Roxana teachers plan day long informational picket for school registration day

ROXANA - Roxana teachers and their supporters will be out from the early morning hours today all the way into the evening, holding an information picket about contract negotiations. The Roxana Education Association (REA) and the Roxana Community Unit School District 1 Board of Education (BOE) have been bargaining since January and are now in federal mediation. REA's contract is expired and the school year begins on Aug. 17. Today is also school registration day for parents with students at Roxana schools.

"We want our community to know what's going on. Parents have a right to be informed, and we are sounding the alarm. School starts in a couple of weeks. We need to get our contract negotiations wrapped up so everyone can put their sole focus where it belongs - on our students," REA President Kim Jones said.

The main issues at the bargaining table are:

• Pay scale: The wages being proposed by the district do not value our experienced educators. In fact, they've made financial offers that would cut wages for some teachers.
• Vacancy language: Currently, teachers in Roxana are given an advanced opportunity to apply for any open positions within the district. The district is looking to eliminate the policy.
• Respect/communication: The district's overall lack of respect and communication during the bargaining process have made reaching an agreement extraordinarily difficult.

"The district continues to make offers that do not value our experienced educators and have even made offers that would cut wages. It's insulting, honestly," Jones said. "This isn't about money, it's about respect. We know the district has the funds to meet our requests without raising taxes. We're teachers. We've done the math. We're asking for fair, competitive wages we know the district can afford."

At the District 1 BOE meeting on July 24, the district stated they have a surplus in the education fund. REA and the district have been bargaining for nearly seven months and have had four federally-mediated bargaining sessions.

REA represents about 140 teachers and licensed educators who support nearly 1,700students in District 1.

Today's informational picket begins at 7:45 a.m. and will last until 7:45 p.m. Roxana teachers will be wearing red and taking shifts in front of the District 1 administrative building (401 Chaffer Ave., Roxana). The next negotiation session for REA and the BOE has not been set.

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The 135,000 member Illinois Education Association (IEA-NEA) is the state's largest union. IEA represents PreK-12 teachers outside the city of Chicago and education support staff, higher education faculty, retired education employees and students preparing to become teachers, statewide.