Strike Talk Gets Stronger
“Fed up“ with being scapegoated, Chicago public school teachers in 150 schools have voted overwhelmingly in mock ballots to support a strike should ongoing contract negotiations fail, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis revealed Thursday.
Chicago Public School officials and Mayor Rahm Emanuel have created such a “hostile” climate that teacher leaders in 150 schools polled CTU members about support for a strike, Lewis and other CTU officials said.
At each school, Lewis said, at least 75 percent of teachers favored a strike “should contract negotiations fail” and “CPS and the mayor do not reverse the hostile climate against us.”
Lewis says she has the votes to meet the new state law regarding schoolteachers striking. Rahm doesn't need a strike coming on the heels of what looks like a nutty NATO event and what shapes up to be the bloodiest summer in a decade.
Labels: city politics
posted by SCC at 12:04 AM
79 Comments:
its for the children
Say what you will about her but at least she isn't afraid. She's also using the media, which is great. The gentlemens days of negotiations are over
They strike and Rahm will break their union.
The CTU complaints would mean a lot more if they had their kids in the system they teach in
The Racoon has pissed off so many people in this town I think the teachers will walk. What do they have to lose. The city has declared war on public school teachers so maybe it is time to fight back. Fuck the Racoon.
MAY is the month to STAND DOWN and support the teachers...send the Racoon a message and LET IT BURN baby! Welcome NATO allies, the CPD is understaffed and WE need your help to send RAHM and the powers that be a strong message.
i hope they remember to vote straight democratic in november. the mayor has great plans for different projects, where is the money coming from? when it comes time to retire and you find the fund is not solvent, you got the answer. not to worry they will blame the republicans.
They gonna strike to show 9.5 they mean business....
I am a CPS teacher and will strike, for sure. Corporate business models applied to schools were created by people who have never been inside an inner-city classroom. (Or they taught for a couple of years and weren't fulfilled, but didn't want to spend the time and effort joining the business world)Everyone who loves the idea that teachers should "sacrifice" (longer hours, no pay increase) and that raises should be tied to test scores has also never spend significant time in a CPS classroom. Give me students from functional homes where education is valued, who come to school having slept, eaten, bathed, completed their homework, and whose parents turn off the video games and internet once in a while and THEN you can pay me according to their test scores. The climate in CPS schools is based on the premise that the results of the aforementioned problems are the product of weak classroom teaching.
Why no labor/union protests like those against Scott Walker ? I thought democrats were labor's party ?
How do we as police(with a soon expired contract)show support for the teachers? Calling for Blue Flus and work slowdowns are punishable by termination.Any answers?
Watch "waiting for superman" before jumping on the teachers union bandwagon
At least they appear to stand together, unlike the CPD.
We are next on his list.
MAY is the month to STAND DOWN and support the teachers...send the Racoon a message and LET IT BURN baby! Welcome NATO allies, the CPD is understaffed and WE need your help to send RAHM and the powers that be a strong message.
4/07/2012 01:06:00 AM
__
Hey, OCCUPY,
I LIVE here. I don't just work here, I LIVE here. Let it burn? Would that be my home you're talking about, or my kid's school? No, I will not be 'letting it burn'. Nor will anyone else I know.
I completely support the teachers. Rhammy boy & that lug school president should spend a year teaching and get a dose of reality. Rham continues to fuck with the people who are the tax payers. Rahm, you are not a teacher, a police officer , a fireman a doctor or a nurse. There fore you have no clue and should have no say so in how we do our job. And you have zero respectability, you are nothing but a bully doing what he can just because he can.
Say what you will about her but at least she isn't afraid. She's also using the media, which is great. The gentlemens days of negotiations are over
4/07/2012 12:12:00 AM
Forget the 'gentlemen days' Let the details out to the public. Let the taxpayers decide. Knowledge is good.
the city has declared war on all city employees
FOP needs to support that union, no matter what we think of many teachers.
Together we must stand or divided we will surely fall.
