kakamukubwa
JF-Expert Member
- Apr 23, 2012
- 203
- 27
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The
confrontation between
Chicago teachers and Mayor
Rahm Emanuel escalated on
Sunday when their union
extended a strike and the mayor said he would go to
court to block the walkout,
risking more friction within
President Barack Obama's
political coalition as the
November 6 election nears. There will be no classes in
Chicago public schools for a
sixth day on Monday, and
probably a seventh on
Tuesday, affecting 350,000
kindergarten, elementary and high school students. The showdown left in doubt a
deal on wages, benefits and
education reforms for 29,000
unionized teachers that
negotiators had hoped would
end the biggest labor dispute in the United States in a year. It also could widen a rift
within the Democratic Party
between education reformers
such as Obama's former top
White House aide Emanuel,
and organized labor which the Democrats need to get out the
vote in the election. Chicago union President Karen
Lewis said some 800 union
delegates met on Sunday and
decided to consult with rank-
and-file members before
voting whether to end the walkout. "There's no trust (of the school
district and mayor)," Lewis
said. "So you have a
population of people who are
frightened of never being able
to work for no fault of their own." Union delegates will
reconvene on Tuesday to
discuss the feedback from
rank-and-file members, Lewis
said. Parents should plan for
their children to be out of school until at least
Wednesday, she said. No formal vote of delegates
was taken, but they were
asked to stand up so that the
union leadership could get a
sense of how many were for
and against ending the strike, delegates said. "A clear majority wanted to
stay out. That's why we are
staying out," Lewis told a
news conference after a
three-hour meeting of the
delegates. MAYOR CALLS STRIKE ILLEGAL Emanuel called the strike
"illegal" and said he would go
to court to seek an injunction
to block the labor action. "I will not stand by while the
children of Chicago are played
as pawns in an internal
dispute within a union,"
Emanuel said, adding that the
union walked out over issues that are not subject to a strike
under Illinois state law. Teachers revolted last week
against sweeping education
reforms sought by Emanuel,
especially evaluating teachers
based on the standardized test
scores of their students. They also fear a wave of
neighborhood school closings
that could result in mass
teacher layoffs. They want a
guarantee that laid-off
teachers will be recalled for other jobs in the district. "They're still not happy with
the evaluations. They're not
happy with the recall
(provision)," Lewis said of
delegates. Before the meeting of
delegates on Sunday, Lewis
had called the agreement a
"good contract." But after the
decision to extend the strike
she backtracked, saying: "This is not a good deal. This is the
deal we got." Emanuel's chief negotiator,
School Board President David
Vitale, said the union should
allow children to go back to
school while the two sides
complete the process. "We are extremely
disappointed that after 10
months of discussion reaching
an honest and fair
compromise that (the union)
decided to continue their strike of choice and keep our
children out of the classroom,"
Vitale said. During the first week of the
strike, opinion polls showed
parents and Chicago voters
backing the union, with some
parents and students joining
boisterous rallies. A key question is who the public will
support now that the strike is
dragging on. Former Chicago city council
member Dick Simpson said
Emanuel may have made a
mistake by going to court to
block the strike. "If I were advising the mayor,
I would have advised him to
be patient for a couple of
days," said Simpson, a political
science professor at the
University of Illinois at Chicago. By waiting, Emanuel
could have put the onus on the
teachers if they rejected the
contract later this week,
Simpson said. Both sides appeared to win
some concessions, according
to details of the tentative
agreement released by the
parties. Emanuel compromised on the
design of the first update of
the evaluation system for
Chicago teachers in 40 years.
He agreed to phase in the new
plan over several years and reduced the weighting of
standardized test results in
reviewing teachers. Teachers won some job-
security protections and
prevented the introduction of
merit pay in their contract. NATIONAL DEBATE The Chicago strike has shone a
bright light on a fierce
national debate over how to
reform failing inner-city
schools. The union believes
that more money and resources should be given to
neighborhood public schools to
help them improve. Emanuel and a legion of
financiers and philanthropists
believe that failing schools
should be closed and reopened
with new staff to give the
students the best chance of improving. In Chicago, more than 80
neighborhood schools have
been closed in the last decade
as the enrollment has declined
by about 20 percent. The
Chicago Tribune reported last week that another 120 of
about 600 city public schools
could be closed. At the same time, 96 so-called
charter schools have been
opened. Charters are publicly
funded but non-union and not
subject to some public school
rules and regulations. Their record of improving student
academic performance is
mixed. Lewis and the union argue
that charters are undermining
public education. The agreement calls for a 3
percent pay raise for teachers
this year and 2 percent in each
of the next two years. If the
agreement is extended for an
optional fourth year, teachers get a 3 percent increase.
Theincreases will result in anaverage 17.6 increase over
four years, the district said.
