Well said, and thank you.

Well said!

Thanks for the post. I agree but the difference is, if you ask for a raise at work, the employer has a right to look at their books and say no. The difference is, you don't canvas the neighborhood asking people to support you and contact your employer on you behalf. The difference is, you don't walk off your job. The difference is, you could lose your job. I am fine with anyone standing up for themselves. But stay real at the same time. And that's not meant as a criticism. Just trying to explain why some may feel sour about the strike. Thanks again and keep up the positive attitude.

Outstanding, Rose!!!

Excellent post. Teachers need all of our support. Now when they are on strike and again when they return to their classrooms.

Thank you for the post. I don't think your thoughts/opinions on the strike are wrong, I just respectfully disagree. I understand the founding purporse of the unions and I believe they helped moved our country in a postive direction for many years. However, I believe the modern day union has a different purpose, especially in Chicago where corruption is everywhere. I live in a union household, as my husband is a police officer. I believe he would actually be paid more and have a safer work environment without his union, as they are in bed with his employer. They even changed the bylaws to appoint their union stewarts without a vote from the union members! I think people are stuck in the mindset that the unions are helping them because they have only ever belonged to the union.
I disagree with the strike on the premise that I don't believe anyone should ever just walk out on their job. I would understand if it had something to do with the working conditions, or if people were being harmed at their place of employment, but not over pay and benefits. I know if is the teachers right per their contract to strike, I just simply disagree. No disrespect, just a difference of opinion.

I hear what you're saying EP95. Although I am sensitive to your opinion (dont think I'm being nasty)the employer has the right to look at the books and say no, however, that employer is not managed by the state. This IS the exception for our teachers. If teachers were not in this union they would be powerless. Why would anyone want more people to be powerless over our government? Comparisons to corporate jobs are pointless, they are not the same. Our teachers are already underpaid compared to the surrounding districts and are more educated than the surrounding districts that don't have our surplus.
Rose, I praise you for bringing the divide to light. I have a board member and a teacher on my block and its sad to know that we were once so united. It honestly makes me want to move when I think about the tension there will be at our future block functions. I don't understand why people in our community wouldn't support the actual people in the community, they would rather the teachers not rock the boat and say "yes, we're fine with you taking money from us". The divide in our community stems from the divide in our country. Thanks for posting Rose:)

I agree with some of what you wrote, especially concerning civility. I am dismayed that it is almost impossible to find well-reasoned civil discourse about these issues.

Unfortunately, you also wrote: "When you are unhappy at your job or want to ask for a raise, are people driving past you yelling obscenities or commenting all over the internet on how selfish you are for wanting what is *rightfully* yours?" [asterisks mine to show emphasis]

If all of the union's demands concerned only legal "rights" that were being violated, then your question would make some sense. That is not, however, the situation at hand. Not a single demand relates to a "right" that is currently ignored or unmet.

It is however the "right" of the teacher to go and find a job at another school district though. I don't think Rose is talking about their "legal" rights, it's the "human" rights and "moral" rights. That makes sense to me, because the human and moral rights are what should be the focus.

I am a parent of two D124 children. I am also a Union employee, but I am not a "rah-rah" union person. I am definitely more on the teacher's side than the board side, although I do see both points of the argument. On one hand, we have taxpayers who are worried about the economy, worried about their taxes going up, and who says it's a bad thing to have a "rainy day" fund. On the other hand, we have teachers who have a harder job than most people realize, with some very unrealistic expectations attached to said job. If the teachers hadn't constantly started each new contract year w/out a contract I might be a little less sympathetic toward them. Since my kids have started school, I've noticed that this Board doesn't seem to care about what the parents want or think...and we are taxpayers also. Not showing up to the forum, putting off negotiations over and over, going on tv stating that we will not make up days b/c the teachers will "win", filing police reports over FB comments...this is not making them look good. It's making them look like bullies.

