Kaneland teachers, district will meet again Thursday

There's still no agreement on a new Kaneland teachers contract, after school district and teachers union representatives spent another five hours negotiating Monday night.

Mediation will continue Thursday night.

The teachers union has scheduled a general membership meeting for 4 p.m. Sunday. The agenda has not been set, said union spokesman Angie Bateman.

"I do not think it would be helpful or timely at this point to comment" on how Monday's talks went, Superintendent Charles McCormick said Tuesday.

On the recommendation of the federal mediator handling the contract talks, neither side is now discussing details of the negotiations.

Before the mediator became involved, the district released what it was proposing for salary increases, and what it said the union was proposing. Union leaders criticized the move as a ploy to get public support for the district's side.

On Oct. 6, the 360-member teachers union voted 267-11 to file a 10-day notice of intent to strike. However, they have not voted to strike.

The district proposed a three-year contract, starting with a base salary of $34,400 for a teacher with a bachelor's degree, no experience and no graduate education. It proposed increasing salaries overall by 4.5 percent in the first year of the contract, 6 percent in the second and 5.3 percent in the third; the base would also increase each year, to $37,581 in the third year of the contract. This is for a 180-day school year. and does not include any stipends for extra duties. A starting teacher made $34,019 for the 2007-08 school year in Kaneland.

The district's Web site said that the teacher's union proposed a starting base of $34,869, with overall increases of 5.8 percent in the first year, 6.5 in the second and 5.1 in the third. The base would also increase each year, to $37,082 in the last year of the contract.