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Tuesday, May 15, 2012

ILLINOIS RETIRED TEACHERS ASSOCIATION – YOU ARE PATHETIC « Teachers Fight Back

ILLINOIS RETIRED TEACHERS ASSOCIATION – YOU ARE PATHETIC « Teachers Fight Back:


ILLINOIS RETIRED TEACHERS ASSOCIATION – YOU ARE PATHETIC

Just received an urgent e.mail from the Illinois Retired Teachers Association.  It was entitled, “It Is Time To Act”.  The e.mail went on to say that the General Assembly may soon be considering legislation that changes the promise for active and retired teachers. The Assembly was expected to vote on the bill the same day that it’s proposed. According to news reports, the Assembly could be acting as soon as tomorrow.
“It is time to act” ?  Really ?  Oh, why not wait until the legislation is actually proposed ?  What’s the hurry?  Time to act indeed!  No, IRTA, the time to act was many years ago and every year since the Assembly started stealing funds from the Teachers’ Pension Fund. The time to act was when you saw several years ago that certain political groups were targeting teachers and teacher pensions. The time to act was when the reformers, politicians and the press started making teachers scapegoats for the State’s financial difficulties. The time to act was when the Governor, Speaker of the House and the Mayor of Chicago met months ago to plot the attack on teacher pensions. The time to act was a few years ago when we saw public opinion beginning to agree with the