U-46 teachers hold a 'grade-in'
Armed with colored markers, stacks of work sheets and bags of books, Elgin Area District U-46 teachers took their work to the hallways of the district's head office Monday to demonstrate how much time they spend completing necessary tasks once students leave.
Sandy Zappia, a seventh- and eighth-grade math teacher at Abbott Middle School in Elgin, was busy developing four different lessons for students in her Algebra I and II classes because students are at different ability levels.
“We want the public and the board to understand the dedication and amount of work that teachers do to ensure student success,” Zappio said. “I believe some people believe the school day ends at 4:30 or 5, and I think they understand we put extra time in, but I don't think they understand the extent of it.”
About 120 teachers participated in Monday's grade-in at the Education Services Center, 355 E. Chicago St., to show members of the school board and the public the time they dedicate to planning lessons, grading papers, meeting with parents and managing classrooms.
“We wanted show the public that it is more than just standing in front of students and teaching them,” said Laura Doggett, a third-grade teacher at Prairieview Elementary School in Bartlett. “There's a lot of things we do behind the scenes.”
Organized by the Elgin Teachers Association, the union that represents about 2,200 educators in the district, the grade-in was in response to ongoing contract negotiations that ETA leaders say have failed because the two sides cannot find common ground on the structure of the school day.
Teachers say the district leadership is proposing to lengthen the school day. However, teachers say, there is no plan on how those additional minutes will be allocated.
“What would extra time in a day be? More time for teachers to plan, assess and collaborate?” said Shawn Leaver, a sixth-grade teacher at Hilltop Elementary School in Elgin. “More data analysis? Downtime for students so they don't have to be ‘on' nonstop throughout the day?”
Leaver said more student contact time would make sense as long as there were accommodations made for teachers to plan for the added time.
“Poorly planned time is not in the best interest of our students,” Leaver said. “Can young children effectively learn with a longer school day? ... It is already noticeable that students are less focused in the afternoon than in the morning.”
The district would not comment on the ongoing negotiations, but board Vice President Amy Kerber said the school board is very aware of the demands of teachers through communications teams with the teachers union, as well as personal experience.
“Some of us on the board are educators, so we have lived the reality of the classroom,” Kerber said. “A lot of us are also parents, and we know how hard teachers work. We are all working in very challenging times.”
The board and union have been negotiating a contract for 10 months and recently jointly filed to bring in a federal mediator to help with discussions. Neither the district nor the board could say when the first meeting would be held.