Decision making, respect at core of District 109 negotiations
BY PAT KROCHMAL pkrochmal@pioneerlocal.com January 17, 2012 10:11PM
Teachers union president Dennis Jensen starts off Tuesday's meeting with parents at Trax Restaurant. Deerfield School District 109 teachers held an open forum to answer parent questions about contract negotiations. | Michelle LaVigne~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 20, 2012 9:12AM
School District 109 teachers want a say in the educational decisions made for students, while the School Board believes decisions about the delivery of services is up to management, teachers told parents at a forum Tuesday evening.
That’s why there is no contract agreement between the two sides, said Dennis Jensen, Deerfield Education Association president.
Several teachers who are members of the Deerfield Education Association’s negotiating team addressed about 100 parents Tuesday at Trax Grill and Tavern at Deerfield Square in Deerfield.
The meeting was called because many parents and other community members had questions about why the School Board and teachers could not arrive at a contract, said Neil Goldberg, a parent who set up the session.
The questions ranged from salary and benefit issues to class sizes and evaluation procedures. But when someone in the crowd asked “What do the teachers want?” the decision-making issue came to light.
“Teachers want input. There is no more scheduled resource period for the majority of special ed students and they truly benefitted from them,” said Adriane Reeseman, a Caruso Middle School teacher and member of the negotiating team.
“We know we are not going to make the decision, but we want to be a part of the team.”
Parents do not know their rights when it comes to special education. The teachers are fighting hard for the children, but are not being heard, Reeseman added.
At one time, teachers’ opinions were respected in the district, but that has changed, said Jeanne Sayner, a Kipling Elementary School teacher who is the negotiating team’s chairwoman.
“We have chosen to speak about this now during negotiations, though it has been a problem for some time. This is the time to be heard,” Sayner said.
The union held a meeting in the fall and every special education teacher in the district attended, Jensen said.
“They said that the special education population — kids who need help — had been cut by 30 percent,” he said. “We were not consulted. We were told what changes were being implemented.”
In the meantime, the School Board on Tuesday released a statement that its representatives met Jan. 12 for five hours with a federal mediator and have agreed with the teachers on some issues. The next mediation session is scheduled for Jan. 31.
The board clearly understands the need for action, said Steve Schwartz, one of two board members on the board’s negotiating team.
The parties concurred on two articles of the collective bargaining agreement and seem to have agreed on one more.
The articles are: vacancies, transfers and assignments; leaves; and employee rights. Overall, the discussions were productive, including talks about special education issues, Schwartz noted.
“We are hopeful that there will be additional progress at the next session and confident that we will have eventual resolution on all of the special education issues,” Schwartz said.
“It is imperative that the board and administration carefully examine the effectiveness of the current special education model,” he added. “We are committed to conducting that review and acting on what we find.”
Schwartz also noted that salary has not been a topic of mediation for two months.
“The board last offered a reasonable salary package to the DEA in November. The union has not yet responded to the offer,” he said.
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