advertisement

Elgin Teachers Association votes down new contract

After an already protracted process, the Elgin Teachers' Association has voted down a tentative contract agreement, putting the negotiation session into further overtime.

Union President Kathy Castle said in an email that 1,319 teachers voted against the three-year deal, while just 673 members voted for it.

Castle did not return calls or email requests for comment Thursday night. In a message Wednesday to the association's 2200 members, Castle urged teachers to approve the tentative agreement.

“I believe this is the opportunity to send a message to our entire school community that we recognize the financial hardships of our families and that our additional increase, though not commensurate with our increasing workload, does allow the District to continue to support all student services,” Castle said. “I believe this agreement will serve our students and our needs at this time.”

District Chief of Staff Tony Sanders said the board could not comment immediately on the results but said the board will hold a closed session meeting Monday night to discuss the next steps.

“From the board's perspective, we are very disappointed that the vote was against the contract,” Sanders said. “We will figure out what to do next after Monday's meeting.”

Per the contract, a first year teacher with a bachelor's degree would make $35,650 in his or her first year, receiving a 4.5 percent base salary increase in the second year.

A more seasoned teacher, with a Master's degree and 20 years of service, would make $79,041 in the first year of the contract, receiving a 1 percent salary increase in the second year, bringing the total to $79,830.

Raises are tied to inflation in the third year of the contract.

In kindergarten through second-grade classrooms, general education teachers with 32 or more students would be offered aides. In third-through sixth-grade classrooms, general education teachers with 35 or more students would be offered full time aides.

Gary Lorber, an English teacher at Bartlett High School, said the vote was an “overwhelming statement against the agreement” with 13 of the district's 60-odd schools voting in favor.

Lorber pointed out several reasons for voting it down.

For one, the agreement establishes a taskforce that will make a recommendation on lengthening the school day before the end of the calendar year. If the board and union cannot come to an agreement before February 2013, the contract can be terminated or a default schedule will be implemented.

“There's no research that shows that lengthening the school day improves student achievement or students success,” Lorber said. “To have that as part of our contract pushes us up against the wall to come up with another length of the school day so that we don't have to go with the default model length that is arbitrary.”

Furthermore, the agreement replaced bimonthly faculty meetings with 240 minutes of collaboration time. Lorber, who resigned as the union building representative at Bartlett High School last week due to philosophical differences, said the collaboration meetings are expected the be at least 45 minutes long and three of the meetings will be teacher led and one jointly led by a site administrator and teacher. Evidence of work at the meetings include agendas, minutes or work completed.

Another clause, Lorber said, would allow the district to terminate the agreement without the approval of the association if the property tax extension law is approved, or changes are made to the pension system that would shift the burden of payment to teachers' pensions to the board.

The teachers' previous contract ended last August. That was a one-year extension of the 2007-2010 deal.

The extension included pay freezes, which meant nobody received a step increase or a base salary increase, Sanders said. Only those who received advanced degrees or training made more money, he said.

Though both sides had agreed to a federal mediator, the services were placed on hold. Instead, a facilitator that the union selected was brought in for the last three negotiation sessions, Sanders said.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.