As CPS prepares to close a record number of schools, the fate of students and communities is in question.
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Strike authorization vote likely before end of school year
By: Sarah Karp / May 22, 2012
Wednesday afternoon the Chicago Teachers Union is planning a massive rally to protest the current CPS contract proposal, which they call “unreasonable.” No strike authorization vote will be taken at the downtown event, but such a vote will likely happen before the end of this school year.
CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey says the vote is a “bargaining tool,” and emphasized that a strike date would not be set until after a final proposal is on the table, which won’t happen until the middle of the summer.
CPS spokeswoman Becky Carroll says a strike authorization vote is premature. CPS and CTU are engaged in a process called “fact-finding,” which means an arbitrator is considering CPS and CTU proposals. Both sides had to agree on the arbitrator. The arbitrator will issue a final report on July 15 and then the union and CPS have 15 days to respond to the report. Then, they have to wait 30 days for a cooling-off period.
Only then could the union call a strike.
“The independent fact-finding process can serve as a compromise,” Carroll says. “Why rush? They should let their members review the independent fact-finder’s report first. They have plenty of time for a vote.”
Carroll also notes that 1400 teachers are retiring and will end up voting for a strike authorization of a contract that they won’t be working under.
But Sharkey says there’s good reason to take a vote over the next few weeks. Union leaders do not want to hold a strike authorization vote during the summer, when teachers are dispersed. They also don’t want to wait until the beginning of the next school year, hoping to have a contract in place by the fall when school starts.
Once the next school year starts, things like the longer school day will be in place, making it harder for the union to negotiate over pay for the longer day, Sharkey says.
But taking a strike authorization vote is risky because a new law requires that CTU get 75 percent of its members to vote yes. That means a non-vote is essentially a “no” vote. If it fails, the union’s power will be greatly diminished.
However, union leadership has been emboldened by a poll showing the public supports teachers by a 2 to 1 margin. Also, a survey the union conducted on May 10 showed that 95 percent wanted to reject the current CPS proposal, according to the CTU.
Sharkey says that 21,000-plus of 25,000 members participated in the survey. The union has done a detailed analysis of where the non-surveyed members are, Sharkey says. In the units where the survey took place, participation was “very high,” Sharkey says. Some small units did not conduct the survey, mostly because the delegate wasn’t around.
The indication that a strike authorization vote is imminent comes as the two sides continue to spar about the details of the contract proposals.
On Tuesday, CTU officials again claimed the proposal presented by CPS only guarantees a one-year raise of 2 percent and removes numerous provisions, including those establishing class sizes; the allocation of art, music and gym teachers; and the number of classes teachers are expected to teach. Sharkey says CPS management also wants to eliminate the measures that set out rules for laying off or displacing teachers.
“They want the contract to go from more than 200 pages to about 40,” Sharkey says.
But Carroll says CPS labor negotiators have tried to streamline the contract, by taking out language referring to antiquated practices. Officials have no plans of changing class sizes or teacher allocation and they intend for those provisions to be in the contract. She says that there are “place holders” for these provisions.
“CTU officials know that,” she says.
Yet the absence of these provisions worries union leadership. CPS officials are projecting a deficit of $600 million. At the same time, they have decided to extend the school day and year and have laid out plans to open 100 more new schools in the next five years.
Sharkey says the fear is of massive teacher layoffs and ballooning class sizes, and that neither teachers nor students would be protected.
“Getting rid of those things would be the wrong thing to do,” he says.
Jay Rehak, a Whitney Young High School teacher and union delegate, says that CPS officials have already told staff at his school that they could have seminars with 50 students to accommodate the longer day.
YES!!!
The organization and momentum of the CTU is amazing. I'm encouraged and empowered by their fight and spunk. The mayor thought we would roll over and accept whatever the board threw our way. He must now face the fact that the we are willing and ready to strike. I hope all CTU members remember his antics and stand on education when go to the polls to elect a NEW Mayor. Rahm is done.
They thought 75% would hurt the union
What they (well, ok, Rahm) didn't consider was that it would force the union to completely organize itself in a different way. Instead of simply going for a simple majority which could have split the union (scabs and strikers), now everyone (well almost everyone) is on board and working together. Instead of breaking the union, Rahm has made the CTU stronger. Thanks Rahm!
Tele-town Hall
Interesting listening to Jen Cheatham tonight on the tele-town hall. When asked if it was true that high school teachers would be teaching six classes she really fumbled and stumbled. Anyway, the answer was, yes, we will be teaching six classes (or three blocks -- same thing).
Rahm is the best Union
Rahm is the best Union organizer this city has seen in decades.
question to High School
If you have 6 classes? How many student is that? Sounds like a lot!!
