Teachers helping teachers

Though culturally most popular in the 1920s and ‘30s, unions have continued to work in the background of American society, keeping the working force safe and maintaining their rights.

While many labor unions are delegated to the framework of daily life, the Creston Education Association is working to break that hold and let the public know what they do.

The CEA is the local branch of the teacher union, falling under the Iowa State Education Association and the National Education Association. As members of these organizations, educators gain access to legal and legislative representation, professional development opportunities, liability insurance and more.

In addition to these statewide and nationwide perks, the local union works with school administration on a personal level to negotiate wages and the master contract.

Creston’s executive personnel is made up of President Audrey Linke, middle school band teacher, Vice President Melisa Crook, high school English teacher, Treasurer Ellie Soosloff, high school math teacher and Secretary Brook McGehee, high school ELA teacher.

These educators spend months every year meeting with administration to negotiate a deal that is both fair to the teachers and follows the district’s budget.

“We look through all the district financials and make sure that what we’re asking for is something that the district is able to afford,” Linke said. “We’re really looking for something that best supports our teachers.”

Though only about 30% of CCSD educators are in the union, these negotiations benefit all teachers.

“In the last couple of years, we really have tried to make an effort to meet with teachers that may not be in the union and just get everyone’s thoughts,” Linke said. “While yes, we want to know what the members want in negotiations, whether it’s salary-related or master-contract related, it is really nice for us to know what all teachers want. I’d say within the last three or so years, we’ve tried to get at least one meeting set with all of the teachers.”

Linke said having Soosloff on the team has made the negotiations process much easier, thanks to her skill with numbers.

“I think it really helped negotiations culture to have numbers people on both sides, because we were really able to collaborate more this year and work together on how to find common ground,” Soosloff said.

Though 2025 has barely started, work has already begun on the next set of negotiations.

“Last year, we ended on a very amicable negotiation that it was even encouraged by central office that, ‘hey, let’s start early next year,’” Crook said. “I think that’ll help the process even more. I feel like we felt pretty good going into this year.”

While CEA and the central office gather numbers and data, negotiations still wait on two things.

“We’re waiting for SSA (Supplemental State Aid) money, which the legislature has to vote on, and then the new house file, just with the mandates of every school has to meet with years of experience,” Crook said. “We don’t know what the house file money is, and we don’t know the SSA. Until that happens, really, it’s a waiting game.”

Soosloff said while certain things are on hold, the executive board feels they are in a good position.

“If we get at least a minimum 2% SSA increase, then we have to get at least a minimum $1,268 raise, or more, next year, and moving forward based on the master contract,” Soosloff said. “We figured out that the $1,268 estimated raise would cost the district around $155,000. A 2% SSA increase after the enrollment loss is equivalent to about $199,000.”

While the district could certainly get more or less than the 2% SSA increase, the educator raise is contingent on that increase. If the increase is less than 2%, the district is not obligated to increase educators’ wages. This way, if the school ran into financial issues due to the drop in enrollment, increased wages would come from an influx of money.

With so many rules and views around Iowa and the U.S. changing, it can be difficult to continue teaching.

“It’s a hard time to be a teacher, and I think there is so much put on our plates and I think we see things nationally that trickle down to where we are here,” Crook said. “It feels like we’re constantly defending ourselves.”

However, working closely with the community and school administration, the group believes they can accomplish a lot.

“It’s nice that we seem to be turning over a new leaf, where especially with declining enrollment, it’s really important that we are starting to build that relationship with administration, with the district,” Soosloff said. “Instead of create a divide, trying to find a solution that works for all of us. The fact that it started out so difficult but then we showed each other that we kept coming back to the table to try and work together to find a solution, I think showed a lot of good faith.”

CEA can be reached for questions or member information via email at audreykubayko@gmail.com or through messaging the group’s Facebook page, Creston Education Association.