Teachers Reject District 202 Contract, Dispute 4 Percent Raise Claims

PLAINFIELD, IL — Days after the Plainfield School District Board of Education said it had reached a tentative deal with faculty on a new three-year contract, teachers voted Wednesday night to reject the proposed contract, which included only a one-year salary and retirement benefits commitment. District 202 board present Greg Nichols said the proposal included an "almost 4 percent" raise for 80 percent of Association of Plainfield Teachers members — which APT has since disputed — and a 6 percent retirement incentive.

Nichols released a statement late Wednesday saying, "Tonight the Plainfield teachers rejected the tentative agreement presented to them by the Association of Plainfield Teachers (APT)." Nichols statement continued:

The contract the teachers voted down represents many hours of review, deliberation and compromise between the Board of Education and the APT. Through that almost one-year process, a tentative agreement was reached that would have provided teachers with, among other benefits, an average wage increase of almost 4 percent, with 80 percent of teachers at or above that percent increase, compared to that guaranteed in the last year of the prior contract.

Had the tentative agreement been ratified, the teachers would have begun receiving salary increases for the 2017-2018 school year now, but that intent has been thwarted by the vote. The retirement incentive may also be in jeopardy if the parties cannot reach agreement soon due to the related notice provisions.

In a statement released early Thursday, APT President Dawn Bullock said the union "overwhelmingly rejected" the proposal, saying the tentative contract "still places our teachers below the 2010-2011 salary schedule." She disputed the district's claim of an average 4 percent raise for most teachers, saying the pact includes a pay increase of 2.75 percent for the average teacher, "plus a one-time monetary offer of $250 for part-time teachers or a $500 for full-time teachers. This additional 'signing bonus' does not compound nor does it equate to a 4% raise on our schedule."

The union has more than 1,800 members. Bullock said under APT's calculations, 46 of them would have received a raise of 4 percent or higher. "The salary offer by the Board would have placed only .25% new money onto the teacher’s salary schedule," Bullock said, continuing:

We are both surprised and disappointed with the threat regarding the retirement incentive as published most recently by Board President Greg Nichols. A teacher who has dedicated 34 years of their life teaching children is not eligible to ever receive social security benefits and the vast majority will never receive their spouse’s social security benefits. Affording teachers’ a retirement incentive positively impacts the salary schedule and honors the many years of service to children.

Again, these incentives not only save the district money, but have an immediate impact on the budget; which is curiously being reported as a deficit created by underreporting the percentage of General State Aid by 8% that was received and omitting a final categorical payment that the district will in fact receive. All of this despite the fact that Senate Bill 1947 will be awarding PSD202 with over $5 million additional funds for the 2017-2018 school year. The incentive is a district savings; plain and simple. To threaten to remove that incentive is not a fiscally responsible decision.

Bullock also claimed despite a previous statement by Nichols regarding insurance, "our insurance cost is in fact going up and teachers will pay more beginning in January."

Earlier this month, APT said it had reached an "impasse" with the district, adding that it was paving the way for a possible teachers' strike. Teachers have been working without a contract since last month, and the union began negotiations with the district in November 2016.

Bullock said no strike vote has been taken, and APT has reached out to the board to continue negotiations. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Nichols said the school board will be "working with the APT negotiations team to clarify the issues that remain and determine which issues can be addressed through further bargaining."

He added, "the board pushed its financial comfort level and went beyond the budgeted 2.5% increase in salaries in exchange for the APT agreeing to a one-year commitment on salary and retirement. Due to the uncertainty of the impact of the new Illinois school funding formula on District 202, committing the taxpayers to anything more at this stage would be irresponsible. "

Nichols said the board appreciates that the situation is "unsettling" to staff and community members and "will do everything in its power to bring this to a close soon."