Gurnee Teachers To Go On Strike

NBC5 Chicago ^ | September 23, 2003 | Jennifer Mitchell

[Kuksool]

CHICAGO -- Gurnee teachers will walk the picket line beginning Wednesday morning, NBC5's Jennifer Mitchell reported.

About 7,200 students attend classes in Woodland Elementary School District 50, which includes Gurnee, Gauges Lake, Wildwood, Park City and Grayslake. Teachers held a rally at union headquarters Tuesday evening, Mitchell further reported. In addition to the more than 550 teachers going on strike, about 300 custodians and bus drivers will also walk off the job, Mitchell reported.

Beginning Wednesday morning, all four schools in District 50 will be forced to close, affecting 7,200 students in grades kindergarten through eighth, Mitchell reported. All before- and after-school programs are canceled, including curriculum night, which was scheduled for Tuesday evening.

The main issue is money, Mitchell further reported. At the last negotiating session on Tuesday morning, board of education officials offered a 15.5-percent pay increase over the next three years for teachers, custodians, bus drivers and secretaries. That figure is far from the union's request, Mitchell reported. The union is looking for a 29.5-percent pay raise over three years. Currently, the average salary for a teacher in the Woodland school district is just more than $39,000.

Union officials complained that that figure is far below state averages, Mitchell reported.

"Even at the percentage as it stands right now, we won't get back to those averages," said Mike McGue, of the Lake County Federation of Teachers. "We can't make out in one contract for several bad contracts in a row. (What) we can do is try to make a sizable step and stem the flow of talented staff to surrounding districts."

At this point, no new talks have been scheduled, Mitchell reported. Teachers have been working without a contract since Aug. 21. This will be the first time they have been on strike since 1985.

[Kuksool]

Good to see the NEA is looking out for the children.

[MinuteGal]

Gurnee is in Lake County which abuts Chicago's Cook County to the north. It's noted for being the home of the Six Flags Amusement Park. A pleasant, fairly well-to-do municipality.

I wonder what the average teacher there is making per year.

Leni

[Kuksool]

Here is an update on the teacher's strike from the Daily Herald.

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Woodland teachers, board still far apart on salary proposals
By C. L. Waller Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted September 26, 2003

The Woodland school board and its striking union agree employee salaries must improve.

The dispute is over how much.

The Gurnee-area district is in the third day of a walkout by teachers, custodians, maintenance workers and secretaries. Health insurance, teacher planning time and work hours are issues on the table, but pay raises are the key.

The board stands at 15.5 percent average increases over three years; the union wants a 29.5 percent average over three years. No new talks will be scheduled until the federal mediator is convinced of movement on both sides.

"We won't stay out until we get 29.5 percent, but we are looking for the board to move also," Mike McGue, spokesman for the Lake County Federation of Teachers, said Thursday.

The union represents Woodland Council's 556 teachers and 302 support staff members.

"We also understand the reality of the situation, and we're willing to go further if the union is willing to move from 29.5 percent," said Mike Loizzi, school board spokesman and chief negotiator.

What the two sides have to decide is how far they'll move to spark a settlement.

McGue said it won't be in the middle of the two figures because union members would not ratify such a contract.

He points to salary comparisons with other districts in Lake County and elsewhere, and says Woodland employees are vastly underpaid.

"We found early in the going they are woefully behind in salaries," said McGue, whose team started talks with a demand for a 39 percent increase over three years.

District officials say it's not as simple as comparing districts. They point to a host of factors, such as district land values and property tax revenue, that go into determining what they can afford to pay.

"We know we can't compete with places like Lake Forest and Highland Park because the land values are higher there," Loizzi said.

Still, both sides agree a raise is needed.

Woodland's starting salary for a first-year teacher with a bachelor's degree is $27,008 per year. According to 2002-03 statistics from the Lake County Regional Office of Education, Woodland ranks 25th of 29 elementary districts in the county. The top starting pay is $33,274 at Rondout District 72.

The top of the salary scale at Woodland for a teacher with 15 years experience, a master's degree plus 30 additional hours of study is $64,341. The top contract salary at Woodland for long-employed teachers off the scale is $72,859. County figures put Woodland at 15th, behind Highland Park District 112's $94,508.

McGue said the gap has caused employees to move to other districts for more money.

The union says the latest turnover rate was close to 7.5 percent; the board says it's less than 2 percent.

"As teachers, you always compare yourself to neighboring districts. When you look at it and see you are several thousands of dollars below the others, it weighs on you," said John Steinert, a former social studies teacher at Woodland.

He left the district about four years ago to become assistant principal at Highland Middle School in Libertyville.

Woodland's average teacher salary is $39,298 for a staff averaging 8.3 years of experience. The average teacher salary in Illinois is $49,702, with 14 years of experience.

However, Loizzi points to other comparisons and contends the district's offer is fair because it is above other recent settlements.

This year, he said, Chicago teachers agreed to 4 percent annual average salary increases over a four-year contract.

In Lake County, Mundelein District 75 teachers agreed to a three-year contract with average salary increases of 8.2 percent the first year, and 7 percent and 5.6 percent in the following years. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire agreed to a four-year teacher contract and average annual salary increases of 5 percent.

This week's debate has some parents feeling caught in the middle. They worry about how much their taxes will rise to cover the contract.

"My husband has not gotten an increase for over a year and a half," Gurnee resident Jennifer Gould told the school board during Tuesday's meeting. "It would be very difficult for us if our taxes increased because a board approved salaries it could not handle."

Strike: No new talks scheduled