As most of you know, Dixon teachers are currently on strike.
There will be a public meeting between the Dixon School Board/Superintendent and the public
today, Sunday, March 10th,
4:00 PM
(SORRY, PULLED UP TIME FROM THE NEWSPAPER, BUT MUST'VE LOOKED AT WRONG MEETING--CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS AT NOON--MEETING AT 4PM)
at the Dixon VFW, 1560 Franklin Grove Rd.
The Superintendent, along with members of the board, will use this public hearing to discuss their position in the talks over the teachers' contract.
A number of individuals have requested that budget-conscious taxpayers show up and press the board to continue holding out for a fiscally responsible deal. Among the points noted:
-Dixon teachers are paid an average of $62,000 a year, which is above the average for similar districts and is nearly triple the $22,311 that the average Dixonite makes
-teachers have extra raises (6%) guaranteed in their final years, which inflates their pension payouts after retirement
-in addition to those guaranteed pensions, they have tenure and capped health insurance ($50/person, or $150/family)
-the capped health insurance comes out to less than 10% of the district's costs
It has also been noted that Dixon is currently recovering from embezzlement and just coming out of recession in which many citizens lost raises or even lost jobs and businesses. As such, teachers may need to focus their demands more on their concerns about special needs students and classroom supplies, and not on more pay and better benefits. Certainly both sides need to be heard, though, and teachers have a very important job that requires a certain amount of education. The intention of this email is not to lay out a position--it is to let you know there are serious fiscal discussions taking place that taxpayers should be paying attention to.
If you are interested in coming out, please bear in mind that the strike has many people on edge, and that all opinions should be voiced with respect for the various groups involved. That said, fiscal discipline should certainly be considered in any contract that commits the taxpayers to years of salary costs and decades of pension costs.
For more information, Sauk Valley Media has compiled a list of articles and a summary of offers:
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