Parents in Chicago’s south west suburbs know the meaning of a fair contract, decent wages and common decency. District 144 schools serves these communities of working people and so it is no surprise that when teachers were forced to strike two weeks before Christmas, there is no question which side the parents are on.
The parents used the public comment portion to voice their displeasure over the contract stalemate.
Mona Lisa Franklin said she canceled a trip to England to come and support the teachers at the meeting. Her son is a success because of the hard work and attention that teachers in District 144 gave him, she said, drawing a standing ovation.
Parents grew frustrated with board members on a few occasions and shouted at them for not addressing questions. On one of those occasions, a security guard had to quiet some audience members down. Board member Sarah Hamm said the board was not at liberty to discuss the specifics of negotiations.
Board president Juanita Jordan read a prepared statement prior to the public comment period, telling audience members the financial package the district offered was no more and no less than it could afford. The district did not lowball the teachers as a negotiating ploy, she said.
Teachers are seeking a 6.5 percent pay hike in each of the next two years, but the school board is offering 3 percent in each of those years.
Jordan said she does not know too many people who are getting a 13 percent pay raise over two years in this depressed economy.
“The board has to live within its financial constraints,” she said.
Many parents weren’t buying that statement, saying if the board wanted to find the money to reward the teachers, it could.
When Jordan said the board and school administrators were showing the teachers due respect, she was booed loudly.
Fred Klonsky 
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