MAHOMET– After several mediated bargaining sessions between the Mahomet Seymour Education Association (MSEA) and the Mahomet Seymour Community Unit School District 3 Board of Education (BOE), MSEA is declaring impasse and beginning the public posting process. Once the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board posts the last offer from MSEA and the BOE on the IELRB website, MSEA can choose to go on strike in 14 days. The decision by MSEA comes after a lack of progress during negotiations.
“We love this community and our students. The last thing we want to do is be out on a picket line instead of in our schools with our students. But we are willing to do whatever it takes to get the best contract in place for our students. We are still hoping we can come to an agreement,” MSEA spokesperson and high school teacher Cam Zindars said.
MSEA has been bargaining a new contract with the BOE since March and entered mediation on Aug. 10. The current MSEA contract expired on June 30, and MSEA members are now working without a contract.
There are still several issues that need to be resolved at the bargaining table, including:
- Teacher-directed, collaborative plan time: The district administration wants to make changes to teachers’ planning time by creating district-directed, collaborative time. MSEA is pushing to keep their plan time as it is, so they can determine how to best meet their students’ needs. Teachers use their plan time to put together lessons, meet with parents and grade assignments.
- Health insurance: The BOE is pushing for higher healthcare costs for all teachers and staff. This comes at a time when medical costs are rising across the country and inflation is up.
- Wages: According to an MSEA internal survey, the majority of District 3 teachers and staff have considered leaving the district in the last five years, mainly due to financial reasons. Mahomet-Seymour teachers’ salaries are lagging behind several nearby districts including Taylorville, Mount Zion and Urbana. Starting wages for Bus Drivers are so low the District is struggling to hire the new drivers we desperately need.
“The district will tell you our wages are average, but our students deserve better than average. We are also in the middle of teacher and support staff shortage. There simply aren’t enough adults to work in our schools and if our wages aren’t competitive we will lose talented educators to neighboring districts,” Zindars said.
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) provides data to the public regarding educator and administrator pay from around the state. The report card from the state for Mahomet-Seymour shows administrator salaries are much closer to the state average than Mahomet-Seymour teachers’ salaries. In fact, the gap has grown increasingly bigger over the last decade. Now District 3 teachers’ salaries are more than $16,000 behind the state average.
“This isn’t just about teachers either. Many of our education support staff, including bus drivers, office personnel, custodians and paraeducators, are struggling to make ends meet. The district is offering them a smaller percentage increase than they have historically. These are the people who work with our most vulnerable students. They make it possible for every child, no matter what disability they may have, to attend public school. They are invaluable to the district, and we should treat them as such,” Zindars said.
MSEA represents more than 250 teachers, counselors, bus drivers, classroom aides, office personnel, custodians, and librarians serving the 3,400 students in Mahomet-Seymour CUSD 3.
On Mon., Sept. 21 at 6:30 p.m., the Mahomet-Seymour BOE will be meeting in the board room at Middletown Prairie Elementary School (1301 Bulldog Dr., Mahomet). The MSEA asks that community members come to the meeting and show their support for the teachers and staff trying to settle a fair contract.
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The 135,000 member Illinois Education Association (IEA-NEA) is the state’s largest union. IEA represents PreK-12 teachers outside the city of Chicago and education support staff, higher education faculty, retired education employees and students preparing to become teachers, statewide.
