U-46 union says board put spin on agreement
The head of the Elgin Teachers Association says frustration many local educators have voiced stems from the school board’s interpretation of elements in the tentative agreement that union members rejected last week.
Kathryn Castle, president of the 2,200-member Elgin Teachers Association, said the Elgin Area School District U-46 board put a spin on the details it presented earlier this week that made the tentative deal appear sweeter than it is for teachers.
“Teachers are very stressed out with what is going on, not just in the district but also the state,” Castle said. “So when something doesn’t sound like how they would explain it, it’s upsetting to them.”
On April 12, 1,319 teachers voted against the agreement, while 673 voted for it.
In the board’s first official statement after a special meeting Monday, school board President Donna Smith said the tentative agreement reduced class sizes for the district’s youngest students, provided opportunities for teachers to be leaders of their own profession, gave teachers a voice in transforming the school day to maximize learning, afforded most teachers a 2- to 4½-percent pay raise for the current school year and continued to provide retirement bonuses to teachers who qualify.
“About 71 percent of teachers in the district would be getting a raise,” Smith said in an interview Thursday. “They would get what they are earning now, plus a step (for years of service). That goes back to the beginning of the school year when the current contract expired.”
Smith added that lane changes for additional educational credits remained intact while step and base salary increases were frozen for one year.
But Castle refutes the claim, saying some teachers still will miss out.
“Teachers that have given retirement notice may not be on the salary schedule. We also have teachers that even if they move, there is no increase at that step,” Castle said. “The tentative agreement would have given only step and lane (increases) for each of the first two years. That would mean some members would have experienced no increase for three years.”
Plus, the number of teachers receiving lane increases for obtaining additional education is only an estimate and not guaranteed.
Step increases are given for years of service, while lane increases are given to teachers who obtain additional educational credits or degrees.
According to data provided by District U-46, more than 1,450 teachers will receive a raise between 2 and 4½ percent.
Furthermore, Castle said the parties never had an agreement on class sizes. The agreement does, however, lower the threshold for a teacher’s aide to be introduced to a classroom, Smith said.
Under the tentative agreement, when a kindergarten through second grade classroom reaches 32 students, a teacher’s aide would be required. A part-time aide would be added in classrooms with 30 to 31 students. The current condition for an aide is 35 students for kindergarten through sixth grade. That condition would remain for grades three through six.
The tentative agreement also creates a transformation task force to come up with a proposal for an extended school day. Smith said the idea is to bring teachers to the table to decide with the district what the day should look like. If the sides cannot reach an agreement, a default schedule would be put in place. Castle said that’s the part teachers don’t buy in particular.
“It speaks to a lack of trust,” Castle said. “We are struggling with elements of the current contract that deals with the teachers’ voice in the decision-making process. They put a lot of things in writing, but it doesn’t compare to their actions.”
The sides have agreed to mediation, but it is not yet known when sessions will restart. The union has selected a new bargaining team and is in the process of collecting information from members regarding what they feel are the most important aspects.