Chicago teachers will remain on strike at least through Tuesday after
members of the union’s House of Delegates said they wanted more time to
review a tentative deal reached over the weekend.
After meeting
with teachers for more than two hours, Chicago Teachers Union president
Karen Lewis said delegates could vote as early as Tuesday to end the
strike, meaning classes would not resume before Wednesday.
Members want the additional time
to digest the details of the contract offer, Lewis said.
"Our members are not happy," Lewis said. "They want to know if there is anything more they can get."
Teachers’ Strike Appears Imminent; Union Says No Deal To Avoid Walkout
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said late Sunday that
“We have failed to reach an agreement that will prevent a labor strike.”
A short time earlier, Chicago Board of Education President David
Vitale said talks had ended for the night, after more than 20 offers
from the district to the Chicago Teachers Union over the past week.
“We assume that we’re basically done today, from our standpoint,”
Vitale said, adding that he’d been trying to reach CTU President Karen
Lewis for the past hour, with no success.
The union was scheduled to hold its own news conference at 10 p.m. to discuss contract talks.
Vitale said he believes Chicago PublicSchools officials have made their best possible offer to teachers.
“There’s only so much money in the system. There’s only so many
things that we can do that are available to us,” Vitale said. “At this
juncture, it is clearly their decision. … We’ve done everything we can.” read the rest
CHICAGO— The Chicago Teachers Union will conduct news
conference at 10:00 p.m. tonight to update the public on ongoing
contract talks with the Chicago Public Schools. The press briefing will
be held at CTU headquarters at 222 Merchandise Mart, 4th Floor and will
be conducted by members of the CTU Bargaining Team an attended by
members of the House of Delegates. No further information will be
provided at this time.
If the teachers do go on strike, the city has set aside $25 million to
keep 144 schools open between 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Staffed by
non-union and central office workers, the schools would provide
activities such as independent reading and athletics, along with two
meals.
Many people who can barely afford their property taxes now, will see their money used to babysit kids and feed them "free" meals. Twenty five million dollars so teachers can sit on their rear patoots and demand a raise from an average of 76K to approximately 92K when the average salary in Chicago is about 46K. And they wonder why people are sick to death of their whining and complaining?
One way to put a stop to this, besides getting rid of teachers unions, is to throw out the whole concept of teacher certification. There are thousands of people, many of them retired, who are more qualified to teach than many of the current crop of teachers. Imagine K-12 classrooms headed up by PhD scientists, mathematicians, and literary figures.
From Illinois Policy Institute: 2/21/2012
by Michael Wille
In their opening round of teacher contract negotiations, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has demanded
reduced class sizes, higher taxes on the city's richest residents and a
whopping 30 percent salary increase with little accountability in
return. Think about what they are calling for. At a time when 10.2
percent of Chicagoans are out of work, the CTU is demanding a pay
increase that would bump the average Chicago teacher salary
up to $92,606 from $71,236. That's nearly twice the amount of the
$46,877 average annual income of a family in Chicago. The teacher salary
figure is only for 9 months and also omits the generous benefits and
perks that have been negotiated into the contract over the past years.
What have Chicago residents received in return for a spending per-pupil amount of more than $13,000? A graduation rate of 56%, an average ACT score of 16 (compared to the state average of 21) and an unsustainable pension system that is crowding out money for classrooms. more here
The Truth Behind Teachers Unions
Chicago Teacher: Give up the bucks! Is this woman actually a teacher? Good grief.
