Strike Authorization Vote Set By District 112 Teachers Union

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — Teachers held a rally outside and packed the North Shore School District 112 school board meeting Tuesday ahead of vote of union members planned for Thursday that would authorize a strike.

Since last month's expiration of the contract between the North Shore Education Association, the 385-member collective bargaining unit representing teachers, and the North Shore School District 112, teachers and board representatives have been unable to reach an agreement after four mediation sessions with a federal mediator.

"The NSEA is asking for the Board to recognize that the disrespect we have seen in negotiations is causing the breakdown of the process toward coming to a contract settlement," said NSEA pesident Sheri Henkel. "We must have trust, and we must have respect in order to have productive settlement discussions."

The parties have been unable to reach an agreement on teacher pay, requirements for how teachers should spend planning time and which continuing education courses should be approved for reimbursement, representatives of both sides said. Teachers don't want raises tied to inflation, administrators want limits on continuing education and both sides want control over how to use planning time.

Ahead of their Sept. 17 school board meeting, district officials issued a statement on behalf of the board describing the state of negotiations, and members of the teacher's union held a rally on the front lawn of the district office.

"It is demoralizing that every time the teachers contract comes up for negotiations that teachers must rally or strike to get a fair deal," Henkel said during public comment at the meeting.

"The board wants to control how teachers spend their plan time. That is unacceptable. Teachers are professional, most with advanced degrees. We are asking the board to treat us like the professionals we are. We cannot afford to lose more teachers to surrounding districts," Henkel said. "Highland Park should be a destination district — not just for superintendents but also for teachers. That has not been the case in recent years."

In the past decade, the district has gone through six superintendents, seen 54 teachers laid off and closed two schools, Henkel noted. During the same period, she said, the district has increased spending on administrative compensation.

"This is a slap in the face when the district refuses to let go of the concept of offering teachers a contract with [the Consumer Price Index] in it," Henkel told Patch. "CPI would simply allow teachers to keep up with inflation and is not a raise. It is an offer of status quo compared to the economy." Teachers have made it clear they they are unwilling to accept a contract that limits pay increases to the rate of inflation, she said.

According to the Illinois State Board of Education, there was one administrator for every 129 students in District 112, down from 170 students per administrator a decade ago and a state average of 181.

Among neighboring elementary school districts, Glencoe District 35 has 134 students for every administrator and Deerfield Public Schools District 109 has 133. Lake Forest School District 67, with 109 students per administrator, has a higher proportion. Average administrator salaries are lower in District 112 than at any of the surrounding districts, according to the Illinois Report Card data.

Superintendent Mike Lubelfeld's five-year contract provides him with a minimum annual raise of 2.5 percent, so his base annual compensation rose to $305,000 after his first year in office. He also received more than $48,000 in other compensation and was awarded a 2 percent bonus from the board in April.

But teachers' salaries in the district are falling below those at neighboring districts on the North Shore and making it harder to retain talented educators, according to Henkel.

"Unfortunately, this devaluation of teachers is causing good teachers to leave our district. Last year alone, over two dozen teachers left, most of them for no other reason than to go to other districts," she said. "We have repeatedly said, an investment in teachers is an investment in students. We need to be able to attract and retain quality teachers. The Highland Park community has always valued education, and they expect excellence in education. You cannot have excellence without excellent teachers."

More than 99 percent of staff members already do school work at home and on the weekends and more than half have second jobs, according to Henkel, but she said district administrators are unacceptably seeking to control 40 percent of the limited planning time available during the day. Administrators have been clear they want to use the time for analyzing assessment data and "working to improve high stakes standardized test scores," she said.

Teacher Shara Lieberman, a fifth-grade teacher at Braeside Elementary School, said teachers already use plan time to improve student achievement without being told by administrators.

"Please don't be fooled. Our workday is not 8:40 a.m. to 3:17 p.m. — I get to school at 7:30 a.m. each morning and I am lucky if I can leave by 4:30 p.m. — Every day I take home at least two hours of work. I rarely ever have time in the day to even grade papers, especially for 23 students in fifth grade. Each night I read math tests and other assignments, I make comments on students' righting and I read 25 pages of four fifth grade novels," Lieberman said.

"Please trust the teachers, as we are professionals, we already using our plan time to meet with others, please respect our profession and us as educators," she said.

Michael Buss, an English teacher at Edgewood, said the district has had a "rough few years," with a large amount of recent turnover among administrators and staff. District 112 was on an unsustainable path and needs to "stop hemorrhaging quality educations," he warned.

