District 200 Maneuvering to Lean On Teachers Again?

The Wheaton/Warrenville school district invited their community stakeholders to take part in 6 Engage 200 sessions where they discussed 4 topics: student achievement, programs & services, facilities, and finance.  The final session was held last week with the facilitators’ findings and recommendations to the District 200 Board of Education.  In short, the District wants to focus on technology, providing various types of support for students and teachers, and maintaining their facilities.  When the finance recommendations were presented, the presentation stated that salaries/benefits were possible areas for cut-backs by hiring newer teachers to balance out the higher salaries of experienced teachers and by trying to negotiate future contracts to maximize savings for the district.

Despite the language, these recommendations are directed at District 200 teachers.  Nowhere is it stated that the teachers already took a 2 year pay freeze that cost each teacher tens of thousands of dollars over the course of their career.  This should not be overlooked.  The teachers accepted the pay freeze (seen through a freeze in the years of service) as a sacrifice to help the district reach a balanced budget.  Consider also that the district has not moved to propose a referendum for at least 14 years.  One of the Engage 200 community recommendations also seemed to suggest a referendum as a sincere possibility in order to raise revenue for student resources and teacher salaries.  No one wants their taxes to go up, but at some point the district needs to seriously consider how it is going to pay for the teachers who hold the students to high standards every day. 

While the teachers agreed to sacrifice any pay raise for 2 years, student achievement remained high.  According to U.S. News and World Report, Wheaton Warrenville South was the top performing school in the DVC last year followed by Naperville Central and then Wheaton North.  Our teachers should be rewarded for the dedication and support they provide our students and community, not targeted for financial cut-backs that they have already endured while continuing to excel at their jobs.  How many financial cuts can they endure before we should fear that we will lose them to other school districts with better salaries?