U-46 teachers set date for vote on latest agreement
Teachers in Elgin Area School District U-46 will take another shot at ratifying a tentative agreement with the school board with a vote scheduled for the end of May.
Kathryn Castle, president of the Elgin Teachers Association, said union leaders encourage teachers to ratify the new tentative agreement. Teachers will vote on the tentative agreement on Wednesday, May 30.
“I hope that the additional clarification of the language in the revised (tentative agreement) addresses member concerns and provides some recognition to our ever increasing workload,” Castle said in a statement to the Daily Herald.
Last month, teachers overwhelmingly rejected a three-year deal, despite support from union leadership. A survey of union members identified the top 10 issues. Those issues included salary, retirement, a task force to recommend a longer school day and collaboration time.
Teachers voted 1,319 against and 673 for it.
In the new tentative agreement, salary increases for years of service and additional education are available all three years, but a base increase is not offered in the first year of the contract.
In the second and third years of the contract, base pay is increased three-quarters of a percent. Previously, third-year salary increases were tied to the rate of inflation. Retroactive pay applies back to June 15, 2011, for those eligible. Across the board, most teachers will receive between a 1 and 4.5 percent increase.
Teacher collaboration remains at 240 minutes per month, but each meeting must be at least 30 minutes, down from the previously proposed 45 minutes. Meetings can be held during the school day from September to May. In December, collaborative time is reduced to 120 minutes. Faculty meetings are also capped at 75 minutes.
The tentative agreement also modified the creation of a transformation task force. Under the first tentative agreement, if the board and union did not come to an agreement before February 2013 on a longer school day, the contract could be terminated or a default schedule implemented.
Now, the union has a full voice in the development and approval of the task force, and the agreement also states that if teachers return to work without a contract for the 2013-2014 school year, the length of the middle school day would match that of the high school's.
The district still may terminate the agreement without notice if the state's property tax extension law is passed or changes are made to the teacher pension law that would shift the burden of teacher pension payments to the school board.
U-46 Chief of Staff Tony Sanders said the district would approve the contract at its June 4 board meeting if teachers ratify the contract May 30.
“We believe we have tried to address the concerns of the teachers that were brought forward by the ETA bargaining team based on a survey of their members,” Sanders said. “We are hopeful this will be passed by the teachers in May.”