Collective Bargaining and Unions

1. What school district did you research? Provide the exact web address or link to the
collective bargaining agreement.
Naperville School District 203.
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/1214172/naperville-203-teacher-contract.pdf
2. What is a collective bargaining agreement? What people/groups of people are involved in
the collective bargaining process?
A collective bargaining agreement is an agreement contract that is managed between the
management of a business, company or school and the employee. It involves the pay, the
hours, benefits, sick days, breaks, and policies for the organization.
3. What are the teachers contracted hours and days (hours/days teachers have to be in the
school building)? A teacher has to be in the building during school hours and an hour
before and an hour after.
4. How much planning a preparation time do teachers in this district get each week? Is any
of the time designated for certain activities (i.e. common grade level plan time, data
discussions, etc.) An Elementary teacher receives one hundred and fifty minutes of prep
time each week. The time is designated for lesson planning for the next week.
5. What is the current evaluation process for teachers?
The Evaluation process consists of being reviewed by three members appointed from the
superintendent. The recommendations must be brought to the Board of Education for approval.
The teacher then is notified when the evaluation will take place and what they will be evaluated
on. Also, this is strictly a evaluation and no action or discipline is to take course by the person
performing the evaluation. The person performing the evaluation must then fill out an evaluation
form. If the teacher being evaluated has any objections to the evaluation, they must write up a
submission of their views, including a personal file. A teacher also has the option to review a
committee with two chosen employees. The report must be evaluated, and a grievance submitted.
7. Are there any specific requirements in regards to lesson plans or gradebooks/grading?
Teachers have freedom, but they must go with the guided curriculum. The curriculum
presented has to be based on the directions of the administration. Teachers are also
allowed to discuss matters related to the subject. There is nothing said in regards to lesson
planning or grading.
8. What does the document say about class size? Is there a limit? What happens if that limit
is exceeded? There was nothing in the collective bargain about the class limit.
9. What type of mentoring program do new teachers go through? There was nothing in this
collective bargaining about new teachers programing.
10. Are teachers allotted sick and personal days? If so, how many? Employees are given 15
sick days. If there is need for a long period of sick leave, due to an illness or for example
an employee looses someone or goes through something traumatic, the board will
establish a sick leave bake based on the conditions. An employee cannot however, use

more than 60 days from the sick bank. A teacher is guaranteed 2 personal days of leave. A
teacher can receive parental leave without pay after four years of fulltime service. If a
teacher becomes pregnant, they must notify the superintendent with a written statement,
and then provide a medical note from a doctor. The teacher is then guaranteed 120 days
of absence.
11. What is a grievance and how is the process carried out? A grievance is a claim by an
employee that there is a disagreement to this teaching contract. The process is carried out
by four steps. In step one, all efforts have to be made to resolve the conflict. If not, a
grievance should be filed. In step two, a grievance must be written within fifteen days.
The principle must acknowledge the grievance within seven days. In step three, if the
grievance is still unresolved, a second copy shall be sent to the superintendent. In step 4,
if the grievance is still unresolved, it is then sent to the association within 15 days. They
will the decide what to do.
12. How are teachers compensated in this district? Please provide the salary of a first year
teacher that holds a Bachelors degree for the 2015-2016 school year? What is the salary
of a teacher with a Masters degree and 15 years experience for the 2015-2016 school
year? Based on the number of days per year required and hours per day required calculate
the hourly rate for both scenarios. Take the number of days multiplied by hours worked
(i.e. 180 days X 7 hours a day = 1,260 hours). Divide the salary by the total hours (i.e.
$48,000 / 1,260 = $38.10/hour). There was not anything about pay in the article, however
the first year teacher makes $37,166 according to the National Education Association.
http://www.nea.org/home/2012-2013-average-starting-teacher-salary.html
13. How are extra duties (coaching, clubs, lunch duty etc.) compensated? Extra duties are
counted as travel time, and will be given the same as for reinburstment for gass.
14. What other fringe benefits are offered (i.e. health insurance, life insurance, long and short
term disability, tuition reimbursement, retirement, etc.)? Teachers receive life insurance,
hospitalization major medical, and dentistry insurance. They also receive supplemental
pay jobs, and supplemental pay options, health insurance, reinburstment for mileage,
longterm disability, and professional growth.
15. What is Teacher Retirement System (TRS)? Who is eligible? Are their minimum
requirements to collect on TRS? The TRS is a teachers retirement system based upon the
state of Illinois. Teachers are eligible after teaching for twelve years in the district. The
minimum requirements to collect on the TRS must be retiring within 9.5 years.