Wednesday, August 27, 2014

"Facts" about Negotiations between Hinsdale High School Association and School Board


Teachers’ Proposal:
  • Agrees to significant concessions in health benefits, increasing existing premiums significantly.
  • Maintains a salary schedule, the industry standard in Illinois.
  • Calls for a base salary schedule increase well below CPI.
  • This base salary increase is less than recently settled contracts for Maine Township (2%) and CCSD 181 (1.75%).
  • Base salary increase would be the lowest of any comparable district this year.
  • Values experience and advanced education by including step and earned lane movement.
  • The total teachers’ proposal – salary and benefits combined – requires less than 1% additional to the salary and benefits budget.
Board’s Proposal:
Negotiations Facts:
Relevant Facts:
Effects upon the Tradition of Excellence:
  • Multiple teaching candidates have not accepted job offers from District 86 so far this year.
  • Department chairs are still struggling to fill teaching positions in early August.
  • At least a half dozen candidates have had job offers rescinded after being deemed not good enough to be sent for Board approval.
  • The current pool of teaching candidates have not been hired by any other school district.
  • Record resignations: 19 resignations to date including almost all top administrators and 11 teachers in just 15 months.
from HHSTA

Commentary from Fred Klonsky: 

“Tea Party followers got elected with a low turnout to the Hinsdale District 86 board with an agenda of driving out experienced teachers. And it looks like that they are making headway. On the one hand, the Hinsdale teachers union is winning wide-spread support from a community that is concerned about the possibility of a decline in the quality of the historically high performing school district in the western Chicago suburbs. On the other, experienced staff are leaving in unprecedented numbers because of the uncertainty of what is to come. Official figures are hard to come by…”



4 comments:

  1. This will all turn around when the pool of teachers begins to dry up, as it seems to be doing now. That is a fast turn around since 2008. It is all supply and demand. I can hear those in college now dropping education as a profession.

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  2. I remember years ago when a particular western suburban school district elected a few "back-to-basics" extremists to the school board. Cut taxes, cut teachers, cut programs, etc. Few people would have guessed in those pre-Tea-Party days how much damage they would cause. Not only did the schools suffer, but as parents left in droves the demographics and property values changed.
    The school district never again attained the quality of education or the comparative property values that it once had. There are enough people in Hinsdale with a "couldn't happen here" attitude to allow Skoda et al to get elected. I sincerely hope this same scenario doesn't happen to Hinsdale. I loved the 13 years my family and I lived in that school district.
    WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  3. Re: According to the Hinsdale District 86 website, the average teacher salary district 86 is $80,900, not $111,000 promoted by the Board.

    Actually, both numbers are probably correct. They just measure different things. The $111K represents the average salary including stipends, extra duty, etc. The $81K is only base salary, steps & lanes. $30K is a big difference, which makes me wonder if the District pays the pension contribution for the teachers. If you are looking at what the average salary is, the $111K is a good number as it represents total income before benefits.

    This does not mean I have any respect for the 4 majority D86 BOE members comments and actions.

    The data is a few years old, but the IIRC confirms the higher number.

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  4. Hinsdale 86 gives ten-day strike notification

    October 3rd:

    “The teachers’ association today filed paperwork required by SB7. According to the law, this filing initiates a 10-day timeframe that precedes any job action by the teachers.

    “‘The board continues to push the teachers to strike,’ said Jeff Waterman, chief negotiator for the teachers’ association. ‘Their offer hasn’t changed – it’s still as extreme and uncompetitive as it was in August. The teachers offered another compromise on Thursday – a fully-funded, two-year contract – that maintains the excellence of our schools and provides a two-year window to build bridges instead of battling in the press.’

    “‘We have accepted many of their proposals on healthcare, retirement and language. We’ve made significant compromises on the financials. The teachers, again, made an offer that is reasonable. The board did not offer a counter-proposal,’ Waterman said.”

    Source: Fred Klonsky’s Blog

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