KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Teacher contract talks in the Kalamazoo Public Schools will go to mediation this week, and both sides have been more talkative about the process than they usually are.
Kalamazoo Education Association president Heather Reid says salaries and class sizes are their top two issues.
She says this is the third year in a row they have started the school year without a contract.
The union has tried to bring pressure on administration with rallies and protests, and parents have spoken at board meetings urging a settlement.
The district has published their offer to the KEA and their proposed salaries on their website.
Superintendent Darrin Slade says they already offer the highest salaries in the county, if not the state.
He says 42% of their teachers make over $90,000 and another 18% make over $80,000.
Those salaries would be above the Kalamazoo average for a full year’s work, which is just over $62,000.
A mediator’s job is to try and get the two sides to reach a settlement and they can make a non-binding recommendation.
Under Michigan law, teacher strikes are illegal.
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