Commentary: What's at stake in the Chicago teachers strike?
by Ron Whitehorne on Sep 11 2012 Posted in Commentary
Twenty-five thousand Chicago teachers, members of the Chicago Teachers Union, are on strike.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel portrays the action as “a strike of choice” that victimizes parents and children. Union president Karen Lewis responds that they hoped to avoid a strike but the actions of Emanuel and the Board of Education left them little choice.
This is not an ordinary strike, but a confrontation between two competing visions of what public schools need.
As in Philadelphia, an underfunded, deficit-ridden school district is pressing for “reforms” that it claims will improve education, namely a longer school day, teacher evaluations that rely significantly on students’ standardized test scores, and rolling back job-security protections.
As in Philadelphia, the Chicago school board has closed schools, cut instructional and support services, and turned over schools to charter organizations and private interests.
In the current contract talks, the CTU has made improving public schools a cutting-edge issue, calling for smaller class size, more nurses, counselors and librarians, expanded art and music instruction, and more. All the things that Rahm Emanuel’s children get at the private school they attend. CTU leaders contend that all children deserve these things, and that is what the strike is about.
Illinois lawmakers over the years have restricted the scope of bargaining and recently thought they had eliminated the right to strike by passing a law requiring 75 percent of the membership to vote to authorize a strike. The CTU has responded by making their contract campaign about “what students deserve.” Ninety percent of their members voted to authorize a strike, an unprecedented showing of solidarity.
The current CTU leadership is rooted in CORE, the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators. Before winning leadership in 2010, CORE organized alliances with parents and the community over school closings. The union has a 10-point program and a 46-page report that calls for comprehensive reforms that could transform public education. The group's vision is in stark contrast to the school privatization and austerity program marketed by corporate school reformers. Some high points are:
Lower class size. Chicago has one of the largest class sizes in the state, and Rahm Emanuel has threatened to increase class size to 55. The union, along with many advocates, argues that lower class size will bolster student learning.
Educate the whole child – Fund libraries, gym, the arts, and a rich curriculum, as well as early childhood education for all, robust wraparound services and improved services for special needs students.
Address the racial and class inequity in the system - The CTU characterizes the racial and economic segregation that pervades the system, along with the harsh discipline policies in high-poverty schools, as “apartheid-like.”
Treat teachers as professionals with appropriate compensation, time for collaboration, and greater autonomy.
Partner with parents. The union calls for parents to be respected as partners at every level including school decision making. CTU calls for “renewed support and respect for” Local School Councils.
Full funding. CTU believes there is no excuse for failing to fund schools. It has challenged the Board of Education’s claims that there is no money.
The CTU has made this point in the streets. This spring, 4,000 union members joined thousands more supporters who marched on Chicago’s Mercantile Exchange to protest the $77 million-a-year subsidy the derivatives market receives from the state. The union has also cited the $250 million in tax dollars pumped into development projects that primarily serve downtown corporate and business interests as potential revenues to close the $665 million budget deficit. The union’s program includes demands for ending corporate subsidies and tax loopholes, and a progressive formula for allotting state aid.
The corporate media has focused on money as the issue and, of course, money is never absent from any contract negotiation. The board rescinded a 4 percent raise last year and seeks to cut benefits. However, according to CTU President Karen Lewis, the two sides were very close to agreeing on compensation, but she also insists that action on a range of issues related to education needs to be addressed.
Job security is clearly a critical issue. The state’s new teacher evaluation law could cost 28 percent of teachers their jobs within the next two years, according to CTU vice president Jesse Sharkey. The fate of teachers in schools slated for closing is another major issue.
Although cynics will dismiss the reform platform of the CTU as window dressing for teachers pursuing their own narrow interests, others, myself included, will argue that the CTU understands that its fate is bound up with the fight of Chicago’s working class and oppressed communities for equal education.
Philadelphia’s school crisis has its own unique characteristics, but the core issues are largely the same. The SRC, advised by the Boston Consulting Group and supported by local corporate interests, wants to blame teachers and unions for the problems that our schools face while they continue to slash the budget and privatize schools, targeting low-income communities of color.
We can learn from the struggle in Chicago. Our union can learn from the way the CTU has organized from the ground up, creating a broad, democratic structure. All of us, parents, students, community activists and educators, can learn from the persistent activism of the labor-community alliance in Chicago. The school reform program advocated by the union can inform our efforts to develop an alternative to the SRC-Corbett plan.
For all these reasons we need to demonstrate support for the CTU, and we need to follow their example.
Comments (32)
Submitted by anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 09/11/2012 - 22:10.
What actions are being taken by the PFT for the necessary unprecedented showing of solidarity that will be needed to respond to the SRC when our contract expires?
Will 90% of PFT members be wearing red tomorrow?
