A judge ruled the teacher’s strike in Kelso is illegal and ordered the teachers back to work next week. “I haven’t been cited any (precedents) that a public school teacher or the union has the right to strike”.
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KEA members continue to stand together with our community.
Neither the District nor KEA would comment on camera after the ruling Friday.
Bob Miller, president of the district’s teachers union, told WGN-TV that the strike will likely last at least two days.
The step salary schedule raises would be in addition to any raises negotiated with a teachers contract, Peters said.
“We’ve tried to explain to our teachers that you can’t just look at salary, you have to look at benefits and the overall picture”, Peters said.
The district is offering a 3.25 percent pay hike for the first two years and a 3 percent pay hike for the third year for teachers earning less than $90,000 per year. They also said the walkout could drive students out of the district and result in lost state revenue, and could affect scholarship opportunities and hurt graduating seniors’ ability to take jobs or scheduled exams. DeBruler says her understanding is that the district is repackaging what they’ve offered.
In addition, Miller said teachers were dismayed when the school board voted earlier this year to transfer $800,000 from the district’s education fund to help pay for more than $10 million in capital improvements to the district’s aging buildings, projects which included new air conditioning, heating and school security systems at each of the district’s four schools. “It was really upsetting to me because I feel like we work really hard”. “I want to be back in school and do my activities”, Ashley Yasak said.
More than six hours of negotiations broke off at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday when teachers announced their first ever strike, and classes that day were subsequently canceled. Board President Patty Wood said she does not want to lower reserves more in order to be fiscally responsible.
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Teachers in a suburban Chicago school district have gone on strike, closing schools in the district of roughly 1,500 students.
