River Forest teachers, community members to pack board meeting

Those attending the meeting plan to speak during public comment about the fiscal health of the district.

RIVER FOREST- River Forest teachers, parents and community members will pack the River Forest School District 90 Board of Education (BOE) meeting tonight. They are calling on the board to reach an agreement on a fair contract. Former River Forest teachers will speak and share their stories about why they left the district.

"To this day, I am always proud to share that my career began in River Forest, teaching some of this amazing community's youngest learners. However, in my new district, I learned that teachers who had the same years of experience as me, as well as the same amount of post-graduate work, were making over 30% more than I was making in District 90," Former District 90 teacher Jackie Peters said.

"We are losing high-quality educators because our salaries are not competitive. When we don't have good teachers in our schools, our students' education will suffer. Our students deserve to be learning from and supported by the best. We know the district is in good financial health and can help level the playing field," RFEA Co-President Cindy Crannell said.

RFEA represents more than 140 teachers and licensed staff serving the nearly 1,300 students who attend school in District 90. The BOE and RFEA began bargaining in the spring of 2025, and the teachers are currently working without a contract. In August, a federal mediator was brought in to help the two sides reach an agreement.

The main issues are around salary and leave/benefit days. RFEA plans to share a statement about some of the financial issues in the district including:

• Financially solid ground:District 90 is excellent fiscal health. The district currently has more than 460 days of cash on hand. Currently, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) recommends having just 180 days of cash on hand.

• Retirement benefits:The River Forest teachers pay the bulk of their pension payments out of their own salaries. River Forest teachers pay 9% of their salaries into the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) for their pension. The district pays much less, a little over 1% of members' salaries, toward RFEA member pensions, as required by law.

• ISBE salary data:The ISBE financial data for the state of Illinois shows the average District 90 administrator salaryoutpaces the state average administrator salary by more than $50,000. The average District 90 teacher salaryoutpaces the Illinois state average teacher salary by just $1,652. However, when the TRS contribution is factored in RFEA teachers actually earn several thousand dollars less than the statewide average teacher salary.

"It's pretty simple. This is about doing what's right for our students. We know that strong students mean strong schools and strong communities," Crannell said. "We have to make sure we can attract and retain high-quality educators so that we can continue to provide the best education possible to our students."

The BOE meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Roosevelt Middle School, 7560 Oak Ave., River Forest. Several educators and parents plan to speak during open session. The next federally mediated bargaining session is set for Sept. 30.

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The 135,000 member Illinois Education Association (IEA-NEA) is the state's 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.