HEA distributes Flyer to households

Some of Bongo's pals in District 158 received flyers today from the HEA as the union leadership apparently attempts to spin its case to the public. Besides containing only selective information and not the whole story, it comes off as a bit desperate.

What's more, the official version also featured the home phone numbers of the board members! Nice. Bongo has deleted them in this version because he thinks it's a pretty crummy tactic to distribute home numbers of volunteer board members in an effort to (hopefully) flood them with complaints. Good luck finding good potential board members to run for office if this is the kind of treatment they can expect when they disagree with the union. This lowbrow tactic could likely backfire as support for the HEA position is not very strong to begin with.

Bongo has a bone to pick with a few of the mentioned points in the flyer:

What HEA Union Leadership says:
- They are only asking for less than 10%.

What HEA Union Leadership does not say:
- They are asking for less than 10% in the first year. In each subsequent year, they are asking for equal or higher levels of increase. Overall, they wish to increase the district's costs more than 30% over the next three years.

What HEA Union Leadership says:
- District 158 teachers fund 100% of their own retirement.

What HEA Union Leadership does not say:
- The teacher pension system is unsustainable the way it is structured. HEA claims that many businesses partially fund retirement accounts. This is true, but not all do. In addition, pension funds have given way to 401k and other plans at real businesses because they are unsustainable in the long run. HEA is essentially looking for a pension fund bailout here. This is not a burden the district should take on since it will continue to drain money away from other educational opportunities. Bongo thinks most parents would rather see district money invested in programs and class size containment than in the teacher's union pension fund.

What HEA Union Leadership says:
- The HEA proposal is affordable and will allow budget surpluses to continue.

What HEA Union Leadership does not say:
- Perhaps surpluses will continue in the short term, but not for long. Additionally, the state has guidelines for financial stability that District 158 almost currently meets. In short, the HEA proposal is NOT affordable in any way, shape or form. Otherwise the board would have accepted it immediately. Bongo believes that the board is acting in the best interest of all parties including the teachers, the district and the community taxpayers by making a reasonable and affordable offer. On their side, the HEA leadership has demanded so much that not even the halfway point is affordable for the district!

What HEA Union Leadership says:
- HEA is doing everything possible to avoid a strike.

What HEA Union Leadership does not say:
- ...except mention the word "strike" at every opportunity, file an official Intent-to-Strike notice, and attempt to pit parents against the school district with this ridiculous flyer.

At least Bongo has new toilet paper now for his dog house.