District and Teachers' Union Approve Five-Year Contract
Due to economic uncertainty, agreement includes salary renegotiation after two years.
The Winnetka Public Schools District 36 School Board and the Winnetka Education Association teachers' union ratified a five-year contract agreement, following a six-month negotiation process that began in October 2008. The new contract will take effect September 1, 2009.
Under the new agreement, District 36 teachers will receive an average annual raise of 0.6 percent and 0.4 percent in the first and second years of the contract respectively. Adding the ordinary step increase to this amount yields a total average salary increase of 4.3 and 4.1 percent. A key provision of the agreement calls for the Board and the Association to reconvene in 2011 to negotiate teachers' salaries for the remaining three years of the contract.
Winnetka residents are feeling the effects of the current economy. We are all making adjustments to our spending based on our families' needs and priorities. As fiscal stewards of the community's public schools, this Board is doing that same thing. We have had to take a hard look at all District expenses, and salaries are no exception. At the same time, we know that our teachers are essential to ensuring a quality education for Winnetka children, and have developed this contract with that in mind.
We know that in order to attract and retain quality teachers, we must compensate our teachers with salaries similar to comparable school districts. While these increases do not leave the District in as competitive a position as it has enjoyed in the past, we believe they are enough to allow us to attract and retain those quality teachers. Furthermore, these raises are consistent with the District's budget and long-range fiscal forecast.
Because of uncertainties in the current economy and the difficulty of forecasting into even the near future, the Board and Association jointly decided to reconsider the salary schedule in two years. This is in the best interest of all parties as it allows us to adjust salaries to reflect actual economic and market conditions.
Other provisions of the new agreement, including disability insurance, sick leave, and retirement, will remain in effect for the entire five-year contract period, which will continue through the 2013-14 school year.
Together, we are a strong team. The District 36 School Board and administration look forward to working with the Winnetka Education Association, our staff, students, families, and the entire community to continue to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in our schools.
Q. Why is this contract for five years? Aren’t they usually four years?
A. We wanted to avoid the conflict of having the contract be negotiated at the same time newly elected Board members are joining as other members retire from the Board. By going to five years this one time there’s no timing constraint involving participants and no conflict with election cycles. We expect future contracts are likely to go back to four-year terms.
Q. If the contract ends in August, why did negotiations start so soon?
A. There was a significant change in the members of the Board in April. If we had not finished the negotiations by then, we would basically have had to start over again. Since there’s no telling how long negotiations will take, this was the safest plan.
Q. Who are the participants? Who negotiated the contract?
A. Representatives of the Board of Education, the Winnetka Education Association, and the District Administration all have a role. We use a method called Interest Based Bargaining, which enables everyone to get at the issues in a productive way. We have used it in the past and it has been very successful.
Q. What raise are the teachers getting as a result of the contract?
A. One of the major new provisions is a salary increase for teachers. In the first year of the contract, 2009-10, teachers will receive a raise of about 0.6%. When you add the step increase, it works out to be an average of 4.33%. In the following year, 2010-11, the teachers will receive a raise of about 0.4%, and the total will be just under 4.1%. For any given teacher, the raise might be more or less, depending on their education and years of experience, but these are the average numbers.
Q. What’s a “step increase,” and how is that different from the 0.6% raise?
A. Nearly all teachers in all districts are paid using schedules that dictate how much they will be paid. Each teacher falls in a column appropriate to their level of experience, and a row that corresponds to their years of service. Each year a teacher will move down one row on the schedule, and earn the new salary amount. For example, a starting teacher with a bachelor’s degree in Winnetka will earn approximately $41,500 this year. Next year, he or she will move down one step in the schedule and earn about $43,000. This is called the Step Increase. The amount of increase can vary a little from one step to another, but the average step increase for Winnetka Teachers is 3.7%.
In addition, we have agreed to increase every amount on the schedule by 0.6% next year, and 0.4% the year after that. So when you combine that “year-to-year” increase with the step increase, the total increase is 4.33% and 4.1%, respectively.
Q. I’ve heard of other districts that are giving 0.5%, 1%, etc. Why is Winnetka so high?
A. Unfortunately, many districts are not reporting the whole story. For example, District 128, which includes Libertyville High School, recently reported that teachers under their new contract will earn .37% next year, increasing to 1% the following year, and 1.5% the year after that. What the news media failed to mention is that their teachers are also earning a 3% step increase each year, which makes the total increases about 3.5%, 4% and 4.5% over the next three years.
