teachers will stop working at 12.01 a.m. Sept. 12 , according to a statement today by Lake Forest Education Association teachers’ union (LFEA) spokesperson Chuck Gress.
The union issued a Notice of Intent to Strike to the Board at 4 p.m. today after Thursday’s mediation session failed to produce a deal and the LFEA found the District’s last and final offer under the collective bargaining process unsatisfactory.
“This is a difficult decision as we have always put the school community and its students first in our minds and our hearts,” Gress said in a statement. “Since there was no movement by the Board at last night’s negotiation session, the LFEA feels it has no choice but to take the next step in the collective bargaining process.”
The Board was not surprised by the action and is preparing for a possible work stoppage. It is also willing to meet again but says the union has not agreed to further talks.
“The Board remains steadfast in its efforts to provide fair compensation that’s reflective of today’s economic realities,” it said in a statement. “If needed, the Board has prepared a Strike Plan to address any potential work stoppage.”
After the teachers began last year without a contract, . The two sides met with a federal mediator over the summer and the union declared an impasse August 10.
The Board and the union were required to make their final offers to each other public today and those documents can be seen on the Illinois Labor Relations Board website. Patch will have a more detailed story Monday after it has the opportunity to review the documents closely and speak to representatives of the union and Board.
No further negotiation sessions are scheduled, according to Gress.
Patch learned of the teachers notice at 5:15 p.m. today and had not received a response from the Board by 6:15 p.m. We will update our readers when we do.
For more news and updates from Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Patch, subscribe to our daily e-newsletter, ”Like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
I thought Lake Forrest had business sense and smart people, not panzies. We need you to fight the extortion on behalf of all Chicago school districts ... the teachers are selecting your district because of the wealth... they believe you will succumb to inconvenience over substance... Are YOU really so weak, as to seek convenience rather than logical payment for service? OMG- LF, wake up!
I read your article in the NYT that was written by the Center for American Progress, an extreme left wing think tank. I urge you to reread the article and understand it for what it is--a union hit job on the taxpayer. China can make huge investments when they pay their workers minimum wage or less and no benefits or social safety nets. I've spent much time in China and I can assure you we don't want to strive to be like China. Don't let one leftist article create your "worldview"!
If the union is opposed to the new teacher pay scale, why don't they take a cut so that the new hires can have more. That same child of mine did get a college scholarship and went on to teach in the Chicago Public schools. She knows that she would still be teaching if she was in Lake Forest. I am a liberal, a Democrat, pro-teacher, and most of the time, pro-union. I am also a realist and believe that the union team demands are unreasonable in this economic climate.
As you've pointed out, Maximus is trying to score the best deal possible for services rendered. Isn't that Capitalism? Why are you interested in punishing the teachers for success? Is there anyone else you feel this way about, and why? "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Why are you being selective about this most cherished American ideal? What kind of America ARE you representing, anyways?
I also agree with your comments about the fear of speaking up among what must be many teachersl. Just look at the vitriol launched against you for simply saying Gress didn't care. Geesh! I can't imagine how hard it must be to deal with these folks on the job if you disagree.
As has been stated before, it is time for the teachers to understand the new reality that is out there. There are many of us taxypayers whose home values have plummeted, who have been given little to now pay increase, let alone something above cost of living, and most of the US (even teachers across the state) pay something for their health insurance. The free ride is over. Teachers like to keep putting up the ONE year they had a pay freeze, not reflecting the reality of the prior two years where they received raises while the rest of the US was having their salary frozen, taking a pay cut to save jobs, or even getting laid off. The teachers in LFHS have a GOOD, even GREAT thing going. They ARE appreciated, but the taxpayers are bleeding and the teachers have to stop.
The teachers voted 104-3 for the strike and are responsible for this. ALL of this is their fault. By the way, hasn't anyone told you that your race will count as much as your test scores when you apply for college? No? Well that discussion can wait for another day. It's too bad you haven't been taught the benefits of competition and free markets. If you had you would know that the best way to improve a product (education in this case) is to introduce competition. If your teachers had to fight for their jobs every year like the rest of us, then test scores would get better as competition and innovation replaced intrenched bureaucratic methodologies and politically correct fads. You ask for reasonable solutions. Sure. Hand out vouchers for every student and let the parent and student choose which school they want to attend. That would get enough of the competitive juices flowing to stop the teachers from abusing communities like they are doing now.
Well, our idyllic community is being threatened by an unreasonable strike. Class warfare is raging. The ugly politics of personal destruction is being waged against the school board members the Caucus put in office. The Caucus should be taking a leading role in organizing the community's response. Where are you now when the community needs you?
We do the same and find we often have to un-teach what our children are taught and re-teach what they need to know to survive in today's society.
You sound so much like a teacher. BTW, you forget to break your thoughts into consistent paragraphs. Your last several sentences also lack proper diction. Perhaps if we paid your teachers more they could teach you how to write a proper summation. Just a thought.
Au contraire; I along with a great many other taxpayers, are very interested in Maximus' financial situation. We want Maximus fairly compensated for the important work he/she does. My personal goal is not to punish teachers for doing their job but to see they are fairly compensated for their efforts--not too little, not too much. I get it that the union is pushing for a great deal for Maximus while the taxpayer is trying not to go broke in the process. The system is flawed when the payer of the bills, the taxpayer, is not given a seat at the table, and is attacked for even questioning the salaries of the people we have to pay for. Just saying....
They are ingrates. Send them packing. It continues to be obvious that the caucus system has FAILED. Free and open elections should be held.