Should Teachers Strike?

As most know by now, the teachers in the Huntley School District have gone on strike. The strike started Monday morning, Sept. 15.

Should teachers strike? No. NO! And NOOOOO!

Students belong in school, getting educated with the huge taxpayer dollars that are extracted from property owners.

The disruption in the lives of children, parents, teachers, and the businesses of employers is too great to permit strikes by teachers.

An agreement should have been reached long before now.

There is only a certain amount of money in the pot for education. One solution might be to tell the teachers' union: "This is how much money there is for teachers' salaries and benefits. You split it up. We expect teachers to be in the classroom, prepared and teaching. If they are not, we will replace them - permanently."

And then let the teachers duke it out with their union leaders.

When a mother (or father) must take time off from work to care for children who would otherwise be in school, why should an employer take it on the cuff? Employees not showing up for work should, at a minimum, be docked for the hours they miss. Then we'll see what kind of pressure gets put on the teachers and the school district to settle.

Parents should be demanding that BOTH sides sit down and resolve the issues. No breaks. Put them in a meeting room and lock the door. Send in food. Clean the purple potties. Tell them to wind it up.

And if they can't or won't. Bring in substitutes. There are hundreds of unemployed, qualified teachers anxious to work.

Police Contract Negotiations - Well?

Last week I wrote about the police union's negotiations with the City of Woodstock, or rather I alluded to the on-going negotiations.

The contract between the City and the officers of the Woodstock P.D. expired about three months ago, and the officers have continued to work without a contract. I have learned that cops cannot strike; i.e., they apparently cannot walk out and leave the City of Woodstock without local police protection.

Just why is there is no new contract? Without the leverage of a strike, what can they do to come to an agreement with the City?

One thing they could do is "slow down." Each officer could stop his squad car to read the in-car computer for call assignments, and only after proceeding (at the speed limit) to a safe stopping place, which at night would mean in a well-lighted, public place such as the Jewel parking lot or the parking lot of a convenience store. Why should he try to read the computer in a moving car or pull over in a nearby dark, secluded place? (The use of "his" here is not meant to disregard Woodstock's female police officer, who is entitled to every respect and privilege granted to the male officers.)

He could also find a safe stopping place before picking up the microphone and responding to the dispatcher's call to advise a need for police services. That ought to add 3-4-5 minutes to response time.

When running "hot", he could come to a full stop at intersections where he must cross against a red light. And remain fully stopped until absolutely, 100% certain that every driver within two blocks has seen his red flashing lights and heard the siren (assuming both are in use, which may be the topic of another story).

And, when he arrives at the "scene of the crime", he could wait at a safe distance until adequate back-up arrived. Of course, in Woodstock, that might mean waiting for additional response by the sheriff's department, Illinois State Police or whatever. "Adequate" is defined in the mind of the arriving officer, as he assessed the danger to himself. There are, no doubt, many times when all other on-duty officers are already on calls, and so the assigned officer must respond alone or make a traffic stop without immediate back-up.

An officer could take all the time he needs to write, and re-write, his report of each and every call until it would satisfy a professor with a Ph.D. in English Composition. That ought to add 2-3 hours to each call.

This type of "slow down" would paralyze police services in Woodstock.

Another option is for the City to engage in meaningful negotiations with the union representatives and get the Contract written and signed.

The cops have to be reasonable, too. If money is a problem, you put the budget on the table and say, "We have this much money. There ain't no more. This is what we have to work with this year." And then the entire City participates in cutbacks or gives up their dream list, certainly including senior departmental personnel and City Hall administrators.

The City's finances will be worse next year and the next, as Assessed Valuations of real estate, and correspondingly property taxes, begin to go down. Hopefully, the City of Woodstock will not operate like State Government in Springfield and the Federal Government, offering and promising everything to everyone with no ability to pay for it.

© 2008 GUS PHILPOTT

Police Negotiations with City

Have you been following the police union negotiations with the City of Woodstock? You know, all the newspaper articles that keep the residents informed whether negotiations are proceeding smoothly toward a new contract?

No?

Well, neither have I, because there hasn't been anything in the paper. Rumor has it that negotiations have stalled. Oh, really?

What happens in a town when a police officer union calls a strike? Do the officers cross the picket line and continue to protect and to serve?

Or do the townspeople arm themselves and go out on patrol to keep our town safe?

In many parts of the U.S.A. that would be the case. But in Illinois? If we arm ourselves and go stand guard at the banks and other places where there is a lot of money changing hands (gas stations, Starbuck's, Jewel-Osco, etc.), then the county mounties and the smokey bears will swoop down on us and arrest US!

Illinois has some of the most archaic gun laws in the country. OK, so if you break into my house, I can defend myself. But, if you try to car-jack me, I am defenseless. Or if I'm walking to the Square or out jogging (I'll be the one on the sidewalk), I am defenseless.

Or so the criminal might think. Maybe he should start to wonder if I am defenseless. Maybe I'm not defenseless. Maybe I'll take the odds on jail versus the odds of being dead in an armed robbery or car-jacking.

But no criminal will know ahead of time whether he'll get heads or tails. Only I know.