Contract extended in District 70:

Teacher contracts in Libertyville Elementary District 70 have been extended through 2018 with a minimal increase in base pay, officials said. The action was approved by the school board this past Saturday, a day after teachers voted to ratify the contract. The parties began meeting about five months regarding an extension of the current five-year pact that ends in 2015. The average base salary increase is about 0.6 percent, according to the district, and traditional increases for teaching experience, additional education, and stipends for coaching sports or sponsoring clubs, for example, will remain. In a news release, union President Erin Carr described the pact as a "fair extension to our contract." The district said it wants to keep its teachers on the cutting edge and the new contract maintains a "commitment to recognizing teachers annual growth." The district has about 190 teachers. The most recent figure available listed the average teacher salary at $65,356.