QUINCY, ILL. -- UPDATE: September 8 at 4:36 p.m.
Teachers in Quincy are less than seven hours from being without a contract.
Three weeks into the school year... The Quincy Public School Board and the Teachers Union have not reached an agreement on a new contract.
Both sides negotiated late into the night last night.
WTAD reports that the teachers union agreed to work without a contract until the next bargaining session on September 15th.
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UPDATE: September 8 at 7:30 a.m.
Teachers in the Quincy public school district will work without a signed contract.
Negotiations between the Quincy teachers union and Quincy Public School board did not come to a resolution on Tuesday night.
As a result the teachers have agreed to work without a contract until the next bargaining session which is scheduled for September 15.
The deadline for extending the teacher contracts is set to expire Wednesday night at midnight.
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The extension on the Quincy teacher contracts expires tomorrow. That's why tonight's negotiating session is so important and could last for hours.
KHQA spoke with School Board Vice President Tom Dickerson. He says the biggest issues in these contract negotiations have centered around the language, salary and benefits. He says the majority of the language is now final, but the union's bigger focus is on the numbers.
"Given the fact the state's not reimbursing the schools the way they are obligated to, and that with the economy's downturn in general, I think for the last year or two, has really caused this to be a little more difficult than maybe times past," said Dickerson.
We also asked Dickerson if he believed the teachers might strike if the two sides can't agree on a contract soon. He says he's doubtful and at this point, the union has not discussed a strike.
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