Teachers union recommends Indian Prairie Dist. 204 pact to membership

Indian Prairie teachers have tentatively accepted a two-year contract worth about a .65 percent salary increase over two years.

The terms of the pact were first reported Monday on dailyherald.com.

District 204 officials released more plan details Wednesday evening after the plan was introduced to the approximately 2,700 union teachers.

The tentative agreement provides the district a savings of $2.5 million in the first year of the contract. The savings come from salaries being frozen next year and implementing a more efficient medical plan. Teachers also will not receive the annual step increase provided for additional education or experience.

In 2011-12, teachers will receive a 1.26 percent increase on their base salary beginning midyear and "step" increases for education and experience will be allowed.

The contract also provides jobs for some teachers who were released.

"Thanks to the hard work by all members of the negotiating team, the district is able to bring back 16 to 23 elementary teachers next year, which helps reduce class sizes while continuing to provide quality education," said Superintendent Kathryn Birkett.

Negotiations began in February and hit some rough spots along the way, but both sides said they are satisfied with the deal.

"They say that a good settlement is one in which neither side is entirely happy. It should go without saying that the union would have preferred a higher settlement and the district would have preferred lower," said District President Curt Bradshaw. "However, in the end, we have a settlement that is respectful of our current economic situation."

The district is facing a projected $21.4 million budget deficit for next year. It already has approved cost-saving measures that include the release and recent rehire of 145 nontenured staff, increased fees in several departments and cuts to several programs.

"Given the fact no one can predict how long the current economic situation will last, we felt it was financially prudent to limit the contract to two years," Bradshaw said. "The combination of this settlement and our austerity plan position us to maintain a balanced budget over this time period even if our worst case expectation from the state becomes reality."

Union President Val Dranias said she was pleased the union was able to achieve some of the goals it set out to reach as well.

"Our goals were to be fiscally responsible, do what was best for students and staff, bring back as many released teachers as possible, reduce class size and stay competitive with benchmark districts," she said. "We believe that this contract accomplishes those goals."

Dranias also will host a question-and-answer session for teachers at 4:15 p.m. Friday at Metea Valley High School. Teachers will vote May 27 in their buildings to ratify or reject the proposed agreement.

The school board will vote on the proposed pact after the union vote.