Elwood District and Teachers’ Remain Far Apart in Contract Talks

“The ultimatum by the (Elwood Teachers Alliance) Executive Board of the bargaining unit is simply not acceptable.”

Those were the words read by Board of Education President Michael Kaszubski at the April 7 Board meeting, during which he shared contents of the board’s April 2 response to the union’s offer to take a five-month freeze on the 2011-2012 overall salary schedule raise of 3.5%, with no increase for stipends for interscholastic sports and co-curricular activities.

Members due an increment as of July 1, 2011 would get their increment.

In return for that concession, which the Board of Education’s letter says results in an average increase of 3.75% for each unit member for 2011-2012, the Alliance's Executive Board demanded a one-year contract extension to 2014-15, with a CPI-tied increase of at least 1.75%, capped at 3.0% plus step (4.55% to 5.80% total); restoration of 5 of the 28 jobs that would be lost at the proposed 3.74% contingency budget; and full implementation of activities and interscholastic sports through concession savings.

For the 2009-10 school year, union members had agreed to forgo their 3% raise and received, according to the board’s letter, an average increase of 2.0% from step increases.

In place of that raise, the following had been agreed to:

•  Year 2010-11: 3% raise plus step/longevity (5% total)
• Year 2011-12: 3.5% raise plus step/longevity (5.5% total)
• Year 2012-13: 3% raise plus step/longevity (5% total)
• Year 2013-14: 3.5% raise plus step/longevity (5.5% total)

While praising efforts of the alliance’s executive board to come up with solutions to preserve programs and keep staff in place, the Board of Education rejected the offer, saying “(The ultimatum) fails to recognize the long-term systemic issues in public finance and would still result in the devastating loss of jobs and core education for next year and the years to follow. Furthermore, the BOE has heard from the community and is in no position to add additional years to the teachers’ contract.”

In  return for a budget that keeps all programs and all 28 staff positions, the Board asked for “a complete freeze in increase and step for next year for each of your unit members. Even with the Board of Education’s suggested proposal, we realize that a 7% tax increase may not be warmly received by all voters, but believe that we would, as a group, be saying to the community that we support our schools and our teachers.” A copy of the board’s letter in PDF form is attached to this article.

The alliance rejected the Board’s counter proposal, saying “We remain prepared to stand by our stated offer until April 14 and hope the Elwood Board of Education shows the wisdom to accept it.”  The group's full response can be found on their website here.