Word is that the teachers will strike 2 weeks into the school year. This way, Rham will be forced to settle.
Attention to all groups wanting to protest peacefully during the NATO Convention: Do not forget that our Mayor resides at 4228 N Hermitage Ave. Be sure to send some protestors to conduct safe and lawful protests there.
BTW, we call him Racoon Eyes, 9.5 or the ballerina among other things.
Best wishes in your lawful and peaceful protests. I neither advocate nor condone unlawful activities. Stay within the law.
Just emagine I'd the police could strike before NATO??
Anonymous said...
They strike and Rahm will break their union.
The CTU complaints would mean a lot more if they had their kids in the system they teach in
Like many others, I teach in CPS so I can afford to pay the parochial tuition required to educate my children alongside other children whose parents actually value education. Catholic schools pay teachers 1/2 the salary of public schools and they haven't updated their curricula in 20 years, but still get strong results. You clearly don't understand much about education in Chicago.
I heard an interview with Rahm about this issue and he stated teachers should be concerned with teaching science and such. True, but when they come home they worry about paying bills in a city where everything from gas, taxes and tolls have doubled and paychecks stay the same or benefits decreased. Sorry Rahm, your full of shit
What ever happened to the Speed Camera ordinance? Maybe the Racoon finally hit a raw nerve in this town. Folks are fed up with being taxed and ticketed to death just to pur more money down worthless rat holes. With the Chicago schools looking at almost a $Billion defict by next year you know who is going to get the bill. Maybe our City Council will grow a set of balls and tell this little conniving bastard to back off. Maybe.
For the first time in many decades, I am around a young teacher. I am shocked at the amount of time this person spends on with job-oriented tasks:
All day Saturday
Several hours on Sunday
Over 16 hours per day Mon-Fri
The person has reported to me that even the older teachers spend a minimum of 10-12 hrs per day on work-related stuff.
The teachers are the test case for union negotiations citywide. Whether or not you like teachers is not the question here, for those of you who don't like teachers. If they get taken out by Rham in their negotiations, and they have the right to strike, what happens to Police and Fire, who DO NOT have the right to strike?
Support the teachers in full force on this one people. It is for your benefit in the long run.
Strike Strike Strike. I'll walk their picket line. What the fuck I'm retired plenty of time and I think they got the right idea.
They strike and Rahm will break their union.
The CTU complaints would mean a lot more if they had their kids in the system they teach in
4/07/2012 12:13:00 AM
with his nine and a half fingers, no doubt?
and would it help if gollum had his kids enrolled in cps?
He is not going to break the union. Obama needs the teacher support. Rambo does not need Madison type of demonstrations at city hall.
Rahm Emanual is going to screw everything over he can to make himself look good for the 2016 Presidential race. He could care less who he destroys or what he destroys.
the city wants a strike. a long strike will shorten the work year and ultimately save a bunch of money. and it is not as if it will have any significant effect on what actual education gets done.
At least the teachers have a balls to take a strike vote to show Rahm they are fed up. The teachers stuck together with a strong union. What does the CPD do? Complain on the blog while the hair gels write tickets every day and make arrests. Whether the teachers are right or wrong, they stood together and sent a message to Rahm. I applaud them for the courage to say something. You could not get two officers to agree on anything.
They don't have the balls to strike. It's all hot air. They know if they do walk out the mayor will stick it up their asses. He will fire all of them and hire new.
Strike teachers strike.
They strike and Rahm will break their union.
Agreed. Though I support the CTU, timing is everything. Reality is no one can afford to miss more than a paycheck or two in this economy. Rahm will paint the teachers as greedy & selfish, like Daley did to us. He will claim the city is broke. A fair amount of the uninformed, uneducated public will buy it. Teachers will look bad. Parents will become disgruntled with not having their babysitter. (school) God forbid a student gets killed in say...007 or 011. Because then we're gonna hear "If only the schools were open, he would've been there instead of the corner." Again,teachers will look bad. Rahm is playin for keeps.
