38 Comments - Lula May - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 8:17 am: Again I will say the number one killer is heart disease and diabetes. This would include high cholesterol. Number two is cancer but 66% of those cancer deaths are non-smoking related. Number three is stroke. High blood pressure and high cholesterol. Smoking is a nasty habit but being fat is far worse drain on the healthcare industry. Warning labels should be posted on all fat food. - Ravenswood Right Winger - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 8:28 am: Emil Jones is gonna be mad at the Sun-Times! - Southern Right - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 8:34 am: I know nine out of ten articles are about smoking, but the teachers strike issue is the source of many budget problems. First, where else can you get a lifetime job after four years of service? Where else is 181 days a year considered full time? I would like to support Jones push for extra education funding, but we have the third highest paid teachers in the country. I would expect the third highest test scores or something close. At this time there is no correlation between scores to pay out. This may seem a little cold……sorry. The unions in America have for the most part created better paying jobs and excellent benefits. They have not delivered an honest product in most cases. It takes two years to get rid of a teacher that in any other industry would be gone in 5 minutes. It’s time to change the way we allow districts to run up our property taxes, while under performing. The money should follow the student. If school A has a superior program, students in school district B should be allowed to apply at that school. It’s called competition and it’s what made the U.S. superior in the past and the only way we can survive in a global economy. - Bill Baar - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 8:45 am: So the ban starts midnight New Years Eve? The smoking lamp goes out in the middle of the party? I quit a pack a day habit Oct 1986 and this sort of law would have helped end it sooner but you do resent the the nanny state feel of it. - Smokin Something - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 8:52 am: The state’s energy relief plan: What it means for you It’s a damm joke, and the joke is on every man, woman & child in Illinois. One can only Emil Jones follows Rod Blagojevich to prison. Thanks for nothing Emil! - FED UP - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 8:56 am: Does the teachers cant strike law have a chance. No, the teachers donate heavily to blago he is just like E. Jones on the energy bill bought and paid for and will fight against what is right for illinois tax payers and voters but right for his donors. - Skeeter - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 9:02 am: In response to Baar’s comments: The “nanny state” is the attack on the smoking ban? I saw a column on Illinois Review that compared the smoking law to “lepers” and “Stalinism.” It is fascinating that the same people who want to bar consensual contact of two individuals that occurs behind closed doors at the same time object to bans on public smoking. Great logic. Behind closed doors: Proper regulation of morals. Preventing waitresses from getting cancer: Overbroad nanny state. If you are going to claim that you are against the nanny state. Don’t just use it a cheap insult against something you don’t like. - The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 9:06 am: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Pub. L. No. 107-204, 116 Stat. 745, also known as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002 and commonly called SOX or Sarbox; July 30, 2002) is a United States federal law passed in response to a number of major corporate and accounting scandals including those affecting Enron, Tyco International, Peregrine Systems and WorldCom (recently MCI and now currently part of Verizon Business). These scandals resulted in a decline of public trust in accounting and reporting practices. Named after sponsors Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.) and Representative Michael G. Oxley (R-Oh.), the Act was approved by the House by a vote of 423-3 and by the Senate 99-0. The legislation is wide ranging and establishes new or enhanced standards for all U.S. public company boards, management, and public accounting firms. The Act contains 11 titles, or sections, ranging from additional Corporate Board responsibilities to criminal penalties, and requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to implement rulings on requirements to comply with the new law. TICK TOCK - Rod & Emil - Cassandra - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 9:10 am: So, will some state cars come equipped with those interlock devices. Specifically, the one assigned to Blago’s state fire chief, that example for all state employees….that it’s ok to drive drunk in the state car, that is. Just put in for your interlock-equipped state car as soon after the dui arrest as possible so it will be ready for you when you need it. Southern Right is right on the teachers, but get this. State employees covered by union and by non-union civil servic, get lifetime employment after six months! Or less. For some, probation is less than that. - Wumpus - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 9:15 am: Perhaps these waitresses could find different jobs, even go to a nonsmoking establishment. If