Hundreds of teachers picketed a Township High School District 211 board meeting Thursday night in Palatine, demanding new labor talks after rejecting a contract offer earlier this month.
As the meeting approached, they put down their picket signs and stood en masse at the back of a cafeteria in Palatine High School, where the meeting had been moved to accommodate the expected crowd.
John Braglia, president and chief negotiator of the teachers union, said teachers feel the board is holding them hostage by tying a promised pay raise to a multiyear contract extension the union members voted against.
“They’ve been making poor policy decisions; they’re making poor decisions about curriculum; they’re cutting out professional development … and teachers are just fed up,” Braglia said of the board during a public comment period.
Before the meeting, Braglia said the union filed notice last Friday that they could strike within 10 days. The union represents about 1,140 teachers, social workers and support staff.
With five high schools and nearly 13,000 students, District 211 serves all or part of 11 communities.
The average teacher salary in the district is $85,766, according to state data.
Parent Jim Wojtas said parents are also fed up, but with the teachers.
“How is it in the best interests of the kids to vote for a strike?” he asked. “The board is acting in a way that is very fiscally responsible. I’m not getting a raise this year.”
Earlier this month, the district’s teachers rejected a proposed one-year contract that called for a 2.5 percent pay raise.
“We want negotiations to continue,” Braglia said. “But if a strike is necessary we’ll do everything we can to ensure that services to students and the community can continue with little or no disruption.”