If you don't kiss DancyPants' ring, you will be treated like scum.
I can understand their action in light of the fact that the mayor wants to add 90 min to their work day without any compensation. If he prevails with them, who will be next?
Let them go for it, between charter schools, and budget cuts they have nothing to lose. In fact, they'll never have better leverage. Now, if only FOP and ASCME will show some balls and support...
Seeing is believing.
The CTU talks tough, but many of the teachers are candy - asses that won't last a week in a strike.
They are just money whores who will cave easily.
Big City Police
(p.s. our own brothers and sisters are probably even worse than the teachers, they always bitch and NEVER go to a Union Meeting or READ their own contract)
Teachers should walk out. Our children do go to these schools. Rhams don't. Check out some teachers stories at the following links on this website
http://www.secondcityteacher.blogspot.com/?m=1
let'm strike , all the cps honor students can home school the slower kids
Watch "waiting for superman" before jumping on the teachers union bandwagon
4/07/2012 09:19:00 AM
Your an absolute idiot! The waiting for superman is riddled with racoon agenda ideas. It is like watching a micheal moore movie. You liked those too didn't you. Agreed with all his crap. You are part of the problem. You graduate from cps?
They strike and Rahm will break their union.
Agreed. Though I support the CTU, timing is everything. Reality is no one can afford to miss more than a paycheck or two in this economy. Rahm will paint the teachers as greedy & selfish, like Daley did to us. He will claim the city is broke. A fair amount of the uninformed, uneducated public will buy it. Teachers will look bad. Parents will become disgruntled with not having their babysitter. (school) God forbid a student gets killed in say...007 or 011. Because then we're gonna hear "If only the schools were open, he would've been there instead of the corner." Again,teachers will look bad. Rahm is playin for keeps.
Sounds like you painted the perfect reason for a strike. More work and explaining for rham and during obama election year. Angry parents in his home town. Teachers won't care if parents don't like them, rham and board of ed have to justify what they did to them. Karen lewis will be extremely vocal in the media as well.
Anonymous said...
For the first time in many decades, I am around a young teacher. I am shocked at the amount of time this person spends on with job-oriented tasks:
All day Saturday
Several hours on Sunday
Over 16 hours per day Mon-Fri
The person has reported to me that even the older teachers spend a minimum of 10-12 hrs per day on work-related stuff.
That's what most people don't understand. They think teachers' work ends at the end of the day when the kids leave, and they wonder why increasing the school day to 7.5 hrs is such a big deal. For every lesson a teacher teaches, time needs to be spent planning the lesson, locating or preparing the materials, differentiating it to meet the needs of kids who are at a wide variety of levels, etc. Elementary teachers teach 4-5 subjects a day and bend over backwards trying to get kids with very little home support up to grade level. Not too mention the endless assessments and administrative paperwork that must be completed...
Most teachers are passionate about their work and don't mind the long hours, but to make those hours significantly longer with NO additional compensation is insulting.
"Anonymous said...
Why no labor/union protests like those against Scott Walker ? I thought democrats were labor's party ?
4/07/2012 08:33:00 AM"
The Unions are spending all the members money protesting in Wisconsin. Since taxes are lower it's cheaper
I can understand their action in light of the fact that the mayor wants to add 90 min to their work day without any compensation. If he prevails with them, who will be next?
4/07/2012 04:04:00 PM
US.
"Anonymous said...
Like many others, I teach in CPS so I can afford to pay the parochial tuition required to educate my children alongside other children whose parents actually value education. Catholic schools pay teachers 1/2 the salary of public schools and they haven't updated their curricula in 20 years, but still get strong results. You clearly don't understand much about education in Chicago.
4/07/2012 10:40:00 AM"
You Teach in CPS yet your kids get a 20 year old curriculum that you pay for . That "Professional Educator" is amazing. Why aren't your kids in the world beating system that pays you? Maybe your kids in their neighborhood school would make a difference in the classroom, because it seems you certainly are not.
