FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- December 21, 2001
NAPERVILLE COMMUNITY UNIT SCHOOL DISTRICT 203
203 W. Hillside Road, Naperville, Illinois 60540-6589 FAX 630-420-1066
Contact: Melea Smith, Communications Coordinator / Phone 630-420-6412

Naperville Community Unit School District 203 Board of Education and the Naperville Unit Education Association made a commitment to the community to work diligently toward reaching a fair and equitable economic agreement by the end of the calendar year. Today, that commitment has been honored.

In response to the Oct. 8 Education for the 21^st Century Committee's report, this 3-year contract, along with previous Board action, directly address the following community recommendations:

• That District 203 and the NUEA have an economic agreement settled prior to filing for a referendum;
• That the school district remain competitive on teacher pay;
• That District 203 place a referendum on the ballot at the earliest reasonable date (plans are to file by the Jan. 11 deadline for a March 19, 2002, vote).

Additionally, this newly-ratified settlement addresses the following critical points, identified by the citizens' committee:

• Attraction and retention of quality teachers;
• Reduction of insurance buy-in for beginning teachers;
• A market-competitive benefit package;
• A long-term contract.

Terms of the new contract provide for an average increase to teachers of 5.37%, with an average cost to the district (salary plus benefits) of 6.05% over a 3-year period beginning in 2002-03. (Please see accompanying information.)

Under this agreement, new hires will assume 30% of insurance costs for their first 2 years (they currently pay 60%) and then reach parity with all teachers paying 15% of the cost. New benefits, such as well baby and vision care, along with changes to the dental and orthodontia plan, were also added to the insurance package. To gain the additional benefits, NUEA agreed to a higher deductible for individual and family coverage, resulting in a negligible cost change.

"These adjustments were designed to meet the changing demographics of our employees and enable us to attract new teachers," said Russ Bryan, Associate Superintendent for Secondary Education and spokesman for the Board team. "We believe we have acted responsibly and within the guidelines suggested by the Education for the 21^st Century Committee to safeguard the investment of quality education in District 203," he stated.

Board of Education President Tim Costello reported that, "As the Board began negotiations, our goals were to provide a competitive compensation package in comparison to our benchmark unit school districts, so that District 203 can attract and retain highly-qualified teachers, while maintaining fiscal responsibility. The Board believes this agreement meets those goals."

"This agreement signals a new era for District 203," declared NUEA President Dave Griffith. "The school district has heard the call from the community and worked hard to come to this early settlement. We feel this contract will help establish a solid foundation of trust, so that we may now focus on the needs of our children."

Like many lighthouse school districts across the country, Naperville District 203 must first tend to its infrastructure in order to insure that quality in the classroom is maintained. The prospect of a nationwide teacher shortage was starkly outlined by Gov. George Ryan in a summit held last month. According to figures published at that time, in Illinois alone more than 150,000 public school teachers are planning to retire within 5 years, but only 12,000 people are currently preparing to enter the field.

"We believe this contract will allow us to attract new employees, as well as retain master teachers, while at the same time remaining competitive on teacher pay when benchmarked with comparable unit districts," noted Superintendent Dr. Donald Weber. "Balancing fiscal responsibly with real market scenarios will prove a major benefit to both the educational quality of our school district and to the community at large.

"I am very proud of the flexibility exhibited by both parties throughout this process and, more importantly, of this final successful outcome, which we feel is both realistic and fair to all concerned," Weber concluded.

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