Really Cathleen- so with the world as crazy as it is, you are saying it's okay to post on social network sites about taking the board of education hostage is okay? You don't think perhaps some unstable person might take that initiative and do that? You don't think that parent was being a bully? These are volunteers they don't get police protection from people who decide to take action into their own hands! They have every right to be concerned! This shows the true ignorance of you and for what you believe in!

The children at D124 are not even allowed to bring in a watergun without receiving a suspension (has happened in the past), but you believe a comment about holding someone hostage at gunpoint, joking or not, is acceptable. Who is being the bullies?

I would like to make one suggestion...Instead of a deep philosophical debate for or against labor unions and the right to strike, how about we apply pressure to both union and board leadership and encourage BOTH sides to compromise. Compromise...that's a novel concept. Save the philosophical arguments for your family parties.

Any reference to a gun, joking or not is totally unacceptable, in this public situation. People were murdered for just going to a batman movie, so that really bothers me.

Ok we got that the TEACHERS want there raise but what about the other people that work for the school like the cafeteria people the crossing guards what do they have to do with it. There loosing money because of this and the children are not learning anything.

The fact of the matter is that teachers' priority here is not a raise in pay. The teachers and paraprofessionals have been asked to contribute THOUSANDS of dollars more for their benefits, which they simply can not afford. They offered in April to freeze their contract so the new superintendent would not have to begin his tenure with a bargaining war, but the school board said no. Teachers have never been in it for the money; they continue to teach because they know they make a difference.

Seems everyone is really getting on edge, it is frustrating to see two educated groups of people not able to meet somewhere in the middle and agree. The Federal Mediator doesn't appear to be helping. Maybe it's time for a Federal Arbitrator.

ENOUGH ALREADY !!!!! Teachers, much to their chagrin, are NOT the backbone of our ( my) community.......we TAXPAYERS are the backbone of Evergreen Park...If they want to be greedy and milk us for what they can get...GREAT.....take a 6 month severance package and find something better....and by the way, I do not want to pay you for your days off ( while you were in Ace Hardware, Dunkin Donuts, etc.).......Explain to my neighbors, who have lost their jobs......GREED

Rose, thank you for your letter and for being brave to post your name. Sometimes I can't read the posts any more due to the anger and criticism. I understand both sides of where everyone is coming from. However, people, teachers truly are not the bad guys here. Some people may think so. People don't go into the teaching profession for the money. People are posting that teachers are greedy and should go somewhere else to teach. What people don't realize is that is not an easy solution. If you are a new teacher if may be easy to find another job in another district. However, if you have been teaching for a while, it is hard to find a job elsewhere, because you won't get paid for your experience. School districts would rather hire a teacher with less years of experience, because it costs the district less on the pay scale. Is this true in the business world? Teaching has changed a lot through the years, because society has changed. Teachers not only teach academics, but they are counselors, nurses, mediators, etc. A teacher wears many "hats." Teachers worry if a student is sent to school without a coat or a lunch. They help students when there is an illness or death in a family. They donate money to help families in need. You don't always hear about these things. Evergreen Park is a fine community. Please don't destroy it by dividing this wonderful town with hurtful comments. Once said, they cannot be taken back.

SC- you say that the price of health care continues to rise, I agree. However, from what I have read of the offers, the teachers and paraprofessionals are not asking to have the district and taxpayers pay for all of this increase. They are simply asking that their percentage not change drastically all at once. As I see it, they have probably seen their portion increase monetarily over the past few years, just as we all have. They have been paying a percentage of their health care premiums, so as the premiums go up, so does the amount they pay. I would even guess that some of them are bringing home less money than they did a few years ago, due to these increases. I don't think that what they are asking is being greedy. They are willing to shoulder more of the premiums- in fact if you look at their offers, they are even willing to shoulder a higher percentage of their premiums. My real problem in all of this is that it is my understanding that some of the district employees may actually owe the district money in order to maintain their benefits. What message does this send? As a society are we saying that we would rather our tax money be spent on paying someone welfare to stay home than on someone who is working with our children to help them learn? Really, is that how low we have gone?

