Even as CPS opens more new schools, children with special needs have a tougher time finding options. Placements in private therapeutic schools are scarce, and some charters are reluctant to enroll them.
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CTU pulls support from education reform bill: analysis
“Bargaining in good faith appears to be a bar set too high for these
so-called educational reformers – Advance Illinois, Stand for Children,
Illinois Business Roundtable and their millionaire funders,” declared
the Chicago Teachers Union Thursday.
“Bargaining in good faith appears to be a bar set too high for these so-called educational reformers – Advance Illinois, Stand for Children, Illinois Business Roundtable and their millionaire funders,” declared the Chicago Teachers Union Thursday.
The CTU, which warmly supported tenure and strike reforms passed by the Senate on April 15, wants the legislation stripped of “anti-union” provisions it says were “slipped into the 110-page bill at the last minute.” Otherwise, there will be a rumble.
In SB 7 and SB 630, nearly identical bills that passed the Senate unanimously, are requirements that a strike authorization by CTU must be approved by 75 percent of the union’s members.
The union now says it intended to accept 75 percent of those voting – still a far higher bar than the 51 percent of voting members that is the law for downstate teachers’ unions.
A serious issue is bill language the CTU calls a “two-sentence atomic bomb,” not noticed in mid-April, preventing the bill’s impasse-resolutions from being used to address any items in the statute’s list of issues on which the CTU can bargain.
Effectively, that removes the involvement of the Education Labor Relations Board, any fact-finder or mediator from the process of resolving disputes between the CTU and the Chicago Public Schools board. The CTU sees it as a loss of the right to strike.
The CTU wants the House to remove that paragraph and to fix the 75 percent provision of the reform bill.
Rather than address the question of whether CTU has a valid position in this dispute, opponents of the union are saying the union should have read the bill before supporting it in April.
“We don't think there's anything nuclear going on here,” the Chicago Tribune opined. “This is what you pay lobbyists for, right? To know what's in legislation when it comes to a vote?”
The Education Action Group, a think tank from Michigan, accuses CTU of “reneging” on its
pledge to support SB 7, calling it “a case of why teacher unions are bad for public education.”
Although it is entirely unrelated to the validity of its current position on the reform bills, the CTU has no solid excuse for having supported policy in April that it now considers fatally flawed. There is no excuse for any interest group to support an “agreed bill” before being sure that it should do so.
At the same time, there are two chambers in the General Assembly. Accepting corporate assurances in the chamber of origin that a bill is “okay” does not preclude opposition in the second chamber.
The CTU is reneging on nothing and legislators in the House will either address the union’s concerns or decide – for reasons that will become apparent to everyone – that they need not be addressed.
A huge policy investment has been made in the goal of streamlining dismissal of inept teachers and of making decisions on reductions in force and filling classroom vacancies. The CTU objections will not be allowed to scuttle that investment.
Jim Broadway is publisher of State School News Service, which provides news and analysis on school policy in Illinois.
CTU pulls support from education reform bill: analysis
Local 1600 is also opposed to SB 7. Furthermore, back in October at the IFT convention Locals 1, and 1600 could have stopped featherbedding at Westmont and elected Karen Lewis President and Perry Buckley Secretary of the IFT. The whole character of Westmont could have been pushed in a pro-teacher and pro-union direction. Instead my union dues go to a union leadership who are basically wholesalers of labor-power and support union busting legislation like SB 7.
CTU pulls support from education reform bill: analysis
As a CPS teacher and CTU delegate I do have an issue with SB7. This bill is titled as an education reform bill. That is inaccurate. If it is an education reform bill where is the language on reducing class size or ensuring students a well rounded curricullum as opposed to standardized test prep? There isn't any in there. All teachers want education reform and we want to be a part of the process. This bill, however, is really about collective bargaining, teacher evaluation, seniority and tenure.
That's ok but let's call it what it really is. As teachers we should have the right to be treated fairly if something affects our working conditions or career and we should be able to seek change when there is an attempt to legislate those conditions. In particular this bill removes the jurisdiction of the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board or mediators for certain disagreements. Why shouldn't a third party be able to look at and make decisions in disputes between a school district and a union or teacher. Isn't that democracy? That we have the right to due process is bad a thing?
