Providing Transparency to the District 200 Teacher's Contract

What did six out of the seven board members approve when voting for the new 3 year WWEA (Wheaton-Warrenville Education Association) contract?  For what reason did the District not disclose the teacher’s actual compensation in each year of the contract?

Here are the terms of the contract in everyday language.  The hypothetical teacher in the 2011-2012 school year was at Step 1 with a Bachelor degree (BA 1).

In September 2012, this teacher begins the first year of new contract at BA 1 with no change in pay.  On June 1, 2013, the new contract results in the teacher moving one step to BA 2 for the last quarter of the payroll year (the ¼ step).  The teacher’s payroll year begins in September and ends in August and they get paid twice a month even though the school year is shorter.

At the beginning of year 2 of the contract (September 2013), the teacher will be paid at BA 2.  On March 1, 2014, the new contract results in the teacher moving one step to BA 3 for the last half of the payroll year (the ½ step).

At the beginning of the 3rd year of the contract (September 2014), both the teacher’s compensation table will be increased 1 percent increase and the teacher will be paid at BA 3.  Also in year 3, the contract has a CPI clause.  The CPI will determine if a teacher moves to BA 4 and if CPI meets certain thresholds, the extra payroll dollars available through the tax levy will determine when and how much will their compensation will increase in year 3.   The CPI being used will be available in January 2013 and will put into the next property tax levy which would cover year 3 of the teacher’s contract. 

What are pay increases in each year of the contract for a teacher with BA degree?  Below is a table based on the last WWEA contract.

                                            Step        Annual          Pay           

                                           Level          Pay          Increase           Notes

Year 1

Sep 2012 – May 2013             BA 1        $ 41,370                                 

Jun 2013 – Aug 2013             BA 2        $ 41,603       0.56%             ¼ step      

Year 2

Sep 2013 – Feb 2014              BA 2         $42,300

Mar 2014 – Aug 2014              BA 3        $ 42,776       2.82%             ½ step

Year 3

Sep 2014 – Aug 2015              BA 3         $ 43,685                         1% increase

 CPI at 0%                              BA 4         $ 43,685       2.13%

 CPI > 3%                               BA 4        $ 44,667       4.42%

For a teacher with a bachelor degree, their increases are as follows:

Year 1 - 0.56%

Year 2 - 2.82%

Year 3 – 2.13% to 4.42%

Total increase over 3 years – 5.51% to 7.80%

For a teacher with a master degree, their increases are as follows:

Year 1 - 0.68%

Year 2 – 3.39%

Year 3 – 2.34% to 5.11%

Total increase over 3 years – 6.41% to 9.18%

The estimated dollar impact on the budget without lane movements is as follows:

Year 1 - $ 440k

Year 2 - $ 1.8m

Year 3 - $ 1.5m to $3.2m

Total - $ 3.7m to $ 5.4m

The salary increases above do not take into account any lane movements over the 3 years which amounts to additional 5% in compensation (10% for achieving a master’s degree) for each lane movement.

The compensation increases exceeded what economic conditions warranted.  Also the increases will probably exceed the amount received from raising the tax levy which is capped at CPI.

At least 1 board member, Jim Gambaiani understood the financial impact of the WWEA contract would have on the students and taxpayers of this district and voted against the new WWEA contract.