Dupage Policy Journal

West Chicago High School's 129 teachers are threatening to strike, demanding guaranteed salary increases of 17 percent in their new contract.

Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal, examined their existing, 61-page contract-- which is still effectively in force, though it expired officially last August-- so readers might ask the question. How does your employment deal compare to theirs?

Are taxpayers getting their money's worth? Do West Chicago teachers deserve more?

Base salaries

For the 175 school days they work each year, unionized public school teachers are paid a base salary that considers how long they have been a teacher and how many college degrees they have.

In contrast, a typical, private sector employee with one week of paid vacation would work 255 days per year.

West Chicago CHSD 94 teachers currently are paid between $48,433 and $99,638 in base salary, according to LGIS's analysis of the contract. 

Normalizing for a full year of work, that's the equivalent of $70,573 per year for an entry-level teacher just out of college, and $145,186 per year for a teacher with a master's degree and 23 years or more of experience.

The median household income in West Chicago was $71,520 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census.

Base salary increases

Their recently-expired contract guaranteed West Chicago H.S. teachers base salary increases of between 2.75 percent and 5.5 percent over the four years of the contract, depending upon their seniority.

They currently are demanding average salary increases of 17 percent, total, in their next four year contract, or 4.25 percent per year. 

Inflation between 2012 and 2016 was 4.5 percent, or 1.13 percent, per year.

Extra salary

Per the West Chicago teachers' contract, "base salary" only covers the teaching of classes during the traditional school day, which lasts from 7:30 a.m. until 3:10 p.m.

"A (teacher) shall not be required to be in attendance any more than seven (7) hours and fifty-five (55) minutes consecutively," the contract stipulates.

This "teaching load" is capped at "five (5) class periods of classroom instruction per day. A teacher who picks up an extra hour of class per day receives $8,400 in additional salary.

Teachers who coach sports, monitor the cafeteria or supervise extracurricular activities of students receive additional pay on top of their base salaries. The higher a teacher's seniority, the more they receive.

Stipends earned by teachers for extracurriculars include Art Club ($3,860), Band ($7,841), Cheerleading ($6,066), Chess Club ($2,757), Future Business Leaders of America ($4,412), the Horticulture Club ($2,206), Math Team ($4,632), the West Chicago "Wildcat Chronicle" school newspaper ($4,963), Student Council ($6,066) and School Yearbook ($4,963).

Teachers who choose to coach sports can earn from $5,294 (Girls' tennis) to $9,706 (football).

Teachers also can receive $31 per hour extra for "writing curriculum" and $37 per hour for teaching summer school or attending "staff development" seminars.

Insurance

All West Chicago H.S. teachers are provided term life insurance equal to 1.5 times their annual salary, as well as disability ("income protection") insurance that would provide any teacher up to $5,000 per month if they were unable to work. The cost of both is paid by taxpayers.

West Chicago taxpayers also pay 80-85 percent of teacher health insurance premiums, per the contract, or the at a typical cost of $5,000-$20,000 per year. 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, non-union private sector employers, on average, pay 65 percent of their employees' health insurance premiums.

Taxpayer-funded pension contributions

Illinois public school teachers are are supposed to contribute nine percent of their base salary to the Illinois Teachers' Retirement Fund.

West Chicago taxpayers, however, pay virtually all of this contribution-- 8.5 of the 9 percent-- as required by the contract.

On a payroll of approximately $10.4 million, that's the equivalent of $833,000 per year.

Days off

West Chicago High School teachers are currently "entitled to 13 Sick Leave days with full pay per year" and can accumulate up to 340 unused sick days over their career, for which they are paid out when they retire or leave.

At $400 per day, District 94 teachers have the potential to build up a $136,000 payout for unused sick days.

Teachers also receive three paid Bereavement Leave days and eight paid quarter-days of "Personal Leave."

If they used all eighteen paid days off, a teacher would work only 31 of 52 weeks per year.

Other perks include: 

--Reimbursement by taxpayers for tuition, if they choose to take graduate courses in pursuit of increasing their salary.

--A Hepatitis B Vaccination for every teacher.

-- A taxpayer-paid free period each semester for the West Chicago Teacher's Union President to conduct "(union) business."

Taxpayer expense

West Chicago CHSD 94 spent $18,736 per student in 2016, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

That's an increase of 53 percent over the past two decades, In 1997, District 94 spent $9,128 per student, or $13,940, inflation-adjusted.

All told, district spending rose from $14.3 million ($21.8 million in today's dollars) to $34.3 million last year, an increase of more than 50 percent. Enrollment rose 17 percent over the period.

Results?

In 2017, 64 percent of West Chicago High School sophomores failed the statewide SAT exam, according to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

In 2016, 80 percent of all West Chicago High School students who took the statewide PARCC exam failed it. That was nine points worse than in 2015, when 71 percent of students failed.

Of last year's graduating West Chicago High School seniors, 16 percent were deemed "college-ready" in English, math, reading and science as measured by the ACT. 

That was a decline from 2014, when 21 percent-- or 100 of 477 West Chicago H.S. graduates-- were college-ready, according to the ACT.

Still, ISBE reported that 64 percent of that class-- 305 students-- enrolled in a college or university after graduation.

A majority-- 192-- enrolled in an Illinois community college, and about half of them (89) required remedial courses, ISBE said. 

--

West Chicago CHSD 94 Enrollment vs. Spending, 1997 to 2016

Year	Enrollment	Per Pupil Spending
2016	1,832	$18,736
2015	1,772	$19,641
2014	1,790	$17,201
2013	1,892	$15,643
2012	1,915	$15,581
2011	1,996	$14,875
2010	1,921	$15,759
2009	1,879	$23,122
2008	1,859	$15,087
2007	1,909	$14,134
2006	1,866	$15,201
1997	1,563	$9,128 ($13,941 inflation-adjusted)

Source: Illinois State Board of Education