Granite City votes yes on teacher contract; strikes continue

CRAB ORCHARD, Ill. -- Teachers in this small Southern Illinois town picketed again Friday, heading into a second week of their walkout with no contract and no new talks to come up with one.

Meanwhile, the state's other two teachers strikes showed mixed results Friday.

The teachers in Granite City were scheduled to vote on a tentative agreement that would end a 20-day strike in the Metro East city over salaries and benefits.

And in Carthage, about 35 miles north of Quincy in east-central Illinois, teachers delivered their latest offer to district officials Friday in a bid to end that seven-day strike over compensation.

Neither side in the Granite City strike would reveal details of the agreement, reached Thursday after a marathon 21-hour session. The district's 7,000 students have been out of class since Sept. 17.

Superintendent Steve Balen said the school board unanimously approved the deal in a vote Friday night. The teachers will vote Sunday.

Crab Orchard's 25 teachers want district officials to give each of them a $4,000 raise, to lift everyone's base pay and be more competitive with neighboring districts, said Keith Johns, who teaches English and drivers' education at the town's single school.

A beginning teacher in the rural district of 410 students near Marion earns $21,714 a year, Johns said. After 14 years, that teacher would earn $30,000, he said.

Teachers walked off their jobs Monday.

Crab Orchard Superintendent Lyle Dee Ozment said the school board believes the raise is unreasonable. "It's more than what they think they can afford," Ozment said.

Carthage's teachers are demanding a 3-year contract with 6 percent raises each year and have rejected the board's demand that they pay a greater share of their health insurance premiums, said Sarah Young, a high school English teacher in the district of 850 students.

The district's 66 teachers walked off their jobs Oct. 4.

The union was preparing a new proposal Friday afternoon, Young said.

Carthage Superintendent Jim Rich did not return a call seeking comment Friday.