On Tuesday, September 25, educators attended the KUSD school board meeting to respectfully share their concerns with the district’s offer of a 1.25% cost of living increase.

In a spontaneous and unplanned response to insensitive comments made by Gary Kunich at Tuesday’s meeting, educators in attendance walked out of the board room.

As people who dedicate their lives to shaping positive futures for our students, teachers deserve to be addressed with more respect than with veiled threats of layoffs or being told to research other districts if they are unhappy.

When you disrespect the Kenosha Education Association, you are disrespecting the dedicated teachers, education support professionals, social workers, counselors, librarians, and therapists of Kenosha who work to serve ALL of the educators and students of our public schools.

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KUSD is asserting that, on average, teachers would receive a 3.18% increase. This average is being calculated by combining a 1.25% cost-of-living increase with level and tier movement on the salary schedule.

KEA continues to believe that all educators deserve a full 2.13% cost-of-living increase to keep up with inflation, in addition to movement on the salary schedule. The two are separate, not interchangeable, and both necessary to competitively compensate teachers employed by KUSD.

Cost-of-living increases are essential to maintaining the value of the salary schedule and ensuring that teachers are maintaining the same standard of living as everyone else. Level and tier increases are critical to reward and retain current teachers and to attracting new educators.