Union accuses District 158 of 'running up surpluses'

The teachers union in Huntley Unit District 158 has accused the district of padding its budget by denying fair compensation to teachers.

"The district is running up surpluses in their budget," union spokeswoman Britt Crowe said Thursday. "We feel that that's because they're not paying us competitive salaries."

The union and the district have traded accusations in recent days, with the union saying its new contract proposal is "affordable" and the district saying the proposal would still force the district to deficit spend.

Neither side has released the new proposal, although the district says the July 14 proposal would raise teacher compensation costs by $2.8 million.

District officials denied the district was swimming in cash, pointing out that Superintendent John Burkey has already had to trim the budget for the 2008-09 school year.

"I think we've been very conservative to get where we are," Burkey said.

Board Vice President Tony Quagliano said the district did not manipulate its budget to influence teacher contract negotiations.

"We didn't jack around with the budget just because we're doing the teacher contract," Quagliano said. "We didn't purposely understate our revenues."

The union stood by its claim.

"The facts are in the public documents," Crowe said.

Since the state Legislature voted earlier this year to increase education funding, District 158 expects to get an additional $4.26 million in revenue this year.

Under the district's tentative budget, about 80 percent of the additional revenue would be spent on new employees and higher energy costs, leaving a $1.73 million surplus.

But the budget doesn't include any increase in the teacher contract.

With even a moderate increase, the surplus would mostly evaporate, and the district would have to make further cuts in the budget to reach a 1-percent surplus, or about $720,000.

The sides have been meeting with federal negotiators since June.

The current contract expired June 30.