Strike has attention of districts

Local school district administrators, and especially other teachers, are watching the negotiations not only out of curiosity, but also out of concern.

Friday marked the seventh day classes were canceled in Dixon. Teachers have been working without a contract since August and negotiating since last March.

Local school districts – even those like Sterling and Rock Falls Elementary that are a year out from negotiations – now are on notice.

“I’d be lying if I said we weren’t watching to see what happens,” Sterling Superintendent Tad Everett said.

Administrators are watching for the issues that are the root of the divide between the Dixon school board and the teachers union.

The Dixon Education Association has spoken out against the board asking its members to give up its salary schedule with step increases for experience and education, as well as asking new employees’ spouses to take their own insurance.

“It gives you an idea ... of what might be coming around the corner for other districts,” Rock Falls Elementary Superintendent Dan Arickx said. “What the concerns are are what some of the hang-up points might be.

“We just try to learn from that.”

Amboy School District Superintendent Jeff Thake added: “I follow the stories closely. I look for the pros and the cons from both sides.”

Teachers are watching, too.

“Whatever they’re talking about could absolutely impact our discussions,” said Denise Harts, the Sterling teachers union president. “But until we get to the table, it’s hard to say.”

The Illinois Association of School Boards reports there have been six work stoppages by teachers in Illinois this school year. That’s a significant increase over recent years, when one to three strikes per year was the norm. The association cites the financial climate and state budget shortfalls that have forced districts to make drastic funding cuts and teachers to accept concessions.

Dixon’s negotiations might not have direct implications for other districts, but they do have a marked effect on the community – one that stretches beyond the city limits.

“This will impact relationships, working and personal, and that’s what makes it difficult,” Everett said. “We have to go back to work with these people, back to school with these people, both sides. ... Strikes create mini civil wars in communities. It’s difficult, to say the least.”