The simple fact is that most of the people on here opposing the strike think the teachers are leeches on society who use their slithery tentacles to reach into the back pockets of "hard working" "salt of the earth" "good catholic" EP citizens and steal their money so they can live lavish lifestyles.

I bet most of the people opposing the strike do not believe in public education. It's a handout. If people should have education, they should work hard, pull their families up by the boot straps and send them to a private catholic school. I bet they think we just foster a culture of dependency by giving children FREE education without asking for anything at all in return. The teachers are just middlemen in a scheme to redistribute wealth away from the hard working EP taxpayer and towards greedy mobs of welfare recipients. At least that's what you'd believe from reading this site.

I'm sick and tired of reading about these "hard working" catholic tax payers who act like they alone have steered their destiny and received no help along the way. They are oblivious to their privilege in life and get joy from kicking people when they are down. It's exactly this closed minded mentality that explains why your churches are turning grey and empty. You've destroyed the Catholic church with your closed mindedness. Don't destroy Evergreen Park as you descend further into the irrelevant waste bin of history.

Stan, I AM a hardworking Catholic taxpayer who sends my children to parochial school because that is my choice. I am paying a benefit increase at my job as well, but what is not being publicly stated is the ridiculous increase in deductibles these teachers are being asked to pay. I side with the teachers for many reasons, one being that our home values are directly linked to the quality of education in our school district. Students succeed in an environment where their teachers are valued.

EP 95 - I DID have this job in 1995 thru 2000 so please try and be civil in your responses. I DO know what happens with the district and I DID sit on the negotiating team for the first Support Staff Union contract which took 9 months of hard work to come up with a proposal since it was the first. It also took a Federal Mediator to come to an agreement during the negotiations. Please realize that there are persons posting that have experience with the issues in these posts.

Going back to the idea that people may owe the district money, I am disguisted that people think this is okay. I am sickened by the comments that this happens elsewhere, and that people have a choice. Get with it America! This is 2012, WE have a choice! It is not OKAY to not offer a living wage. This is one place where WE as taxpayers can stand up and make a change. Changes start small. We may not have a direct say in what Walmart pays to their employees, but we do have a say here. We can start the change. Let everyone else take notice. People, we have a RESPONSIBILITY here.

Southside - Wow. You must be one of our teachers here in EP, so passionate about your postion in support of our teachers. It is one thing to disagree, it is another to resort to name calling and insulting posts you disagree with. What kind of example are you setting? Please be more respectful and treat everyone the way you would like to be treated. I think you may have missed this website's policies regarding your particular behavior. Here you go:

http://evergreenpark.patch.com/terms
...

EP95. And what is your point regarding the year? In my household we try to advance and improve ourselves yearly not regress. Does anyone else think we as citizens should give up what we worked so hard for because it's 2012 and not 1999, lets say?

EP 95-it's always nice to suggest on one hand that there are many applicants. It's also nice to suggest as you have that they must need pull to get the Job. It's also nice to suggest that the contribution will go to 70/30. That's not the contribution and you wouldn't be paying that now because it doesn't reference premiums it references the percentage the insurance company pays (70%) and the insured is responsible for (30%). And since you want to know how many applicants are there for support staff positions then you also must ask if those applicants are qualified to obtain a position with a school district. You have to have go through a thorough background check with the state also including being fingerprinted. And I don't think anyone here would agree with a statement that says my involvement past or present with SD 124 would be "insulting" to me. I was proud to work with the children during my years of employment as well as the teachers.

The amount of applicants would indicate the desirability of the job, of course some would be a better fit than others! (Btw, you also have to go through a background check and fingerprinting to be a sub) Your not clear on your %, reply, so not sure what to say to that. You should most definitely be proud of your work with children. Most definitely. Finally, I did not say insulting, I said insulating, ie an isolated position.