U-46 teacher survey helps redefine issues

Elgin Area School District U-46 negotiating teams will return to the bargaining table Monday armed with new information about teacher concerns and priorities, Elgin Teachers Association President Tim Davis said Thursday.

In a recent survey, teachers who rejected the tentative three-year contract cited large class sizes and case loads as the primary factors influencing their vote.

Teachers who voted "yes" overwhelmingly identified the salary increase in the first year of the contract as the main reason for their support.

Of the district's 2,400 teachers, 1,969 responded to the survey, which the union designed to pinpoint why teachers rejected the contract deal last month.

Teachers who opposed the deal ranked salaries in the second and third years of the contract as their second greatest concern. The proposed evaluation system came in third, followed by the salary in the first year of the contract.

"By far and away, those were the top," Davis said. "Things dropped off pretty quickly from there."

Teachers who approved of the contract listed the increase in the number of sick days, from 10 to 11 in the second year of the contract and from 11 to 12 in the third, as the second greatest factor affecting their vote. Provisions for class sizes ranked as their third greatest consideration.

Teacher priorities have changed since January, when members took the survey that guided the first round of negotiations, Davis said.

At the time, teachers listed their top concerns as salary, followed by insurance, class size and case loads.

The deal that members rejected, by a vote of 1,183 to 1,125, calls for average raises of 6.1 percent in the first year of the contract and average raises of between 4.4 percent and 5.7 percent, determined by the rate of inflation, in the second and third years of the contract.

The deal also includes a new teacher evaluation system, devised by a separate bargaining group, and additional teacher aides to help address large class sizes at high and middle schools.

Davis said the union will use the information from the survey to guide the next two bargaining sessions, scheduled for Monday and the following Monday, Nov. 19.

"One way or the other, we'll know on Nov. 19 whether we have a tentative agreement or if we need to head into mediation," Davis said.

Two union officials traveled to Springfield Thursday to talk to an attorney from the Illinois Education Association about the possibility of mediation, Davis said.

Since union members rejected the tentative deal last month, teachers have lined up at school board meetings to complain about large class sizes and case loads and voluminous paper work, stressful teaching conditions, and the barrage of new initiatives imposed by the administration.

Salary -- when mentioned -- was listed as a secondary concern.

Many said their "no" vote was a message that teachers were overstressed and overwhelmed, more than a referendum on the terms of the contract.

In the recent survey, the average teacher satisfaction level was 2.82 on a scale of one to five, with five being the most satisfied. Of the 1,875 teachers who ranked their satisfaction level, 36 percent chose 3, 26 percent chose 2, 24 percent chose 4, 11 percent chose 1, and 3 percent chose 5.

School board President Ken Kaczynski said the board has gotten a better handle on the mindset of teachers since they began speaking up at board meetings.

"The board was always concerned about class sizes, but what we're hearing is it goes beyond class sizes," Kaczynski said. "There are more workload issues that maybe there are different solutions to. Maybe those solutions can ease some of the workload so teachers can focus on teaching."

Davis agreed that creative solutions to the class size and case load issue will be necessary.

Class size caps are not a realistic option, Davis said, and student mobility, building capacity and tight finances all complicate the staffing equation.

The district's policy of providing extra funds and smaller classes for schools with large minority and low-income populations also contributes to larger class sizes at schools that don't receive extra help, Davis noted.

"It's clear teachers were unhappy with what we brought back," Davis said. "The bargaining groundwork has been laid and the stories have been told. Now we need to look for options and see where we can reach agreement on those."