ROCKFORD听鈥撎齌his week,听the听Rockford Education Association (REA)听will听file an unfair labor practice (ULP) against the Rockford Public School听(RPS) District 205.听RPS is knowingly ignoring an Illinois law when it comes to class听sizes听for听mostly听Hispanic,听bilingual听students. In addition to overcrowding听Hispanic听student classrooms, the district is also failing to fairly compensate听educators听for听additional students.
The REA has two听pending听grievances against the district. The first听regarding classroom conditions听and overcrowding听for dual language learners. The second focuses on听compensation issues听for听educators听with听larger听class sizes.听The听REA is now filing a ULP听in regard to听the听first听grievance.听And,听Tuesday听night, the听REA executive committee voted to听send the听second听grievance to听arbitration.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 happening here is just wrong. Our students deserve better than this. There鈥檚 a law听in a place for a reason. It鈥檚 to make sure all our students, no matter the color of their skin or what language they speak, have equitable learning conditions and the same access to the high-quality education their peers are receiving,鈥� REA President Claudia Marshall said.
State听law requires districts听to听maintain听bilingual class听sizes that are no more than听90% of the average size of the monolingual class听sizes for each building grade level.
鈥淚t鈥檚听really crazy听that we听have to听go to these lengths to get the school district to support all our students, as they鈥檙e required to do by law.听On top of that, they鈥檙e violating our new contract they just agreed to a month ago. The ink isn鈥檛 even dry on this thing,听and they鈥檙e already blatantly ignoring it,鈥� Marshall said.听鈥淭hey鈥檙e telling the community they don鈥檛 care about听our Hispanic students;听they don鈥檛 care about our parents and community members;听and they certainly don鈥檛 care about our teachers.鈥�
REA鈥檚 contract language states听bilingual classroom teachers should be paid based on the number of students assigned to their classrooms. However, the district is attempting to pay educators based on student attendance.
鈥淥ur teachers are preparing听their lessons for the number of students in their class, not the number of students that show up that day.听Regardless of how many students are sick, our educators are still doing the work to make sure all students are accounted for.听Their pay shouldn鈥檛 be docked because a student is sick.听In fact, it鈥檚 actually more work when a student is absent because the teacher then has to make sure that student gets caught up,鈥� Marshall said.
REA represents nearly 2,000 teachers, social workers, counselors, speech pathologists, nurses, psychologists and other licensed staff working and supporting nearly 28,000 students in听RPS.
The ULP will be filed with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board (IELRB) this week.听More details will be forthcoming.
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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.