Look to Chicago Philadelphia! We cannot begin soon enough ready ourselves for the upcoming contract.
Chris Hedges is must reading for every PFT member and all interested in public education:
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/9/11/chris_hedges_dems_owe_chicago_public
Submitted by Kate Sannicks-Lerner (not verified) on Sat, 09/15/2012 - 20:26.
Amen!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 09/11/2012 - 22:28.
You know you're out of touch when even a crazy lefty mayor says enough is enough.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 06:20.
You know you're out of touch if you think Mayor Nutter is left. He is works for the corporations and banks, not the public. His only concern is his future career with the 1%.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 08:07.
Rahm!!!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 15:33.
He's referring to Rahm, idiot. Emanuel is a left wing liberal and even he says enough is enough. They offered the teachers 16% pay raises over 4 years at a time when most people aren't getting any pay raises. The teachers don't want any accountability for their job performance. That would be considered laughable in any other industry.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 17:54.
The Chicago strike is not about pay. It is about the underfunding of public schools, the high stakes testing which is not about evaluating student progress and fixing the schools but about destroying public schools, class size, and the conditions that teachers must teach in and students are supposed to learn in.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 21:25.
Good. If it's not about money let's rescind the 16% pay raise offer and use that money for smaller class sizes. Im sure the union will support that
Performance evaluations don't come off the table. Our kids deserve that.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 21:50.
Good. If it's not about money let's rescind the 16% pay raise offer and use that money for smaller class sizes. Im sure the union will support that
Performance evaluations don't come off the table. Our kids deserve that.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 10:05.
The Chicago union is fighting to end up in the position of the the Philadelphia teachers union.
Phildelphia is further along the road to privatization and lack of teacher rights. The Chicago union does want to be as ineffective and irrelevant as the PFT.
The PFT is dead it will never strike or fight back hard like the people in Chicago. But as a PFT member I can at least wear red today and dream about a real union taking action. All the PFT ever does when its interests are threatened is suggest we wear red. Its leadership is apparently more interested in fashion than teacher's interests.
Submitted by Ron Whitehorne on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 10:17.
To my PFT brother or sister. Instead of wearing red and "dreaming" of a real union get involved in building (and transforming) the one you got. PFT is doing the right thing in helping to form a labor community coalition (PCAPS). A conference on the 22nd will be an important step on the road to the kind of fightback we need. Here’s a link to our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/276710712444818/ Please come and organize others to do the same.
Submitted by Penny (not verified) on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 11:19.
I do not have Facebook - is there another link?
I am sick of wearing red and nothing else happening. I lived and taught in Chicago once - saw them on CNN the other day and was so impressed with their solidarity. Thought about how pathetic and apathetic Philadelphia teachers are (e.g. the last contract meeting at Temple where they "passed" the contract when people clearly did not want it AND the low attendance...yet people have the nerve to complain at work). We will get what we deserve, unfortunately, and we are showing that we don't care by not fighting back - so we deserve what the SRC and Nutter and Corbet toss at us.
Submitted by Ron Whitehorne on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 11:32.
Penny
I'm posting a conference call here that includes an email. Please get in touch if you want to get involved.
Conference For a Community Based Plan For Our Schools: Alternatives to Austerity and Privatization
Saturday, September 22nd 9am to 4pm
Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts
1901 N. Front St.
The School Reform Commission, corporate sponsored foundations, and the city’s business elites, have a vision for our schools that leaves them underfunded, further restricts the democratic voice of parents, students, and citizens, undermines the rights of school workers, and offers no real solutions to the pressing needs of our city’s young people.
The SRC’s plan for massive closures of neighborhood public schools, while accelerating the growth of charter schools, strikes at the heart of the idea of public education as an institution that serves all children. In cities across the nation schools in predominantly African-American and Latino communities are being closed in “restructuring” plans sponsored by corporate school reformers. Standardized test scores rather than the needs of our children drive decisions about education.
This spring in community meetings in schools and churches parents, students, educators and neighborhood residents spoke out against the school budget and privatization plan. Now it is time to take the next step, moving from opposition to developing an alternative vision for our schools and a plan for realizing it.
To begin this process we are calling for a conference that will bring together parents, students, educators, and neighborhoods to build this alternative from the bottom up.
