Monday, October 23, 2006
Public Gets 1st Peek at District 300 Labor Contracts
The two press releases below were posted on the Carpentersville School District 300 web site Saturday and Friday.
It should be an interesting school board meeting 7:30 PM Monday in the auditorium of Carpentersville Middle School, 100 Cleveland Avenue.
While reading these, remember that the District 300 school board could hardly be more in the back pocket of the teachers union.
It is interesting that the school board thinks it's finally time to let the public know how much of the 55-cent tax hike it is willing to give to the teachers who worked so hard to pass the tax hike referendum.
I wonder if any taxpayer will dare ask how much of the tax hike this eats over the 4-year period (dollar amount and percentage) and when it will "force" the school board to ask for more tax dollars.
District 300 School Board remains hopeful in latest offer to Local Education Association of District 300 (LEAD)
Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006
CARPENTERSVILLE – The Board of Education of Community Unit School District 300 remains hopeful that Local Education Association of District 300 (LEAD) will recognize the reasonableness of the board’s latest contract offer.
More than 1,200 teachers and other certified staff of D300 have worked under the terms of the previous contract since it expired June 30.
The school board would like to acknowledge their commitment to excellence in their schools, despite the mixed emotions they might have felt as negotiations continued. LEAD members should feel encouraged by the board’s dedication to balancing fiscal responsibility with a salary/benefit package that is creatively geared to support them at all stages of their careers.
Now more than ever, the board is aware of the context in which it developed the 4-year contract offer presented to LEAD leadership Wednesday evening, Oct. 18. The latest offer came after nine months of negotiations, including several sessions guided by an impartial federal mediator.
* The local context includes taxpayers who entrusted the board more than once – first by electing the board as their voice and advocate, and then by approving a pair of referenda this spring. D300 leaders have pledged not to return to taxpayers for another referendum for at least five years, and longer if possible. But the March 2006 referenda did not simply provide 94 additional teachers and better educational opportunities for D300 students. They also greatly improved working conditions for the very staff members empowered to deliver that education.
* The regional context includes comparable school districts. The D300 board has offered an 8.6 percent salary increase over the next four years, on top of an annual “step” of 2.2 percent, for a total pay raise of 17.4 percent.
* The national context includes a society increasingly intolerant of the disparities between public and private sector pay and benefits. The board is asking LEAD members to keep an open mind about its shift away from a traditional, and some would say outdated, compensation package to one that is both competitive and innovative.
For More Information:
Ken Arndt, superintendent, 847.426.1300 ext. 308
District 300 School Board to vote on contract for Custodial, Maintenance, and Secretarial Staff
Friday, Oct. 20, 2006
CARPENTERSVILLE – The District 300 School Board will vote this Monday, Oct. 23, on a new contract with its custodial, maintenance, and secretarial staff, represented by the District 300 Educational Services Personnel Association (DESPA).
The agreement represents a healthy collaboration between employees and the school board. The new contract would provide a competitive salary and benefit package for the approximately 170 members of DESPA, while enabling the district to focus on overall fiscal responsibility and day-to-day operational efficiency.
School Board President Mary Fioretti heralded the contract and extended her gratitude to the association members.
“We sincerely appreciate the collaborative nature of our custodians and secretaries,” Fioretti said. “On a daily basis, they keep our facilities looking beautiful and our administrative needs filled efficiently for all 19,000 students of District 300. Our men and women take great pride in their work, and it shows.”
DESPA members voted on Thursday evening, Oct. 19, to ratify the 4-year contract, which, if approved Monday by the school board, will be retroactive to July 1, 2006, and run through June 30, 2010. The employees had worked under the terms of their former contract since it expired on June 30, 2006.
The school board meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the auditorium of Carpentersville Middle School, 100 Cleveland Avenue. Public comments are welcome but sign-in is required before the meeting begins.
Some noteworthy aspects of the agreement include:
Salary
The salary schedule was overhauled to better match other custodial/secretarial collective bargaining agreements in the region. The new schedule phases out larger “steps,” or points where employees receive salary increases, and adds a smaller 3 percent step for each year of the contract.
