Monday, March 28, 2011
Riverside Brookfield HS's Fat Teachers Salaries: $330k For Dance Teachers
Listed below are all of the 2010 teachers' and administrators' salaries for Riverside-Brookfield High School.
On Tuesday, April 5th, voters in Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield will be asked to raise their own property taxes to raise these salaries by 30 per cent.
According to the Taxpayers United of Illinois, that would come to about an extra $800 per homeowner.
A full 40 of the RBHS payrollers are hauling down more than $100k per year -- most of which represents pay for 9 months of work.
This, of course is happening at a time when home foreclosures are at an all-time high, when the AFSCME head says that unemployment is actually 15% in Illinois and when the taxpayers themselves are often working longer hours for less pay.
At a time when Barack Obama has called for "shared sacrifice" the education establishment in HS district 208 has responded by saying, "Where's mine?"
Among the highlights from the salary list:
---Three dance teachers pulling down $125k, $106k and $106k (has the district hired Fred and Astele Astaire?)
---Two guidance counselors pulling down $113k and $95k
---A $136k school librarian
---Gym teachers hauling in $114k, $110k, $108k and $98k
---A sex ed. teacher making $99k
---Music teachers being paid to the tune of $123k and $120k
The salary list below is based on a list released by the Illinois State Board of Education, pursuant to a Freedom of Information act suit brought by the Family Taxpayers Foundation (FTF.) (To see a complete spreadsheet with more particulars on these salaries go to the FTF website.)
Here is the list of teachers salaries for Riverside-Brookfield High School District 208 in alphabetical order:
Teacher Salary Database
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Riverside-Brookfield Twp SD 208 2010 - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME SALARY
Acevedo, Margarita $55,802
Augustine, Beth $113,085
Bacon, Kirstin $78,967
Bamford, Kristin $77,936
Bartelson, Suzanne $71,405
Bauer, Michelle $77,892
Baum, James $68,900
Beasley, John $107,617
Bensfield, Robert $79,301
Bernstein, Rachel $70,904
Bonarigo, Daniel $82,493
Bonnette, David $105,300
Bozeday, Joshua $80,277
Brankin, Gayle $128,147
Briskman, Melissa $43,045
Cabaj, Allison $36,410
Carlson, Whitney $70,527
Cartledge, Jessica $70,642
Cassens, Wendy $77,625
Cisneros, Melissa $70,900
Coleman, Kevin $59,635
Czajka, Sandra $117,452
Dean, Kellie $66,590
Delzotti, Danielle $78,202
Denny, Brennan $77,410
Dignan, Thomas $81,559
Dobbertin, Marisa $78,670
Duell, Alicia $75,768
Dughetti, Neil $88,583
Dunn, Barbara $126,921
Egner, Charles $11,298
Ehlebracht, Timothy $83,723
Farlee, Patricia $60,839
Fields, John $79,547
Forberg, Laurence-Marie $97,480
Forberg, Lawrence $110,073
Franko, James $0
Frey, William $99,533
Fridrych, Todd $108,485
Fritz, Doreen $136,649
Fuller, Thomas $118,034
Gagen, Sandra $80,977
Gallagher, Cara $71,966
Geltner, Geoffrey $75,830
Gibbons, Adam $90,617
Gobble, Troy $132,015
Goldberg, Janice $118,524
Gordon, Melissa $88,497
Gorman, Linda $125,647
Gouwens, Mark $109,947
Grice, Jonathan $82,347
Harsy, Kathleen $74,009
Hart, Melinda $106,654
Hayes, Kimberly $117,280
Herbeck, Daniel $95,472
Holt, Jame $79,004
Hughes, Christal $90,963
Izaguirre, John $75,553
Jensen, Blair $63,944
Johnson, Gary $27,496
Johnson, Sarah $93,813
Keefe, William $121,242
Koehler, Michele $47,789
Kuenster, Ann $57,694
Leiteritz, Margaret $121,423
Lojas, Kathleen $93,182
Lopez, Cherise $62,731
Mancoff, Daniel $102,481
Marelli, Diane $120,960
Mc Olgan, Kevin $135,067
McGrath, Jill $70,289
McIntyre, Valerie $64,485
Melquist, Michael $83,047
Metzger, Zachary $0
Miller, George $148,410
Mills Ziola, Angela $83,142
Monahan, Daniel $108,541
Monti, David $108,592
Moore, Terry $120,661
Mortensen, Mari $71,425
Mynaugh, Lindsay $64,472
Nickelson, Laura $110,711
O'Rourke, Daniel $115,722
Obradovic, Julie $50,197
Olson, Timothy $70,859
Ostrow, Arthur $110,174
Passananti, Jenna $64,179
Passarella, John $132,015
Peterson, Kathleen $107,220
Porter, David $52,060