You know who else has test scores that beat CPS? Maywood, Summit, Bellwood, Elgin. Pretty much the same groups that are in CPS. They also have a longer school day than the one you work and a longer school year than yours and for less pay than you currently get.
You say I don't understand Education? Well, I sure understand an entitlement mentality when I see one. And I understand paying more in property taxes every year for a system that gets worse every year and I am sick and tired of it.
How do we as police(with a soon expired contract)show support for the teachers? Calling for Blue Flus and work slowdowns are punishable by termination.Any answers?
4/07/2012 08:49:00 AM
March with them to show big crowds to the media. Bring food and bottled water (bought outside the city water-tax zone, of course).
Can't wear your cpd stuff, but we can be supportive of them.
My dad was a CPS teacher who walked a picket line. I'll be there with them every free moment I've got.
The most dangerous person is one with nothing to lose...
Anonymous said... Just emagine I'd the police could strike before NATO??
4/07/2012 10:30:00 AM
WE don't have to officially say WE are on strike...that would be in violation of OUR contract. What WE can do is what we've been doing steadily since the Jfled era which is PUT THE BLINDERS ON and not do anything proactive...STAND DOWN and let this city burn in MAY and beyond. The most dangerous person is one with nothing to lose AND the police carry guns too...scary shit.
Chicago Motto
(delete)Ubs in Hort(delete)
UBI EST MEUM
STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE!! May is coming and the teachers strike combined with the record low CPD manpower (WE ain't doing shit to help you look good racoon) hot summer and record homicides will only help to BURN THIS CITY. RAHM invited the NATO summit now RAHM thinks he can stick it to the teachers. RAHM will look like the fool he is when this blows up in his face and makes National news as a complete failure with the City in further shambles.
Beat him at his own game. Make his appointed school board and all their changes in the rules to make it extremely hard to strike eat it. They took away last years raise because there was not enough money. Where did the money for cameras come from? Where did the bonus money come from for schools that voted yes for the longer school day? Something smells, Rahm picked a winner in JCB.
I hope the teachers and a few more unionized employees go on strike and stick it to the racoon !
Racoon only takes care of his "interests" & says fuck the rest !!
Rahm Emanual is going to screw everything over he can to make himself look good for the 2016 Presidential race !
************************************************
9.5 wouldn't look good surrounded by rotting corpse's.
CPS strike!
Know that CPD and CFD support you, we must UNITE and stop the assault on the city worker.
We support you!
I was involved in a strike prior to getting on the job and it really made my day when coppers drove by the strike/job and hit the airhorn.
We must back each other up, my wife is a teacher as are many copper's wives.
I hope CPS brings sense to Rahm, otherwise he intends on dismantling all unions and smashing any contractual rights.
Rahm will never let a strike happen. He will settle to keep the kids in school. He cannot have 200,000 kids out on the street being potential targets for weeks. The murder rate will be out of control. That is the main reason he is adding an hour to the school day. The longer the kid is in school the less likely they are victims of violence on the street. He could care less about test scores he cannot afford CPS students to be shown in their gowns on the news or front page of papers it will cost him the presidency!!!
Still would love to see a kick boxing match between Karen Lewis and the Racoon. Could see selling out Soldier Field and then some. I put all my money on Karen.
striking is not popular with the public. there is a much better way, its at the ballot box. november is just around the corner.
A strike? Not responsible behavior on the part of public employees. These are hard economic times for the average citizen who has suffered from pay cuts, loss of jobs, under employment while public employees get increases in pay and beneifts. And, don't forget, public pensions are heading toward collapse.
MAY is the month to STAND DOWN and support the teachers...send the Racoon a message and LET IT BURN baby! Welcome NATO allies, the CPD is understaffed and WE need your help to send RAHM and the powers that be a strong message.
4/07/2012 01:06:00 AM
You Sir should resign. You violate your oath.
