Teachers Call in Sick; Several Racine Schools Close

Ten Racine schools were closed Thursday (February 19, 1998) as teachers called in a sick en masse for the fourth day in a row. Meanwhile, negotiators gathered for a mediation session at the Racine Education Association offices.

REA President Dennis Wiser said the REA offices were filled with media and students as the two sides gathered for the key mediation session at 9 a.m. Thursday. Mid-afternoon reports from participants indicated very little progress was being made.

Some students walked out of Horlick High School and Case High School Thursday morning to show their support for teachers, who have been without a contract since 1993. It was the second day that students got into the act by demonstrating support for teachers. About 300 Park High School students walked out for about 20 minutes on Wednesday morning. About a dozen students from Horlick showed up at the REA Thursday morning.

Eight elementary schools, one middle school and Park High School were closed Thursday. School district spokesman Rick Kaufman said 5,500 of the district's 21,114 students were sent home Thursday. Over the last four days, he said, over half of the student population has been affected by the school closings. Different schools have been affected every day.

Racine Journal Times front page Tuesday, February 17, 1998

The district was forced to close three schools Wednesday when 116 teachers called in sick, two on Tuesday when 154 teachers called in sick, and four on Monday when 454 teachers called in sick.

Jim Ennis, Executive Director of the Racine Education Association, has repeatedly said the absences are not a union-coordinated job action. He said teachers are sick, frustrated and upset and acting individually and independently by calling in sick.

"It's tough to go to work under the conditions people have had to go to work under," he said.

On February 10, more than 1,300 Racine teachers held a unity meeting and rally to discuss the contract situation and strategies for resolving the dispute. The meeting came one day after the REA and the district met unsuccessfully with a mediator. Mediation resumed Thursday.

The REA has adopted an action plan under which members are refusing to participate in non-mandatory activities such as workshops, inservice trainings, strategic planning meetings, open houses or other evening events.

They are asked to complete the following form:

Racine teachers are in their fifth year without a signed contract. This has been harmful to both the quality of classroom life, our morale, and our economic well-being. Until such times as the District addresses these concerns by resolving the 1993-95, 1995-97 and 1997-99 contracts, I will be delaying my participation in voluntary Unified activities. ... In place of the time and energies I would have expended therein, I will use my time and energy to work on activities that directly benefit the students assigned to me.

Other activities outlined in the Action Plan are:

Teachers will wear black at school every Thursday until the contracts are resolved.
On certain dates, REA members will picket the Racine Journal Times offices "to demonstrate their concern for fair reporting on the teacher contract."
Teachers will bring their work that they would normally do in the evenings to the school board meetings and do it there. Schools will be assigned by rotation.
"Members will establish their right to teach without interruption by posting the following at the entrance to their work area:"

An REA member is working for students in this room. Before you interrupt, please STOP AND THINK before you enter: Is this interruption necessary?

An REA member is working for students in this room. If the door is closed, we are NOT to be interrupted except in emergency. Please return when the door is open.

Racine teachers have been without a contract since the Qualified Economic Offer law went into effect in 1993. The last contract agreement they had was for 1991-93. The 1993-95 contract is still in dispute. On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission ruled that the 1993-95 contract was a valid QEO and that the school board implemented it appropriately. The REA may challenge that ruling in court.

The QEO law allows a school board to impose a contract on its teachers if the contract meets certain minimal salary and benefit requirements. The law also prevents teachers from unilaterally seeking arbitration if a school board offers a QEO. The law has caused teacher contract conflicts in districts throughout the state.

As of Thursday, February 19, 167 school districts were still without a teachers contract for the 1997-98 school year.