East Aurora Dist. 131 union to rally Saturday, file strike notice Monday

East Aurora District 131 teachers and other workers intend to file a 10-day strike notice on Monday, their union says.

That means teachers, teaching aides and assistants, other support workers and office workers could go on strike as soon as Oct. 5.

The workers also plan to rally at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park, 42 N. Farnsworth Ave., Aurora.

According to a news release, state Rep. Linda Chapa La Via will speak at the rally, as will Aurora 7th Ward Alderman Scheketa Hart-Burns and Arise Chicago's director, the Rev. C.J. Hawking.

School board President Annette Johnson said the district has offered to resume negotiations on Sept. 29.

In the declaration of an impasse it filed with the state, the district says negotiations began in February; the union says they began in December. Talks halted in early August.

One of the sticking points is class size.

The district's offer sets class-size "goals," for reading, math, science and social studies classes of 23 to 27 students in primary grades, 24 to 28 students in intermediate grades, 25 to 29 students in middle school and 28 to 32 students in high school. If classes exceed those sizes, the district would consider "looking at" assigning a full- or part-time teaching assistant to the room, having other building workers help the classroom if they have extra time, or dividing the class.

In contrast, the union wants the contract to set a maximum of 25 students in primary grades, 26 in intermediate, 27 in middle school and 30 in high school. If class size is more than that, the district would have to either divide the classroom, assign an assistant, or pay the teacher an extra $2,000.