Hinsdale High School Teachers Association

In last month’s IEA Insider, Jim Crandel, HHSTA’s Chief Negotiator during our last contract talks, writes about the importance of relationship building and the previous Board’s decision to not honor its commitment to retired teachers:

“Sure, we had our outrage, but what we needed was community members, parent organizations and the media to help our board realize that destroying teacher trust would NOT result in better schools.

Relationship building is key to the success of any organization. It’s one of the reasons your Association’s leadership has been discussing relationship building with the current Board via district administration. These talks have resulted in a compromise of sorts: a Memorandum of Agreement approved at the September 21st Board meeting that ensures Roundtable meetings between the Association and Board will continue during the negotiations process – the opposite of our current contract language. Although a step in the right direction, as we attempt together to achieve a successor agreement to our current contract, this process will be complicated by the profound breach of trust that culminated in the retiree grievance process Jim was writing about.

Continue Reading »

Shortly after the last contract negotiations ended in 2006, HHSTA filed a grievance charging that the school board ignored both the language and the intent of the contract clause pertaining to retired teachers’ benefits when it unilaterally increased - in many instances doubling or tripling -  the insurance contributions required of retired teachers.

The following are the prepared remarks presented by Kathy Wynn, Co-President at Hinsdale South, to the Board at the March 16th Board meeting:

On March 6, the binding arbitration between the Board and the Hinsdale High School Teachers Association was sustained in its entirety in favor of the Association.  Due to the decision by the Board that led to this arbitration, the district’s taxpayers will assume the burden of attorney fees, arbitrator’s fee, and interest payments associated with the Board’s action. This expense could have been avoided if the Administration and Board had honored the commitments it made to teachers who devoted their careers to teaching in District 86.

Now that the ruling has been made, HHSTA would like to move quickly to make whole all individuals affected by the Board’s unilateral changes in retiree insurance benefits. We believe that by working together we can move beyond the lack of trust generated by the Board’s actions which led to the arbitration case. With this in mind, HHSTA would like to reiterate the sentiment expressed repeatedly over the past several years: to resolve to work together on behalf of our students.

###

Your HHSTA joint leadership team met over the summer to cover a wide range of topics, including:

• What are the most important issues we anticipate for the 2008-2009 school year?
• How can we better communicate with each other, with Association members, with District Administration, with the School Board?
• What does an “ideal” Association look like?
• How can we maximize the resources available to us through IEA and NEA?

One initial way discussed, then acted upon, for Association members to present a message of unity was to produce lapel pins for each Association member to wear.

The pins will bear our Association brand in antiqued gold finish. They will also have a magnetic back rather than standard sharp pin back, allowing them to be worn without damage to clothing.

We anticipate receiving them in time to be worn on Thursday, August 28th for Meet the Teachers night. We’re also asking Association members to wear their pins every Friday to show your Association sprit.

This simple act of unity is important because:

• It gives a human face to the Association for community members
• It emphasizes that our Association is stronger together than its members are individually
• It shows support for Association leadership as they address issues of long-term impact with district administrators

Your support in this effort will go a long way toward creating the type of Association we all wish to achieve!

Please contact a member of the Executive Team with your questions and comments.

Today was our holiday concert. Sitting in the audience and listening to the multitude of talent our students have, brought a smile to my face. Maybe it was just the season cheer, but I think it was something much more. As I looked at the faces that have sat before me in class, I was reminded of why I teach. I teach because of the kids. I love working with them on projects. I find it exhilarating when they struggle with a difficult topic, but then their face finally lights up with understanding and a feeling of accomplishment. I get a kick out them rolling their eyes at my bad jokes. I love it when my creative juices get going, and I develop a new lesson to make my course more real to them.

The sad point is that I needed to be reminded of why I teach. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I’ve reached a conclusion about the cause of the problem. I believe the problem is that we have too many good ideas but too little time, too few teachers, and too many students to carry them all out. Because they are such good ideas and because we have always been big on “customer service”, we try to do it all. Its as if the teachers of District 86 have embraced Macy’s customer service motto “Be everywhere, do everything, and never fail to astonish the customer.” or Aspect’s “Anytime, anywhere” motto. For almost all teachers, this means that we each have 120+ “customers” that require our utmost attention. Keeping this in mind, consider the following great ideas. Continue Reading »