Thank You

Posted by lfteachers on September 20, 2012
Posted in: Lake Forest Teachers.

The LFEA would like to thank everyone for their support during this trying time. All of what happened is regrettable and could have been prevented. We hope to work together to rebuild these bridges so this never happens again.

First, we’d like to thank our students for being great. You are the reason we love our jobs. We’d also like to send a special shout-out to the student volunteers who helped organize the school days on Monday and Tuesday. They worked very hard–voluntarily–to help provide programming for their classmates. Their dedication to LFHS is a testament to the quality of students we have here.

We also thank all of the students and parents who had the courage to speak up and tell their stories.Finally, we want to thank the support staff, from secretaries and custodians to para-professionals and assistants, for working hard during the last week to keep the building running.

We are very happy to be back in the classroom.

Students organized a candle-light gathering to support the teachers

Posted by lfteachers on September 18, 2012
Posted in: Lake Forest Teachers.
Student visual story of the event at https://vimeo.com/49737035

Posted by Kevin Doherty on the Lake Forest Teachers Facebook page Tuesday afternoon:

Lots of students support the teachers and want them back in school as soon as possible, so i was thinking of ways to show support. I got in contact with the city and the school and they have approved my request to have a candle-light gathering tonight. We will be meeting on the sidewalk where the teachers are striking at 7:30pm. There will be some people saying a few words and then we will light our candles. It should only take a few minutes but the important thing is that were showing support for our teachers. All we want is to have them back so lets show how much we miss them.

Thanks!

Negotiations are Ongoing

Posted by lfteachers on September 18, 2012
Posted in: Lake Forest Teachers.

“The Board reaffirmed that it had taken the two-tiered salary schedule off the table”  That sounds great, but we know that you understand negotiations are always changing.

In the collective bargaining process, mediation is ongoing, and proposals and counter-proposals are passed through the mediator and behind closed doors.  Any negotiated items are subject to change until the contract is final.

Movement is good, other “important business” is not good

Posted by lfteachers on September 18, 2012
Posted in: Lake Forest Teachers.

Yesterday was a mostly positive day for our negotiations. The good news is that the teams met for 14 hours, and the feeling is that they accomplished more yesterday than they had in the previous year and a half. We are on our way to getting this done.

The not-so-good stuff: While our team wanted to continue last night, the Board wanted to call it a night. Unfortunately, the district business manager has “important business” in District 67 today, so the Board will not resume negotiations until 3:00 PM.

So that means one more day of non-instruction at LFHS.

The Chicago Tribune article this morning helps tell the story… Scroll down for FULL VIEW