabilities teacher with a master's degree at Conley Elementary School, Ziller said she earned $80,869 last year, would get $81,466 this year, but after retirement, medical and another expense I didn't catch, she would be getting $800 less than this year. $44 less each pay check.

"I don't know about you, but I don't think this is acceptable," Ziller said.

CPA Board member Tony Quagliano did something board members usually don't do.

He answered Ziller.

"If you are off schedule (which I took to mean at the top of the schedule), you would be getting a 2% increase," Quagliano said. He calculated that to be an increase of $1,638.

"So, with all due respect, I don't agree with your math."

The board's Financial Advisory Committee Chairman Eric Zornow reported that "the biggest thing we noticed in the budget is there is no contingency and things always come up.

"With regard to the contract," he continued, "as you negotiate with the teachers until both sides can agree on the bucket of money...it's really hard to start giving on certain items. There isn't a magical way to increase the dollars."

"The board would agree with that," Quagliano said. "We're not clear there's a clear understanding among the teachers between deficit spending and a fund balance."

"(We're) getting half of our money in June (from property taxes), so the end of June balance is like looking at your checking account the week after pay day," Zornow observed.

"There's a true lack of understanding," Quagliano continued. "I was handed something today that is complete misinformation. People are showing figures that are not true, making statements that are not factual."

After the teachers walked out of the room, one woman returned and gave Quagliano a button saying, "RESPECT" on top of "Huntley Education Association" and "hea." He let me have it for my button collection.

Comments made during and after Thursday night's meeting led me to the conclusion that parents in Huntley Schools should be looking for people to take care of their kids Monday.

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The head shots are of board member Tony Quagliano (on the right) and Financial Advisory Committee Chairman Eric Zornow on the left.

I arrived early to the board meeting and board member Kevin Gentry told me the Homecoming Parade was being held Thursday night. The pictures I took can be found here.

Published first on McHenry County Blog.

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Huntley Teacher Strike Looms, 5.43% Raise Not Enough

Huntley middle school teacher Mark Stahl, the lead negotiator for the teachers' union, made a presentation to the union membership on Tuesday afternoon.

The “presentation,” dripping with sarcasm and bashing the Huntley School Board, which apparently the union no longer controls, gave the meeting the aura of a pep rally a Homecoming.

I can still remember Crystal Lake Community High School's pep rally in preparation of a football game with the Woodstock Blue Streaks. Nothing good was said about the Blue Streaks. (Ironic that Woodstock's teachers' salaries were never used by union negotiators. See

Competitive Salaries versus Supply and Demand for Teachers)

The rally's “bashees,” the elected guys and gals who, on behalf of the taxpayers, made a “last, best and final offer” of a 5.43% raise, plus dropping the work year from 183 to 182 days to the mainly non-resident teachers (other details at the link).

As someone getting a public pension with a 3% annual cost of living increase, I'm envious (but still grateful).

And, yes, I know, most readers are envious of my and other retired public employees' (including retired teachers') annual 3% cost of living raise on July 1st of every year.

(Hint, if you want to change that for future public employees, the state constitution needs to be changed. If you vote to call a constitutional convention this fall, that issue could be on the table.)

With as good an offer as was made, it is no wonder Huntley Education Association (that is, union) leaders wouldn't allow teachers to meet directly with the board.

No wonder the union got a “No” vote from its members.

“Overwhelming,” they told newspaper reporters.

Now, the union leadership can officially say they did not recommend against the Huntley School District 158's final offer.

They just ridiculed it.

They raised great expectations for a sizable salary increase beyond what the board offered.

Yeah, right.

Looks like we're in for a long strike.

We'll see how what is apparently a new school board majority reacts to such a threat.

Of course, the walk out will occur several weeks after the teachers go back to work.

The Illinois Education Association union needs time to prepared for the confrontation, to get the parents used to sending their children to school.

Without a contract, I wonder if the school board will pay them at last year's pay scale.

Or will it do what California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger did when his state legislature would not pass a budget—pay them minimum wage?

You don''t have to be a union leader genius to know that the Huntley School Board will not cave in the next three weeks.

Nobody likes to be blackmailed.

If you are a parent, I wouldn't cut your ties to whomever is tending to your kids this summer.

And, remember.

The best weather of the year is often while schools are starting...way too soon, in my opinion.

Posted first on McHenry County Blog.

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