Transfers
The district will be able to more efficiently meet the needs of its schools by cutting some administrative red tape. The district will have greater flexibility to transfer employees as needed to schools that may have unforeseen critical needs.
Sick days
The district will limit the number of accrued sick days that it could pay an employee at retirement. However, employees will have the option of crediting unused sick days to the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund for retirement.
New employees will gradually accrue sick days over the course of their first year of employment, rather than being provided the full allotment of sick days at their hire date.
Insurance
Employees will pay 30 percent of the premium for family health-insurance, and 20 percent for single health-insurance.
For More Information:
Ken Arndt, superintendent, 847.426.1300 ext. 308
Allison Smith, communication supervisor, (847) 426-1300 ext. 304
= = = = =
Notice that details spelled out in the non-teacher contract are not spelled out in the proposed teachers' contract. Some bold soul might want to print this out and go through the second press release asking what the details are for the teachers' contract on items like what percentage of the insurance cost teachers will pay and how teachers' accrued sick days will differ from those of non-certified staff.
I'd also be interested in learning how much (in dollars and percentage terms) of the 4-year tax hike will be spent on this contract.
I am certain that those who have been watching District 300 closer than I can come up with even better questions.
= = = = =
Photo is of Mary Fioretti, President of the District 300 school board and appointed Republican precinct committeeman.
It should be an interesting school board meeting 7:30 PM Monday in the auditorium of Carpentersville Middle School, 100 Cleveland Avenue.
While reading these, remember that the District 300 school board could hardly be more in the back pocket of the teachers union.
It is interesting that the school board thinks it's finally time to let the public know how much of the 55-cent tax hike it is willing to give to the teachers who worked so hard to pass the tax hike referendum.
I wonder if any taxpayer will dare ask how much of the tax hike this eats over the 4-year period (dollar amount and percentage) and when it will "force" the school board to ask for more tax dollars.
District 300 School Board remains hopeful in latest offer to Local Education Association of District 300 (LEAD)
Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006
CARPENTERSVILLE – The Board of Education of Community Unit School District 300 remains hopeful that Local Education Association of District 300 (LEAD) will recognize the reasonableness of the board’s latest contract offer.
More than 1,200 teachers and other certified staff of D300 have worked under the terms of the previous contract since it expired June 30.
The school board would like to acknowledge their commitment to excellence in their schools, despite the mixed emotions they might have felt as negotiations continued. LEAD members should feel encouraged by the board’s dedication to balancing fiscal responsibility with a salary/benefit package that is creatively geared to support them at all stages of their careers.
Now more than ever, the board is aware of the context in which it developed the 4-year contract offer presented to LEAD leadership Wednesday evening, Oct. 18. The latest offer came after nine months of negotiations, including several sessions guided by an impartial federal mediator.
* The local context includes taxpayers who entrusted the board more than once – first by electing the board as their voice and advocate, and then by approving a pair of referenda this spring. D300 leaders have pledged not to return to taxpayers for another referendum for at least five years, and longer if possible. But the March 2006 referenda did not simply provide 94 additional teachers and better educational opportunities for D300 students. They also greatly improved working conditions for the very staff members empowered to deliver that education.
* The regional context includes comparable school districts. The D300 board has offered an 8.6 percent salary increase over the next four years, on top of an annual “step” of 2.2 percent, for a total pay raise of 17.4 percent.
* The national context includes a society increasingly intolerant of the disparities between public and private sector pay and benefits. The board is asking LEAD members to keep an open mind about its shift away from a traditional, and some would say outdated, compensation package to one that is both competitive and innovative.
For More Information:
Ken Arndt, superintendent, 847.426.1300 ext. 308
District 300 School Board to vote on contract for Custodial, Maintenance, and Secretarial Staff
Friday, Oct. 20, 2006
CARPENTERSVILLE – The District 300 School Board will vote this Monday, Oct. 23, on a new contract with its custodial, maintenance, and secretarial staff, represented by the District 300 Educational Services Personnel Association (DESPA).
