Elgin teachers union ratifies contract; U-46 board to vote Monday
Members of the Elgin Teachers Association have ratified a tentative agreement on a new teachers contract that goes to the Elgin Area School District U-46 school board for a vote Monday.
It brings to a close nearly nine months of protracted negotiations.
The union's Representative Assembly voted 1,764 to 336 Tuesday to accept the contract, which runs from 2018 through 2022. Informational documents about the agreement are posted on the association website, theeta.org.
The district's more than 2,400 teachers have been working without a contract since the previous one-year extension expired last Aug. 10. The terms of that contract remain in effect until a new agreement is signed by both parties. It granted a base salary increase of 0.94 percent with a step increase of 3.1 percent on average.
If approved, teachers would receive back pay for any raises in the new contract retroactive to the start of the 2018 school year.
Last May, the union and U-46 administration reached a tentative agreement on a new multiyear contract for the 2018-21 school years that would have provided raises to all teachers. It proposed switching teachers to a new compensation model with an average yearly increase of 3.88 percent over three years and offered some teachers the ability to move to the new model over time, remaining under the current compensation system while accruing career credits. Union membership overwhelmingly rejected that deal.
The tentative agreement addresses compensatory items - salary, health insurance, retirement and rates of pay - and issues related to early learners, parent-teacher conferences, safety, professional development, technology, supervision and support systems for behavioral needs.
Step and lane increases - salary raises based on years of experience and education - are part of the tentative new deal.
Union President Barbara Bettis and Suzanne Johnson, U-46 deputy superintendent of instruction, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.