"Last year, two dozen people, many with a significant number of years in the district, they chose to leave. Happy employees do not leave," Buss aid. "Our children deserve experienced and happy teachers. As a parent of two — soon to be three — in the district, I want my children to have happy teachers, able to connect to my children in a manner which becomes impossible in a toxic environment."

Nicole Petrich, a fourth-grade teacher at Oak Terrace, said the district was moving the right direction culturally and praised the addition of a new calm classroom initiative. She said it was important to allow professionals to set their own priorities for their limited planning time.

"It definitely makes a difference in the school climate to know that my administration trusts me as a professional," Petrich said.

"Valuing a professional's time is important. It is one aspect of demonstrating respect for a hardworking group of teachers in an effort to have a positive school climate. I appreciate receiving respect for that vital work by having the choice to use my prep time to meet the needs of the current priorities," she said.

Northwood social studies teacher Jon Mall said it was great to invest in infrastructure but it was time to also invest in teachers. Negotiating a teacher's contract "has been a dogfight throughout my entire career," he said.

"I know that there's always outside circumstances and things going on, but through it all, we were continually told how valuable we are. However, after a while, it just feels like lip service," said Mall, a Highland Park native whose parents taught in the district.

"What is a building without a soul? The teachers are the heart and soul of North Shore School District 112's world class education."

Carol Wolfe, a longtime Highland Park resident and former teacher in Glencoe, said she has been intimately involved in past teacher contract negotiations. At some point ,she said, negotiations will end and an agreement will be reached.

"The question is do you want to put our children, our schools and our community through a divisive and painful struggle only to end up where you are right now," Wolfe told the board. "I've seen situations where teachers have gone on strike and after that an agreement is reached. But I'll tell you, the damage to the community and the damage to the relationship between teachers, administrators and the board are never repaired, and that is not in the best interest of Highland Park's children."

Like the several teachers who spoke, Wolfe referenced the district's long-term facilities planning process, which so far included a $75 million middle school renovation plan and the closure of Elm Place Middle School and Lincoln Elementary School. Improvements to the district's two remaining middle schools are being financed by $20 million the board has saved and $55 million in alternate revenue bonds — a form of borrowing that did not require a voter referendum.

Highland Park resident Rick Heineman pointed out state law generally caps the annual increase in the district's budget to about 2.5 percent, limiting the amount of extra money available to the district.

"This is all happening in a district where the K-5 buildings need about $100 million in repairs or renovations," Heineman said. "And while I understand that the teachers are what we use to deliver education to our kids, the environment does matter. I don't know what an appropriate raise should be, but I believe both sides are arguing in good faith and the community should not blindly support one side or the other without having the facts."

Beyond disagreements over mandates for how to spend planning time and annual salary increases, there is also some distance between the two sides when it comes to the approval process for continuing education courses. The current contract sets up a joint committee of teachers and administrators who determine which courses will be approved for partial tuition reimbursement and "lane advancement," which sees teachers make higher salaries after earning more advanced degrees. Lubelfeld, the superintendent, said the board's offer would eliminate the joint committee and instead set an accredited list of approved programs.

Henkel, the teacher's union president, said it was a simple issue to resolve but district officials have sought "ridiculous limitations" that would prohibit coursework out-of-state colleges and institutions like Harvard University, Stanford University or the University of Wisconsin from being approved for reimbursement. She said the joint committee tasked with approving courses under the expired collective bargaining agreement has only had to resolve two disagreements over course approval in the five years of the deal.

"We have stayed late on school nights trying to negotiate a fair contract. We are still far apart on certain issues," Henkel told the board. "Please consider bricks and mortar. Please look at the people in the room. You can afford both. You can't afford to lose more quality teachers to other districts."

Regardless of whether the required majority of NSEA members vote Thursday to authorize a strike, Henkel said the union will take part in a fifth scheduled mediation session on Oct. 3.

In order to begin striking, the union is required to file an "intent-to-strike" notice with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, according to state law. At any point, either side may initiate a public posting requirement that would see each side post their most recent contract offers. At least 10 days after a notice of intent to strike has been issued and at least 14 days after the state board publicly posts the offers, a teachers union may begin a strike. A one-day strike preceded the adoption of the last collective bargaining agreement between NSSD-112 and the NSEA.

UPDATE: North Shore School District 112 Teachers Vote To Authorize Strike

Earlier:

• School Board Describes Sticking Points In Teachers Negotiations
• District 112 Presents Draft Budget Amid Teachers Union Negotiations
• NSSD-112 Board Approves $75 Million Middle School Renovation Plan