Ramsey, Renee $63,967
Reaves, Patricia $121,981
Rech, Jason $114,512
Reingruber, Michael $95,011
Riordan, Brigit $46,765
Ritchey, Lauretta $54,870
Sarkady, Patricia $83,583
Scanlon, Martin $158,468
Schilling, Rachelle $75,786
Schultz, Douglas $104,977
Sibley, David $111,859
Sloan, Martin $71,122
Soprych, Dawn $124,983
Specht, Bruce $90,602
Sterling, Kristi $78,045
Stiel, Christine $102,829
Sullivan, Lori $112,237
Sutton, Christine $64,672
Till, Dallas $98,825
Turk, Kevin $24,648
Waldock, Jennifer $67,904
Weber, Clare $119,046
Westerkamp, Colleen $70,223
Whelton, Christopher $144,154
Wilmot, Bridget $77,241
Wyszynski, Kathleen $59,915
Young, Patricia $89,886
Yurek, Steven $119,681
Zeman III, Otto $93,161
Ziroli, Michael $83,318
That concludes the 2010 list of teachers salaries for Riverside-Brookfield High School District 208
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Chicago Schlager Saturday: Andrea Berg
Believe it or not, this woman is the biggest selling recording artist in German history. Andrea Berg is the current mega-superstar in the Central European Schlager constellation.
She has managed to combine the soothing predictability of Schlager-pop with a kind of earthy sensuality. Her sultry voice has a seductively soft, ethereal quality, which she combines with an almost slutty, biker chick stage persona.
Believe me, it's unlike anything you see in the USA today.
And Andrea Berg enjoys genuine superstar status in Germany. When she returned to her native village near Stuttgart for her wedding several years ago (her 2nd), the streets were lined with 10,000 fans and the Polezei had to cordon off the village square.
Berg, a 45-year-old former nurse, sings songs with mundane titles and simple themes such as Give Me a Star and Hold My Heart in Your Hand. According to the tabloid Bild, "she loves sexy outfits and, looks like a hot rock chick, dressed either in a leather suit, or a scantily clad butterfly outfit."
With 10 million sales under her belt, she is the most popular German artist of all time. Her best-of album has been in the top 100 for 342 weeks.
When the average German wants to chill out after a hard day at the office, he or she is as likely to put on an Andrea Berg CD as to open a beer, or perhaps do both.
Du Hast Mich Tausendmal Belogen -- (translated: You lied to me a thousand times)
Read more about Andrea Berg and other Schlager music personalities at:The Chicago Schlager Music Review
Labels:
Andrea Berg,
German pop music,
Schlager music
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Evanston Schools Response To "Achievement Gap": Blame Whitey
The Evanston/Skokie School District 65 decided yesterday to tentatively hold off on signing a megabucks contract with racial huckster, Glenn Singleton's, Pacific Education Group.
Singleton (left) has made a career out of shaking down gullible, left-leaning school districts for six-figure fees by peddling his cockamamie "racial equity assessments," and Maoist-styled "diversity training" seminars.
Wherever he has gone, he has left behind the wreckage of race-based lawsuits by aggrieved whites and tattered community racial relations.
In 2007 The U.S. Supreme Court cited the essential asininity of Singleton's PEG program in ruling against the Seattle Public School System's race-based educational program changes, upon which they were based.
The Court cited the PEG's definition's of racism as being particularly ridiculous. PEG says that teachers exhibit white racism when they value:
1. Having a future time orientation (i.e. planning ahead)
2. Defining one form of English as standard English
3. Emphasizing individualism as opposed to a more collective ideology
So in the view of the group that District 65 might shell out tax monies to bring in, education can be improved in Evanston if we simply overcome the white racist notions of planning for the future, speaking proper English and protecting the rights of the individual student.
When the Ann Arbor public schools embraced PEG's racist world view, they began excluding white students from certain "black only" field trips. For that, they were sued.
