Good Afternoon.
My name is Jean Rogers and for 19 years it was my
pleasure to serve school children as a Social Worker in a K6 building in Dolton-Riverdale School District 148.
I am now retired, which gives me the opportunity to be with
you today to talk about how collective bargaining has helped
education employees and students in Illinois.
Collective bargaining, in our state’s history, has opened the
door to places we, as a state, needed to go.
Let’s start with the obvious – salary and benefits. But let’s be
clear, no one ever went into public education for the money.
For the sake of the children, it is imperative that public
education be able to attract and retain high quality men and
women to work in our schools, and collective bargaining led
to reasonable salaries. In short, collective bargaining meant
those working in public education would be treated as
professionals.
That is how you get outstanding teachers into our schools
and keep them teaching our children.
Just as important is affordable health care coverage for
education employees. Collective bargaining provided us with
a sick bank for extended serious illness, maternity and
paternity leaves, affordable contraception, mammograms,
and pap examinations for early detection of possible cancer.
Administrators didn’t just give us those benefits; they all had
to be bargained.
Let’s talk for a moment about teaching and learning
conditions.
The school building in which I started my career was over
100 years old, and contained mold and asbestos. But, we
had bargained an agreement that said whenever either side
felt there was an issue; both the employees and
administration would sit down together and work out the
problems. As a result, the dangerous material was removed
and the health of the employees and the children’s was
protected.
Because we had bargaining rights, we were able to keep our
class sizes down to a manageable number or, make sure
there was a Support Professional in rooms where there were
larger numbers of children. There is no doubt this had a
significant positive impact on the education the children
received.
Through bargaining, we developed a teacher evaluation
process and procedure that was fair and improved
instruction. We also bargained increased professional
development which provided needed training for the
teaching and support staff.
There were bargained incentives to encourage employees to
attend leadership training, promote minority involvement,
provide individual coaching/mentoring, secure a data
professional position, and provide a myriad of other
professional skills at the local, regional, and national levels
of the union. This is knowledge and training that benefited
students.
Further, we used our bargaining ability to free up more time
in school for children. We successfully sought to begin work
earlier, at 8:20, to allow the children to enter the school
earlier. By entering school earlier, the kids were able to
receive a free breakfast and be in a safer environment than
the neighborhood surrounding the school.
Lastly, I want to give you a personal story…
As a divorced Black female with a high school equivalency
diploma, 6 pregnancies resulting in 4 live births, and (to use
the vernacular) a “stank” attitude, my chances for failure
were about as high as they could be.
I worked at low-paying jobs like being a waitress, housecleaning, ironing, and laundry jobs to make a living for my
family. Needless to say, I needed more money. I was
becoming emotionally hopeless and depressed.
With the help of my parents, pastor, and a former teacher
who attended my church, I got a job that had union
representation. That job allowed me to get tuition
reimbursement to further my education and it allowed me to
be paid a living wage so I could live in decent affordable
housing in a safe neighborhood.
It also provided insurance benefits so I could afford
EFFECTIVE contraception (cause it seemed like I had a kid
for every preventive contraception method there was…)
I now have two masters’ degrees and numerous
certifications. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, my
57, 56, 55, and 51 year old children are alive and well with a
bachelor, two masters, and a doctorate degree.
I could not...could not!! have accomplished everything in my
life without the help of collective bargaining for education
employees…”like me”. Collective bargaining has allowed me
to live my version of the American Dream.
Along my 73 year journey of earth, I have had the good
fortune to have had union employment. While each job was
unique, collective bargaining offered equality of opportunity
to both men and women of all colors, races, and ages.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you
today. Thank you for all you have done in the past to move
collective bargaining forward, and thank you in advance for
all you will do in the future that will allow a “future me” to
come before you and offer testimony regarding collective
bargaining.
Please, continue to give others a chance at a better life.
Thank You, for all that you do!!