Geneva Teachers, District 304 to Meet Monday as Strike Looms

GENEVA, IL – Geneva teachers will go on strike Tuesday if an agreement regarding their contract is not reached by Monday night. The District 304 Board of Education and Geneva Education Association, the union which represents the school district’s teachers, will meet again on Monday evening to continue negotiations with the hopes of coming to an agreement and avoiding a strike.

The Geneva Education Association made the announcement regarding a potential strike on Saturday afternoon.

District 304 officials said if the strike did occur, students would not attend school. The school district would plan to share information regarding other school-related cancellations via district and school websites, it emergency phone notification system, and its social media accounts.

A strike is the union’s “absolute last resort,” union president Kevin Gannon said in a news release. But, he said, a fair agreement regarding the teachers’ contract needs to be met.

The union shared its current proposal Sunday at a meeting with school board reps, the Daily Herald reports. The two parties are planning to meet again at 6 p.m. Monday with a community rally expected to happen before that. No details on the latest proposal were being released, according to the newspaper.

While we are hopeful a tentative agreement will be reached in our next negotiation session, we are also fully ready to take action. #teachingwithoutacontract pic.twitter.com/a5EFiFTNOg
— GEA (@geateachers) December" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/geateacher... 2, 2018

Contract talks began on February 15, and the District 304 teachers started the school year without a contract.

"From the very beginning of these negotiations our association has maintained a commitment to reach an agreement that puts the district's 5,800 students first; promotes a high quality education; is fair for the teachers; and is fiscally responsible to the community of Geneva," Gannon said in October. "We have been working to find common ground with the school board. We know the district has the financial ability to pay our teachers wages that are competitive with other districts of our caliber."

The teacher's union is seeking a step and lane schedule for teachers, which bumps their salary based on their education level and years of experience.

Both sides will meet at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Coultrap Educational Services Center, 227 N. 4th St., Geneva, to continue discussions, the Daily Herald reports. If an agreement is not met then, they will meet again on Monday.

PHOTO CAPTION: Teachers in Geneva are working with District 304 to come to an agreement in their contract. PHOTO VIA THE ILLINOIS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION FACEBOOK PAGE