A new four-year contract that includes a pay raise and a wellness component was approved Monday night by the District 202 School Board with the Teachers Council that represents Evanston Township High School faculty.
Meanwhile, the Evanston/Skokie District 65 School Board, which began negotiating with the District Education Council in March, is continuing to meet over the summer in hopes of reaching an agreement before teachers report for work at the end of August.
Leaders for both the District 202 administration and the faculty group lauded their new contract as one that acknowledges the weak fiscal environment.
Superintendent Eric Witherspoon characterized the agreement as “a fair and affordable settlement during tight economic times” that will preserve the school’s faculty and curriculum “that are vital to keeping ETHS ranked among the top schools in the nation.”
Teachers Council President Bill Farmer said the agreement “honors both the tremendous work of our talented faculty and enables the district to maintain a fiscally responsible budget…given the current economic realities facing our state and the community.”
There are no raises in the first year of the contract, although each faculty member will receive a one-time payment of $1,500, according to details released by the district.
In the second year, faculty will receive a 1 percent increase plus a step increase linked to years of experience. The last two years feature raises tied to the consumer price increase (50 percent of the CPI in Year 3 and 75 percent in Year 4), plus step.
Overall, the increases represent an average 2.67 percent annual salary adjustment over the four years, which the district says approximates the historical and projected cost of living.
A joint committee of employees and administrators was formed to address future health care costs, the district said in a news release.
At District 65, the teachers have authorized their leaders to begin the process that could lead to a strike, but its president, Jean Luft, said “if we were going to strike we would certainly want to call our teachers in for a meeting to discuss it first.”
She added: “It is our greatest hope that we will reach an amicable agreement “ before a strike becomes necessary.
Teachers and Cost of Living
Most companies stopped making Cost of Living adjustments or salary increases years ago. They only tend to increase inflation [admittedly low now], boost salary levels for coming years and reward people for 'just being there.'
Companies moved to increases being based on merit after reviews that document performance.
The unions, teachers included, do not seem to have got the message that merit not 'breathing' is the basis on wages.
Teachers should feel great about teaching in Evanston and get pa
I agree public companies no longer offer employees a standard raise. I work for a software technology company that employs 40,000 people globally and this was eliminated years ago. Because of the Unions in Europe, I am betting my employer will be announcing additional job reductions this month but I work extra hard and not too worried.
I don’t know why teaching is not a competitive position like a public sector jobs. I bet you have hundreds of over qualified individuals that would love to teach in Evanston, agree to a 401K plan, and pay their fair share to medical insurance ($800 Month for a family of 4 w deductible) and agree to merit pay.
Why do the teachers need a union and how can I help get rid of it? I know that I am over paying for it.
My son is 3 years old and I want the best teachers who are not afraid of merit pay. If they are, we know why they are. Taking the teachers side, I don’t know how it would work because I was not the best student.
Bottom line, the Unions need to end!
Teachers should feel great about teaching in Evanston and get paid more than local areas (we get the best teacher in the state) because are tax base dictates that. I am all for producers and sending the kids off to a great education.
Speaking of Contracts – say NO to PEG’s renewal this month
The PEG contract is up for renewal the end of June – this month. The Pacific Education group is a consultant group that was hired by 202 to determine if they needed to be hired. PEG found that indeed D202 needed their help.
The group's work is intended to identify and eradicate institutional racism. The pedagogy stems from Critical Race Theory – an offshoot of Marxism.
Here's a quote from publicschoolspending.com
The Pacific Educational Group is essentially saying that when schools emphasize the values of “white culture,” they are setting African American and Latino students up to fail.
For the full article, see http://www.publicschoolspending.com/daily-updates/pegs-culturally-relevant-teaching-program-is-simply-another-marxist-attack-on-american-values/
Say NO to PEG
Great post by processgal.
I have often argued against PEG and the unbelievable amount of money 202 has spent on this "consultant" company.
In reality, PEG is not a consultant, but an activist organization masking itself as a consultant company.
Consultants should be hired if needed, but only those that provide an objective view of issues facing District 202, with solutions recommended based on this analysis. Consultants start with a clean slate. PEG does not.
It is my concern that PEG is brought in under the "mask" of consultation with a pre-wired agenda that subscribes to Critical Race Theory. If you are a good enough salesperson, I am sure you can blame any ills a school district has on race. Another way to play the race card.
Therefore, it is my opinion that PEG's contract not be renewed. Critical Race Theory is divissive, it divides based on class and it seeks to punish based on race. We do not need that.
Surely there are other firms that can provide adequate consultation that is objective to HELP THE CLIENT rather than FURTHER AN IDEOLOGY.
Where is PEG data
I am in a Georgia school district that has just contracted with PEG. In all of my research I have only found quanitative data from 2 systems. Both of those systems show both a decrease in student achievement and an increased gap in performance as segregated by race. Does Evanston track the numbers?
Welcome to our world
Qualitative data? You are smart to be looking for that information.
But unfortunately, those of us who live in Evanston (and a portion of Skokie) know that our two public school districts (D202 is the high school and D65 are the elementary and middle schools) do not see much reason to disclose qualitative data to us rubes in the public unless such disclosure is required by law.
We had one school board member advocate NOT posting some standardized test results (that were not positive numbers for D65) because, she argued, businesses don't advertise their bad results — they just promote their positives! Surprising that she is still on the D65 School Board when she doesn't know the difference between a school district providing information so that the public can assess how well D65 is educating our students with public funds and a business selling a commercial product.
The two school districts here just lap up snake oil sold by "consultants" like PEG without worrying their pretty little heads about qualitative data. Sorry for the lack of data here.
But please help organize the fight against PEG in your district. You will not be able to get rid of this purveyor of snake oil once, like a camel, PEG get its money-seeking nose into the district's financial tent. Face the name calling now (you will be called racists for not understanding that PEG needs to teach everyone that all white people are racists — and PEG has plenty of derogatory and judgmental things to say about black people, too) as it will only get worse once the payments to PEG begin.
There is NO PEG data!
I attended several PEG related meetings over the last couple of years in Evanston.
I also asked for data to show their results, and the PEG person couldn't/wouldn't give me any information.
I called PEG in both San Francisco and Minneapolis and asked for data, and they couldn't/wouldn't give me any information and results.
Glenn Singleton wrote a book, "Courageous Conversations About Race" over 5 years ago and has been selling seminars, summits, workshops to countless schools and communities but…
…WHERE'S the DATA?
Sorry to hear that your school district has engaged PEG. You will not only spend a lot of money, but PEG will take your community and school down a tangent and waste a lot of time.
Discussions about race are critically important and need to occur with an objective, thoughtful, and competent organization.
Of course there is no data
If you provide data people will see through you.
How else can they keep minoirites on the plantation if they don't tell them they are discriminated against and can't meet the standards of non-minorities. How can they keep getting contracts and hiring more people if they tell the truth.
It is the taxpayer that is victumized by the costs but the families and children who are kept down by these groups that keep telling them they can't be equal because someone [man behind the tree] is always oppressing them. They can and would succeed if not for the victumology.