4/07/2012 10:40:00 AM"
You Teach in CPS yet your kids get a 20 year old curriculum that you pay for . That "Professional Educator" is amazing. Why aren't your kids in the world beating system that pays you? Maybe your kids in their neighborhood school would make a difference in the classroom, because it seems you certainly are not.
You know who else has test scores that beat CPS? Maywood, Summit, Bellwood, Elgin. Pretty much the same groups that are in CPS. They also have a longer school day than the one you work and a longer school year than yours and for less pay than you currently get.
You say I don't understand Education? Well, I sure understand an entitlement mentality when I see one. And I understand paying more in property taxes every year for a system that gets worse every year and I am sick and tired of it.
You go ahead and put YOUR kids in the front lines. As for me, no thanks. Elgin is similar to Englewood? I don't think so.
Good for the CTU. Don't roll over for this sawed off runt. Strike and watch as the Agg-Batts soar because these little rats are not "Warehoused" like Emanuel wants them to be.
at check off the other night the brown envelope where all the activity goes in was pretty empty--- even the suckasses came in empty handed--- could it be that the police are starting to realize that monkey face is going to start a war come june when our contract is up--- watch closely what happens with the teachers because we are next--- bravo to the teachers for deciding to fight back...
A strike will only benefit Rahm. He won't have to pay salary, pension or benefits during the strike. The CTU will go bankrupt paying the teachers while they strike. All the kids who get killed during the strike will be blamed on the teachers.
Anyway, CPS is pathetic. The students are pathetic, the students' parents are even worse, and the teachers are worthless. (I generalize, of course.)
"Waiting for Superman" is just propaganda for charter schools, which aren't subject to the same scrutiny as public schools, yet get public funding. What a scam! Their test scores are higher because they are so selective. They don't have to take every problem child like CPS.
MAY is the month to STAND DOWN and support the teachers...send the Racoon a message and LET IT BURN baby! Welcome NATO allies, the CPD is understaffed and WE need your help to send RAHM and the powers that be a strong message.
4/07/2012 01:06:00 AM
You Sir should resign. You violate your oath.
4/08/2012 09:29:00 AM
===
If you think the original poster is the police, you should get your head examined. That post has OCCUPY written all over it.
A strike? Not responsible behavior on the part of public employees. These are hard economic times for the average citizen who has suffered from pay cuts, loss of jobs, under employment while public employees get increases in pay and beneifts. And, don't forget, public pensions are heading toward collapse.
4/08/2012 09:28:00 AM
------
Get off the blog, Rahm.
Anonymous said...
A strike will only benefit Rahm. He won't have to pay salary, pension or benefits during the strike. The CTU will go bankrupt paying the teachers while they strike. All the kids who get killed during the strike will be blamed on the teachers.
Anyway, CPS is pathetic. The students are pathetic, the students' parents are even worse, and the teachers are worthless. (I generalize, of course.)
4/08/2012 11:31:00 AM
Wow, I did not know that my son and I are worthless. I live in a nice home, my childe has very good grades, and we live a very clean life in Edison park. I did not know I was worthless? The teachers in my school (public) are very hard working and devoted to their students. They volunteer off duty to help with activites as we do. Now you tell me I am worthless? What do you do that is so valuable and gives you the right to call parents and teachers worthless? Asshat
Yes, that is the union answer to everything: more pay ane benefits and more dues that they can use to bribe the legislators in Springfield. And, don't forget, their answer to improving education is to have less of it. A system set up for the adults and not the children. In the meantime, Chicago has one of the worst public education systems in the country with the worst test scores and the worst graduation rate. If they go on strike, I hope Rahm has the union leaders jailed and the striking teachers fired and replaced. Then force all of the teachers who are grandfathered to live outside the city to move into the city.
