20 days into school year, Cahokia teachers are still without a contract

Nearly 20 days into the school year, Cahokia District 187 teachers and staff have been working without a union contract.

A crowd of members from the Cahokia Federation of Teachers Local 1272, wearing blue union shirts and holding signs, gathered at Monday evening’s school board meeting to draw attention to the delay. Many chanted outside the Board of Education building after security denied them entry because the boardroom neared capacity.

Superintendent Curtis McCall Jr. said much of the delay comes from sifting through policies and procedures that, for more than 50 years, had not seen significant changes in terms of what’s in the best interest of students. When asked, he said he was unable to provide a specific problematic policy as an example.

“It’s a new day for Cahokia Unit School District 187,” McCall said.

But Union President Wendy Lochmann, an English teacher at Cahokia High School, said the delay causes instability — in particular exacerbating the district’s teacher shortage — that ultimately blows back on students.

“I think that for our students’ schools to be fully staffed, we need a good, fair contract,” Lochmann said.

Ray Roskos, Illinois Federation of Teachers field service director who assists Local 1272, said bargaining typically starts in the spring, allowing both sides to work through sticking points so contracts are finished by the start of the school year. Roskos, Lochmann and McCall said that traditionally, Cahokia’s contracts have been approved by or at the start of the school year.

Local 1272 negotiates separate contracts for teachers and certified staff, secretaries, and service employees. All expired over the summer, and their terms will remain in force until a new agreement is reached. Previously, the three contracts were negotiated together, but this year they are being negotiated separately, lengthening the process, McCall said.

He said the district wants to address inconsistencies between the contracts and make them more equitable. The district and union agreed to meeting dates, McCall said, the union should have anticipated negotiations would run into the school year.

Lochmann, however, said the union has since been denied requests for additional negotiating meetings.

“The union is willing to bargain night and day to get this contract settled,” Lochmann said. Negotiations over policies and procedures are ongoing. Both McCall and Local 1272 leadership said they’ve yet to discuss salary schedules and other financial components.

Last school year, the district had 76 permanent substitutes filling certified teaching positions, Lochmann and Roskos said. McCall said he didn’t have the information available at Monday’s meeting to verify this figure, but said Cahokia, like many school districts in Illinois, is struggling with a teacher shortage.

Lochmann said that so far the district’s proposals have cut a lot of protections and altered “working rules that (personnel) live by,” such as seniority, in ways that aren’t beneficial to workers. She said this makes jobs more difficult, which will further hamper teacher recruitment and retention.

The district recently rolled out a new sick leave policy that applies to all unionized employees, which it wants incorporated in new contracts. To be paid for sick leave, employees must now submit confirmation from a medical care provider that they were ill and unable to work.

District officials say this is allowed under Illinois school code, which states districts may require such medical notes as a condition for sick pay.

But in the past, the district had not required notes as a condition of pay every time an employee took sick leave. It always followed the contracts’ language, which says the district could ask for a note if an employee was absent three or more days, Lochmann said.

Carrie Lee, an English teacher at Cahokia High School, said this new rule is strict and does not treat teachers as professionals. She recently took 40 minutes of sick leave to take her infant to the doctor, and had to submit documentation from the doctor to be paid.

It also creates a “chilling effect,” Lochmann said, as it makes employees hesitant to take the sick leave they need. In many cases it’s not practical because illness does not always require a doctor’s visit, she said.

“One of the reasons I think we’re at a standstill is because we want sick time and raises, and they don’t want us to have those,” Lee said.

McCall said the provision is necessary because employees have been abusing their sick leave. Last school year, education staff collectively missed more than 6,000 days of work, McCall said. The regular school year has 180 days.

“It had really spiraled out of control,” McCall said. “When teachers don’t come to work, students don’t come to school.”

Notes from medical providers are required because the district cannot otherwise review if an employee needed to take sick time, McCall said.

He added the district is taking other strategies to boost recruitment and retention. For example, employees are now being paid biweekly instead of monthly as of Sept. 1, McCall said.

For now, Lochmann said the union hopes broad support from the community will lead to a positive outcome.

“We know when we stand together we win,” she said.

This story was originally published September 10, 2025 at 6:00 AM.