Six classes for me means 270
Six classes for me means 270 students every day. For most teachers, though, if we go by the CPS "guidelines" for class size, it will mean about 170 per day.
Teaching six classes means way more work for me outside of school hours. Something will have to give, of course. The students will not simply benefit from this policy. It is merely a way to reduce staff and employee costs.
What a cynical ploy.
It's insane!!
that is insane...how are you expected to make any outcome from that number? in elementary its 30 to 35 kids all day...either way its insanity! love the way CPS talks of change....as if you can just churn 270 kids like you can speed up an assembly line!
I am assuming bad materials, combo of motivated and unmotivated kids, reading levels spanning from 2nd grade to college level??
so sad!! they way they talk at Central Office....you would thing we all sit in a room with 15 eager students, starving for knowledge, while we just plan strikes!!
so unfair!
High School / Elem. School
Just an FYI re: student numbers. Many 6-8th grade departmental teachers who work in elementary schools regularly see 150 kids. I teach three sections of 6th grade and two sections of 7th for one hour long periods each. Each class is roughly 30 kids (except for one section that has 37(!)). This is not unusual to see in an elementary school, as since NCLB teachers from 6th-8th grade must have endorsements (18 college credit hours) in every subject they teach. To comply with this, many elementary schools have picked up the departmental model for 6-8th grade.
Standing 4 all
The stance of CTU is inspiring to all rank & file workers in Chicago & across the country. We're being treated like beggars & thieves. Demand respect for us & especially our children. Your victory is for all !!!
How Many?
270 students divided by 6 classes equals 45 students per class. What course do you teach??
I really think there does
I really think there does need to be a strike. It is needed in order for teachers to get the respect they deserve! They are stacking a harder work load on the teachers and do not want to compensate for it at all. I myself am not a teacher,my husband is. He works his butt off as it is. He NEVER has any time for himself. He is always busy working on grading papers, planning lessons to make sure they are perfect, and updating his gradebook, as well as calling home to parents when he needs to. This is all done in his own time, he is not paid anything for it! And now they want to add even more of a work load?? Not to mention that this new evaluation system is so flawed in my opinion. How the heck can you fault a teacher if every single student does not show progress?? What about the kids that have parents who really do not care and do not enforce good study habits for their kids to ensure they are learning and doing well?? Now it is all up to the teacher!! That is ridiculous! What is going on is so wrong on so many levels. We need educators to run our educational system in order for it to succeed not CEO's or politicians.
a dagger in the heart of the collective bargaining process
After having read these posts, I must admit I have never felt better about any quote from myself than the one that appeared in the Tribune this morning. SB7 as a law has stuck a dagger in the heart of the collective bargaining process between CPS and CTU.
The law tells CPS you simply don't have to bargain over all work rules and that legally the union can't strike over these rules. It tells the CTU you can legally bargain over the impact of work rules only in terms of money and you can strike over that compensation. That's just great.
I have told several members of the General Assembly that this law was not only poorly drafted it will be directly responsible for a strike in Chicago if it should occur. I am totally disgusted with Stand for Children's new call for CPS and CTU to come to the table and make a deal, when that organization is probably more responsible for what is happening than either CPS or CTU.
Mayor Emanuel can help put an end to this right now by authorizing CPS to open discussions on those areas designated for SB7 as "permissive." If Stand for Children wants to make amends for the disaster it helped in a big way to create, it can call the Mayor and ask that he allow CPS to bargain over these areas.
Rod Estvan
Question
If we vote to strike in June could teachers be hired over the Summer to replace us?
Can you see the board trying
Can you see the board trying to hire 20 plus thousand people in 60-90 days. Background checks, city residency, paperwork among other things. Their staff is getting smaller. If you ever tried calling the board and getting a response you know they would never even be able to entertain the thought.
Follow-up
Yes, I agree it would be difficult, but legally could they do it?
Here We Go
Rod, you sounded really good in the Tribune today.
Anonymous, if this is the steel cage death match that I predict it is going to be, CPS will take a pass on most of the checking and paperwork to get new bodies into the classrooms. And it will play into the master plan: get rid of veterans with tenure.
Also, the Board of Education has never been efficient in the past 40 years.
Tim Cawleys lie on class size.
During the tele town hall Tim Cawley said in no uncertain terms that theres no link between class size and student outcomes. This in spite of dozens of studies over many decades proving the opposite is true. Class sizes are going up, teachers will be fired, this is how they seek to deal with their budget "problems" while expanding charter schools via HB 4722, a bill to increase their funding without any new revenue to support it.
Class Size
Saying class size doesn't matter....just let me show these "experts" bathroom time for 34 students....see if doesn;t make a difference? Saying class size doesnt matter is like saying you can cook 30 turkey in a toaster oven!! It can be done...but its messy.....
