District 205 / Pension Reform

Here are the facts as we currently know them to be:

• To build and maintain a world class school district, or any enterprise for that matter, you need highly talented and stable leadership.
  
  
• District 205, like many others, had to tighten its belt during recent difficult economic times. Our administrators and bargaining units made salary sacrifices to help balance our budget.
  
  
• As a result of pension reforms recently enacted by the Illinois General Assembly, certificated school administrators are facing a pension salary cap that will affect their retirement earnings for the rest of their lives (most educators are not eligible for Social Security benefits). This has created both an urgency for some to retire before benefits are affected and increased movement between districts as administrators seek to realize career growth opportunities prior to the June 1, 2014 implementation of that cap.
  
  
• Due to increasing responsibilities (such as State-mandated additional testing of students and time-consuming evaluations of staff), as well as other job-related factors, there is a shrinking pool of people who desire to become and/or are qualified to be school administrators, particularly principals. This, in turn, has led to a “buyer’s market.”
  
  
• The Illinois State Board of Education measures Illinois school districts’ investment in administration. Of the 387 unit school districts in Illinois, measured by administrative cost per student, only ten unit school districts invest less in administration and leadership than Elmhurst District 205.

We also know that we provide our administrators with many additional tasks and fewer support staff to help them get their jobs done and move our district forward. As the state and federal government have increased reporting requirements, as well as accountability measures, our district has decreased staff to support this work. This has led to decreased job satisfaction, made Elmhurst 205 less attractive to current and potential employees than other districts of our caliber and may impact our ability to ensure that all students are receiving the best possible education.

We must put ourselves in a position to attract and retain the best educational leadership available. The quality of our children's education, and in turn, the future of our community depends upon it.

Please know that your School Board is aware of and working to address this situation. We ask for our community's patience and continued support. We pledge that this will be an ongoing conversation.  In the meantime, we wish those who are moving on the very best and thank them for their invaluable service to our district.