Prairie Crossing teachers get first union contract

Teachers at Prairie Crossing Charter School in Grayslake have landed their first union contract.

Board members voted 9-0 in favor of the one-year contract at a meeting Tuesday night. Teachers signed off on their end of the deal before the school board gave its approval.

Prairie Crossing board President Geoff Deigan said a formula worked out as part of the agreement means raises for teachers will vary based on experience and other factors.

“It’s a good, solid agreement,” Deigan said Thursday, “and both parties came away satisfied with the process.”

Lake County Federation of Teachers President Michael McGue couldn’t be reached for comment.

Lack of pay was cited as the chief reason more than half of 27 certified staffers last year signed cards to become a unit of the Lake County Federation of Teachers union. Instructors most recently earned an average of about $38,000 per year.

Prairie Crossing’s teachers became eligible for union representation through a law Gov. Pat Quinn signed in July 2009, which also allows the number of charter schools to grow to 120 statewide. Charter school instructors had not been allowed to organize under state labor laws. Open since 1999, Prairie Crossing serves kindergarten through eighth grade with an environmentally focused curriculum and is one of 50 small choice public schools in Illinois. It is Lake County’s only charter school.

Laura Elizabeth Fay, a Prairie Crossing parent and former board member, said while she’s not against the teachers exercising their right to join a union, she is concerned the school will lose a casual atmosphere that makes it different.

Prairie Crossing is within the boundaries of Woodland Elementary District 50 and Fremont Elementary District 79. Fay said Prairie Crossing may wind up with rules and bureaucracy similar the much bigger Woodland and Fremont.

“I think it’s unfortunate the teachers felt (a union) was necessary,” she said.

Contract talks between the school board and union began last October. Deigan said much was learned during the negotiations, such as a need to get teachers more involved in school governance.

With a 392-student capacity, Prairie Crossing’s enrollment is determined by lottery. Illinois’ per-pupil financial aid follows Woodland and Fremont children to Prairie Crossing.