Reply #11: What does it matter what I think?

[frazzled]

It's what the educators and legislators agreed to. Here's what the IEA put out a month ago:

A broad-based coalition, including the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT), the Illinois Education Association (IEA), and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), announced today its support of historic school reform legislation that will help schools keep the best teachers in the classroom and improve learning conditions for students.
The diverse group that developed the legislation, led by state Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood), engaged in unprecedented collaboration that led to unanimous support. The presidents of the three public education unions issued statements pledging the support of their organizations:
“This is an historic piece of legislation that exists today because of everyone’s commitment to putting politics aside and doing what’s in the best interest of our kids. We want the best teachers with the most experience teaching our kids,” said IFT President Dan Montgomery.
“We are proud that bold reforms we supported are a part of this bill. From day one, our organizations came to the table and advocated for changes that put Illinois kids first and ensured our teachers can do what they do best: teach,” said IEA President Ken Swanson.

...
Key reforms that were championed by the Illinois teacher unions in their “Accountability for All” and included in the bill are the following:
Implement a new Survey of Learning Conditions that will provide a reliable instrument to measure a school’s progress through teacher, student and administrator feedback that will be made public. Require school board member training that will ensure they are qualified in critical areas of responsibility including financial oversight, education and labor law, and accountability.
Ensure lay-off decisions are made taking experience and performance into account. Granting tenure to teachers who are performing in the classroom and provide a way to expedite obtaining tenure if a teacher truly excels in the classroom
Streamline the dismissal process for underperforming teachers while protecting teachers’ due process through the addition of a highly-qualified evaluator. Improve the mediation process to include a more public disclosure of the final contract offers while protecting our members’ right to collectively bargain and have a voice at the table so they can keep advocating for our kids.
The three presidents also praised the work of Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D- Maywood), who presided over more than 40 meetings that lasted anywhere from two to 10 hours each, at which the contents of the bill were debated, decided and ultimately agreed to by all participants.

http://www.ieanea.org/featured/teachers-support-education-reform-package-that-puts-kids-first/

All I'm saying is:

(1) Don't put out a hit list of Democrats when virtually all of them voted for it, in collaboration with and with support from the unions.
(2) Reductive arguments like this are not helpful, and especially to people who live outside of the state and haven't been following the story. When such articles get posted here, it amounts to sloganeering only, meant to create "outrage."