And after Evanston Township High School District 202 shelled out six-figures of cash for PEG's racial spoils analysis, it eliminated its honors programs for high achievers, for which mostly white and Asian students were qualifying.
And several legal authorities note that District 65 could be opening itself up to a world of legal troubles if it subjects teachers to Singleton's abusive "diversity training seminars."
Such seminars that denigrate people based on their race or gender, they say, can give rise to successful harassment lawsuits, such as Hartman v. Pena (1995), which allowed a white male to sue for sexual harassment over an insulting gender-awareness seminar, and Robinson v. Reed (1978), which allowed a woman to sue for invasive questions in a race-relations seminar.
The mastermind of the bid to retain the PEG racial profiteers is District 65 School Board President, Keith Terry (above right), who tried to ram thru an initial $55k down payment to PEG after bringing the matter up for discussion only one week ago.
But, despite making favorable noises about the need for a "Courageous Conversation" (the title of Singleton's racist book) on race in Evanston, the District 65 board members, last night, demurred for the time being.
If not to avoid a spate of costly litigation, then in the interests of just plain common decency, Evanston/Skokie CCSD 65 would be well advised to continue down that path.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The Blue Balls Music Festival: Lucerne Switzerland, July 22-30
For reasons I can't quite explain, I have been researching European pop music lately. In the course of doing this I have discovered that the Swiss have something called (I am not making this up) "The Blue Balls Music Festival."
If you don't believe me, just go to the site yourself here.
The following is lifted directly from the Blue Balls Festival website. It contains two of the acts that they will be featuring and the exact videos they use on the site.
I don't know who's crazier, the Americans for having spawned these weird 3rd-rate acts or the Europeans for paying hard earned Euros to go see them.
"Blue Balls Festival 11, 22.-30. Juli.
"The Blue Balls Festival presents 120 shows, a wide range of live music, street-art, photography, video, film and talks. For nine days it turns the entire Lucerne lakeshore into a melting pot of creativity and attracts more than 100,000 visitors. The Blue Balls Festival stands out from all the other festivals in Switzerland. It is unique. The whole programm will be published on April, 28. If you want to be informed about new shows subscribe for our newsletter
And here, from their website is the introduction to one of the acts, "The Secret Sisters." These comely lasses are sure to be able to get any man worked up into the Blue Balls spirit.
'The Secret Sisters' sind ein Geheimtipp. Produziert vom Meisterproduzenten T Bone Burnett, werden sie diesen Status wohl nicht lange aufrechterhalten können. Laura und Lydia Rogers orientieren sich an der Vergangenheit. An Honky Tonk, Blues, Bluegrass und Hillbilly. The Secret Sisters interpretieren diese Stile mit einem eigenen, modernen Soundkonzept und frischen, energiegeladenen Vocals. Die Secret Sisters eröffnen den Konzertabend für KT Tunstall. Live: 25. Juli, KKL Luzerner Saal.
The following is also taken directly from the Blue Balls website. It is too weird for me to enhance with commentary of any kind.
CEE LO GREEN , 9. APRIL, X-TRA.
Der Sänger von ‚Gnarls Barkley‘ und Supersize-Funksoulbrother hat sich in den vergangenen Monaten in Windeseile zum meist diskutierten, meist-gebloggten, meist gesehenen und meist gehörten Artisten 2010 entwickelt. Die von Goldhändchen Bruno Mars produzierte Single ‚Fuck You‘ wurde in massiven 5 Kategorien für den begehrten Grammy Award nominiert. Die Awards werden am 13. Februar in Los Angeles verliehen. Danach kommt Cee Lo Green in die Schweiz. Live: 9. April, X-TRA, Zürich
Memo to Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel: See if we can snap these acts up for "Taste of Chicago."
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Lena Meyer-Landrut: Testament To American Cultural Imperialism
Is Lena Meyer-Landrut a pouty American teenage girl from Glencoe, Illinois?
No. She is the grandaughter of an aristocratic West German Ambassador and a Hungarian duchess. And she just won the Eurovision song competition representing Germany.
The annual Eurovision contest is a really big deal throughout Europe. It is their version of American Idol, except on a far larger scale. Each country has its own competition to choose its most talented singing act and the Eurovision contest supposedly selects the best Europe has to offer.
People cheer on their own nation's entrant as they do their soccer team in the World Cup.
