District 21 teachers forgo raises to save school activities, class size

District 21 teachers will forgo any type of raise next school year in order to save after school activities and keep class sizes down, said Bill Harrison, president of the Wheeling Township Elementary District 21 school board.

The school board approved the new four-year contract on Thursday night.

For the 2010-11 school year, teachers won't get their annual raise or annual step increase. In the following three years, teacher will get step increases and raises based on the Consumer Price Index. District 21 administrators not in the union agreed to the same deal, Harrison said.

"Our union truly stepped up," he said. "They used the common sense that a number of other districts in the state are not using. They saved positions for their teachers."

District 21 has about 600 full and part time teachers. There are about 6,500 students in the district's 13 elementary and middle schools.

Eliminating raises next year will save the district $1.6 million, said District 21 Business Manager Daniel Schuler.

This year, the teachers received a base increase of 3.75 percent on top of their step increase, for a total average raise of about 6 percent, he said.

"That was the most expensive year on that contract," said Schuler about the contract that ran from 2006 to 2010.

In January, District 21 officials announced they were facing a $12 million deficit in the next five years. To combat the deficit, the board announced a list of eight possible cuts - with the two biggest cost-saving choices being to increase class sizes ($1.7 million) and to cut all before and after school activities ($700,000).

The class sizes would have increased from 25-27 students per class to 30 students per class in the elementary schools and 32 students per class in the middle schools.

However, in February, school board said the district was working on a new teachers contract and decided to drop those two options. District 21 will still consider other ways to save money, including cutting administrative positions, spending on professional development and extra work stipends.

Based on making those kinds of cuts and the new contract, District 21 is now facing a $4 million deficit in the next five years, Schuler said.

It's unusual for a teachers union to give up their step increases.

"It's unique," Schuler said. "I think it shows the commitment and understanding of both sides."

According to the contract, the step raises - which average 2.3 percent - will return in 2011-12 when teachers will also get also get half of the CPI, Schuler said. In 2012-13, the teachers will get 75 percent of the CPI and in 2013-14, they'll receive 100 percent of the CPI figure, he said.

District 21 union representatives couldn't be reached on Friday.