The Champaign teachers union says the Champaign Unit 4 School District is violating labor law by refusing to bargain over compensation and support for teachers who have to move their classrooms.
The Champaign Unit 4 School Board rejected a charter school proposal in a 6-1 vote during a special meeting Wednesday night. School administrators who reviewed the proposal for the North Champaign Academy said it does not meet state requirements for charter schools.
A bargaining session that ran past 2 A.M. Wednesday morning has produced a tentative contract agreement for teachers at the Champaign Unit 4 school district.
About 150 members of the Champaign Federation of Teachers marched and carried signs as they prepared for their ninth negotiating session since the prior contract with Unit 4 Schools expired on June 30, and second with a federal mediator. CFT President Jennifer White said there was a lot riding on Tuesday's talks, with plans to set another session if progress was made.
Champaign Federation of Teachers President Jennifer White says a large crowd turned out at Centennial High School's auditorium Wednesday to approve a strike authorization vote. The soonest a strike could happen is mid-to-late October, but White says the union remains optimistic heading into its ninth bargaining session with Unit 4 adminstrators on September 20.
