Teachers demanding higher pay and better benefits went on strike Monday in Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202, interrupting classes for 16,751 students and sending 1,150 educators to the picket line.þþThe walkout, called after negotiations faltered late Sunday, also canceled extracurricular activities and jeopardized the Plainfield High School football team's state playoff game this weekend.þþNo new talks had been scheduled late Monday.þþDistrict 202 teachers--who rejected a pay hike offer of about 20 percent over two years and who are seeking increases averaging about 25 percent--are the latest to strike this year in the Chicago area. Teachers have walked out at Harvard Community Unit District 50 and Cary District 26 in McHenry County and at Downers Grove High School District 99 in DuPage County.þþThe strikes are seen as a reflection of the dire state of school finance in Illinois, where an estimated eight of 10 districts face budget deficits this year. Many are seeking relief from the constraints of Illinois real estate tax caps by asking their voters to approve tax hike and bond issue proposals in the Nov. 5 election.þþThose do not include District 202, although the district did get voter approval for a $159 million building bond issue in March as well as for a $64.9 million building bond issue and an increase in the education fund tax rate to $3.15 from $3 per $100 of assessed valuation in 2000.þþDistrict 202, nevertheless, has a deficit of $9.5 million in its education fund this year, a situation school officials blame in large part on rapid residential growth. Nearly seven years ago, it was ranked about 50th in enrollment in Illinois. It is now seventh or eighth.þþIncreases in the cost of health coverage and other insurance also helped bloat the deficit, they say.þþTeachers union officials characterized the walkout as a strike to improve the quality of education. The union says low pay prompts many talented, experienced teachers to leave for better paying jobs elsewhere.þþÿThe teachers, the children and the taxpayers of our district have been getting a bad deal for too long. This strike is about the quality of education and the future of our district,ÿ said Nancy Eichelberger, a teacher for 30 years in District 202 and a spokeswoman for the union, which is seeking a pay raise of about 25 percent over the next two years.þþNegotiations between the board and the Association of Plainfield Teachers broke down over the weekend when the union rejected the board's latest offer of salary hikes averaging about 20 percent. Starting salary was to have increased from $27,272 to $32,220 under the board's offer.þþSchool Board President Victoria Eggerstedt said the salary increases in the rejected proposal would add $2.7 million to the deficit. ÿIt is becoming increasingly difficult to work toward a number that we feel that our taxpayers can actually support,ÿ she said.þþTeachers set up picket lines at the district's schools Monday morning. A school board meeting scheduled for Monday night was canceled. The board had earlier decided to cancel the meeting if negotiations failed Sunday night, said district spokeswoman Carla Erdey.þþThe present average salary of $38,165 for teachers in District 202 is the lowest in Will County, according to union officials.þþLinda Schultz, president of the union, said teachers want to be paid as competitively as their counterparts in Valley View Community Unit School District 365-U and the school districts in Naperville, Indian Prairie Unit School District 204 and Naperville Community Unit School District 203. She said the Plainfield district is comparable to the Naperville districts.þþÿWe are a large district now,ÿ Schultz said. ÿWhen I first came here, there were probably 150 people and now we have more than 1,200 staff members. This is a large district and growing.ÿþþA school official acknowledged Monday that salaries are lower in District 202 than in neighboring districts and that experienced teachers are therefore less likely to stay.þþÿOur salary schedule is on the low end compared to our neighbors,ÿ said Steven Langert, district business manager.þþAnd they're not experiencing the same strain of rapid growth, he said, which creates new expenses as soon as new homes are built but doesn't produce additional tax revenue until months later.þþState aid to education is based on the previous year's attendance, he said. That's not a problem in a district with slow or no growth, but District 202 added about 2,600 students in the past year, an increase of about 18 percent, he said.þþ
Source: Chicago Tribune
