No negotiation sessions are currently scheduled between the Lake Forest Educators Association teachers’ union and the District 115 Board of Education as the Board has posted what it claims are both sides’ positions on its website.
According to the information on the website, the union is demanding a three-year contract with an average annual increase in compensation of 6.7 percent while the Board is offering a 3.6 percent increase. The increase is a calculation of both salary and benefits.
At this point, the teachers are waiting for a response to their latest proposal, according to Univerv Director Mark Stein, an Illinois Education Association official.
“We are kind of hoping they will come to the table and settle this rather than negotiate in the press,” Stein said.
The Board takes the position on the school’s website the Lake Forest teachers are among the highest paid on the state and the current Board proposal keeps them in that position. Though no mediation date is set, the Board claims it is willing to talk.
“The Board has been, and remains, open to meeting with the union as needed to achieve a mutually acceptable contract” Board President Sharon Golan said. Stein maintains the union seeks further mediation and the Board refuses.
Union representative Chuck Gress is unwilling to say anything publically about the negotiations. “We are still in the midst of the collective bargaining process and will not be commenting on the specifics of the negotiations at this time,” he said.
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In fact the case can be made that they should be asked to take a pay cut in order to make room in our local budget for the giant hit we are going to take in our property taxes if the Democrats down in Springfield manage to transfer the responsibility for State pensions to local communities. The unions are hitting us from both sides, and if they get their way, we will see another huge increase in property taxes... with no additional benefits to show for it and no offsetting tax cut. The teachers are paying union bosses to buy political influence in Springfield and hire professional union negotiators to extract as much money as they can from unpaid school board members. They take as much money as they can from every community they are in and they aren't shy about it. If they are going to do that, then we need to deal with them on an equally hard-nosed footing and leave behind the traditional notion that we are dealing with a bunch of nice little old school marms. They play serious hard ball. We have to play hardball too or they will take everything we've got.... and everything we'll ever make.
Just look at how the weak School Board was manipulated Harry Griffith and how they caved in offering a huge package to his successor. This Board is not in touch with reality and we will all suffer as a result.
Reformers will have to run as independents against the Lake Forest Caucus selected candidates though.
I'm sure my daughter ( w/MEd teaching at LFA) would gladly cross a picket line to secure a highly paid job at LFHS, and she would be awesome. She could call up other fellow highly qualified MEd's w/ESL endorsements and second-language endorsements. Wake-up LFHS teachers: there are a lot of highly qualified unemployed young teachers out there who would love to have your job.
A huge thanks to the the board for delivering a BAFO. If the teachers don't want to take the deal on the table, let them strike and let's move on hiring replacements ASAP.