The Conference will aim at deepening our understanding of the privatization plans and austerity budget that have been presented by the SRC and the Boston Consulting group. We will then focus on two related tasks:
To join in the process of planning and building this important event email us at pcaps201@gmail.com or call 267 908 4201
Member Organizations
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT)
American Federation of Teachers Pennsylvania (AFT PA)
Youth United for Change (YUC)
Philly Student Union (PSU)
Action United
UNITE HERE Local 634
Fight for Philly
Teacher Action Group Philadelphia (TAG)
Jobs with Justice (JWJ)
Occupy Temple
Occupy Philly Labor Work Group
March 1 Coalition
Media Mobilizing Project
Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW)
Conference endorsers (list in formation)
Philadelphia Home and School Council
PFT Retirees Chapter
Philadelphia Unemployment Project
District 1199-C National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (AFSME)
Philadelphia Neighborhood Network
Youth Arts and Self Empowerment Project (YASP)
Decarcerate
Green Party
PA Cares For All
John Johnson Jr.* President, TWU234
Patty Eakin,* PASNAP
Frank Murphy, retired principal, blogger
Todd Wolfson*, Rutgers University
Dina Yarmus* , UNITEHERE Local 274 committee, CLUW executive board
Justin Harrison* Unit 1 President, CWA Local 13000
Stelle Sheller*, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
*organization listed for identification only
Submitted by Joe (not verified) on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 20:44.
Ron--The point he/she is making is the sense of urgency and anger the union in Chicago is demonstrating. Jordan is much more complacent or whatever that is and that's a big problem. The folks out there "Get it" and Jordan doesn't or at least that's the way it seems. Like yourself, I have been around more than a few years in teaching in Philly.
Submitted by anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 21:02.
I agree with Joe.
Our PFT cannot at presently successfully pull off a gesture of solidarity with Chicago. Not in my school anyway. I saw one other PFT member wearing red besides myself.
I believe the gesture goes a log way towards showing our solidarity- but it is only a first step. I am not saying it we can't do this, but we all need to be working hard daily to show the strength of our union. We need to get out there, not wait for marching orders from Jerry.
Hope to see thousands of union members at 22nd and Market at 5pm this Friday. I will be there wearing red.
5pm, Friday, 22nd & Market Streets, Philadelphia:
Thousands of Chicago teachers are on the street fighting for the future of public education. Show your support on Friday. WEAR RED!!!
https://www.facebook.com/events/108924999260365/
Submitted by Joe (not verified) on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 21:42.
I love your enthusiasm and I shall be there too BUT Jordan needs to show LEADERSHIP not slink around. Ms. Lewis in Chicago is loud and demonstrative. Jordan is not and that ain't good. One gets the feeling that Jordan is very reluctant to engage the enemy and YES, our opponents are the enemy. They don't care about the kids nor their rights and want to turn back the clock on worker's rights.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/13/2012 - 08:37.
That's most of the problem right there!! A lot of teachers have families and young children to worry about and family comes first. Having a rally at 5:00pm on a Friday afternoon is ridiculous. Most will not show because of the day and time. Why not have these rallies on a Tues, Wed, or Thurs????
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/13/2012 - 08:44.
When the SRC cuts your salary and benefits by 16% next year will you have time then?
http://thenotebook.org/blog/125116/src-meets-today-financing-5-year-plan
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/13/2012 - 10:28.
EXTREME TIMES CALL FOR EXTREME ACTIONS---SAM ADAMS 1774. I AGREE WITH YOU.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/13/2012 - 11:34.
Your missing the point!!! Everytime they hold a meeting or rally they do it on days and times where it makes it difficult for ALL MEMBERS TO GO!!! That's why the last rally I did go to on a Friday had a measly 300 or 400 people!!! Have the rallies and meetings either Tues, Wed, or Thurs and I bet A LOT MORE TEACHERS WILL SHOW!!! That's what I was trying to explain. Otherwise, keep having the rallies on Mondays or Fridays and the support will be a lot less than those other days. Problem is, we need a union to think STRATEGICALLY--that counts for rallies, meetings, oh and counting the "NO" votes on the contract while Jordan said it passes, it passes while in reality the "NO's" far outweighed the "YES" vote ---very funny...
Submitted by anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/13/2012 - 14:42.
Many citizens have a vested interest in the future of our public schools, not just PFT members. The rally on Friday at 22nd and Market is being organized by Occupy Philadelphia Labor Work Group. It is crucial to garner a more broad based support for the ideals Philly public school teachers support. I have attended many rallies related to issues of importance to members. Attendance never approaches what it should be- not matter the time or day of the week or season or weather. I agree that the leadership bears responsibility for this, but the membership needs to step up.
Submitted by Ron Whitehorne on Thu, 09/13/2012 - 15:05.
Joe A couple of points. CORE (Caucus of Rank and File Educators) the group that gained control of the CTU in 2010 developed out of years of struggle and activism. Before they won election they organized against school closings and forged bonds with parents and community organizations. They pressed the CTU leadership at the time to take action and only when that leadership had clearly demonstrated their unwillingness to do so did they put forward a slate of their own. They won the election because they had established their credibility based on their actions.
