D-205 Proposed Teachers Union Pact Under Wraps

ELMHURST, IL — Two weeks ago, Elmhurst School District 205 teachers approved a new union contract, according to the district.

But the district is keeping the document under wraps until after the school board approves it, as it is expected to do Tuesday night.

"The new agreement will be available for the public after it is approved by both parties," interim Superintendent Linda Yonke said in an email Tuesday morning.

Such secrecy is a tradition among Illinois school districts. It means taxpayers have no opportunity to examine union agreements and weigh in on them beforehand. Teachers' salaries and benefits take up a big chunk of any school district's budget.

Taxpayers have a vested interest in teacher union contracts. In budget year 2019, Elmhurst taxpayers picked up 93 percent of the local district's costs, with the state covering most of the rest, according to the Illinois Report Card.

No law stops a school district from releasing a union contract before a board vote. But many districts say they are working on final language, so they have no finished document to disclose.

This is not the way it works elsewhere. In Colorado, teacher union negotiations must be public. For instance, Jefferson County Public Schools in suburban Denver has a complete schedule of its livestreamed union negotiations on its website. Two decades ago, Colorado started requiring completed bargaining agreements to be posted online. Idaho's teachers union negotiations are also open to the public.

The last year has been tough for District 205 and the teachers union, the Elmhurst Teachers Council. The union filed a complaint with the state about the district's plan to return to in-person learning in January. The district prevailed.

According to the district's website, its bargaining team and the union have met four hours about the contract every Thursday night except one from February through mid-April.

"The Board of Education has been kept apprised of the ongoing progress during the period of negotiations and has been consulted regularly in regard to Board priorities and desired outcomes for the successor agreement," the website states. "The Board Bargaining Team has addressed every priority of the Board and has made tremendous strides in shaping the direction of how District 205 will be able to operate as we move the District forward. The Board Bargaining Team is recommending without reservation that the Board approve and thereby ratify the Tentative Agreement."