ADDISON – Today, hundreds of Addison Teachers’ Association (ATA) members and Addison community members will walk in a show of solidarity for their students and their schools. ATA members are currently working without a contract.
“We are simply asking for average. It’s disheartening that we have to go to such great lengths to convince the board that our students deserve, at the very least, average,” ATA co-President Allison Andrikokus said. “Per pupil spending is far below the state average and the lowest in DuPage County. The board needs to start putting students first.”
ATA has 327 members who are teachers, speech pathologists, librarians, social workers and psychologists. District 4 serves 4,059 students. ATA has been negotiating for a new contract with the Addison School District 4 Board of Education (BOE) since February.
“We need average for our educators, too. Right now, we are behind. There’s a teacher shortage, and if our wages aren’t competitive, we will continue to lose quality professionals,” Andrikokus said. “In the last 5 years, we’ve lost on average 23 teachers per year. The district has to step up and make us competitive. We have one of the biggest cash reserves in DuPage County – exceeding $47 million. We are just looking for a fair and equitable contract, so we can best serve our students.”
This evening’s unity walk will begin at 6 p.m. BOE meeting begins at 7 p.m. Please note the location has changed to accommodate a larger crowd. The unity walk and BOE meeting will be held at the Addison Village Hall (1 Friendship Plaza, Addison).
###
The 135,000 member Illinois Education Association (IEA-NEA) is the state’s largest education employee’s organization. IEA represents preK-12 teachers outside of the city of Chicago and education support staff, higher education faculty, retired education employees and students preparing to become teachers, statewide.