I don’t want to run in burning buildings, I won’t become a fireman, if I don’t want to deal with criminals, I don’t become a lobbyist or cop; if I don’t want to inhale second hand smoke, I don’t become a waiter. Who really wants to ban what two people do behind closed doors? A relative few compared to the legions of nannys that want to ban smoking in someone else’s business. - “Corporate Kleptocracy” - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 9:19 am: Buzzword that describes the greed of corporate executives who use underhanded tactics to siphon off wealth at the expense of shareholders. Wonder if Rod and Emil are familiar with this, they are awfully good at it. - Skeeter - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 9:24 am: Great response, Wumpus. I look forward to seeing your attempt to repeal OSHA as a sign of the nanny state. “Those ironworkers want fall protection? If you don’t want to work at height without being tied off, you can go find another job. I want to run my job as I see fit and I don’t want to see any lanyards on my job.” Luckily we live in a civilized society so that won’t happen. - game plan - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 9:28 am: What a novel idea, no strike. GREAT IDEA as a matter of fact. But then again, the IPACE money would stop flowing wouldn’t it? Oh well chamber and Arne, nice idea. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 9:35 am: Union or not, teachers earn their pay. They are not day care providers. They have degrees and are constantly being recertified. They work not only with children, they also file daily reports that justify their work. They are continually challenged by parents and administrations frustrated by a child’s development. They meet continually to discuss every child’s situation. They can be sued, and are often threatened with lawsuits. They must be “on” every work day. In a classroom of 30 children, every child has the ability to unravel a teacher’s life for that day. Then consider the quality of the children they must work with. We have a generation of children who have been raised without respect for adults. They have often been told that school and education is a waste of time. They have no educational setting at home in which to learn. They verbally and physically assault their teachers. They often have NO BOOKS at home to read, not because they are poor, but because reading is not considered fun enough for the family. They often have no bedtime. They often do not eat except at school. Now take 30 of them and see which little time bomb will destroy their teacher’s day. The child without sleep? The hungry child? The one with a father in jail? How many children will explode today? How would you deal with these children without retribution from school administrators, parents and your own conscience? The burn-out rate for teachers is staggering. Even with taking into consideration the number of young women whose life changes after marriage and children, the burn-out rate is so high we are facing teacher shortages. I will not sit quietly while teachers are questioned over their pay. They earn every damn dime. They are the scapegoat for every educational issue. Without union representation, our teachers would have no place to turn when the jackasses they deal with daily start to fingerpoint in their direction. As to the smoking ban: If you smoke - get a clue! We have only been telling you for the past 45 years the dangers of smoking. How can you be surprised that the rest of us have finally had it with your addiction? Nanny-state? Baloney! Second hand smoke kills you after it has stunk up your life. It is societal protection. When two guys go at it behind closed doors, I don’t care. If they decide to stop at McDonalds and light up in the children’s playland, I’ll have a fit. So Skeeter, your broad brush of slander doesn’t fit - as usual. - DAMM - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 9:37 am: I wonder if the ignition lock manufacturers were pushing this legislation? I mean, they stand to sell around, ummmm, 46,000 more machines this year. 15x what they sold last year, wow! But if 1st time offenders are the main problem, how will this help? Oh yeah, MADD and the Trib say it will. Sorry to question. - Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 9:42 am: Skeeter, BB & Wumpus - The evolution of society from a “smoking” one to a “non-smoking” one has been a slow, incremental process. I have never worked in a restaurant in my life, but was often subjected to cigarette, cigar and pipe smoke as a kid in an office. There was really no way to avoid it. Yeah, I could have sought employment in one of the few industries at the time (hospital?) that had non-smoking conditions, but I liked my job and put up with the smoking. Like many others, I rejoiced as the workplaces, and then many restaurants, became smoke-free. I have yet to find an effective “non-smoking” section of a public place that is enclosed next to a “smoking” section. The public’s perception of what is “nanny state” and what is reasonable health protection has evolved over the years. When the state gets overprotective (as in too-low speed limits on freeways, or over-regulation of business leading to job losses), the pendulum of public opinion will slowly move back to allow a correction. As of now, the pendulum is still swingin’ in the direction of restricting public cigarette smoking. - Levois - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 