Chicago union teachers make an average of about $76,000 annually. The deal could worsen the Chicago Public Schools financial crisis. Emanuel said the contract will cost $295 million over four years, or $74 million per year. Debt rating agencies had
previously warned that the
new agreement with teachers it could bust the school district
budget and lead to a
downgrade of its credit rating. (Additional reporting by Peter Bohan;
Writing by Greg McCune; Editing by Eric Beech
and Eric Walsh)
confrontation between
Chicago teachers and Mayor
Rahm Emanuel escalated on
Sunday when their union
extended a strike and the mayor said he would go to
court to block the walkout,
risking more friction within
President Barack Obama's
political coalition as the
November 6 election nears. There will be no classes in
Chicago public schools for a
sixth day on Monday, and
probably a seventh on
Tuesday, affecting 350,000
kindergarten, elementary and high school students. The showdown left in doubt a
deal on wages, benefits and
education reforms for 29,000
unionized teachers that
negotiators had hoped would
end the biggest labor dispute in the United States in a year. It also could widen a rift
within the Democratic Party
between education reformers
such as Obama's former top
White House aide Emanuel,
and organized labor which the Democrats need to get out the
vote in the election. Chicago union President Karen
Lewis said some 800 union
delegates met on Sunday and
decided to consult with rank-
and-file members before
voting whether to end the walkout. "There's no trust (of the school
district and mayor)," Lewis
said. "So you have a
population of people who are
frightened of never being able
to work for no fault of their own." Union delegates will
reconvene on Tuesday to
discuss the feedback from
rank-and-file members, Lewis
said. Parents should plan for
their children to be out of school until at least
Wednesday, she said. No formal vote of delegates
was taken, but they were
asked to stand up so that the
union leadership could get a
sense of how many were for
and against ending the strike, delegates said. "A clear majority wanted to
stay out. That's why we are
staying out," Lewis told a
news conference after a
three-hour meeting of the
delegates. MAYOR CALLS STRIKE ILLEGAL Emanuel called the strike
"illegal" and said he would go
to court to seek an injunction
to block the labor action. "I will not stand by while the
children of Chicago are played
as pawns in an internal
dispute within a union,"
Emanuel said, adding that the
union walked out over issues that are not subject to a strike
under Illinois state law. Teachers revolted last week
against sweeping education
reforms sought by Emanuel,
especially evaluating teachers
based on the standardized test
scores of their students. They also fear a wave of
neighborhood school closings
that could result in mass
teacher layoffs. They want a
guarantee that laid-off
teachers will be recalled for other jobs in the district. "They're still not happy with
the evaluations. They're not
happy with the recall
(provision)," Lewis said of
delegates. Before the meeting of
delegates on Sunday, Lewis
had called the agreement a
"good contract." But after the
decision to extend the strike
she backtracked, saying: "This is not a good deal. This is the
deal we got." Emanuel's chief negotiator,
School Board President David
Vitale, said the union should
allow children to go back to
school while the two sides
complete the process. "We are extremely
disappointed that after 10
months of discussion reaching
an honest and fair
compromise that (the union)
decided to continue their strike of choice and keep our
children out of the classroom,"
Vitale said. During the first week of the
strike, opinion polls showed
parents and Chicago voters
backing the union, with some
parents and students joining
boisterous rallies. A key question is who the public will
support now that the strike is
dragging on. Former Chicago city council
member Dick Simpson said
Emanuel may have made a
mistake by going to court to
block the strike. "If I were advising the mayor,
I would have advised him to
be patient for a couple of
days," said Simpson, a political
science professor at the
University of Illinois at Chicago. By waiting, Emanuel
could have put the onus on the
teachers if they rejected the
contract later this week,
Simpson said. Both sides appeared to win
some concessions, according
to details of the tentative
agreement released by the
parties. Emanuel compromised on the
design of the first update of
the evaluation system for
Chicago teachers in 40 years.
He agreed to phase in the new
plan over several years and reduced the weighting of
standardized test results in
reviewing teachers. Teachers won some job-
security protections and
prevented the introduction of
merit pay in their contract. NATIONAL DEBATE The Chicago strike has shone a
bright light on a fierce
national debate over how to
reform failing inner-city
schools. The union believes
that more money and resources should be given to
neighborhood public schools to
help them improve. Emanuel and a legion of
financiers and philanthropists
believe that failing schools
should be closed and reopened
with new staff to give the
students the best chance of improving. In Chicago, more than 80
neighborhood schools have
been closed in the last decade
as the enrollment has declined
by about 20 percent. The
Chicago Tribune reported last week that another 120 of
about 600 city public schools
could be closed. At the same time, 96 so-called
charter schools have been
opened. Charters are publicly
funded but non-union and not
subject to some public school
rules and regulations. Their record of improving student
academic performance is
mixed. Lewis and the union argue
that charters are undermining
public education. The agreement calls for a 3
percent pay raise for teachers
this year and 2 percent in each
of the next two years. If the
agreement is extended for an
optional fourth year, teachers get a 3 percent increase.
Theincreases will result in anaverage 17.6 increase over
four years, the district said.
Chicago union teachers make an average of about $76,000 annually. The deal could worsen the Chicago Public Schools financial crisis. Emanuel said the contract will cost $295 million over four years, or $74 million per year. Debt rating agencies had
previously warned that the
new agreement with teachers it could bust the school district
budget and lead to a
downgrade of its credit rating. (Additional reporting by Peter Bohan;
Writing by Greg McCune; Editing by Eric Beech
and Eric Walsh)
