Teacher contracts talks begin amid uncertain times
Talk about bad timing.
Thousands of suburban public-school teachers will see their contracts expire this year, while the country continues to suffer through what many say is the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
The recession has caused pain for individual taxpayers (smaller paychecks, decimated retirement accounts, job loss) and school districts (near-zero growth in the Consumer Price Index, the basis for districts' property tax levies).
Given that, teachers and taxpayers alike wonder what will happen come negotiation time.
Union representatives say teachers hope school boards will provide them with the resources they need to do an important job well. Taxpayer advocates say they hope school boards hold the line on pay raises at a time when revenue is down and the people who elected them are hurting financially.
"It should be an interesting year, no doubt," said Gail Purkey, spokeswoman for the Illinois Federation of Teachers, which represents 95,000 teachers and education staff members statewide.
Union representatives say the economy will undoubtedly be a factor in upcoming negotiations, but they're not sure how big an impact it will have.
"There's a real feeling of uncertainty out there," said Charlie McBarron, spokesman for the Illinois Education Association, which represents more than 130,000 teachers and education staff members across the state. "It's hard to say how the economic picture is going to shake out, so it's definitely on the minds of our members."
McBarron said the down economy might result in shorter contracts, like a one-year deal recently approved in Naperville's Indian Prairie Unit District 204. Teachers there received a raise of up to 3.87 percent in the deal.
The economy also might lead to longer bargaining sessions, and a renewed emphasis on contract items other than compensation, McBarron said.
"There might be more discussion about working conditions, for example," he said.
Purkey agreed. She said an April survey of IFT members showed that dwindling supply levels and an increase in discipline problems inside classrooms are big concerns for teachers.
But compensation will be an issue, too, Purkey said.
"Our members understand how difficult things are for everyone now," she said. "No teacher is in a classroom because they think they'll get a Wall Street salary. But educating students is a vitally important job, and a labor-intensive one. There's a cost associated with that."
For suburban school board members - the people who approve teacher contracts - there could be a cost associated with granting pay raises. Taxpayer advocacy groups like the Barrington Enlightened Taxpayer Association have already started putting pressure on school boards, urging them to hold the line on salaries.
"People around here are pretty riled up about it," said Carol Schubert, president of BETA. Barrington Area Unit District 220 is one of the suburban districts that will negotiate a new contact this year. District and teacher representatives declined to talk about the negotiations.
Schubert suggested that a big raise for teachers could hurt District 220's chances for passing a referendum in the future.
"A lot of people want the school board to freeze salaries where they are, or even reduce them," she said. "This is not the time for taxpayers to be paying for raises, when many of us have had our own pay reduced."
Ken Kaczynski, school board president in Elgin Area School District U-46, said taxpayers in his district always encourage the board to keep costs down. He said he wouldn't be surprised to hear more of that during contract negotiations. The U-46 teacher contract expires in 2010.
"It's too early to say exactly what will happen, because the economy is so uncertain," he said. "But if people are still hurting the way they are now, I'm sure we'll hear about it."