Not-So-Reality-Based Community

While I'm sure these lefties believe in the "science" of global warming, they clearly don't believe in the science of mathematics:

The education of nearly 3,000 Illinois students came to an abrupt halt Thursday morning when Dixon teachers went on strike to protest the school board’s refusal to meet their demands for a 30 percent pay raise over a five-year span...

Board members say they can’t afford such a drastic increase, given that the district is running a seven-figure deficit this school year and may be in the same situation next year, if state lawmakers cut K-12 school aid.

The union and the school board are also at loggerheads over health insurance expenses. Union members contribute from $50 to $150 a month toward their insurance costs, while the district pays $500 to $1,300 each month per employee, along with any premium increases that may occur.

School leaders say the health insurance costs “are becoming increasingly unsustainable,” and want DEA members to help shoulder those expenses. Union members have flatly rejected that proposal, according to the district’s website.

Of all the issues separating the two sides, it’s the early retirement plan that should cause outrage among Dixon taxpayers.

According to the district’s website, the current “early retirement plan provides for higher than normal raises to teachers in their last four years of employment, artificially increasing the teachers’ pension and placing an additional burden on an already burdened state pension system.”

The board wants to end the early retirement plan, but the union has reportedly rejected any changes to the plan.

While taxpayers should be happy that their school board wants to end this pension-padding scheme, they should be disgusted that school officials ever allowed it to occur in the first place.