It had been awhile since the crowd at an Evanston/Skokie District 65 school board meeting had cause for celebration.
But on a night that offered a glimmer of hope for change and progress after months of board meetings marred by disappointment, frustration, anger and sadness over school closures and budget deficits — celebration was just what the doctor ordered.
After 10 hours of negotiations with a federal mediator on Monday, the district and the union representing District 65 teachers (the District 65 Educators’ Council, or DEC) struck a tentative deal on a new contract. When school board member Omar Salem mentioned the agreement, which comes after teachers had worked 65 days so far this year without a contract, educators who had packed the board room at the Joseph E. Hill Early Childhood Center broke into a raucous cheer.
The details of the new contract, which DEC Vice President Emily Castillo-Oh called “fair and competitive,” are still forthcoming, pending ratification by union members. In a joint statement shared with the community just after the end of negotiations and before the start of Monday night’s board meeting, District 65 Superintendent Angel Turner and DEC President Trisha Baker announced the initial agreement, which “will be forwarded to the board for approval” if the union votes to adopt it first.
“It took longer than we hoped, but I really do think it’s an agreement that the teachers will think is fair, that the community will think is fair, and I just want to thank all members of the negotiations teams on both sides,” Salem said. “There are a lot of us who did it who put in a lot of really long hours, but our teachers deserve it, and so I hope you all see it and are happy and get it ratified.”
‘Respect in the room’
Joey Hailpern, the school board’s finance chair, added that “there was a lot of good collaboration and respect in the room. I think that’s why it got done, because people were willing to stay at the table and talk about issues.”
The mood in the room shifted, though, as Baker and Castillo-Oh took the mic to address administrators, board members and teachers during the public comment part of the meeting. Educators should celebrate the new contract, Baker said, but remember “there’s still work to do.” Castillo-Oh also once again took aim at administrators and board members, urging them to be better leaders going forward.
“While this contract is a step forward, it cannot be the end point. Too often, educators — those who know our students, classrooms and communities best — are excluded from decisions that directly impact them,” she said. “Though the contract outlines legal obligations, ethical and effective leadership requires going beyond compliance. Including educators in decision making isn’t just about fairness. It’s about ensuring the best outcome for our students.”
Later during public comment, Leila Lemieux-Jordan, a paraprofessional at Lincolnwood Elementary School who works in one of the district’s special education programs primarily for students with autism, sounded off on the working conditions for paraprofessionals in District 65. Paraprofessionals are licensed classroom aides who support the academic, social and behavioral needs of students and teachers, among many other duties.
In District 65, paraprofessionals are represented by a different union called the Evanston Teacher Assistants Association, which already negotiated separately for a 6% base pay raise this year.
At the podium Monday night, Lemieux-Jordan candidly described what it’s like to be a paraprofessional in District 65. She works in a STEP (Structured Teaching Education Program) classroom, and said three of the district’s four lead STEP paraprofessionals left after last school year.
They don’t receive any special training for working with students with autism, responding to crises or deescalating tense situations, which amounts to being “thrown to the wolves,” she said. She added that she’s never interacted with a central office administrator and never talked to the administrators in charge of the special education department or tasked with leading paraprofessionals.
Standing ovation
“How can you make impactful decisions for a classroom you’ve never even stepped foot in? You want to reevaluate the funding of special education in this district, but you don’t even know what special education in this district looks like,” Lemieux-Jordan said.
“These children should not suffer because of the inadequacies of this administration. Us educators should not suffer because of the inadequacies of this administration. Your acknowledgment of us, or lack thereof, is reflected in our pay, our high turnover rate and the at times debilitating stress that we are put under.”
After leaving the mic, she received a huge round of applause and a standing ovation from other teachers present, as well as from a group of fellow paraprofessionals who stood behind her as she spoke.
Although celebration was in the air Monday night, between Lemieux-Jordan’s comments and the earlier messages from DEC leadership, a sense of more work left to be done was palpable as well.
“There’s also school board elections coming up on the horizon, so we can’t let up,” Baker said. “We have to keep working, keep pushing, keep letting our voices heard. We can’t sit down. We can’t sit back,” Baker said. “I want to encourage all of our members: If you have not gotten involved actively with committees and our union, we need you, your talents, your gifts, your knowledge and your experience, so let’s keep this going. This is only the beginning.”
District 65 reaches tentative salary deal with teachers union is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.