Politics & Government
Schools Post Negotiations Webpage; FAQs Available on GEA, D304 Sites
Geneva School District 304 on Wednesday releases a negotiations webpage that includes answers to frequently asked questions. The GEA also has a valuable page with FAQs. Now you can compare.
There's a lot to take in when it comes to school finance and teachers union contract negotiations.
Geneva School District 304 on Wednesday afternoon announced a new negotiations webpage aimed at providing as much information as possible to the public.
The Geneva Education Association also has information available at its website, gea4students.org.
Find out what's happening in Genevawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
According to a District 304 press release, the School District webpage currently houses negotiations-related press releases sent by the Board of Education, a timeline of filing and other statutory deadlines, and a "question and answer" section dedicated to general questions received so far by the district.
On Friday, Oct. 26, the district will also post at this location the offer that the board submitted to the GEA and the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board on Oct. 19.
Find out what's happening in Genevawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
FAQs From School District 304
Negotiations
- What is the current state of negotiations?
- The GEA has declared an impasse. What does this mean?
- Why has the Board refrained from addressing this situation publicly?
- Teachers are wearing lime green t-shirts to class each week? Isn’t there some sort of law against this?
- The GEA has authorized a strike. What does this mean?
- In the event of a strike, will our children still have school?
- In the event of a strike, can our children participate in extracurricular activities?
Salary/Benefits
- The agreement between the Board and the GEA expired on August 15, 2012. What does this mean?
- Have teachers been given a step and lane increase in the 2012/13 school year?
- How do salaries for Geneva teachers compare with neighboring school districts?
- We understand that Geneva teachers receive tuition reimbursement for graduate coursework? How does this work?
- How hard is it to attract quality teachers to Geneva?
- At the present time, what is the job market like to attract quality teachers to Geneva?
- What is the attrition rate for teachers in District 304?
- Is it true that other employee groups in Geneva School District have gone without a pay increase in recent years?
Budget/Finance
- Why does the District have reserves?
- How much does the District have in reserves, and can this money be used for teacher salaries?
- If teachers get a raise, will taxes go up?
- We hear a lot about the District debt? What is this about?
- What are the budget challenges facing the District in the future?
- What percentage of the budget do teacher salaries/benefits represent?
- Is District 304 operating under a deficit?
FAQs From the Geneva Education Association
- What happens during Contract Negotiations?
- Is the school district in financial difficulties?
- What do the Teachers want?
- Are the teachers going on strike?
- Are other area districts granting STEP and LANE changes in difficult economic times?
- Why do teachers feel that the STEP and LANE are so important?
- What is a Salary Schedule?
- Who are the members of the Geneva Education Association?
- How are union leaders chosen?
- Why should teachers get a raise when I haven't gotten one?
- Do teachers only work nine months a year?
- Why do teachers get an automatic increase just because they have taught another year?
- I have to pay for my insurance, why shouldn’t teachers?
- Teachers have a fantastic retirement – Is it much better than the average guy?
- If teachers get a raise, will my taxes to go up?
- Why do teachers get paid to take classes and then get extra pay on top of that?
- How does a retirement incentive help the district?
- What happens in a strike?
- What does Impasse mean?
- Why did GEA declare Impasse?
- What are the effects of a hard freeze?
- What is a “hard freeze?
- How does release-time for the GEA president help the district?
- Why are teachers paid on a “salary schedule?