I believe a movement for renewal of the PFT must come out of efforts to organize around the needs of teachers and our school communities at both the city wide and the school level. It should be based on issues, not personalities and, at least at this stage it should try to work with the existing leadership and not set itself up as "the opposition." Today's working teachers are going to have to figure out the path forward, but as a veteran of many years of struggle in the labor movement, my advice is, in the words of the immortal Joe Hill, "Don't Mourn, Organize."
Submitted by Joe (not verified) on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 18:53.
I completely agree---------------The situation in Chicago will be the same we face next Summer and we need to do EXACTLY what they are doing there. The question I have is--Is Jerry Jordan up for the challenge and I am not so sure that he is.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/13/2012 - 08:39.
If he doesn't step up like Lewis is then every member needs to sign a petition for his ouster!!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/13/2012 - 10:25.
I totally agree. This is not the time for quiet diplomacy because Corbett et al just laugh at that.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/13/2012 - 11:36.
And you watch....the SRC has a 5 year budget---I'll bet they talk Jordan into giving raises every 18 months instead of 12 months like this current contract---And I put my money on the same type of raise again--"3%". If they want to extend the school day then great---BUT with more salary. Seniority also needs to stay in check.
Submitted by tom-104 on Thu, 09/13/2012 - 16:28.
What don't you get? A raise is not on their agenda.
From the Notebook - September 10th
SRC adopts 5-year financial plan
"The plan calls for a 16 percent reduction in the District's overall spending on salaries next year - from $858 million to $720 million - but does not dictate a specific path for achieving that drastic reduction."
http://thenotebook.org/blog/125116/src-meets-today-financing-5-year-plan
From the Daily News - September 12th
SRC approves bitter pill for school district
"The district plans to borrow $300 million to finance the current fiscal year and part of the next one, slash salaries by 26 percent over a five-year period from $858 million this year to $681 million in 2016-17 and close schools that "are underutilized and in poor condition," Chief Recovery Officer Thomas Knudsen said."
http://tinyurl.com/95at5yu
This is not time for business as usual! They are going to do this if the PFT remains in its current passive, delusional state!
Submitted by Joe (not verified) on Thu, 09/13/2012 - 16:54.
Of course, and that's why I've been calling for a sense of urgency, especially on Jordan's part. The CTU seems to be MUCH MORE actively involved than the PFT and I continue to ask why?? Jordan either needs to become "The Leader" or get out of the way and let someone else take over. Just look at CTU and then at the PFT and there is NO comparison. We're like doormats to the SRC, Corbett and Nutter.
Submitted by Ken Derstine on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 19:37.
Why Rahm Emanuel and The New York Times are wrong about teacher evaluation
from the Answer Sheet at the Washington Post
"You know things are going very badly for public school teachers when The New York Times editorial board calls a bad teacher evaluation system a “sensible policy change.”
The Times ran an editorial on Wednesday that smacked Chicago teachers for striking against a school reform package pushed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a former chief of staff of President Obama."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/why-rahm-emanuel-a...
Two Visions for Chicago’s Schools
by Diane Ravitch in the New York Review of Books
"According to most news reports, the teachers in Chicago are striking because they are lazy and greedy. Or they are striking because of a personality clash between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and union president Karen Lewis. Or because this is the last gasp of a dying union movement. Or because Emanuel wants a longer school day, and the teachers oppose it.
None of this is true. All reports agree that the two sides are close to agreement on compensation issues—it is not money that drove them apart. Last spring the union and the school board agreed to a longer school day, so that is not the issue either. The strike is a clash of two very different visions about what is needed to transform the schools of Chicago—and the nation."
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/sep/12/two-visions-chicagos-sc...
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 21:08.
Why does everyone hate teachers so much? Congrats. You are the new lawyers!
Submitted by Ken Derstine on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 22:06.
Outstanding Rap from Radical Dilemma. THEY GET IT!
Chicago Teacher
http://rebeldiaz.bandcamp.com/track/chicago-teacher
Submitted by Ken Derstine on Thu, 09/13/2012 - 18:03.
Optimism over ending Chicago teachers strike, but no classes Friday
from the Chicago Tribune
"The two sides in the Chicago teachers strike remained optimistic about a deal as they resumed contract talks today, but it appeared the earliest classes could resume would be Monday.
On a scale of 1-10, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said "I'm a 9" on a deal being reached today. But she said classes would not resume Friday because the union's House of Delegates would need time to approve ending the strike.
"We're hoping we can tighten up some of the things we talked about yesterday. . .and get this thing done," Lewis told reporters.
Barbara Byrd-Bennett, chief education officer with Chicago Public Schools, was equally confident of a deal today, echoing optimism voiced by board president David Vitale when talks broke up just before midnight Wednesday."
Look at the videos.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-both-sides-see-pro...
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