A federal mediator has scheduled a formal mediation session with the teachers of Grayslake who are on strike due to disagreements over contractual salary offerings.  Approximately 4,000 students in Grayslake, a small town in the northern suburbs of Chicago, were unable to attend school for several days, following the teachers’ union stalemate with the Board of Education that prompted a mid-week strike.  The teachers, who are part of the Community Consolidated School District 46, were unable to reach an agreement with the Board of Education over pay raises.    

While the district is calling for a total freeze in teacher salaries for an undetermined amount of time, the teacher union will only agree to a freeze in the first year, followed by a 4.68% increase in the second year of a two-year contract.  “We came in with a lean proposal offer knowing these are lean times,” said Jim Pergander, a representative of the Lake County Federation of Teachers.  However, their lean proposal wasn’t lean enough. 

The district is facing a dilemma that it hopes mediation can solve.  School board President Ray Millington says the teachers’ proposal wasn’t enough because the district was facing declining budgets and declining enrollment—two factors that were out of the control of the budgetary planning process.  “The school board has attempted to discuss different scenarios with the union.  Unfortunately, the union hasn’t accepted or countered any of our attempts to resolve the issues,” he said.

Until mediation proceedings can hopefully find some closure in the matter, the district made arrangements for childcare for parents who were unable to find their own during the strike period.  Everyone involved in the dispute—including the 4,000 elementary and middle school students—will be waiting to hear of what is hoped to be positive results from the mediation talks.