ALEDO — Tonight, the Mercer County School District 404 Board of Education (BOE) voted to ratify the contract with the Mercer County Education Association (MCEA).
The MCEA voted to ratify the agreement on Sunday. Now that both parties have voted in favor, the contract is officially in place and no longer a tentative agreement.
The following statement is attributable to MCEA President Amanda Heinrichs:
“The agreement is a big win for students and the community. We know that when we have high-quality educators and licensed staff in our schools, our students do better. Together, we can build strong students, schools and communities. We are excited about the new agreement because it will help us keep talented teachers and staff in our district through competitive salary increases and additional benefits, and great educators leads to improved student outcomes. We are also proud that families are a priority for our district, and Mercer County teachers and staff will now have access to paid family leave. We believe this contract is a step in the right direction and will help us continue to support our students.
We could not have done this without the support we received from parents and our community. Thank you to those who stood with us, spoke at the board meetings and offered your support. Your faith in us made all the difference and we are truly grateful. MCEA is looking forward to working together with our stakeholders to provide the best education possible to our students.”
MCEA represents more than 110 teachers and licensed staff supporting the 1200 students of District 404.
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The 135,000 member Illinois Education Association (IEA-NEA) is the state’s largest union. IEA represents Pre K-12 teachers outside the city of Chicago and education support staff, higher education faculty, retired education employees and students preparing to become teachers, statewide.
