The last week of school and they day after the Memorial Day Holiday. Still, the LHS auditorium was full. Tuesday night was the ETA Those Who Excel recognition of student achievement. All the work done during the year to support these awards results in this annual gathering of families and educators. … [Read more...]

To all the school PTO and the students that made cupcakes, construction paper cards, and handwritten notes, we thank you. These simple acts of recognition are the most important to teaching professionals. That relationship is one of the most important places we measure success. Unfortunately, as we … [Read more...]

Representatives from secondary sites have met, discussed, and presented their recommendations for grading practice for teachers. The process is now to bring the conversation to all teachers and start to share with students and parents. The information shared by the group and posted on the ETA … [Read more...]

The following is the statement that will shared at the open hearing for the Virtual Charter. I know many of our members are busy on preparing for tomorrow's lesson, so I wanted to share it here. I would like to speak on behalf of the members of the Elgin Teachers Association. As public school … [Read more...]

Thanks to all of the site reps that helped complete our ETA election in the midst of snow and testing. I especially want to thank Holly Yee and her team of three that did all the tabulations on Thursday. If you have any questions about the results, please let Holly know prior to the March 20th … [Read more...]

While many of you are focused on required mandated testing, politicians are throwing out lots of legislation that could impact education in many ways, including of course pension. Those of you that have signed up for the IEA updates know those pension proposals, but keeping up with what is happening … [Read more...]

Politicians and other special interests groups have been attacking unions and characterizing us in a manner that demeans the professional nature of our organizations and the importance of the work we do. They have continued to point to conflicts to define us, but history proves otherwise. Our … [Read more...]

A year of rhetoric seemed to be headed toward some kind of legislative action regarding our pensions during this “lame duck” session. But after a week of teetering on the “Fiscal Cliff,” and the “We Are One,” rally in Springfield today, it appears that there will not be a pension bill … [Read more...]

My hope is that you are spending time with family and friends this weekend gaining strength from those precious relationships. While our hearts are with our colleagues and that devastated school community in Newton, Connecticut, we will likely see members of our school families that are struggling … [Read more...]

Jackie Jagielski  is on the ETA Board of Directors and is part of our CIC compensation group. The following was shared in open session of the Board of Education during the public comment section in response to the AYP recognition at this meeting. " I’m here tonight as a teacher from Sycamore … [Read more...]