CAIRO BOARD, TEACHERS TO LET ARBITRATOR DETERMINE DISPUTE

CAIRO, Ill. -- The Cairo Board of Education offered the Cairo Teachers Association an opportunity to settle its 10-day-old strike through a federal arbitrator and the proposal has been accepted.

Cairo School Superintendent Elaine Bonifield called Thursday night's school board proposal, which includes a contract for a "binding agreement," a significant step toward ending the strike.

"I think we will have students back in school soon," Bonifield said. The school board passed a resolution from Thursday night's meeting to offer the teachers an opportunity to enter into a binding arbitration agreement. Cairo Teachers President Ron Newell presented the concepts of a binding arbitration to the teachers, Bonifield said. "They discussed this today (Friday) and have agreed."

Bonifield said the exact date when a federal arbitrator will begin working on the case has yet to be determined.

"We'll decide that at the next meeting," she said. Bonifield said the date of the next meeting has not been decided.

What has been accomplished, however, is a strong move toward a resolution of the strike.

"We feel that the teachers have not been willing to accept any of the proposals made so far, so this is an important step in the negotiations," Bonifield said. "Both sides will have to abide by the decision of the arbitrator."

The resolution passed Thursday came after Cairo parents, a city council member and a local police officer told Cairo's school board it was time to end the strike.

The strike has kept about 1,050 students out of classes.

About 40 parents and 20 teachers were on hand for the discussion at the beginning of the special board meeting. After about 30 minutes of discussion, the board went into closed session.

The Cairo Teachers Association has been asking for a 6 percent raise plus an additional $564 to $662 for one more year of experience.

Newell was not available for comment Friday night.