Hello and good evening. I am Monica Caldicott, president of the D128 Federation of Teachers. Thank you for this opportunity to speak to the School Board. This is a meta moment, because I will use our Union communication time to speak to you about the idea of communication. The need to be heard is a foundational human need. The need to listen is a human imperative.
I want to summarize how our Union communicates with this District’s administration and you, the School Board. One of the main ways our Union communicates with the School Board are our monthly oral messages, like this one. We appreciate knowing that you listen when we speak directly to you and the community members present or listening online. Over last school year, as our messages here became more and more urgent, we wanted the Board to listen to us. We appreciated when the Board did hear and act on our concerns about the former superintendent. Our hope moving forward is to have the Board feel comfortable with a two-way street of communication with our Union.
A personal communications highlight for me is a weekly meeting with interim Superintendent Dr. Ray Lechner; Dr. Lechner says he loves to visit the schools, so he nearly always comes here to our Vernon Hills High School library to meet with me and, at the same time, see what cool things our students are doing. Dr. Nelson, you are always welcome!
On a monthly basis, we communicate at the Labor – hyphen – Management Committee. I’m a true-blue grammar nerd, so to me, the hyphen between Labor and Management is essential. In the same way that “Let’s eat – comma – Grandma!” is different from “Let’s eat Grandma!”, so too does the hyphen impact the meaning of the name of this monthly meeting. The hyphen shows that this is a joint committee of two parts – Labor and Management – not an attempt to manage your labor union.
A Labor-Management Committee is sometimes called the “kitchen table” of a Union and District relationship. Perhaps your family also coaxed you or your children to share their daily highs and lows when you gathered around the kitchen table; I know my own children just loved that family tradition! This committee also has conversations that qualify as highs and lows. A recent high is that we are approaching agreement on procedures for students who need to or wish to retake a semester or a year-long course; this near-agreement may soon resolve an ongoing Union grievance regarding admin changing a student grade granted by a Union member. However, a recent low conversation has led our Union to file a new grievance.
When communication is spot on, we make good progress. When communication is absent, that doesn’t usually bode well. When Admin made class sectioning decisions and related teacher jobs reductions in March 2024 with no communication with our Union, it resulted in a grievance. A step in the grievance process allows the Union to appeal to the School Board, and you heard from me late in the evening on April 15, 2024. Future class sectioning will have better outcomes because the School Board last month approved a Memorandum of Understanding with our Union that lays out a communications timeline that includes Union input.
It is frustrating when our Union feels like we talk more with the District’s lawyers than we do with administrators. We bring up issues important in our classrooms, and we hear, “We’ll ask the lawyers.” When we press for resolution on problems, we hear, “They lawyers tell us we have to …” It is hard for communication to flow or bounce off each other when it is put through a lawyer filter. Given how much time we spend together, wouldn’t it be easier to just talk things out?
Soon, we will also begin communicating across the negotiations table. Our Union contract expires June 30, 2025. On October 7, we sent a Demand to Bargain letter, along with a list of District information and data we need to craft well-defended contract proposals. Across the negotiating table, administrators and Board members will hear the issues that are important to our Union members. We’ll share the rationale and the reasons for each of our proposals, often illustrated with personal stories. In return, we will hear what the administration prioritizes.
Tonight you are hearing one voice, my voice. But know that when our Union leaders speak, we speak for the 300 members of our strong Union. If we have learned anything over the past year, it is that communication and working together with the Union, Admin, and the School Board is key to maintaining our excellent school standards and doing what’s best for our students. We look forward with hope and optimism that all district leaders work to strengthen our communication.
Thank you.