Racine, Appleton, Germantown, Oregon, West Bend, Wausau Reach Agreements

About 80 West Bend teachers picketed outside the school administration building March 16, 1998. Several hours later, negotiators reached a tentative contract agreement.

Six of the more contentious teacher bargains in the state -- including the highly charged one in Racine -- have been resolved.

Others that settled recently include Wausau, Appleton, Germantown, Oregon and West Bend.

The Racine settlement covers six years, from 1993-94 through 1998-99.

Racine Education Association Executive Director Jim Ennis said details would not be released until REA members ratify the agreement. That should happen within the next two weeks, he said.

The settlement was reached five days after state mediator Paul Hahn's deadline for settling the contracts. Hahn had said that if the two sides could not reach an accord by March 13, he would declare an impasse, which would allow the board to impose a Qualified Economic Offer.

The REA and board, however, continued to talk past the deadline. Final secret negotiations -- which led to the settlement -- did not involve the mediator. The deal was signed by both sides at 12:30 a.m. March 19.

The agreement ended the one of the most confrontational teacher contract disputes in the state since the mid-1970s. In February, large numbers of teachers began calling in sick. Over three days, 18 schools were shut down because of a shortage of teachers.

At that point, school officials -- anticipating a continuation and possible escalation of teacher absences -- decided to close all schools rather than scramble to find substitutes or send hundreds of children home. All schools were closed for three days before negotiations resumed and schools reopened.

Other settlements

On March 19, Wausau teachers reached a tentative agreement with their school board.

On March 18, Germantown and Appleton teachers reached agreement with their school boards after long, sometimes antagonistic bargains. Over the course of the last few months, Germantown and Appleton teachers have engaged in a variety of activities -- including picketing, rallies and job actions -- to protest the pace of negotiations.

West Bend and Oregon teachers, both of whom also had engaged in job actions, reached tentative contract agreements with their school boards earlier in the week.

Reports indicated the Oregon settlement amounts to 3.9% in salary and benefits this year and 3.98% next year -- and a $225 insurance refund to full-time teachers.

Even with these new settlements, there are still 147 unsettled teacher contracts in the state, as of March 24.

Posted March 19, 1998; Updated March 24, 1998