9:53 am: It’s unfortunate the Chicago State University has been in the news like it has been for a while. It’s even more unfortunate that an editorial calls for their president to resign. - South of I-80 - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 10:02 am: I, as Mr. Barr, quit smoking in 1986. What I find interesting, is that, we keep restricting where an individual can smoke, but we continually increase the cigarette tax and package it as a source of revenue. We then claim that the incease will cover some of our revenue short-fall. I feel like I’m missing something! - Southern Right - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 10:07 am: Again, explain how six months of work equals a full time job.It doesn’t. Only in the liberal minds of Illinois. If you think that an Illinois educator being paid over 61k a year has more value than a teacher in California making 50k, you could be a Senator from Illinois. VM you should fire up your campaign pronto. As for the daily activities at schools, you’ve been watching too much TV. The rules at most schools now are beyond ridiculous. I’m not sure where these poor teachers teach that you are worried about, but in the district my three children go to they are so insulated from reality and protected by the union, it’s the best career left in Illinois. You know no FAT CATS. Just hard working souls….six months a year. Maybe they could recoup from their devasting days by getting 179 days a year off. OOOPS they already get that. The only thing that has out paced health insurance premiums in the last ten years is educators salaries. The money should follow the student. Competition would probably cause additional stress. They may need some more R&R. Better fire up the phone get the unions started on that one before any other teachers are lost due to battle fatigue. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 10:08 am: South of I-80: True and funny. Here’s another one - we live in a state where education is paid for by a vice we would not want our children to do, (gambling). - VanillaMan - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 10:11 am: Southern Right You are wrong. I am married to an educator. What I am telling you is the truth. You think I should run for office? How about you get off your high horse and try being a teacher for one year. Your only challenge will be finding a school district with low enough standards to accept you. - Southern Right - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 10:42 am: Sorry if you are insulted VM. Your woes are reasons to leave a career, not raise my taxes. We are living in an area where a P.E. instructors salary is 76k and the average income for a full time job is 37k. They ain’t leavin’. So you are right, I couldn’t get hired. There are hundreds that apply for each opening. So here it comes, if we have so many teachers available to hire (supply) and so few jobs (demand) why would we offer higher pay? (ECON101) Only in America. Give your spouse some extra attention, it’s only a few short weeks before the war begins again. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 11:00 am: SR, Econ 101 is not exactly a great source. That class has destroyed a lot of minds, in my opinion. - Southern Right - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 11:31 am: Rich, ECON 101 is about balance. We have been convinced it’s the parents fault, teachers fault, the systems fault, the districts fault, or the states fault. The balance here is it’s all of our fault that we are poor educators. I have just been unable to see why the largest portion of education expansion is in teachers pay. The original concept of unions was two fold. First, protect members, then train members. I see no need for a union in our schools. They have destroyed manufacturing and schools are next. Next class: More Guns or More Butter - steve schnorf - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 11:44 am: Southern, one of us needed more or better schooling. By my math, 181 workdays don’t equal 6 months, they equal 9 months of workdays (181/20.5= approx 9). Perhaps it was those damned teachers fault. - JJ - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 12:37 pm: I am hearing that some local bars may become private clubs to get around the smoking issue. Is this really something they can do? - game plan - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 1:10 pm: Vannila man it’s not about pay it’s about Striking. Many a contract is NOT ABOUT PAY but about the end of career 6% bumps for four years to inflate their salaries (or cash given in the fourth year after retirement) for pension calculations or adding on vacation days or full payment of benefits. It’s not about what they do in the classroom. Teachers do earn their pay but at career end new dollars coming into the systeme should not exit the system in a gift. They will go to strike over this. - game plan - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 1:14 pm: southern right, teachers do earn their pay every day. The question being posed should they strike - stick to the issue. Stike only gives them, not management, the big stick. Management rights for government bodies are being eroded b all people the legislative bodies. The sub contracting bill that was just passed - took away management rights of all school boards to sub contract out services. GO FIGURE!!!! - Southern Right - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 