by Ellen McClennan, posted on Sunday, May 20th, 2012 at 8:40 pm
He was a shirtless man walking around the crowd of demonstrators holding up a sign that read: “Since you politicians are going to f&#k me, you could at least wear a condom.
That’s 99% effective.” The young man said he was angry politicians have slanted healthcare legislation in the direction of the 1% and left the average person out of the equation.
While there was understandable frustration like this expressed by some at the rally, most of the signs were directed toward solutions. One read, “Heal America. Tax Wall Street,” and on the back, “An Economy for the 99%. Healthcare for all. Jobs with Dignity. Quality Public Education. A Healthy Environment.” Or, another sign, “Single Payer Healthcare.” Another read, “Real Funding. Speculation Tax,” and another, “Tax Wall Street.”
by Ellen McClennan, posted on Sunday, May 20th, 2012 at 7:29 pm
A five-year-old girl sitting in a wagon held a sign that read, “How can this be my fault? Tax the 1%”
Her mother, Dr. Annette DeAngelis-Marshall, who came to the teachers’ rally in Naperville this past Thursday,
May 17th, was pulling her. Dr. DeAngelis-Marshall is a special education teacher consultant and advocate who came to the rally as a citizen, taxpayer, and teacher to demand attention from politicians enacting pension changes for Illinois teachers.
“I’ve tried to speak to Darlene Senger but she doesn’t listen to me.” DeAngelis-Marshall said.
Senger is on Governor Pat Quinn’s task force charged with the job of changing the teachers’ pension system. Frustration with Senger was echoed by dozens of other people attending the rally. Approximately two hundred people were there. While most were teachers, some were union workers, college students, Occupiers, retired teachers, and just plain parents. All were taxpayers with a stake in good public schools.
by VideoNewsService, posted on Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 at 11:15 am
NATO protest organizer Andy Thayer gives reasons to protest the NATO summit at Elgin Community College on April 12, 2012. The summit will be held in Chicago, May 20-21, 2012.
by Ellen McClennan, posted on Sunday, May 6th, 2012 at 10:06 pm
A group of about forty people from Northern Illinois Jobs With Justice gathered in the noon day sun outside Illinois Senator Mike Noland‘s office in Elgin on Friday, May 4th. The people wanted Senator Noland to hear their concerns about the lack of revenue and funding for Illinois teachers’ pensions. Senator Noland is one of four legislators appointed by Quinn to a task force to solve this issue. While earlier State Senator Mike Noland (D-Elgin) had informed the group he would not be present to respond to their rally, he unexpectedly showed up
John Laesch, from NIJWJ, announced the rally was about the group’s concern regarding the State’s lack of funding for teachers’ pensions, but Noland didn’t seem to understand until the end of the rally that the citizens standing before him had not been sent by the Illinois Education Association (IEA) and were instead concerned citizens and workers—about half of whom happened to be teachers.
“This is a workers’ issue. And we are concerned that our legislators have not funded our teachers’ pensions. We have a revenue problem here. This is a concern to all taxpayers and to all people who work for a living,” said Laesch.
by John Laesch, posted on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012 at 7:59 am
State Rep. Daniel Biss had the courage to hold a town hall meeting to discuss “pension reform” in Glenview on April 30th. I estimate that 200-225 people attended the overcrowded room that was set up to accommodate 75 people.
The standing room only crowd was a mirror image of other pension discussions happening around the state. The general mood of the cramped, “slightly too warm for comfort” room was polite and respectful. Biss set the tone by taking questions and respecting diverse opinions while facilitating the conversation artfully.
I attended the event because I felt that if Representative Biss had the courage to hold a controversial town hall meeting that he might also have the courage to lead a fight to actually fund pensions and uphold the state’s end of the deal.
