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School closings

As CPS prepares to close a record number of schools, the fate of students and communities is in question.

Chicago Teachers Union

September 11, 2012

Teacher evaluation took center stage in negotiations between CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union on Tuesday, with Mayor Rahm Emanuel saying he believed teachers could not legally strike over some of the issues at hand but backed away from the idea of an injunction to try and end the strike.

Emanuel also sought to back up the district's position on teacher recall rights, bringing together principals to speak at a press conference about the importance of maintaining hiring authority at their schools.

September 10, 2012

Mayor Rahm Emanuel again Monday called the teachers’ strike one of “choice” and said that negotiators just need to figure out two issues. Though he said the issues were so resolvable that he thought the union should have postponed the walk out, he went on to insist that his position was correct and didn’t seem open to budging.

September 09, 2012

For the first time in a quarter of a century, CPS teachers are on strike.

In announcing that negotiations had failied, union leaders emphasized that compensation took a backseat as they want this contract to tackle bigger education issues, include greater protections for displaced teachers and lessen the weight that test scores have in teacher evaluations.

“This is a difficult decision and one we hoped we could avoid,” said CTU President Karen Lewis. “We must do things differently in this city if we are to give our students the education they deserve.” 

September 08, 2012

On Saturday, the Chicago Teachers Union began using a Teamster City building to distribute strike signs and union clothing. The union also held a press conference where parents and students spoke in support of the teachers.

Becky Malone of 19th Ward Parents (pictured) said she was “sick of hearing that anyone beame an educator to make a lot of money.”

She asked: “Why is it the union had to threaten a strike so they could get such sweeping concessions" like desks for school psychologists and textbooks on the first day of school?

September 07, 2012

Community members from Bronzeville, Pilsen and Humboldt Park gathered outside the Chicago Teachers Union's Merchandise Mart headquarters Friday afternoon to teachers to call off Monday's strike.

The press conference was organized by Democrats for Education Reform/Education Reform Now.

Corey Brown, a 17-year-old senior at Clemente High School in Humboldt Park, said the strike would have a negative impact on the football season.

September 06, 2012

With a teachers strike perhaps only days away, one weapon that CPS could use to end a walkout is a court injunction: A section of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, added to state law during the 1990s, indicates that if a teacher strike “is or has become a clear and present danger to the health or safety of the public” the employer can ask for a legal injunction to stop the strike.

September 06, 2012

This story includes a link below to the list of sites for CPS' "Children First" program.

As CPS released new details on its strike contingency plan, pastors representing over 100 African-American and Latino churches demanded that CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union come to agreement on a contract, pledged to offer programs for students if teachers strike and charged that CPS has been slow to prepare for a possible walkout.

September 06, 2012

Chicago Public Schools officials freshened their economic offer to teachers Wednesday but teachers union officials immediately labeled the deal “unacceptable’’ and held firm to a Sept. 10 strike date. (Sun-Times)

September 05, 2012

 CTU leadership has consistently said that salary will be discussed in the last stage of contract negotiations, and on Wednesday they revealed that CPS made a new offer. 

It is five days before the Sept. 10 strike date.

CPS officials have given up their hope of getting merit pay or what they call a differentiated pay scale in this contract and they will continue to reward teachers with salary increases for getting more educational degrees, said CTU President Karen Lewis on Wednesday.