I have been waiting for official news the teachers actually signed off on their new contract.

Something about its not official until there are signatures on the signature page.

Apparently not.

Hmmm.

The union wanted tentative agreements signed so the Board signed 49 of them out of 57 issues. The was the day before the strike. Maybe more by the time the final agreement was reached.

The purpose of having so many tentative agreements signed before reaching a final agreement is so each part of the agreement receives individual scrutiny by both negotiating teams. The final agreement becomes collating all of the tentative agreement’s as the tentative agreements are moved into one final package.

Because the union went on strike, the union leaders could have picked out any tentative agreement that was in place and renegotiated that one or more entative’s. They apparently decided to keep in place everything already tentatively agreed to at the time.

So why no official word about the co-presidents signing the contract?

It’s not like they work miles apart. Both Kim Ashenbach and Julie Hunter are
elementary teachers at Conley Elementary. Same school where Britt Crowe teaches
music and was the spokesperson for the teachers union.

Speaking of music, it took a lot of brass from Britt Crowe to make this statement to the Daily Herald after the teachers ratified the contract:

“The decision to strike was really out of our hands, something we were forced into.”

What was the teachers last official proposal when they went on strike September 15th?

It was the union’s August 21st counterproposal made public on the District’s web site.

6%, 7% and 8% pay hikes in each of three consecutive years

It averaged 7.4% using detailed calculations. A basic pay raise of 7.4%. Yes, that is a lot of brass to say they were forced into striking.

It was 100% in the union leaders’ hands. They used a strike as an attempt to pressure the Board into caving still more. Rather than a radical step, striking for these teachers on the negotiations team became a negotiating tactic:

• Julie Hunter – 5th Grade – Conley Elementary
• Kim Aschenbach – 5th Grade – Conley Elementary
• Britt Crowe – Music – Conley Elementary
• Christy Henderson – Kindergarten – Chesak Elementary
• Chris Laird – 1st Grade – Chesak Elementary
• Jane Kantor – 2nd grade – Chesak Elementary
• Mark Stahl – 7th grade Social Studies – Heinemann Middle School
• Jennifer Heuck – P.E teacher – High School

Does anything “strike” you as unusual about this grouping of teachers as Huntley’s union leaders?

District 158 has eight schools, 5 elementary, 2 middle and 1 high school.

There were 8 negotiating team members.

So, there could have been on negotiating team member from each school.

Does it really make a difference if you pay a first grade teacher $70,000 or $80,000 a year for the additional education and experience? I would think rapport with the kids would be more important to their education than extra graduate courses.

But the teachers union has taxpayers paying elementary P.E. teachers the same money as the high school English teacher who has to grade papers.

Very interesting.

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Photos are from two pre-stike visits of teachers to the Huntley School Board.