Hinsdale Teachers Offer Guide to Ongoing Contract Negotiations

The Hinsdale High School Teachers Association has composed a “quick start” guide for parents and community members following the ongoing Dist. 86 teacher contract negotiations.

The Dist. 86 Board of Education and teachers association -- representing Hinsdale Central and South’s teachers, librarians, social workers and counselors -- were scheduled to meet Tuesday with the federal mediator for another bargaining session.

At the last contract talks on July 29, the teachers’ bargaining team claimed they were only given an hour to withdraw the union’s strike vote in exchange for the board not locking union members out in the event of a strike. The teachers’ bargaining team claims it wasn’t enough time to get legal advice in order to make an informed decision.

The teachers, who authorized a strike in May, have stated that school would begin on time when Hinsdale Central and South students return to school on August 22.

Meanwhile, the teachers’ association has created a timeline of contract negotiations, which have grown increasingly acrimonious.

The “quick start guide” also takes apart a board mailer sent to Dist. 86 residents, that the teachers’ association claims is full of factual errors and omissions by Dist. 86 Board President Richard Skoda.

According to the HHSTA website, teachers worked months without a contract in 2006, 2010 and 2012 because of mutual trust and respect by both negotiating teams, including teachers’ agreeing to a salary schedule freeze in 2012 “because economic conditions for the district warranted it.”

“This time, with Mr. Skoda and [D86 Board Vice President] Mr. [Ed] Corcoran in charge, the teachers don’t have that same level of trust or respect. Their actions seem more directed toward pushing an extreme political agenda through misleading, unjust public shaming than negotiating in good faith and focusing on preserving the quality of education provided our students,” the teachers’ association maintains.

At issue is the board’s current proposal to eliminate teachers’ salary schedules, which are based on number of years served and level of education completed. The teachers’ association is also protesting a “spouse surcharge” to teachers’ annual healthcare costs, which the union says would increase teachers’ premiums by 229 percent.

Although the D86 board has proposed adding stipends ranging from $3,000 to $4,000, the teachers’ association terms the stipends as a “salary freeze,” because they wouldn’t get added to the annual salary or be part of any future raises.

“Under the new board majority’s proposal, Hinsdale District 86 would be the only high school district in the state not to utilize a salary schedule to compensate its teachers,” the association states.

Read the entire “Hinsdale 86 Negotiations Quick Start Guide” here.