By Steve Rhodes
Did they both want a strike? Alexander Russo asks on This Week in Education. Check out the link for last night’s dueling press conferences.
As to the question, I don’t think so, but I also think that once it came down to the wire, the CTU was going to go out for at least a day or two to make a statement to Rahm.
From Rahm’s perspective, I think he wanted to bend the union to his will and “break” the teachers without it getting to a strike. Now he’s got a national PR mess on his hands as the guy who can’t tame the teachers or the gangs.
*
“Talks have been productive in many areas,” CTU President Karen Lewis said. “We have successfully won concessions for nursing mothers and have put more than 500 of our members back to work. We have restored some of the art, music, world language, technology and physical education classes to many of our students. The Board also agreed that we will now have textbooks on the first day of school rather than have our students and teachers wait up to six weeks before receiving instructional materials.”
Teachers had to fight to have textbooks on the first day of school?
And you thought this was just about money. It sounds like teachers are fighting for students too, no?
*
“Recognizing the Board’s fiscal woes, we are not far apart on compensation,” Lewis said. However, we are apart on benefits. We want to maintain the existing health benefits.”
After all, isn’t Rahm touting the fact that under Obamacare you can keep your existing health plan? Unless you’re a Chicago school teacher?
*
“We are also concerned that too much of the new evaluations will be based on students’ standardized test scores,” Lewis said.
So is Obama.
*
“Despite a new curriculum and new, stringent evaluation system, CPS proposes no increase (or even decreases) in teacher training,” Lewis said.
Get better on your own time!
*
“We are demanding a reasonable timetable for the installation of air-conditioning in student classrooms – a sweltering, 98-degree classroom is not a productive learning environment for children,” Lewis said.
Give students the air shafts, Rahm.
*
“Class size matters,” Lewis said. “It matters to parents.”
It certainly matters to Rahm – when it comes to his kids.
*
“In the third largest school district in Illinois there are only 350 social workers – putting their caseloads at nearly 1,000 students each,” Lewis said. “We join them in their call for more social workers, counselors, audio/visual and hearing technicians and school nurses. Our children are exposed to unprecedented levels of neighborhood violence and other social issues, so the fight for wraparound services is critically important to all of us.”
Makes sense if you really want to take a holistic approach to crime.
*
Rahm will return to the negotiating table tomorrow morning right after he drops his kids off at the Lab School.
*
They’re not surprised in Rochester.
*
Rahm too busy raising money for SuperPACs to raise money for teachers.
*
A lot of Abe Froman reservations around town for lunch today.
*
Note to CPS students: The Cubs play a night game. Sorry.
*
Rahm thinks more cops will deter crime but denies more teachers would improve education.
*
“An analysis of budget documents shows that CPS leaders didn’t make promised cuts in central office.”
*
Last year ended with more than 15,000 homeless students enrolled in CPS.
Posted on September 10, 2012