Q. Isn’t any raise excessive, with the economy being what it is? Many people have taken pay cuts, or even lost their jobs.
A. In economic times such as these, everyone is reviewing their budget to see what expenditures can be eliminated or reduced. Families are prioritizing their outflow so that basics are maintained by reducing non-essential spending. The Board of Education is currently engaged in the exact same exercise. We feel, however, that cost-cutting must be done with the goals of sustaining the high quality education of our children and retaining quality teachers.
The truth is that a number of people are getting raises this year – teachers from other districts. Most teachers are subject to multi-year contracts, with raises built in each year. While we have no intention of trying to match those raises, we cannot ignore them either, or our competitiveness in the market place for quality teachers will suffer.
Q. How did the Board and the Association determine how much of a raise would keep Winnetka competitive?
A. The main process is to analyze the market cost of teachers. The parties involved looked at the salaries for teachers in twelve neighboring school districts that we felt were comparable to WinnetkA. We then created a range across those districts for each teacher based on education and years of experience. For example, we looked at all the different salaries being paid a teacher with a master’s degree and ten years’ teaching experience, and arranged them from highest to lowest. Finally we looked at where a Winnetka teacher in that category would fall in the range.
Q. How does Winnetka compare to other districts under the new contract?
A. It varies, but many of our teachers are close to the mean, or average, for comparable teachers in comparable districts. For example, a new Winnetka teacher with a bachelor’s degree is at about the 40th percentile of similar teachers in the other districts we looked at. On the other hand, a teacher with ten years experience and a master’s degree with 15 hours of post-graduate study is only at the 20th percentile compared to his/her counterpoint at other districts.
Q. Have our teachers always been paid at the average?
A. In fact, in prior years we were actually above the mean, which made us more competitive. But with this economy that isn’t practical. We are no longer as competitive as we were; nevertheless, we feel that we can still attract and retain quality teachers with the new contract.
Q. What will the raises be in the last three years of the contract?
A. Because of the current economy, and the inability to predict what salaries, the market place, and the economy in general will be three years from now, we decided not to lock in salaries beyond the next two years. The new contract calls for the Board and the Association to convene in two years’ time to determine what salaries should be for the remainder of the contract. This protects everyone from locking in numbers that two years from now might prove to be excessively high or low.
Q. What is this salary increase going to cost in total dollars?
A. Despite the 4.3% number, when you take into account retiring teachers and the budgeted number of teaching positions for the next two years, we estimate that the total salary dollar cost for 2009-10 will increase less than 2.5% over this year. This is within our budget and the projections of our long-range fiscal planning.
Q. How are other districts who negotiated contracts before the economic downturn dealing with it?
A. Many districts negotiated contracts with significant raises when the economy was still strong. Now they are trying to figure out how to pay for those contracts. For example, they may be cutting programs or increasing class size. We were fortunate in our timing in that we could see the economy was in a serious downturn, and adjust the raises accordingly. Again, these costs are within our budget and our long-term financial forecasts. We will not be changing class size or cutting programs as a result of this contract.
Q. What other benefit provisions are in the contract?
A. Disability Insurance: Currently the teachers can acquire disability insurance for up to 31% of their salary through the state. The contract provides for the District to pay for additional disability insurance for each teacher up to 66% of salary. Dental Insurance: The District will pay for half of the cost of individual in-network dental insurance coverage. Sick Leave: Each teacher will now get one additional sick day per year after ten years of service, and two additional sick days per year after twenty years. Retirement: New state legislation has increased the amount of money teachers must pay in order to take advantage of early retirement plans. The District has agreed to split this extra cost with the teachers. New legislation also led the District to allow teachers to get a 6% annual raise (in lieu of any normal raise) when giving up to five years’ retirement notice, in order to ensure full retirement benefits paid by the state.
Q. Tax revenues are limited by the tax cap. Are these cost increases in line with the CPI, which helps define what the tax cap will be?
A. For the current contract, it is the CPI for 2007 that determines what the tax increase on existing property will be for 2009-10. The CPI for 2007 was 4.1%, which is nearly the same as the raises the contract provides for (4.3%). However, in 2008 the CPI was 0.1%, so District costs are sure to exceed any tax revenue increase in 2010-11.
Q. Will this contract mean another referendum? Are taxes going to go up?
A. The District is currently engaged in an aggressive cost-reduction analysis to keep costs down to essentials without affecting the learning experience. We do not anticipate that the cost of this contract will accelerate any need for a referendum. Overall property tax increases are still subject to the tax cap and should not increase because of this contract. (Note that individual tax bills may go up or down, depending on the value of the property relative to other property within the taxing area.)
