900 Picket at Kenosha School Board Meeting

By Terry Lawler and Marvin Modder

About 900 teachers, support staff, parents, students and labor union supporters picketed outside the central offices of the Kenosha school board Monday (April 25, 2005) to protest excessive budget cuts and the board's unwillingness to settle a teachers' contract.

KEA proposal "addresses all of the district's concerns regarding health insurance," Adelsen tells school board

"We have proposed fiscally responsible and significant changes - changes not made lightly that will, over the long-term, be in the best interests of kids, teachers, and taxpayers," KEA President Beth Adelsen said in a statement later read to the school board. "But this district cannot implement these changes or begin to realize this savings without a settled contract - and the sooner, the better."

The KEA has demonstrated to the board that the cuts did not need to exceed $3.3 million, but the board already has cut $5.7 million and is proposing to cut another $500,000, said KEA Executive Director Bob Baxter.

The board has proposed cutting more than 50 teacher and support staff positions, cutting programs, and increasing class sizes to balance the budget.

Baxter said the district and union have had six negotiation sessions since the KEA presented its proposals on January 12. They've also had two four-hour working sessions on February 10 and 11. On March 17, the KEA made an offer that Baxter said "should have been accepted by the board."

“We’ve put over $3 million on the table in good faith. Now it’s up to the board. They could settle this tonight if they wanted to,” Baxter said.

At the rally, all of the 600 signs, carefully crafted by KEA Vice President Chris Perillo and friends, were snapped up; and for an hour before the board meeting, a queue of hundreds of people snaked across the front of the school administration building and down the block.

“We want to send a message to the board,” Adelsen. “We want them to know that the KEA is united in our efforts to seek a fair and equitable contract.”

“I’m really glad to see this many people," said first-year math teacher Kelly Albright. "I’m supposed to be moving to a duplex in Racine next week, but it has a year lease and now I’m not sure what to do. I student-taught at ITA (Indian Trail Academy) and had a great first year, so I’d really like to stay in Kenosha.”

Tim and Melissa Nieman juggled their signs and two strollers at the same time. “It means a lot to me to teach in Kenosha,” Tim said. “This is my hometown ... (but) I have to wonder if I’m going to have a job.”

Ron Frederick, president of the Kenosha AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, told the board it is time to consider the KEA's offer and work out a contract.

"I'm a senior citizen," Frederick told the board, "but I don't mind funding good schools with my taxes."

Several other speakers called for the board to seriously consider the KEA's proposals and to investigate reducing the ranks of administrators before cutting teachers.

Picketers included members of several local UAW unions, representatives from UFCW, IAM Lodge 34, AFSCME, and Firefighters Local 414, among others.

KEA President Beth Adelsen (holding yellow sign) and Executive Director Bob Baxter (third from left) are joined by members of other area labor unions at the school board rally.