Teachers at Komarek School didn’t give up just a half hour of their lunch period in the three-year contract approved by the school board on Aug. 10. According to the contract, teachers have agreed to have step raises frozen during the first year of the contract, and base-pay raises are frozen in the second year.
According to Superintendent Neil Pellicci, in 2010-11 base pay will be increased by 1.25 percent across the board. The base salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree and no experience will be $34,350 in both 2010-11 and 2011-12.
In 2011-12, however, teachers will be eligible for a step increase, which amount to raises of primarily between 3 and 4 percent. In 2012-13, base pay will be increased by 1.3 percent and teachers will also receive step raises.
For a new teacher in 2011-12 making $34,350, for example, pay would be increased in 2012-13 to $36,366, or 5.8 percent, according to the salary schedule included in the contract. The 2012-13 figure includes the increase in base pay and the step raise.
According to District 94’s 2009 school report card issued by the Illinois State Board of Education, the average teacher salary at Komarek School is $51,410. The average elementary school teacher salary statewide is $61,402.
Administrators’ salaries at Komarek, on the other hand, are higher than the statewide average of $106,217. The average administrator salary in District 94 is $130,321.
In exchange for agreeing to the additional half hour of instructional time, teachers won a guarantee from the district to cover 100 percent of individual health insurance premiums for the first two years of the contract.
During the third year, if the school board finds that premiums are excessive, it can ask teachers to either provide a lower-cost plan or pay a portion of the premiums.
– Bob Uphues