The Winnetka Public Schools District 36 School Board and the Winnetka Education Association teachers' union ratified a five-year contract agreement, following a six-month negotiation process that began in October 2008. The new contract will take effect September 1, 2009.
Under the new agreement, District 36 teachers will receive an average annual raise of 0.6 percent and 0.4 percent in the first and second years of the contract respectively. Adding the ordinary step increase to this amount yields a total average salary increase of 4.3 and 4.1 percent. A key provision of the agreement calls for the Board and the Association to reconvene in 2011 to negotiate teachers' salaries for the remaining three years of the contract.
Winnetka residents are feeling the effects of the current economy. We are all making adjustments to our spending based on our families' needs and priorities. As fiscal stewards of the community's public schools, this Board is doing that same thing. We have had to take a hard look at all District expenses, and salaries are no exception. At the same time, we know that our teachers are essential to ensuring a quality education for Winnetka children, and have developed this contract with that in mind.
We know that in order to attract and retain quality teachers, we must compensate our teachers with salaries similar to comparable school districts. While these increases do not leave the District in as competitive a position as it has enjoyed in the past, we believe they are enough to allow us to attract and retain those quality teachers. Furthermore, these raises are consistent with the District's budget and long-range fiscal forecast.
Because of uncertainties in the current economy and the difficulty of forecasting into even the near future, the Board and Association jointly decided to reconsider the salary schedule in two years. This is in the best interest of all parties as it allows us to adjust salaries to reflect actual economic and market conditions.
Other provisions of the new agreement, including disability insurance, sick leave, and retirement, will remain in effect for the entire five-year contract period, which will continue through the 2013-14 school year.
Together, we are a strong team. The District 36 School Board and administration look forward to working with the Winnetka Education Association, our staff, students, families, and the entire community to continue to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in our schools.
Q. Why is this contract for five years? Aren’t they usually four years?
A. We wanted to avoid the conflict of having the contract be negotiated at the same time newly elected Board members are joining as other members retire from the Board. By going to five years this one time there’s no timing constraint involving participants and no conflict with election cycles. We expect future contracts are likely to go back to four-year terms.
Q. If the contract ends in August, why did negotiations start so soon?
A. There was a significant change in the members of the Board in April. If we had not finished the negotiations by then, we would basically have had to start over again. Since there’s no telling how long negotiations will take, this was the safest plan.
Q. Who are the participants? Who negotiated the contract?
A. Representatives of the Board of Education, the Winnetka Education Association, and the District Administration all have a role. We use a method called Interest Based Bargaining, which enables everyone to get at the issues in a productive way. We have used it in the past and it has been very successful.
Q. What raise are the teachers getting as a result of the contract?
A. One of the major new provisions is a salary increase for teachers. In the first year of the contract, 2009-10, teachers will receive a raise of about 0.6%. When you add the step increase, it works out to be an average of 4.33%. In the following year, 2010-11, the teachers will receive a raise of about 0.4%, and the total will be just under 4.1%. For any given teacher, the raise might be more or less, depending on their education and years of experience, but these are the average numbers.
Q. What’s a “step increase,” and how is that different from the 0.6% raise?
A. Nearly all teachers in all districts are paid using schedules that dictate how much they will be paid. Each teacher falls in a column appropriate to their level of experience, and a row that corresponds to their years of service. Each year a teacher will move down one row on the schedule, and earn the new salary amount. For example, a starting teacher with a bachelor’s degree in Winnetka will earn approximately $41,500 this year. Next year, he or she will move down one step in the schedule and earn about $43,000. This is called the Step Increase. The amount of increase can vary a little from one step to another, but the average step increase for Winnetka Teachers is 3.7%.
In addition, we have agreed to increase every amount on the schedule by 0.6% next year, and 0.4% the year after that. So when you combine that “year-to-year” increase with the step increase, the total increase is 4.33% and 4.1%, respectively.
Q. I’ve heard of other districts that are giving 0.5%, 1%, etc. Why is Winnetka so high?
A. Unfortunately, many districts are not reporting the whole story. For example, District 128, which includes Libertyville High School, recently reported that teachers under their new contract will earn .37% next year, increasing to 1% the following year, and 1.5% the year after that. What the news media failed to mention is that their teachers are also earning a 3% step increase each year, which makes the total increases about 3.5%, 4% and 4.5% over the next three years.
Q. Isn’t any raise excessive, with the economy being what it is? Many people have taken pay cuts, or even lost their jobs.
