Bourbonnais elementary teachers declare strike, start picket lines

BOURBONNAIS – Tonight, the Bourbonnais Education Association (BEA) declared a strike after no deal was reached with School District 53. BEA Members will be on the picket line Thursday at 8 a.m.

The following statement is attributable to BEA President Lauren Lundmark:

“We did everything we could to prevent this from happening. We would much rather be in our classrooms with our students, but instead we are fighting for them out on the picket line. We are teachers. We have done the math. The district has at least $10 million in reserves. We know they have the funding to maintain our insurance and retirement benefits while also providing competitive percentage raises to our staff across the board. This is about investing in our students and our community, so we can continue to provide our students a high quality education for years to come.”

BEA picket lines will begin at 8 a.m.,Thurs., March 4. Picketing will take place at the Bourbonnais Upper Grade Center (200 W. John Casey Rd., Bourbonnais).

BEA President Lauren Lundmark will be available for interviews Thursday morning, March 4 before 8 a.m. Please call Leslie Strain at 512.484.6722 to schedule.

BEA represents 167 teachers, speech pathologists, psychologists and social workers who serve more than 2400 students. The district and BEA began contract negotiations in March 2020. BEA is currently working without a contract and has been since the beginning of the school year.

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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.

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Bridget Shanahan
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