W E D N E S D A Y
September 7, 2022 Vol. 43, No. 6 ONE DOLLAR @wednesdayjournalinc
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JOURNAL @oakpark
of Oak Park and River Forest
Bridging cultures Ade Onayemi is expanding his Rotary service role SEE JESSICA MACKINNON’S STORY ON PAGE 15
Former OPRF student comes back as a dean Page 8
OPRF inks four-year deal with teachers Step pay increases return in contract By BOB SKOLNIK Contributing Reporter
Teachers at Oak Park and River Forest High School have a new four-year contract and, in a notable win for teachers, step pay increases are back after being eliminated in the previous contract. School officials meanwhile are lauding the overall amount of the combined base pay and step increases which average 3.5% in each year of the contract. The OPRF District 200 Board of Education voted unanimously to approve the contract at its Aug. 25 meeting after teachers had ratified the agreement the week before. The new contract calls for raises in base pay of two percent in the first year of the contract and base pay raises of 1.3 percent in each of the final three years of the contract. But the reinstatement of step increases, automatic raises for another year of seniority, means that total raises will average out to be 3.5 percent annually according to the district. Teachers at the lower end of the salary schedule will generally receive greater raises in percentage terms than teachers at the higher ends of the salary scale. “The step increases, obviously, was something that ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer
See TEACHERS CONTRACT on page 8
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