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Southland Education Watch
"When school children start paying
union dues, that's when I'll start representing the interests of school
children." Albert Shanker, longtime American Federation of Teachers
president |
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Salaries for Thornton
District 205 Resources Citizens
for Educational Freedom Citizens
for Reasonable and Fair Taxes (CRAFT) Education
Consumers Clearing House Independent Voices for
Better Education The
Center for Education Reform |
Updated 3-01-06 Dear
Neighbors, If you
live in the South or Southwest suburbs, you may have noticed that tax
referenda are succeeding at an unprecedented rate in our communities, school
performance is declining to levels far below state averages, even with far
higher spending, and corruption in school operations is reaching epidemic
proportions (See Dr. Ryan in Sauk Village). While well-funded, extremely well organized groups are
promoting referenda, increases in fees, and large union salary and benefit
increases, our schools are shutting down all debate and public criticism
through political control of school boards. "Citizen committees" are packed with Board
and union cronies that ALWAYS recommend spending more and raising salaries,
and anyone standing up for the children and taxpayers are shunned. This needs to change. I propose forming the "Southland Education
Watch" as a core group familiar in school operations, spending, and
research to provide logistical and public relations support to taxpayers and
parents who are being misled about the real reasons for referenda, and
let people in the Southland know that they won't have to "go it
alone" if they're mad as hell at the schools and don't want to take it
any more. Initial areas of concentration will be districts where
school tax increases are being sought through referenda or working cash bond
sales. This looks to be the Thornton 205 (Sharon Voliva's turf), Bloom HS
206, and some of the Will County Districts that have been efficiently run for
years, but now are joining their Cook County counterparts in rapidly
accelerating costs and salaries. Initial activities we could perform would be
letters to the editor regarding school performance spending, and
operating issues, attending board meetings and tax referenda hearings where
we can bring up contrary arguments to those slanted views of the boards and
administrators, and eventually helping local voters organize
anti-referendum campaigns like the CRAFT and Northwest Tax Watch. If you are interested in working towards these goals,
please contact me at southlandedwatch@yahoo.com. We're entering referendum season, so we need to get
moving. Bob Shelstrom
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Bloom High School District
206 Fact Sheet |