Led by a golf cart driven by PBL High School head football coach Josh Pritchard, with Amy Johnson, the teachers’ union president, in the passengers seat, PBL teachers and support staff march Tuesday on Holmes Street. Andrew Rosten/Ford County Chronicle
PAXTON — Together, the nearly 150 certified teachers and educational support staff at Paxton-Buckley-Loda schools who remain without a new collective bargaining agreement walked Tuesday morning from Kirchner Building Center in downtown Paxton to the Pueblo Lindo Mexican restaurant, where an all-staff teacher institute was held.
The demonstration of unity, organized by the PBL Education Association teachers’ union, was designed to “show our strength” as the union continues to negotiate terms of a new collective bargaining contract with the school board, according to a flyer sent to members of the union and obtained by the Ford County Chronicle.
With that same goal in mind, the unionized staff plan to also show up in large numbers at Wednesday’s school board meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. at the unit office on the north end of PBL Junior High School.
For both occasions, staff were encouraged to wear “PBL Staff Strong” shirts or “any PBL shirt,” the flyer said.
Supporters stand along U.S. 45 as certified teachers and educational support staff at Paxton-Buckley-Loda schools walkTuesday morning from Kirchner Building Center in downtown Paxton to the Pueblo Lindo Mexican restaurant, where an all-staff teacher institute was held. The demonstration of unity was organized by the PBL Education Association teachers’ union, which continues to negotiate terms of a new collective bargaining contract with the school board, which meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 13, at the unit office in Paxton. Andrew Rosten/Ford County Chronicle
Amy Johnson, a second grade teacher at Clara Peterson Elementary School in Paxton who serves as the teachers’ union’s president, had no progress to report Thursday on the contract negotiations, which began last spring.
“We don’t have any additional updates to share at this time,” Johnson said in an email. “We’re thankful for the opportunity to continue to work to do what is best for our students and our community.”
Three days earlier, Johnson said the union was working to negotiate an agreement that “focused on critical issues such as fair compensation, retirement security and adequate classroom support.” Johnson noted that “many of our members are paid less — sometimes significantly less — than their counterparts in surrounding districts,” making it “increasingly difficult to attract and retain the high-quality educators our students deserve.”
On Thursday, Johnson mentioned that a comparison of average salaries paid to teachers at 150 area schools during the 2023-24 school year was published last November in The News-Gazette, showing that PBL’s three schools were ranked 100th, 112th and 128th. Compiled using data from the Illinois State Board of Education, the list revealed that average teacher salaries ranged from $48,887 at Clara Peterson Elementary School to $51,388 at PBL High School to $53,205 at PBL Junior High School.
Meanwhile, across Illinois, the average salary for a public school teacher in 2023-24 was $75,978. While no schools in the area even met the statewide average — with Danville Liberty Elementary paying the most at $73,247 — most were paying more than PBL, including nearby schools like Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley High School ($59,245, ranked 55th) and GCMS Middle ($59,000, ranked 58th). Among Gibson City’s schools, only GCMS Elementary School — with an average teacher salary of $53,183, ranking 101st — was not paying more than all three PBL schools.
Of the 150 area schools, three were paying an average salary exceeding $70,000, with 42 paying more than $60,000, including Milford High School ($63,135), Mahomet-Seymour High School ($60,908) and Mahomet Prairie Elementary ($60,888). Seventy-five were paying between $50,000 and $60,000. Thirty paid less than $50,000, with the two lowest pay averages in the area coming from Ludlow Elementary School ($44,422) and Mary Miller Junior High School in Georgetown ($44,307).
Johnson also shared data from 2024-25 comparing the average salaries for teachers at PBL with those of other area schools. That data showed PBL’s average salaries ranging from $42,214 for a first-year teacher with only a bachelor’s degree to $61,279 for a teacher in their 25th year in the district.
By comparison, other area schools saw average year-one salaries and 25thyear salaries of: $45,080 and $66,767 for Fisher; $43,011 and $58,330 for Tri-Point; $41,188 and $72,660 for Hoopeston Area; $45,808 and $70,544 for Watseka; $40,875 and $69,079 for Cissna Park; $47,253 and $75,000 for Monticello; $42,214 and $61,279 for Tri-Valley; $44,169 and $68,995 for St. Joseph-Ogden; $42,389 and $66,594 for GCMS; and $42,184 and $74,459 for Tolono Unity.
PBL’s last collective bargaining agreement from 2021 expired on June 30. Under that fouryear agreement, approved in April 2021, teachers’ salaries were raised by $1,805 per year, while educational support staff saw a raise of $1.05 per hour each year.
The agenda for Wednesday’s board meeting includes a closed session to discuss collective negotiating matters, but the approval of a contract is not listed on the agenda, meaning no action can be taken.
The first day of student attendance is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 14.