– From HHSTA
District 86 Negotiations Moving Forward.
Teachers association and board of education work toward an agreement
HINSDALE, IL. — August 15, 2014 — The teachers of the Hinsdale High School Teachers Association (HHSTA) and the District 86 Board of Education have made progress in working toward a compromise. Using both federal mediation and small group negotiations suggested by Dr. Skoda, the two sides have met on four of the last seven days and have been able to find some common ground on key issues. While important work remains, the negotiators for both the board and the teachers continue to work toward a compromise.
While an agreement has not yet been reached, both sides agree it is in the best interests of students to spend the next few days focused on getting school started. There will be a mediation session on Monday, August 18. Recently, the teachers association stated that it would begin the school year on time, as scheduled, August 22.
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Fred Klonsky 
It’s too soon for the pro-schools coalition to break out champagne. Let’s see exactly what the anti-teacher board majority is really offering.
In this day and age, the word “compromise” has become an ugly term. It tends to mean something like, “give in to 98% of our demands and we’ll generously hand you some crumbs. I guess the Hinsdale teachers don’t need me at their bargaining table, but I wonder if their repeated insistence that they will open schools on time puts them in a weaker position – Skoda et al are pretty clearly playing chicken and I’d hate to see the teachers be the first to swerve because they’re worried about being portrayed as “self-interested” and “anti-children” if they go on strike.
Yeah because striking is so darn pro-children! Being a public servant has value above and beyond self interest. I guess your greed has blinded you.
Yes, it is so greedy for teachers to think of their own families and their own children! How DARE they!! They should GLADLY work for less so the rich folk of Hinsdale do not have to pay a penny more!!………… Is it just me, or are the rich the ones who feel the most “entitled”?
If you think the teachers are acting in “greed,” you haven’t been paying attention. The board majority proposed low starting salaries with raises forever capped below the current CPI of 1.7%. No other high school district in Illinois is doing anything like this. Are people “greedy” because they aspire to move themselves up, over decades of employment,, to a middle class (not wealthy) lifestyle? –Linda Burke
The board is playing games with the teachers. They act like they will negotiate to trick the teachers into not striking, when the board has NO INTENSION of giving the teachers anything.
Agree completely. Even as he pretends to negotiate, board member Ed Corcoran has been circulating a scurrilous lying anti-teacher email authored by his extremist crony Adam Andrzejewski. Among the lies repeated in the email is that D86 teachers earn the second highest salaries in the state. Easily proved untrue, if you check the Illinois Teacher Salary Study 2013-2014 on http://www.isbe.net. Corcoran and Skoda are not negotiating in good faith. Corcoran’s express goal, share in an email of Nov. 9, 2013, that he encouraged the recipient to forward, is that “D86 teacher salaries should be lower than surrounding districts . . . there are hundreds of highly qualified unemployed teachers.” This mentality is already having a devastating effect on the ability of D86 to attract and retain the best new hires. We have vacancies even now, with the start of school only days away. We have suffered a huge brain drain of administrators and teachers. There is much more and much worse, but i don’t want this comment to get too long. –Linda Burke
–sorry, of course i meant to write “shared in an email that he encouraged the recipient to forward.”–Linda Burke
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