ROCKFORD 鈥撎齊ockford teachers and community members will rally outside tonight鈥檚 Rockford Public School (RPS) District 205 Board of Education (BOE) meeting and then pack the meeting to demand a fair contract that respects teachers and fully supports students.
鈥淥ur teachers are underpaid, their workloads are increasing and we don鈥檛 have enough staff to fully support all our students, especially our students with special needs,鈥� REA President Claudia Marshall said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a crisis听situation.Our听students deserve so much better than this.鈥�
The Rockford Education Association (REA)听represents听nearly 2,000听teachers, social workers, counselors, speech pathologists, nurses, psychologists and other licensed staff working and supporting听the nearly听28,000 students in District 205.
REA听has been bargaining with the district since February.听REA鈥檚听contract expired in July, which means educators have been working without a contract since the start of the school year. On Dec. 4, REA and the district began working with a federal mediator during negotiation sessions. However, on Dec. 22, the district issued their last, best offer signaling an unwillingness to negotiate further, which triggered the public posting process through the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board (IELRB). This is also the first legal step toward a strike.
鈥淭his is about respect because听it鈥檚听not about money. The district has money. There are more than 200 administrators working just in the central office downtown. They give听themselves two raises a year,鈥� Marshall said. 鈥淎nd when they听can鈥檛听fill teaching positions because the pay is too low and the workload is too high, they outsource our work. Right now,听they鈥檙e听spending more than $14 million on staffing agencies. The money is there. What this comes down to is the district听doesn鈥檛听value or respect us and our students.鈥�
Still at issue at the bargaining table are:
- Retirement benefits:听REA is pushing to expand current retirement options, offering a choice for all members, which will have large cost savings for听District听205.
- Working conditions:听The听district听is pushing for an inequitable and unfair burden on special education teachers, while making it difficult to obtain听the necessary听paraprofessional听support for kindergarten classrooms.听Teachers go听above and beyond听by taking on听additional听duties听because there are so many unfilled positions.
- Subpar wages:听Rockford teachers make less than many neighboring districts, including Belvidere and Hononegah.鈥疪ockford salaries are below average when compared to other Illinois school districts of听similar size.
鈥淲e are Rockford.听The majority of听our members live in our community. The district is not just听failing to invest听in our educators and fully support our students, they鈥檙e听choosing not to invest in our entire community,鈥� Marshall said. 鈥淏ut we know, the people of Rockford stand with听us听and听that鈥檚听what keeps us going.听We鈥檙e听so grateful for all the support from our community.鈥�
Tonight鈥檚 BOE meeting is set for 7 p.m. in the third-floor boardroom at the RPS Administration Building (501 Seventh St., Rockford). Teachers,听parents听and community members plan to rally before the BOE meeting starting at 6 p.m. in the same location. The next REA and听tdistrict听negotiations session is scheduled for Wed., Jan. 21.
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The 135,000 member 黑料视频 (IEA-NEA) is the state鈥檚 largest union. IEA represents Pre K-12 teachers outside the city of Chicago and education support staff, higher education faculty, retired education employees and students preparing to become teachers, statewide.