In the past, the winners would generally represent something unique to their own national culture and traditions. When ABBA won the Eurovision award in 1974, while it was a rock group with general appeal, Benny Andersson's keyboard work had a distinctly Swedish sound and Agnetha and Frida sang with a charming Swedish lilt.
But the cute, pouty, Anglophonic German ingenue mimicked American black ghetto gestures and bounced around like any spoiled suburban brat on a night out club-hopping in the River North district of Chicago.
With this she won Europe's culturally iconic competition last year in Oslo, Norway.
Her winning song "Satellite" was co-written by an American, her gestures are black ghetto American, she chants (hip-hop isn't really sung)in a combo of American English with a slight cockneyfied British edge.
The socialists abroad always decried American "cultural imperialism."
Now I join them.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Chicago Schlager Saturday: Francine Jordi
Saturday is customarily the slowest day in the blogosphere. With the coming of Spring it's sure to get even slower since we'll finally be able to crawl out of our battened-down Chicago winter caves, get out from in front of the computer and begin to enjoy some semblance of habitable weather.
So, rather than treat weighty matters, I think I'm just going to devote all forthcoming Saturday posts to a different artist from the European "Schlager" genre -- which is so little known here in the USA.
It's kind of like the Euro version of our Country & Western.
This week's featured performer on Chicago Schlager Saturday (try saying that fast 10 times in a row) is a rather vibrant 33 year old Swiss girl named Francine Jordi. The video has some nicely scenic Swiss pastoral footage and has kind of an up-tempo "Sound of Music" ambience:
Here she performs, Tu's Doch Tu's (rough translation - Do it, Just Do it):
Multi-styled pop singer Francine Jordi (real name: Francine Lehmann) was born in Worb, Switzerland on June 24, 1977.
Her first big break came when she won the German Grand Prix der Volksmusik in 1998. 2002 saw her hit the European big time, when she represented Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest (a celebrated pan-European event which in 1974, spawned the careers of Swedish pop superstars, ABBA.)
To date, she has released nine albums, of which her 2007 platter, Dann Karnst Du, was a top thirty hit. 2007 also saw Francine Jordi make her operatic debut.
Read more about Francine Jordi and other Schlager music personalities at: The Chicago Schlager Music Review
Friday, March 18, 2011
Highland Park's Stinking Rich Teachers: 2011 HS Teachers Salaries
(Ed. Note: Since the initial publication of this article new salary figures have been released and posted on 9/8/12. These are the latest available and readers of the 2010 list will note that they all got nice pay hikes, despite the economic crisis.)
Posted below is the complete 2010 list of teachers names and salaries for Highland Park High School and Deerfield High School in District 113.
It could be of more than passing interest to the people of those North suburban Chicago hamlets, because their education establishment is pleading poverty and wants them to pony up more in taxes.
On April 5th, voters in Highland Park, Deerfield and Highwood will be asked to approve a referendum that would hike their taxes to pay $133 million more for the High Schools. After interest on the bonds that it wants to float, taxpayers would be stuck with an actual tab of $200 million.
The education establishment claims that it sorely needs the dough to patch up roofs and build athletic running tracks. But it might have thought of those things when it committed to teachers salaries that are positively among the most opulent in the nation.
Here are some highlights of the fat salaries paid to Highland Park and Deerfield High School personnel:
--- An army of 15 "Guidance Counselors" pulling down between $100k and $174k, with the average at $134k
--- A $147k drivers Ed teacher
--- 5 psychologists hauling in between $101 and $139k
--- $148k for a sex ed. teacher
--- 14 gym teachers each pulling down between $109 and $170k
--- 12 people called "Learning behavior specialists" pulling down between $102 and $140k
--- 2 six-figure social workers
--- Three drama coaches pulling down more than $100k including one at $171k (Did HP HS snare Sir Laurence Olivier?)
The complete list of salaries is posted below in alphabetical order. These are, in almost all cases salaries for 10 months of work and come with gold plated health benefits and uniquely generous retirement plans.
For a detailed speadsheet, go to the Family Taxpayers Foundation site. That is the group that filed the Freedom of Information lawsuit to secure public release of this data from the ISBE.
Also, you can see more data on the individual employee, such as specialty and years of service, by clicking on the name.
Here is the complete list of 2011 Teachers salaries for Highland Park High School and Deerfield High School, both in HS District 113:
That completes the list of 2011 salaries for teachers at Highland Park High School and Deerfield High School in Illinois High School District 113.
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