CFT and Board Update: Education Board Approves Contract

Monday, April 11th, 2022, the Unit 4 Board of Education approved the tentative agreement between the Champaign Federation of Teachers (CFT) and the Unit 4 School Board, narrowly avoiding the impending strike. Unit 4 teachers now have a contract that will be in effect from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2025.

After about a year-long process of negotiations with no progress, CFT and the Board finally came to a tentative agreement on Wednesday March 30th, which CFT members then ratified the following Tuesday, April 5th. The new contract will increase the elementary school day, starting in the 2023-2024 school year, by 35 minutes, allotting, according to the News-Gazette, 25 more minutes to class time, 5 more minutes to lunch, and 5 more minutes to specials.

While a contract has finally been ratified and approved, just over 2 weeks ago, CFT was preparing for a strike, leaving teachers and students alike in a post-traumatic state.

Kara Whiteley, an English teacher at Central, reflected on what the contract negotiation period was like for her, stating that “it was not good. Anything that has the entire community on edge and stressed and unsure—particularly after the two years affected by Covid prior— isn’t good.”

Lizzie Johnson, a Senior at Central, reports, “I was really mad as a student because we’ve missed so much school already because of COVID, and I just wanted to have a normal Senior year. If they had gone on a strike, that would’ve ruined our Senior year. I spent a lot of time, too, trying to do what I could to make sure a strike wouldn’t happen. I spoke at a board meeting, I went to the picket, and I met with the students for CFT during my lunch hour.”

Mike Sitch, co-president of CFT and Social Studies teacher at Central, said that “as a teacher, it took a lot of my attention, like almost 100% of my attention…so it was a year of navigating that. Generally, I try not to think about it from my own perspective. I saw it weigh on teachers and students' attitudes and mental health all across the district. It was just another thing after two years of navigating the pandemic to then decide whether or not we were gonna be holding classes. So that was rough to be a part of.”

Amy Armstrong, President of the Board and a part of the Board’s bargaining committee, declined to comment. However, Stacey Moore, Unit 4’s Chief Communications Officer, replied on her and the Board’s behalf, stating “the Unit 4 Board of Education is pleased to approve a new agreement with the Champaign Federation of Teachers...We believe that this agreement will serve our students well and reward our valuable educators for their dedication.”

The new contract certainly affects elementary students, teachers, and families, but it also affects students here at Central.

“For highschoolers, I think the biggest impact [of the new contract] is that your teachers will have some relief that they know what they can expect in their paychecks and health insurance for the next few years,” said Sitch.

Moving forward, “we should be working with the board and the administration and our students and families to figure out what needs to happen next,” stated Sitch.

With the new contract in place, after months of working without one, and only weeks left in the 2021-2022 school year, Whiteley said, “I truly do love this school and its students, and I’m thankful that we can move past this and try to keep doing better each day.”