Teachers, Prairie Crossing Charter School still negotiating first deal

Prairie Crossing Charter School board President Geoff Deigan said he's hopeful the first union contract with teachers will be finalized in March.

Lack of pay was cited as the chief reason more than half of 27 certified staffers last year signed cards to become a unit of the Lake County Federation of Teachers union. Prairie Crossing instructors most recently earned an average of about $38,000.

Deigan said talks between the school board and union began in October, and the latest discussion occurred Wednesday. Negotiation talks have been held about two hours once a week, with a goal of having a deal in early March.

“So far, so good,” Deigan said this week. “It's been actually a good experience and I think, frankly, the school is going to be a better place after we're done.”

Prairie Crossing's teachers became eligible for union representation through a law Gov. Pat Quinn signed in July 2009 that also allows the number of charter schools to grow from 60 to 120 statewide. Charter school instructors had not been allowed to organize under state labor laws.

With a 392-student enrollment capacity, Prairie Crossing is an environmentally focused public choice school. Parents of children at Woodland Elementary District 50 and Fremont Elementary District 79 may send their children to Prairie Crossing, which determines enrollment by lottery

Prairie Crossing serves kindergarten through eighth grade. Illinois' per-pupil financial aid follows Woodland and Fremont children to Prairie Crossing, which opened in 1999.