Naperville teachers and board of education approve new contract

NAPERVILLE - The Naperville Unit Education Association (NUEA) voted overwhelmingly to ratify its new contract with the Naperville Community Unit School District 203. The District 203 Board of Education (BOE) met tonight and also voted to ratify the contract, which means the new contract is officially approved.

"We continue to be extremely humbled by, and grateful for, all the support from our Naperville 203 community. Thank you for standing with us as we stood up for our students and their education," NUEA President Ross Berkley said. "We are glad our new contract is ratified, so we can put this behind us and focus on moving forward together with our students, our community and all of our stakeholders."

"It's incredible to see the power we have when we all come together to stand up for our teachers, students and public schools. Our students are so lucky to have these amazing teachers in our district. Like many families in Naperville, we moved here for the schools and the incredible support and care they provide to our children. I moved back because I went to these schools myself. We are so happy to see our educators be respected and valued with this contract. Now they can fully concentrate on what they do best: educating our kids," Naperville parent Colleen Myerscough said.

The new NUEA contract:

• Maintains the current school day structure, which provides a consistent, focused learning environment for students and educators;
• Provides fair salary increases for teachers, including annual base salary increases of 3.85% in year one, 2.5% in year two and at least 2% in years three and four*. (*Years three and four base raises are dependent on the consumer price index and could exceed 2%);
• And, addresses necessary protections for staff injury, extended illness and long-term planning for career educators.

"Together with the community, we ensured that our students will continue to benefit from the school day structure that has long supported both learning and our community, maintaining the consistency and support our teachers provide. Our efforts also secured more competitive wages for our hard-working educators, who are committed to building strong students, strong schools and a strong community," Berkley said.

"I'm so happy that a decision has been made and an agreement has been reached. It appears that both sides will be walking away with some things they need. That is so important: that our teachers feel heard and supported. I'm once again filled with gratitude, grateful to live in a community with such exceptional schools, thanks to the dedication of our extraordinary teachers and the commitment of our fiscally responsible board," Naperville parent Sabrina Corson said.

NUEA and the BOE were engaged in contract negotiations since February with the goal of securing a fair and reasonable contract for more than 1,500 educators who serve nearly 16,000 students in District 203. NUEA members overwhelmingly authorized a strike on Aug. 13. The contract between NUEA and the district expired June 30. A tentative agreement was reached on Aug. 22.

The new contract is retroactive to July 1 and will be in place for the next four years.

###

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.