Teachers in East St. Louis entered their fourth full week on strike at the end of October as their union and the school district continue difficult negotiations for a new contract.

Disagreement centers on a proposal from the district that Superintendent Arthur Culver has said would save the school system at least $10 million over 10 years but that teachers say would amount to a career-long pay cut.

The district’s proposal — the only offer it has made — would increase the number of steps in teachers’ salary schedules from 11 to 21 and reduce the pay increases teachers receive each year as they move up the ladder.

The teachers have countered with three different offers, all of which Culver rejected as too expensive. For now, there is no end in sight to the strike.

“When you hear the superintendent of schools say this could go on for months, you get very concerned,” said Dan Montgomery, the president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the state affiliate of the East St. Louis union. “This is a crisis in this community. And the community is trying to put pressure on the school board to end this strike.”

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 20