Raises for teachers in Gurnee-area Woodland district

Teachers at Gurnee-based Woodland Elementary District 50 will receive raises as part of a new two-year contract.

Instructors will get a base salary boost of 0.64 percent in the 2009-10 academic year and 0.54 percent for 2010-11. In addition to the yearly pay hikes, teachers are eligible for increases that reward longevity and education.

District 50 board members approved the deal at a special meeting Thursday night. The Woodland Council's union membership already has ratified the contract, according to a District 50 announcement issued Friday.

Estimates produced by District 50 show a first-year teacher who earned $33,550 in the just-ended school year will make $33,765 in 2009-10 with the 0.64 percent raise. The same instructor will earn $33,947 with a 0.54 percent hike in 2010-11.

In 2009-10, the salary will go from $75,898 to $76,383 for a Woodland teacher with 15 years experience, a master's degree and 45 hours of credit. The same employee will get $76,797 in 2010-11.

Negotiators for District 50 and the union started working on the two-year contract in August 2008.

"While the negotiation process was lengthy, it allowed us to work together as a team to produce changes that benefit both our members and the community," union President Judy Ryan said in a statement. "We're pleased to have the contract settled well in advance of the coming school year."

District 50 board President Lawrence Gregorash said elected officials were cognizant of the difficult economic times during the negotiations.

Citing revenue declines similar to other suburban school systems, Woodland's administrators and managers in April agreed to have their salaries frozen for the 2009-10 academic year. The freezes, and not replacing a departing administrator, are projected to save about $194,600.

Elsewhere in the suburbs, Palatine Township Elementary District 15 this week struck a new three-year contract with teachers providing base raises of .75 percent, 1.9 percent and 1.45 percent. The teachers also can receive what are called lane and step pay increases for education and experience.

Grayslake Elementary District 46 teachers will receive an average 4 percent annual raise under a three-year contract through the 2010-11 school season. The 4 percent average was calculated by factoring in base, step and lane increases, officials said.

Woodland serves all of Gages Lake and Wildwood and parts of Gurnee, Grayslake, Park City, Third Lake, Old Mill Creek, Wadsworth, Lake Villa, Waukegan and Libertyville.