The Examiner U-46 News Feed

District U-46 Board ratifies new teachers pact

By Seth Hancock
  The Board of Education in School District U-46 voted 6-0, board member Veronica Noland was absent, on a four-year contract with the Elgin Teacher’s Association (ETA) at its meeting on Monday, Feb. 5.
  The contract is retroactive to the start of the 2023-2024 school year and ends in August 2027. Negotiations began in 2022, and ETA members voted approximately 88 percent in favor of the pact earlier that day, said Trisha Olson, chief legal officer.
  The agreement includes an average of 4 percent pay raises each year.
  “The salary breakdown for the life of the agreement includes that teacher starting salaries will increase by six percent in year one to a starting salary of $55,015, five percent in year two for a starting salary of $57,766, three percent in year three for a starting salary of $59,499 and two percent in year four for a starting salary of $60,689,” Olson said.
  Olson added: “The teacher internal substitute rate of pay will increase as follows: $28 per hour in year one, $31.15 per hour in year two, $32.10 per hour in year three and $32.75 per hour in year four. The summer school hourly rate of pay will increase as follows $42.70 in year one, $44.85 in year two, $46.20 in year three and $47.10 in year four. Additional rates of pay are scheduled to increase over the four years of the contract.”
  A district press release stated that the contract also adds planning and collaboration time for teachers.
  “This is time that teachers can use to review new curriculum, design lessons, evaluate students’ work, and assess where they need more support,” the release states. “Teachers can also use the time to communicate with families, or collaborate with colleagues who teach the same grade, subject, or cohort.”
  General classroom teachers at the elementary level will have either the science or social studies content removed from their load which will be taught by a specialist teacher at each building. The school day will also be extended by 20 minutes starting in the 2025-2026 school year.
  “This contract will have far-reaching positive effects for our educators, boosting the dedicated time they have to plan lessons, collaborate with colleagues, and reflect on their practice,” said Barb Bettis, the ETA’s president.
  The contract has not yet been posted publicly.