As 2021 comes to an end so does the Alton school district’s 2019-2021 contract for teachers and support staff. This contract has a renewal every four years. As renewal time draws near, teacher representatives and district administrators come together to work out new negotiations and find common ground on certain issues.

Alton Education Association President Bobby Rickman, who teaches business, computer, and marketing said one goal of negotiations is to address the issues of recruiting and retaining new teachers. “Over the last few years, we have seen an increased number of teachers leaving the district from retirement, but also leaving for other surrounding districts,” Rickman said. “Our goal is to discuss the current salary schedule and look for ways we can retain the teachers and educational support personnel already in the district, and attract new teachers and support staff that will want to have a long career in the Alton School District.”

Attracting new teachers has become a challenge, not just for the Alton district, but for many districts across the U.S. The Alton district currently has several open positions for teachers and support staff. With teachers leaving for retirement or employment in other districts, if the shortage continues to grow, there will be additional challenges not only for staff but possibly for students as well.

“The Alton Education Association’s focus is for our teachers and support staff to be able to support the students in our district with a top-quality education from compassionate and caring individuals that can feel proud of their job and know they are respected by Alton CUSD #11,” Rickman said. “The last year and a half have been extremely hard for families, students, education employees, and the administration. We want more than anything for this to be a matter we can work through quickly and fairly,” Rickman added.

As negotiations begin, teachers and other members of the union start to talk about what they hope to achieve in the new contract. Rickman said, “We are hopeful that we can quickly work through the details of the contract to find common ground and have an agreement in place as soon as possible.”

If negotiations were to stall and a new contract could not be reached, there is always the possibility teachers may go on strike. “We never want negotiations to end with us having to go on strike,” Rickman said. “I fully believe that [Superintendent] Dr. Baumgartner and the Alton CUSD #11 Board will work with us to find common ground that will provide a new contract that will benefit both parties and make our district better for the future.”