CARY, Ill. – For the past several years, Illinois’ Cary District 26 was a prime example of the damage a demanding teachers union and a weak school board can inflict on a public school system.
District 26 was in such bad financial shape that it started cutting student programs and borrowing against future tax revenues just to pay its bills, including the irresponsible and unsustainable retirement benefits it was paying out to teachers.
As required by the teachers’ union contract, retiring Cary teachers were given 6 percent annual pay raises during the last four years of employment, in order to drive up their pension benefits from the state. This practice gained notoriety as the “6-6-6” format, which is an accurate description of the plan and its effect on the budgets of schools and the state of Illinois.

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