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Teachers Lobby at State Capitol, Except for One
The Illinois Education Association held its annual lobby day at the state Capitol Wednesday, but noticeably absent was Jerry Kohn, an economics and U.S. government teacher at Harold Richards High School in Oak Lawn. In a letter to lawmakers, he said he’d love to speak with them in person about his views, but he had to work.

It was a not-so-subtle stab at his hundreds of colleagues who descended on Springfield to ask for revenue increases to protect education funding. But Kohn says if the teachers were truly concerned about their kids' performance, they'd be in the classroom teaching, and not engaging in "self serving picketing and political lobbying."

Kohn says the only reason many of the union teachers are in Springfield is to lobby to keep their pension plans intact. Kohn says it's selfish and irresponsible to ask lawmakers to maintain what he calls a "gold-plated pension plan" by raising taxes, especially given the state's current budget crisis. He says he's willing to make sacrifices for the good of the state, and thinks his colleagues should do the same.

Though Kohn is forced to pay union dues, he says he's not a member of the union because of philosophical and religious differences on certain union stances.

(Illinois Radio Network)
05 06 09 by Newsroom
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