Local schools served
one student poorly

It is not surprising that our Community High School District 99 high schools did not meet the standards of the No Child Left Behind Act.

There are reasons for that: The immense amount of time and paperwork required by this federal law; tenured teachers cannot be fired no matter how poorly they perform their job; and the unions to which they belong would make court cases of such an attempt because there is no distinction between those who achieve high teaching goals and those who do not. This includes the principals as well as lower grade schools.

A few weeks ago, the Reporter carried an article about several high school districts, including Downers Grove, and about how much of our tax dollars pay for the salaries of the school superintendents. All of them are paid about $200,000 a year, including numerous perks. This all reminds me of three words: Overpaid, underworked and uncaring.

I happen to know one student who was to be passed from fifth to sixth grade even though he could neither read nor write. He has dyslexia and was never given any special aid as is required by law for all such students with handicaps.

After a grueling battle with the Board of Education and the expense of hiring a lawyer, the board agreed to pay for a private school with teachers who specialized in teaching those with handicaps. In a year, this boy could both read and write very well. There was an added plus in that he was no longer taunted by the students at the Downers Grove school that neither the teachers nor the principal attempted to curtail.

After completing his eighth grade, he attended Downers Grove North High School, but not before his assigned counselor told he that he was not college material and should not take up the space of a more qualified student. He is now about to receive his associate degree upon completion of a few more classes.

Along the way to this, he achieved the difficult and highest award given by the Boy Scouts — he is now an Eagle Scout. Additionally, he was held a part-time job for four years and saved enough to buy and maintain his own car.

Does this appear to be someone who was told that he “was not college material”? Today, he is a handsome and self-assured adult with a bright future, having overcome all the hindrances offered by the Downers Grove school system.

Irma Pittroff, Downers Grove

Government must reform
employee pension plans

For the past several years, I have offered numerous suggestions and recommendations directly to our various elected officials at the local, county, state and federal levels. These suggestions were communicated in writing both by mail and the Internet.

All have been met with stony silence or standardized responses. As my past approach has met with such poor response and gross inaction, I will now submit my communications directly to the northern Illinois media outlets in hopes that someone will publish my concerns and at least elicit a response and perhaps action.

My first such communication is a call for our state, county and local elected officials to institute serious pension reform for all government employees.

• Illinois shall have a singular, consolidated, defined contribution pension plan for all government employees covering all pension eligible service. The program will be based on a formula of one-time the average of the last five years service salary and 5 percent for each year of such eligible service at all levels of government.

• All employees younger than 50 years of age or less than 25 years of full-time pension eligible service will move to this plan. All employees older than 50 or with at least 25 years of full-time pension eligible service will remain under a consolidated version of the current defined benefit pension plan. Vesting will occur with 10 years of combined service, and there will be only one pension plan for all such employees with no exceptions for any governmental agency.

• The pension would be a fixed amount, like those in the private sector. It would be eligible for lump sum payment upon retirement and be guided by the federal laws on pensions.

• All government units and their employees would make regular contributions and pay Social Security taxes.

• This plan would be effective Jan. 1, 2011.

A further element would eliminate all pensions for elected officials with Illinois effective Jan. 1, 2011. Any current pensions for such officials would be frozen as of that date and eligible for lump sum or fixed payment upon retirement, again subject to the same laws as private sector pensions.

Joseph J. Hrncirik, Westmont