Elmhurst Teachers Union 'Overwhelmingly' Rejects Tentative Contract

Following one year and nearly 300 hours of negotiations, including the signing of a tentative agreement by both the Elmhurst Teachers’ Council and the on Sept. 6, the ETC membership has overwhelmingly rejected the proposed new contract.

“We are surprised and disappointed to hear of this highly unusual outcome, given that the ETC Executive Board reviewed the tentative agreement before forwarding it to their membership,” said Board of Education President Susan DeRonne. “We are deeply concerned about the affect this no vote will have on the district as a whole.”

From the beginning of this process, the board’s key goals have been to increase student achievement through enhanced student contact time with teachers, to provide the best and most appropriate education for students and to produce a contract that is both fair and fiscally responsible to the community, according to a press release from the district.

In light of this development, details of the tentative agreement may now be made public. Key points on which the Board and ETC teams both agreed include:

• Extension of the elementary school day by 10-15 minutes, since District 205 is currently under the state average in elementary academic instruction time by approximately 14 minutes a day.
• At the middle school level, the board sought increased contact time with the students who need it most. Teachers who teach five periods a day and currently have three planning/meeting periods—with no assigned student responsibilities—would have had a student/team support period where the time would have primarily been spent with students in a focused instructional effort.
• At the high school level, the board had agreed to a student late arrival day each week, which would have provided 75 minutes for teachers to collaborate with each other, both within and outside of their departments. This time would be used to examine data, work on team planning and develop strategies that will ultimately assist in improving student achievement.
  

The tentative contract agreement was crafted by both teams with cognizance of the fiscal restraint necessary in light of current economic realities and also included:

• a complete salary freeze in the first year
• in the second year, teachers would be able to advance on the pay schedule by completing certain milestones in their pre-approved coursework toward an advanced degree (known as “lane” changes)
• in the third year, a pay raise would be given to all teachers at a rate of 50 percent of Consumer Price Index, not to exceed 2.5 percent, plus the lane change incentives previously mentioned
• the sun-setting of artificial retirement enhancements

In exchange for these concessions, the teams had agreed not to cut health care benefits or increase teacher contributions toward that cost. In addition, there would not be the large scale salary reductions that some districts and other state employers have sought.

“We greatly value and respect our teachers, and at the same time we feel these are key components of fiscal responsibility and good educational practice that are in the best interest of our district, our students and our community,” said DeRonne on behalf of the board negotiations team.

The board will discuss next steps in the closed session portion of its Sept. 27 meeting.