Negotiations To Resume Amid Prospect Heights Teachers Strike
CHICAGO (CBS) -- As approximately 1,500 students in four northwestern suburbs missed a second day of school due to a teachers' strike, the head of the Prospect Heights school board was offering a glimmer of hope for a quick resolution.
About 150 teachers and support staff at Prospect Heights School District 23 walked off the job early Wednesday, the first teachers strike in the district's history.
District 23 school board president Mari-Lynn Peters said contract talks were scheduled to resume at 6 p.m. Thursday, and Peters said she believes a deal can get done.
"The whole thing was really disappointing, because we were still making progress," she said. "Neither side has really stalled."
Podcast
Peters said the two sides had been inching along Tuesday night, and she feels they can iron out a contract Thursday night.
"The night before they went on strike, I felt we were making progress that evening," she said. "We, I would say, hit a roadblock late into the evening, but sometimes I think it's just because people are too tired to maybe be thinking as clearly as they should be."
Teacher salaries have been the main sticking point between the teachers' union and the district.
The teachers have been seeking pay increases of more than 4 percent per year in each of the next three years. The district has maintained the teachers' demands are excessive, and has offered raises of about 3 percent per year.
Prospect Heights Education Association president Bob Miller said the district could pay the raises teachers are seeking by dipping into its $8 million reserve fund. District 23 Supt. Debbie Wilson said there is some wiggle room to negotiate pay, but dipping into the district's reserve fund would not be a good thing to do.
The district serves about 1,500 students who live in portions of Prospect Heights, Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect, and Wheeling.