Also, mandating that 75% of the members of CTU have to affirm a strike, not 75% of those voting but 75% of the membership is a blatant tactic to essentially take away the right to strike. What if politicians had to get 75% of all registered voters in order to be elected? It wouldn't happen. Mayor-Elect Emanuel got 55% of the vote but only 43% of the electorate came out to vote. Would people deny he should be the mayor as elected by the people?
Finally, if you read this bill and all issues related to education labor since 1995, I believe, there are different rules for Chicago than for the rest of the state. The above mentioned strike restriction is just one of them. We also have no right to bargain for class size in Chicago. I would like the playing field to be leveled and have Chicago be subject to the same laws, codes and rules as the rest of the state. Is that too much to ask for?
CTU pulls support from education reform bill: analysis
What does restricting our right to strike have to do with students' education? It does have to do with it if they are going to continue cutting education funding and our working conditions (i.e., the learning conditions of the students).
Why should we accept a longer school day and school year at anything less than a rate pro-rated by our current pay? I will accept that we need a longer day and year.
But I also think there's money to pay for that. They have money for Coors, money for United Airlines to get cherry-wood paneling in their Willis Tower offices -- money that comes out of funds that should go to the schools, btw.
I don't care that IEA and IFT want to sell out education so they can stay "at the table."
I was highly disappointed to see us sign on to this mess -- a watered down version of the Wisconsin-Walker attack on public workers. But I'm also at least half relieved to see that Karen and co. have seen the light and respect the considered, unanimous opinion of the HOD. I think it's still a liability that CTU was ever quoted as supporting this bill. But better late than never.
CTU pulls support from education reform bill: analysis
We all pay IFT and IEA dues how can this Union allow different (and impossible) union rights for Chicago Memembers?? 75% for chicago and 50% for the rest? I dont get it?? If this bill is passed CTU will have about as much power as the Chess Club at the local high school.
National Teacher Sick-out 9/21/2011
National Teacher Sick-out 9/21/2011
Calling all teachers to participate in a NON-UNION sponsored sick-out to protest:
--> federal meddling in public education
--> public education profiteering
--> excessive testing
--> scripted and narrowed curricula
--> gutting of arts, vocational education, science, and history
--> wasteful bureaucracy
--> incompetent and antagonistic administrators
We demand local control and accountability for public education!
SPREAD THE WORD! http://sickout.org
CTU pulls support from education reform bill: analysis
Having worked in the legislative process an amendment to a bill cannot be done completely behind closed doors, but yes the CTU could have drafted language for an amendment to SB7 to modify the two sections in question and built support for those amendments prior to having the amendments introduced in the Illinois House.
But this may not really what this is all about. Two out of power factions in the CTU saw that SB7 was a major concession on numerous issues and was not popular with many members of the union and organized against the bill in the CTU House of delegates. The majority faction of the union agreed to oppose the bill it had endorsed and so the entire House of delegates came out against the bill. The language issues with two sections became the formal excuse for backing out of support for the bill. There are clearly CTU delegates opposed to SB7 in its totality and I can understand why. Many members understand SB7 is a major concession to historic union practices.
Up to now the CTU is claiming that these two sections in the bill were changed in the final version of the bill which they had not seen before and were given only a few minutes to approve. Stand for Children has stated this was not the case and the CTU saw the existing language. A simple solution to this issue is for the CTU to provide a pdf of the relevant passages before and after based on the various drafts of the bill they have so everyone can see the changes they are discussing.
When I work on a bill, I number all the drafts and keep them for cross reference so I can track changes. This is a fairly standard practice for a lobbyist. Sometimes you have dozens of drafts of different language for bills. I think if CTU can prove to members of the Illinois House that basically underhanded changes were made to the bill that were inconsistent with earlier drafts their amendments might be adopted and Stand for Children or whoever made such modifications at the last minute will not look so good. Unfortunately it is the CTU that must prove its argument on this issue because it is the union that is publicly claiming there were unauthorized changes made to the final draft that became the bill that was voted on and approved by every member present in the Illinois Senate.
Rod Estvan
CTU pulls support from education reform bill: analysis
Do any senators care about teachers in Chicago? Why wouldnt they object to language that singles out only chicago when it comes "union" rights. They all claim to care for the working man...yet they had no problem risking all of our union rights...lets face it...75% means no more collective bargaining for CTU and CPS teachers....
CTU pulls support from education reform bill: analysis
Dear Rod, was the language changed in the two sections or not after the CTU leadership supported the bill?
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