Yes, that is the union answer to everything: more pay ane benefits and more dues that they can use to bribe the legislators in Springfield. And, don't forget, their answer to improving education is to have less of it. A system set up for the adults and not the children. In the meantime, Chicago has one of the worst public education systems in the country with the worst test scores and the worst graduation rate. If they go on strike, I hope Rahm has the union leaders jailed and the striking teachers fired and replaced. Then force all of the teachers who are grandfathered to live outside the city to move into the city.
4/08/2012 09:22:00 PM
---
Apparently, Rahm's staff has now discovered this topic on the blog and feels it's necessary to plant rebuttal posts. Pitiful.
Anonymous said... MAY is the month to STAND DOWN and support the teachers...send the Racoon a message and LET IT BURN baby! Welcome NATO allies, the CPD is understaffed and WE need your help to send RAHM and the powers that be a strong message.
4/07/2012 01:06:00 AM You Sir should resign. You violate your oath.
4/08/2012 09:29:00 AM === If you think the original poster is the police, you should get your head examined. That post has OCCUPY written all over it.
If that's the case the Mr. Obama and his former chief of staff RAHM should resign as well for violation of their oaths...special rules for special people and sir stop drinking the Kool Aid...rookie.
Teachers in the chicago public school system make more money, have a shorter day and shorter work year then any suburb. The product? A dismal graduation rate, test scores of students way below the national norm and the scant few who go on to college having to take remedial courses to catch up to their classmates. Yes, of course, that deserves a generous pay raise. Lets start by having a dress code so teachers do not come to work dressed like slobs, have them all live in the city and punch in and out for a 9 hour work day within the school building. They can do all of their after school work within their own classroom, just like every other professional. And, cut the time off. Two months off each summer, spring and christman vacations> Wow. Great job. Think about this when your nest real estate tax bill arrives and your kids cannot get into a good college because they have not learned anything.
time in a CPS classroom. Give me students from functional homes where education is valued, who come to school having slept, eaten, bathed, completed their homework, and whose parents turn off the video games and internet once in a while and THEN you can pay me according to their test scores. The climate in CPS schools is based on the premise that the results of the aforementioned problems are the product of weak classroom teaching.
4/07/2012 08:16:00 AM
Why does the proposed system work in other cities but when offered in Chicago, the teachers say it cannot work. I gues theyjust want to go on and on with what we have now. Unacceptable. There are teachers lined up for jobs who cannot get them. If a current teacher strikes they should be fired. Striking should be against the law for any public employee.
To
4:11 and 4:09. You the same Angary guy? You can't be a city worker or a cop. If you are you're the reason the city sucks. No offense to any cop at all, but by your logic "crime must really be down". Let's blame that on the police working in the trenches. Your fault. No raise, no overtime no court time. Come in on your day off for free. Go ahead buddy say that to all your blue brothers and sisters on this blog. Tell them crime is their fault in this city. Nutless
Why does the proposed system work in other cities but when offered in Chicago, the teachers say it cannot work. I gues theyjust want to go on and on with what we have now. Unacceptable. There are teachers lined up for jobs who cannot get them. If a current teacher strikes they should be fired. Striking should be against the law for any public employee.
"Other cities"? Which would those be? D.C.? And striking should be against the law for public employees? I'd suspect you as a Rahm plant, if not for your poor diction.
I see when someone posts a negative comment about striking they are roundly attacked. The national labor laws do little to protect opublic employees. That was left to the states and not all states have laws to protect public employees or allow collective barginning or striking. I don't think the one poster is an angry person, just fed up with overpaid , do little or nothing public employees . The entire system is heading toward a financial collapse and the public employee unions in many states refuse to accept this or face up to it.
"Other cities"? Which would those be? D.C.? And striking should be against the law for public employees? I'd suspect you as a Rahm plant, if not for your poor diction.
4/09/2012 10:13:00 PM
The grammer police, " I serve and correct".
You Sir should resign. You violate your oath.
4/08/2012 09:29:00 AM
I'll resign the very next day after the mayor an his 50 asspuppets resign for violating their oaths.
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