No deal yet in Prospect Hts. Dist. 23 teacher strike
A week into the strike, teachers and the Prospect Heights Elementary District 23 school board negotiated late into the night Tuesday with no deal as of 11 p.m., but the two sides were discussing a possible agreement.
Wednesday was already scheduled to be a nonattendance day for the Yom Kippur holiday, but if the two sides don't agree soon, more than 1,500 students could miss a sixth day of school on Thursday.
Major sticking points between the parties have included raises for the 150 teachers and educational support personnel in the union and the idea of a salary schedule that dictates additional bonuses for years of service or educational levels. Monday was the first time recently that the two sides met face to face and had an open dialogue, both sides said.
On Monday the school board came back with a new offer for the union - a four-year contract instead of three. Under the new proposal, most teachers would receive a 3.25 percent raise each year for the first three years and a 3 percent raise in the fourth year, while those earning more than $90,000 would get a 1.75 percent raise the first three years and a 1.5 percent raise the fourth year, school board President Mari-Lynn Peters said.
"The mediator keeps telling us to come up with something new or different or outside the box," Peters said. A four-year contract would lock teachers into those raises no matter what changes might come from the state with a possible pension shift or property tax freeze.
"I'm hoping they will have a response," Peters said of the new offer before Tuesday night's meeting, which began at 7 p.m. after an hourlong meeting of the school board.
Peters and teachers union President Bob Miller did not respond to calls for comment late Tuesday night.
The strike started last Wednesday after contract talks broke down in the early hours of the morning. Matters grew increasingly tense throughout the week as teachers picketed and the two sides could not even agree on when to meet.
On Sunday the school board called for a "cooling-off" period of two weeks in hopes of getting teachers back in the classroom while negotiations continued, but the union rejected that idea and filed a labor complaint alleging the school board refused the negotiate in good faith.
Meanwhile, students have been out of the classroom since Sept. 15.
"It's sad and it's really upsetting. My own son has been home from school; it's been a week now," Peters said on Tuesday. "It is just unfortunate that the kids are not back in the classroom with the teachers."