1:42 pm: My maths fine SS. It’s 36 weeks X 5 = 180. It’s also not usually eight hours a day. I know I’m probably a little hard on these folks , but howabout setting an example of delivering more than you are mandated. To be considered full time is 195 work days. That’s 30 hours X 52 weeks divided by 8 = 195 days. How’s that for math? When the person paying the tax is working 310 days a year, they can get a little opinionated. Again, sorry to be so radical in my views. I’m not alone. - Southern Right - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 1:54 pm: GP, If the issue is strike. Fine, I think past strikes have been done to blackmail a district into giving more than they deserve. The next time a school goes out on strike in the fall and ruins a seniors final year in a sport, these actions are selfish and unforgivable. A few years ago a Metro East school went on strike because they had to kick in $30 a month for their benefits, while taking a cola plus two percent raise. Lasted more than a month. The students lost six weeks of sports and several scholarships. That’s reality. Strike, pay, or student behavior it is part of a bad system that I am tired of spending my earned income on. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 1:55 pm: SR, shouldn’t you also factor in the prep time it takes before school begins each day? My mom was a teacher for a long while, and I remember her working at home on her lesson plans, etc. all the time. - Southern Right - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 2:35 pm: Rich, Sorry, I’ve lost all sympathy for the industry in the last few years. When I was growing up, the pay was lousy. You knew that they had a passion for educating. Seems to me the last ten years has been a time in Illinois, that educators have put their income over what’s important fair and balanced in the system. You can’t blame them for wanting more, we all do. I just think they have went past what’s fair on the pay issue. I grew up in a union house. I fully understand the pros and cons. They are killing the system and teachers are allowing it to happen. I would be happy to pay teachers 100k a year that provided results. Unions are not concerned about results, if they were pay would be tied to performance. It’s not, so I am against being in a system that is over paid and under tested. So I’ll say your mother was a full time teacher not part time, but tenure, pay, and unions don’t make for a motivated employee. Ask your mother if things are better or worse. - game plan - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 4:03 pm: SR, please to not link a teacher to the business unit of the unions that do the bargaining or lump them all together. That’s just wrong. In fact, the teachers are kept totally in the dark the entire time and then when the information is presented it is so slanted. The process should be open so that teachers know, and the communities know what is going on. Again, it’s about strike. If Arne can get this done, and please let’s not just to it for CPS, git ‘er done for the good of all concerned. - Southern Right - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 4:34 pm: I don’t see unions being dropped by teachers. They do have a choice. They were non union at one time. So they may like to distance themselves from their local, but they linked. I do agree it’s about the strike and I think at this point it should be made illegal. - IDOT Engineer - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 4:36 pm: My father was a public school teacher and administrator in a small downstate town. His belief was that public employees (especially public school teachers) should not have the right to strike, since the majority of the public could not and should not have to go elsewhere for services they had already paid for. As a corollary to that, he also believed public service should be elevated and public employees should be treated in such a way so they would not be inclined to strike. It’s hard to argue with those concepts, in my humble opinion. Since the only sector in which unions are making any gains is government employment, I find it hard to believe such a law will ever pass here in the current political atmosphere. By the way, I am a non-union, so-called “merit comp” employee of IDOT who has had a grand total of one raise in the last five years while my union subordinates have had at least five raises in that time. - Southern Right - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 4:55 pm: IDOT E, Well said. - Peaches - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 10:28 pm: It is unfortunate that Chicago State, its President and its major source of revenue have behaved in such a manner to place it in the headlines. The waste of funds at that facility is embarassing - and that is just in the capital projects that Emile has showered on a campus that has no idea how to use those funds - other than to reward Mr. Jones and dole out contracts with lots of extras to appropriate others. If only those funds had been used to add real value to higher education in Illinois. - Anonymous - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 11:23 pm: maybe having every weekend off every holiday off a spring break a christmas break and the whole summer off isnt enough time off for the teachers perhaps the teachers need more free time. Teachers get a whole years salary and a good one for 8 months of work. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.