Three of Illinois’ Constitutional office-holders sat down with IEA President Ken Swanson and more than a thousand of his close friends Friday morning for a chat about issues of great concern to the organization.
State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, sensing the mood of delegates, went straight to the “elephant in the room” during his opening statement, explaining the rationale behind his proposal for combining the investment responsibilities of all of the state pension systems.
The proposal is strongly opposed by IEA and TRS, among others, who believe a board of trustees that includes TRS members elected by IEA members and other annuitants is the best steward of TRS members’ money.
Giannoulias said his proposal was a response to corruption by members of the TRS board. In saying that, he failed to distinguish between the TRS board member appointed by previous governors who is convicted of criminal wrongdoing, and the TRS members elected by IEA members who have not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Big mistake.
Livid, would be a good word to describe the understandable reaction by the elected TRS members. Those present asked for and received an opportunity to address the delegates and rebut the charge following the sit-down session.
Several of them also spoke directly to the treasurer after the session and, in strong language, made him aware of the insult. Based on his reaction, I would be surprised if it happens again.
Back to the panel: On the issue of school funding, the trio stated their support for funding reform but stopped short of endorsing the 1.5 percentage point increase Gov. Quinn reportedly will propose next week. The message can be summarized as, “I need to see the spending plan before I can support a tax increase in a bad economy.”
All participants pledged to work with IEA on issues, including funding for higher education, ethics reform as well as PreK-12 funding.
So, not a lot of light, but a little bit of heat and a lesson learned for the treasurer, who is considering running for the US Senate next year.
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What are your thoughts about the “conversations” with politicians at this year’s RA? Let me know: charlie.mcbarron@ieanea.org
Illinois Education Association is an association of more than 130,000 members composed of Illinois elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty and staff, educational support professionals, retired educators and college students preparing to become teachers.
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