About three-quarters of districts in Illinois are struggling to hire bus drivers, cafeteria workers and teachers’ aides. Workers in Champaign want to know how future board members will help them.
CHAMPAIGN — Teacher salaries in Illinois have not kept up with inflation. That’s true nationwide, according to new research by the labor union, the National Education Association. Champaign Federation of Teachers co-president Mike Sitch says he’s particularly worried about young teachers right now. “Those [young] individuals usually feel the pain of inflation more than the
CHAMPAIGN — The Unit 4 Board of Education unanimously approved a new teacher contract on Monday. This ends months of negotiations with the Champaign Federation of Teachers. The disagreement over whether to add time to the elementary school day almost led to a teacher strike. School board member Gianina Baker says the conflict over the
CHAMPAIGN – Champaign Unit 4 School District teachers voted 76 percent to 24 percent on Tuesday to ratify their new contract, rather than go on strike. The contract would lengthen the school day, something the Unit 4 Board of Education has pushed but teachers say will burn them out. Champaign Federation of Teachers co-president Mike
CHAMPAIGN — Champaign Unit 4 teachers have a tentative contract agreement with the district. In an email to union members early Wednesday morning, Champaign Federation of Teachers leadership says there will be a vote for teachers to ratify the contract on Tuesday April 5th, the day teachers had planned to go on strike. Speaking at
CHAMPAIGN – As Champaign teachers prepare for a possible strike, a Unit 4 School District Board of Education member explained the district’s side of contract negotiations. The board has otherwise declined all interview requests and provided generic, written statements instead. Board member Bruce Brown spoke at Monday’s meeting. He emphasized that elementary school teachers would
CHAMPAIGN — Two weeks after Champaign teachers voted to allow a potential strike, one parent is experiencing déjà vu. Amy Dunn was in sixth grade in 1986 when negotiations broke down between Homer teachers and their school board. Teachers went on a strike that lasted eight months – possibly the longest teachers’ strike in U.S.
CHAMPAIGN — Champaign teachers are willing to strike to protest Unit 4’s latest contract offer. That contract would extend the elementary school day by 50 minutes, starting in the fall of 2023. On Wednesday, about 700 Unit 4 teachers gathered at Jefferson Middle School in Champaign. 91 percent voted to authorize their union to strike.
CHAMPAIGN – More than 350 Champaign teachers rallied on Monday over contract negotiations, and they will vote on Wednesday about authorizing a strike. At issue — whether Unit 4 should extend the elementary school day. Contract negotiations between the Unit 4 School District and the Champaign Federation of Teachers have stalled in recent weeks. The