Ailment, apparently contagious, strikes U-46 board again

No more doubt exists. Whatever malady it is that infects the sitting president of any Elgin School District U-46 School Board and turns them into chattering gerbils, Ken Kaczynski has developed a full-blown case of it.

The insidious disease takes generally good people, co-opts them from people's representative to defensive shill and turns them into buffoons who embarrass themselves in public and beggar taxpayers without a blush.

This is the disease that caused then-board President Karen Carney to insult hundreds and help generate a discrimination lawsuit during boundary change discussions a few years back.

"If it's too hot in the kitchen, then get out," said Carney to the huge crowds relegated to sitting in hallways, apparently failing to notice they hadn't actually gotten in. The discourtesy shown the public that night is a big reason the district is facing a multimillion discrimination lawsuit. The biggest crowd since then was Monday, when, again, the issue to a raucous teacher contingent was a lack of respect.

Kazcynski replaced Carney as board president, meaning he was the choice of board members to act as their designated edu-mush dispenser in those rare moments the board deigned to respond to the public at all. He has been doing a good job of it, too.

Asked why the board absurdly agreed to allow Superintendent Connie Neale to live in another state while employed here, he said, "I don't recall those discussions and they happened in executive session." Of course they did. That's where all the expensive stuff happens. One would think he could remember a debate as weird as that one, but maybe there wasn't any, this board's mantra of "whatever Connie wants, Connie gets," making it unnecessary.

That is evidenced by her big pay raise and bonus for this year when everyone in the district knew she was on the move. They vilified ex-school board member Dan Rich, who initially exposed this mess, and bought her statement, "It's not true that I had any consideration of leaving whatsoever." Every personal act and every word in every contract over the last two to three years belie those words. So, of course, does her current presence in Missouri.

One might imagine the three "no" votes cast Monday against extending her mythical employment into February may indicate a board waking from the dead. But one of those three voted against the contract originally and the other two weren't yet on the board. So there's been no change in the thinking of the board majority. The extension means that if Neale lives to 80, she'll get $75,000 additional for five years of service in Illinois than if the board had just cut her loose.

Kaczynski says we shouldn't care, because it's the state that'll pick up the difference. It "would not affect taxpayers in any significant way," he said. Is it possible the president of the school board doesn't understand "the state" is really us and that all these "insignificant" deals in education have the state (us), nearly every school district (us, again) and every taxpayer (assuredly us) on our knees?

How did he explain the board majority's acquiescence even though she's not working and not coming back? It's "consistent with how we allow other employees to manage the date of their retirement." Meaning they routinely pay people for not working, add years of service people don't earn, cash out sick days they don't need and generally allow a farewell shakedown of taxpayers.

Give me some real gerbils. They are much, much cheaper to keep.