The agreement represents a healthy collaboration between employees and the school board. The new contract would provide a competitive salary and benefit package for the approximately 170 members of DESPA, while enabling the district to focus on overall fiscal responsibility and day-to-day operational efficiency.
School Board President Mary Fioretti heralded the contract and extended her gratitude to the association members.
“We sincerely appreciate the collaborative nature of our custodians and secretaries,” Fioretti said. “On a daily basis, they keep our facilities looking beautiful and our administrative needs filled efficiently for all 19,000 students of District 300. Our men and women take great pride in their work, and it shows.”DESPA members voted on Thursday evening, Oct. 19, to ratify the 4-year contract, which, if approved Monday by the school board, will be retroactive to July 1, 2006, and run through June 30, 2010. The employees had worked under the terms of their former contract since it expired on June 30, 2006.
The school board meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the auditorium of Carpentersville Middle School, 100 Cleveland Avenue. Public comments are welcome but sign-in is required before the meeting begins.
Some noteworthy aspects of the agreement include:
Salary
The salary schedule was overhauled to better match other custodial/secretarial collective bargaining agreements in the region. The new schedule phases out larger “steps,” or points where employees receive salary increases, and adds a smaller 3 percent step for each year of the contract.
Transfers
The district will be able to more efficiently meet the needs of its schools by cutting some administrative red tape. The district will have greater flexibility to transfer employees as needed to schools that may have unforeseen critical needs.
Sick days
The district will limit the number of accrued sick days that it could pay an employee at retirement. However, employees will have the option of crediting unused sick days to the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund for retirement.
New employees will gradually accrue sick days over the course of their first year of employment, rather than being provided the full allotment of sick days at their hire date.
Insurance
Employees will pay 30 percent of the premium for family health-insurance, and 20 percent for single health-insurance.
For More Information:
Ken Arndt, superintendent, 847.426.1300 ext. 308
Allison Smith, communication supervisor, (847) 426-1300 ext. 304
= = = = =
Notice that details spelled out in the non-teacher contract are not spelled out in the proposed teachers' contract. Some bold soul might want to print this out and go through the second press release asking what the details are for the teachers' contract on items like what percentage of the insurance cost teachers will pay and how teachers' accrued sick days will differ from those of non-certified staff.
I'd also be interested in learning how much (in dollars and percentage terms) of the 4-year tax hike will be spent on this contract.
I am certain that those who have been watching District 300 closer than I can come up with even better questions.
= = = = =
Photo is of Mary Fioretti, President of the District 300 school board and appointed Republican precinct committeeman.
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Re: "The national context includes a society increasingly intolerant of the disparities between public and private sector pay and benefits."
How many readers/residents/taxpayers were actually "pacified" by the above quote AFTER they read the quote below?
"The D300 board has offered an 8.6 percent salary increase over the next four years, on top of an annual “step” of 2.2 percent, for a total pay raise of 17.4 percent."
-------------
Within the school industry -
Mandatory raises regardless of performance far above what the public will ever see. Retirement the public will never see. And tenure to protect the good and the bad.
And the ability to hold our kids "hostage" if "we" don't cough up their demands.
Oh, yeah, sure - sounds like equal footing and respect for the people who pay the bills.... Oh, please!
How many readers/residents/taxpayers were actually "pacified" by the above quote AFTER they read the quote below?
"The D300 board has offered an 8.6 percent salary increase over the next four years, on top of an annual “step” of 2.2 percent, for a total pay raise of 17.4 percent."
-------------
Within the school industry -
Mandatory raises regardless of performance far above what the public will ever see. Retirement the public will never see. And tenure to protect the good and the bad.
And the ability to hold our kids "hostage" if "we" don't cough up their demands.
Oh, yeah, sure - sounds like equal footing and respect for the people who pay the bills.... Oh, please!
Before anyone could expect to be "pacified" by the above quote they would have to understand how 8.6 percent and 2.2 percent wind up totaling 17.4 percent.
Perhaps those of you more learned than the rest of us could help explain this?
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Perhaps those of you more learned than the rest of us could help explain this?
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