By Victor Skinner
EAGnews.org

GENEVA, Ill. – Teachers in Illinois’ Geneva school district are threatening to walk out on students over failed negotiations on raises and retirement enhancements.

At the district’s recent school board meeting, several residents spoke up about the situation and the message to the members of the Geneva Education Association was clear: Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!

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At issue is a one year salary freeze, including a freeze on automatic “step” raises, in the first year of the three-year union contract, the Chicago Daily Herald reports.

“Do not negotiate. Let’s hire replacement teachers. When they go on strike, that is their cause, love ‘em for it, but they should be replaced,” Geneva resident John McCormick said at the meeting, according to the Herald.

“McCormick said he checked with the Kane County Regional Office of Education and found that it has 10,500 jobseekers in its files,” the news site reports.

Retiree Win Church said the community simply can’t afford the union’s demands.

“We have given you increases when the economy was good,” he said. “We’re not in a position to pay out … what you are used to.”

Sandra Ellis, with the Geneva Tax FACTS watchdog group, pointed out the selfishness of a teacher strike, with parents and students taking the brunt of the union’s frustrations.

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“The GEA appears indifferent to their victims,” she said.

The board later went into closed session to discuss the union’s latest offer. Hopefully, they’ll heed the public’s advice. State rules say the GEA must wait until at least Friday before walking out. The district says schools will remain open, but students will be kept busy with “activities.”

Thankfully, they won’t have to watch and listen to their teachers complain about their jobs, because the school board adopted a policy at the recent meeting to prohibit protesters and picket lines on district grounds. The policy also prohibits protesters from blocking school entrances and exits, and calls for the district to pursue criminal prosecution for violators, the Herald reports.