Rockford teachers, community members plan to rally, pack school board meeting to call for a fair contract

ROCKFORD - Rockford teachers and community members will rally outside tonight's Rockford Public School (RPS) District 205 Board of Education (BOE) meeting and then pack the meeting to demand a fair contract that respects teachers and fully supports students.

"Our teachers are underpaid, their workloads are increasing and we don't have enough staff to fully support all our students, especially our students with special needs," REA President Claudia Marshall said. "It's a crisis situation.Our students deserve so much better than this."

The Rockford Education Association (REA) represents nearly 2,000 teachers, social workers, counselors, speech pathologists, nurses, psychologists and other licensed staff working and supporting the nearly 28,000 students in District 205.

REA has been bargaining with the district since February. REA's contract expired in July, which means educators have been working without a contract since the start of the school year. On Dec. 4, REA and the district began working with a federal mediator during negotiation sessions. However, on Dec. 22, the district issued their last, best offer signaling an unwillingness to negotiate further, which triggered the public posting process through the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board (IELRB). This is also the first legal step toward a strike.

"This is about respect because it's not about money. The district has money. There are more than 200 administrators working just in the central office downtown. They give themselves two raises a year," Marshall said. "And when they can't fill teaching positions because the pay is too low and the workload is too high, they outsource our work. Right now, they're spending more than $14 million on staffing agencies. The money is there. What this comes down to is the district doesn't value or respect us and our students."

Still at issue at the bargaining table are:

• Retirement benefits: REA is pushing to expand current retirement options, offering a choice for all members, which will have large cost savings for District 205.

• Working conditions: The district is pushing for an inequitable and unfair burden on special education teachers, while making it difficult to obtain the necessary paraprofessional support for kindergarten classrooms. Teachers go above and beyond by taking on additional duties because there are so many unfilled positions.

• Subpar wages: Rockford teachers make less than many neighboring districts, including Belvidere and Hononegah. Rockford salaries are below average when compared to other Illinois school districts of similar size.

"We are Rockford. The majority of our members live in our community. The district is not just failing to invest in our educators and fully support our students, they're choosing not to invest in our entire community," Marshall said. "But we know, the people of Rockford stand with us and that's what keeps us going. We're so grateful for all the support from our community."

Tonight's BOE meeting is set for 7 p.m. in the third-floor boardroom at the RPS Administration Building (501 Seventh St., Rockford). It will be live-streamed here. Teachers, parents and community members plan to rally before the BOE meeting starting at 6 p.m. in the same location. The next REA and tdistrict negotiations session is scheduled for Wed., Jan. 21.

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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.