Teachers return to classrooms following two-day strike
Posted By Brandon Reid On April 4, 2012 @ 6:58 am In News | No Comments
Staff Report
The Rockford Board of Education (BOE) was expected to approve a four-year contract with the Rockford teachers’ union, the Rockford Education Association (REA), at a special board meeting Tuesday, April 3 (results of the meeting were unavailable at press time).
The REA voted 1,264-12 to approve a four-year tentative contract Saturday, March 31, inside the Guilford High School gymnasium, ending a two-day strike, the first by Rockford teachers since 1984. Teachers returned to their classrooms Monday, April 2.
Rockford Public School District 205 Interim Superintendent Dr. Robert Willis said in a press release: “We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement for a contract that benefits our students, teachers and the long-term future of our schools. Though this has certainly been a long process, both parties shared a common goal to put our students first, and this tentative agreement is reflective of that goal.”
Teachers hit picket lines at their respective schools for two consecutive days March 29-30. The strike brought to a halt all school functions — including school, sporting events and other activities — for the district’s more than 28,000 students. Teachers had been without a contract since July 2011.
The strike included one of the largest public demonstrations in Rockford history with about 1,500 picketers lining both sides of Seventh Street outside the district administration building March 29.
The REA voted 1,500-74 in favor of the strike March 26. The REA and the district had met more than 50 times over the past 11 months before reaching their tentative agreement.
From the April 4-10, 2012, issue
Article printed from The Rock River Times: http://rockrivertimes.com
URL to article: http://rockrivertimes.com/2012/04/04/teachers-return-to-classrooms-following-two-day-strike/
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