A. In economic times such as these, everyone is reviewing their budget to see what expenditures can be eliminated or reduced. Families are prioritizing their outflow so that basics are maintained by reducing non-essential spending. The Board of Education is currently engaged in the exact same exercise. We feel, however, that cost-cutting must be done with the goals of sustaining the high quality education of our children and retaining quality teachers.
The truth is that a number of people are getting raises this year – teachers from other districts. Most teachers are subject to multi-year contracts, with raises built in each year. While we have no intention of trying to match those raises, we cannot ignore them either, or our competitiveness in the market place for quality teachers will suffer.
Q. How did the Board and the Association determine how much of a raise would keep Winnetka competitive?
A. The main process is to analyze the market cost of teachers. The parties involved looked at the salaries for teachers in twelve neighboring school districts that we felt were comparable to WinnetkA. We then created a range across those districts for each teacher based on education and years of experience. For example, we looked at all the different salaries being paid a teacher with a master’s degree and ten years’ teaching experience, and arranged them from highest to lowest. Finally we looked at where a Winnetka teacher in that category would fall in the range.
Q. How does Winnetka compare to other districts under the new contract?
A. It varies, but many of our teachers are close to the mean, or average, for comparable teachers in comparable districts. For example, a new Winnetka teacher with a bachelor’s degree is at about the 40th percentile of similar teachers in the other districts we looked at. On the other hand, a teacher with ten years experience and a master’s degree with 15 hours of post-graduate study is only at the 20th percentile compared to his/her counterpoint at other districts.
Q. Have our teachers always been paid at the average?
A. In fact, in prior years we were actually above the mean, which made us more competitive. But with this economy that isn’t practical. We are no longer as competitive as we were; nevertheless, we feel that we can still attract and retain quality teachers with the new contract.
Q. What will the raises be in the last three years of the contract?
A. Because of the current economy, and the inability to predict what salaries, the market place, and the economy in general will be three years from now, we decided not to lock in salaries beyond the next two years. The new contract calls for the Board and the Association to convene in two years’ time to determine what salaries should be for the remainder of the contract. This protects everyone from locking in numbers that two years from now might prove to be excessively high or low.
Q. What is this salary increase going to cost in total dollars?
A. Despite the 4.3% number, when you take into account retiring teachers and the budgeted number of teaching positions for the next two years, we estimate that the total salary dollar cost for 2009-10 will increase less than 2.5% over this year. This is within our budget and the projections of our long-range fiscal planning.
Q. How are other districts who negotiated contracts before the economic downturn dealing with it?
A. Many districts negotiated contracts with significant raises when the economy was still strong. Now they are trying to figure out how to pay for those contracts. For example, they may be cutting programs or increasing class size. We were fortunate in our timing in that we could see the economy was in a serious downturn, and adjust the raises accordingly. Again, these costs are within our budget and our long-term financial forecasts. We will not be changing class size or cutting programs as a result of this contract.
Q. What other benefit provisions are in the contract?
A. Disability Insurance: Currently the teachers can acquire disability insurance for up to 31% of their salary through the state. The contract provides for the District to pay for additional disability insurance for each teacher up to 66% of salary. Dental Insurance: The District will pay for half of the cost of individual in-network dental insurance coverage. Sick Leave: Each teacher will now get one additional sick day per year after ten years of service, and two additional sick days per year after twenty years. Retirement: New state legislation has increased the amount of money teachers must pay in order to take advantage of early retirement plans. The District has agreed to split this extra cost with the teachers. New legislation also led the District to allow teachers to get a 6% annual raise (in lieu of any normal raise) when giving up to five years’ retirement notice, in order to ensure full retirement benefits paid by the state.
Q. Tax revenues are limited by the tax cap. Are these cost increases in line with the CPI, which helps define what the tax cap will be?
A. For the current contract, it is the CPI for 2007 that determines what the tax increase on existing property will be for 2009-10. The CPI for 2007 was 4.1%, which is nearly the same as the raises the contract provides for (4.3%). However, in 2008 the CPI was 0.1%, so District costs are sure to exceed any tax revenue increase in 2010-11.
Q. Will this contract mean another referendum? Are taxes going to go up?
A. The District is currently engaged in an aggressive cost-reduction analysis to keep costs down to essentials without affecting the learning experience. We do not anticipate that the cost of this contract will accelerate any need for a referendum. Overall property tax increases are still subject to the tax cap and should not increase because of this contract. (Note that individual tax bills may go up or down, depending on the value of the property relative to other property within the taxing area.)
