DIXON – While the Dixon Education Association was blamed for teachers’ contract talks stalling over the summer, the union’s head negotiator Dolph Ricks said the Dixon School Board has to share some of that responsibility.

Teachers have been working without a contract since Aug. 20, despite talks that started in March.

“Back in early March, the Dixon Education Association offered to negotiate with the school board Thursdays, Fridays and all day Saturdays, and each meeting would be a 3-day bargaining session,” Ricks, also a teacher at Reagan Middle School, said Tuesday. “They didn’t want to do that.”