Teachers Strike Day 3 Morning Update: Sides "Kilometers Apart;" Custodians May Join Teachers In Strike; More Aldermen Weigh In
By Chuck Sudo in News on Sep 12, 2012 2:00PM
- As expected, negotiations between Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union ended Tuesday night with no resolution to the labor stalemate. CTU President Karen Lewis refuted Mayor Rahm Emanuel's claims that a deal could be near and suggested, while small progress had been made, the two sides were "kilometers apart." (Or "miles apart" according to the metric system-hating Tribune.)
“To say that the contract will be settled today is lunacy,” she said while at a rally that brought thousands of teachers to the downtown streets Tuesday afternoon. She later said she was “extremely frustrated” when a news reporter commented that it didn’t appear likely that the strike would be resolved even by the end of the day Wednesday.
Lewis said the rumors a deal was close was started by misinformation from Emanuel and CPS. A press release from CTU laid out their case.
“The Chicago Teachers Union has 49 Articles in its contract, to date, we have only signed off on six of them,” said CTU spokeswoman Stephanie Gadlin in a press release. “The Chicago Public Schools has made proposals to change nearly every article. It is not accurate to say both sides are extremely close—this is misinformation on behalf of the Board and Mayor Emanuel. We have a considerable way to go. This is a fact they cannot deny."
- School Board President David Vitale says they're putting forth "proposals that we think honor the profession." He took issue with the second teachers rally ending within earshot of compromise talks, saying, "This is not the behavior of a group of people that are serious about the interests of our children. It is time for us to get serious."
- A Tuesday poll in the Sun-Times indicated voters supported CTU in the strike. Now other labor groups may strike in solidarity. Service Employees International Union Local 1 informed companies that have labor deals with the union the 1,800 school custodians may go on strike Friday. Several SEIU janitors indicated to SEIU executives they were willing to go on strike, so the notice served as a way to let companies know without violating their contracts.
- Two more aldermen have voiced their opinions on the strike. Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) penned an op-ed for Progress Illinois hoping for a quick resolution... for the sake of the children, yes, but Sawyer also touched upon teacher evaluations and other issues that stand between CPS, CTU and a deal.
It seems to me that before you are going to evaluate teachers based on the performance of students, we must at least create a plan that would allow for a fair starting place. A school without internet service, air-conditioning or where students deal with multiple acts of deadly violence and lost classmates would never perform at the same level as a student for whom those issues did not exist. A teacher that has to feed children, wash children and dress children as well as counsel children all before they begin to teach will never match the academic results of a teacher that did not face those challenges. I believe that some acknowledgement of this as a reality is a necessary starting point to this discussion.
Ald. Proco "Joe" Moreno (1st) appeared on Fox Business Channel Tuesday to speak about the strike.
- I'm working on my own timeline of events leading up to the strike for later. Until then, I refer you to former school teacher Seth Lavin's January article on his take of what led up to this.