Dist. 203 teachers may accept one-year pay freeze

Most Naperville Unit District 203 teachers won't receive pay increases next year as part of a new tentative three-year contract both sides are expected to approve in the coming week.

Teachers would receive pay bumps in the following two years, however, and those approaching retirement still would be eligible for raises of up to 6 percent in each of their final four years in the district, according to sources with knowledge of the pact.

District and union negotiators reached the tentative agreement Tuesday night, just a week after talks began. The two sides met five times.

The district's roughly 1,350 teachers will hear the terms of the deal tonight from Naperville Unit Education Association representatives and are scheduled to hold a ratification vote Friday morning.

If the teachers approve the contract, the school board will vote to finalize the agreement Monday. School board members are scheduled to share details of the pact with the public just before the vote.

"I think probably the most important piece is both sides wanted to work together and we both had a similar vision of where we wanted to go," school board President Mike Jaensch said Wednesday.

District and union officials refused to discuss any financial details of the agreement.

But sources with knowledge of the talks said the deal doesn't include pay increases on teachers' base salary or "step" increases for additional experience during the first year of the pact. Teachers who complete additional education, however, may be eligible for a bump.

Sources described the raises for the last two years of the contract as minimal to modest.

The agreement keeps retirement benefits in place, which give teachers salary increases of up to 6 percent for up to four years before they retire.

Health benefits also will remain the same, with teachers paying 30 percent in their first two years with the district and 15 percent each year after, sources said.

Jaensch did say the contract includes an agreement to work together on teacher compensation reform and District 203 will take a leadership role in that area as other districts begin to look at the issue.

"I think both sides were really committed to get something substantial settled and do it in a fairly quick time in (light) of the economic situation," union President Dave Griffith said of the contract.

The current contract gave teachers average salary increases of 3.8 percent this school year and last. It expires June 30.

The starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor's degree and no experience is $42,808 in the current contract. A teacher with a master's degree plus 54 hours of additional college credit and 22 years of experience makes $105,278.