A representative of the union representing teachers in Butler School District 53 said Tuesday that teachers are willing to continue contract negotiations despite the school board’s announcement this week that the two sides reached an impasse.
Andrew Griffith, a representative of the Oak Brook Education Association, which represents 48 teachers, said the board declared the impasse and that teachers want to keep working until they reach an agreement.
“Even though an impasse was declared by the board it should not deter them from coming back to the bargaining table,” Griffith said.
After nearly a year of negotiations, the Butler School District 53 Board of Education and a union representing teachers hit a stumbling block over salaries, the school board announced Monday.
As required by law, final contract offers by the board and the Oak Brook Education Association were submitted earlier this month to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, school district officials said.
The remaining bone of contention is the schedule of salary increases, according to a statement released by the school board Monday.
The board offered a 2.3 percent increase in the first year, a 2.8 percent increase in the second year and a 3.3 percent increase in the third year while the teacher union seeks a 3.3 percent increase in year one, a 3.8 increase in year two and a 3.8 percent increase in year three, the district announced.
“We’re not that far off,” said Griffith.
According to the school board, District 53 teachers on average earn $83,834 a year, which is the third-highest among elementary districts in the state. With benefits, including health, dental, disability, term life and personal and sick leave at a cost of $15,124 per teacher per year, the board of education is estimating that the average teacher compensation rises to $98,958.
Griffith said, however, that those numbers are misleading. He said 7 teachers are slated to retire over the next couple of years.
“That will bring that (average) salary numbers down significantly,” he said.
In addition, he said about 90 percent of teachers in the district have master’s degrees and many have been teaching in the district for 20 years or more.
The board and association met in 24 negotiating sessions, three with the assistance of a federal mediator over the past year, according to the district’s press release.
Griffith said teachers want to continue to work toward an agreement. Although they have worked five months without a contract, he said he has not heard of any teachers pushing to go on strike.
“It’s discouraging that we can’t come to some agreement,” he said.
