District 155 Press Release on New Teachers’ Contract

Looking for whether my son’s school district will follow Chicago’s example and close school Monday, I found this press release.  I thought it might be of interest:

DISTRICT 155, EDUCATION ASSOCIATION RATIFY CONTRACT

The Community High School District 155 board of education and District 155 Education Association have agreed to a new contract that will be in place through the 2015-2016 school year. The new contract projects an increase of 7.12% in total expenditures for total teacher salaries and benefits over the three-year period, and allows the board the financial flexibility to balance the budget while limiting the impact to student opportunities.

The contract was approved by the District 155 Education Association and the board of education on January 17 and 21, respectively.

Ted Wagner

Ted Wagner

“This agreement allows us to utilize our financial means in areas that directly impact students,” said Ted Wagner, board of education president. “While our excellent teachers are implementing the curriculum each school day, the board and administration will have flexibility to find ways to balance the budget and supplement our teachers’ efforts.”

“Just like every contract we have bargained for the past twenty years, this contract is fair to all stakeholders,” said Justin Hubly, president of the District 155 Education Association. “We believe this contract will allow the district to continue to meet its goals in a fiscally responsible manner.”

The agreement is the culmination of an intense 10-month negotiation process.

“From the start of this process, the board has always maintained its great admiration for our teachers and their efforts and abilities,” Wagner stated. “We have worked together to ensure that the agreement does not additionally burden our taxpayers or decrease the quality of education our community demands. We are excited to have this agreement in place so we can refocus our collective efforts on our students.”

The contract will be posted to the district website once final language is determined. In the meantime, key provisions of the new accord are:

  • Salaries
    • Year 1: No increase to base salary; no step or lane movement granted
    • Year 2: No increase to base salary; full step and lane movement granted; salary schedule adjusted to reflect the teacher-paid portion of the Teachers Retirement System contribution
    • Year 3: Increase to base salary equal to 50% of CPI (CPI capped at 5.0%); full step and lane movement granted; salary schedule adjusted to reflect the teacher-paid portion of the Teachers Retirement System contribution
  • Health Insurance:
    • Employee contributes 10% of single premium cost (same as previous contract)
    • Establishes an independent insurance reserve fund that will be applied to mitigate future health insurance costs due to increases to premiums and/or claims
  • Retirement Benefits:
    • Year 1: Board pays 9.8901% of employee’s salary to Teachers Retirement System (TRS); equivalent to 96% of required employee contribution (same as previous contract)
    • Year 2 and 3: Board pays 4.712% of employee’s salary or 50% of required employee contribution (whichever is lower) to Teachers Retirement System (TRS); employee pays remainder of required employee contribution to TRS
    • Limit participation in Early Retirement Option (ERO) to 5% of eligible members with a two-person minimum
  • Professional Development:
    • Year 1: Tuition reimbursement up to $200/credit hour; Credits accumulate toward lane advancement (same as previous contract)
    • Year 2 and 3:
      • First Master’s Degree: Tuition reimbursement up to $350/credit hour; Credits accumulate toward lane advancement
      • Post-Master’s Degrees: No tuition reimbursement; Credits accumulate toward lane advancement
      • National Board Certification: 15 hours credit toward lane advancement; One-time $2000 payment to teachers at MS+60
  • Extracurricular Stipends:
    • Year 1: No step movement granted
      • Coaching and activities remain same as previous contract
        • Coaching: 7-step stipend schedule; 7 coaching groups
        • Activities: 4-step stipend schedule; 9 sponsor groups
    • Years 2 and 3:
      • Coaching: New 6-step stipend schedule implemented; 6 coaching groups
      • Activities: New 6-step stipend schedule implemented; 9 sponsor groups
  • Teacher workload:
    • Teachers assigned to an average of 30 class periods per week; most teachers assigned to five academic periods; some teachers assigned to six academic periods with no additional compensation (same as previous contract)
    • Add provision regarding full teacher institute days limited scheduled staff development activities to no more than five hours per day. Teachers granted three hours of independent professional time (including lunch) per institute day

Comments

District 155 Press Release on New Teachers’ Contract — 5 Comments

  1. Why is it always a pay hike?

    Why never a pay cut?

    Does anyone honestly deny that these teachers are grossly overpaid?

  2. The super and the rest of the administration are also grossly overpaid.

  3. If they just had the courage to confront the scum unions and lock these extortionists out. I’d guarantee, you’d have applicants lined up 30 deep, at half the pay, to replace.

    If parents complain about any inconvenience, tell them their choice is to be invoiced for the entire bill, if they want to hang on to the status quo and the ridiculous idea of Public Sector unions.

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