What a joke......Cawley? He ever try to grade 34 spelling quizzes or 170 high school quizzes? what a joke!
Strike
We will authorize in June, but we will not actually have a strike until September or October. Don't freak out. They are not going to hire 25,000 scabs.
Mr. Cawley has also stated
Mr. Cawley has also stated that poverty has zero effect on student education achievement and academic success. Seriously.
I guess that's not so crazy from his perspective. In his world the "working poor" earn six figure salaries. This man is totally and completely detached from the research and reality of public education.
What an embarrassment.
Forcing a strike
Ironic that the testimony from the business roundtable, CPS and Stand for Children focused on restoring the "balance of power" in collective bargaining. The balance of power was already far enough toward city governance and CPS administration as to have a damaging impact on children.
SB7 pushed it so much further in that direction that educators had to make a decision: rise up or allow our students to perish.
Yesterday was a perfect example. I taught a full-day. What did the board and CPS leadership do? Spend the day passing food contracts with the company that was guilty of bribing a CPS official, passing custodial contract with suburban firms accused of a mass of things, adding money to charter schools that select kids, and give students' personal data to a private company.
Then to give credit where it's due, some of them went to this cool event put on by the Yale teachers.
If you want a system that works for students, give the power over to students, parents and educators. If you want a system that works for the richest in the city and countries, let them spend millions from outside the city (and in many cases state) to put in a mayor with dictatorial control over schools, buy a bunch of bureaucrats and install a top down system with no checks and balances.
That's why it rains in classrooms. why our kids spend so much time testing instead of learning, why they have so much time without any teachers or temporary teachers in front of them, and why our students with the most need don't get the support required for them by federal law.
It's why we leaders saying that merit pay doesn't work while they push for it, that facilities don't matter while they give charters and turnarounds new buildings and renovations, that class size doesn't matter while they keep their own students out in private or non-CPS schools with low class sizes, and say that special education students are held back from independence by having an aide to support them to succeed with their disability.
This is not "data-driven education". It's "money-driven education" and sadly, we and our students don't have the money to drive their own education.
But I'm proud. Yesterday showed that pretty much every single teacher is ready to fight a bit to change this system into "student need-driven education". Even those who couldn't make it due to night-school, summer school or other obligations sent their regrets and readiness to join.
Let's do this. Let's come together, parents, students, communities and educators to make the best schools possible for our students and our society.
Strike
If we vote to strike before the Board makes another offer in July CPS could say we are not bargaining in good faith and start looking for our replacements in June.
How many students do I have?
At 5 classes, I have 175. If one adds a 6th class to my schedule, then I will have 210.
A strike authorization is not
A strike authorization is not a vote to actually go on strike. It is a vote to authorize one should it become necessary in the face of an untenable impasse in negotiations.
We can always continue to negotiate, we can always consider a new offer from the Board, we can always decide to ratify an agreement without a strike.
A strike authorization is by far our strongest bargaining tool. Authorizing a strike actually decreases the likelihood of that eventuality because it forces the Board to negotiate rather than dictate.
Stop it
CPS Teacher, would you stop it please? They can not fire us for taking a vote, they can't even fire us for a legal strike. So stop panicking. A strike vote is not going to get anyone fired.
Dzipio
My uncle was an air traffic controller, he says he was fired for striking in 1981. I know he never worked as an air traffic controller after that strike. Just trying to figure this out. If I cannot post here, where can I get accurate information?
CPS Teacher, the air traffic
CPS Teacher, the air traffic controller strike was explicitly illegal.
*IF* we strike it will be within our legal rights.
Big difference.
What kind of information are
What kind of information are you looking for? The illegal and federal air traffic controller strike is nothing like a legal and local potential job action.
I've heard this before from other teachers and all it amounts to is misinformation and fear mongering.
Teachers work hard but know little as a group about "reform".
I feel for you all. You spend so much time and effort on behalf of your students that you have no time to educate yourselves on the issues that swirl tornado-like around you. The best place to start on this is parentsacrossamerica.net There is a growing awareness and movement of parents all over this nation whop are sick of the testing, sick of the teacher bashing, and sick of the corporate takeover of their schools and the theft of their education tax dollars. Teaches, you are not alone. A growing number of us have your backs, because it's our kids who are under attack just as you are. if the parents of Chicago are stupid enough to not tar and feather Rahm/Brizard if they even think of firing anyone for striking, then all is lost anyway, but THAT IS NOT THE CASE! CPS is running scared in spite of their money and influence. CPS teacher stop whining about your fears and educate yourself. If I can do it you sure can.
to Chicago Dad
This is why we have to get that state law changed that makes Rahm able to Appoint (or shall I say annoint) his school board. We need repsreentation from Parents, Business, Teachers, Students and General Taxpayers!! People Like you!!
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