Members First Announces Slate

Members First Announces Election Slate 

By Jim Vail

Members First President Therese Boyle & VP Viktor Ochoa

Members First announced its officer slate to run in the next Chicago Teachers Union election May 17, 2019 - President Therese Boyle (35 yrs CPS, psychologist), Vice President Viktor Ochoa (23 yrs, Schurz counselor), Financial Secretary Debbie Yaker (21 years, special education) and Recording Secretary Sharon Davis (20 years CTU delegate, physical education).

This year's race to be president of the CTU should be interesting. CORE - Coalition of Rank & File Educators, has ruled the roost since 2010 when they upset the ruling party UPC in a runoff.

President Karen Lewis used her popular status to lead the first Chicago Teachers Union strike in 25 years in 2012 and was considered a strong candidate for mayor until she battled serious illness that led to her recent retirement.

CORE is currently led by CTU President Jesse Sharkey, Vice President Stacy Davis Gates, Recording Secretary Michael Brunson and Financial Secretary Maria Moreno. CORE voted to replace Brunson with CTU field rep Christel Williams-Hayes on their slate in the spring election. 

In the last nine years there has been no real opposition to CORE.

That should be different this time around.

"The reason why I'm running is I believe our union has fallen away from transparency in terms of making decisions," Boyle said in a press conference on the South Side to announce the slate this past week. She said her family's been teaching in CPS since the 1880's.

"They need to include the members' voices more. We need some checks and balances." 

Boyle said she has degrees in financing and economics and she became concerned about the union finances about one year and a half ago.

"I want to bring back the financial stability of the union," she said. "The more stable we are financially, the more services we can bring out to you in the schools."

She said she is concerned about the next contract and to recover what was lost. 

The media asked about a strike.  Boyle said a strike is "always a last resort."

She said that the union only asking for a five percent raise in the next contract will not make up for all the loses from the previous contracts. Boyle did not tell the media at the press conference how much of a raise the teachers should ask for.

"We're having a hard time attracting and maintaining good teachers here," she said. "So we have to offer a good contract so they'll stay."

Ochoa said the union needs to get back to the basics. He said the COLAs (cost of living) are gone and raises are non existent, less choices for benefits - PPO or HMO, paying more at the pharmacy, and the job is more stressful each year. He said this should be a career, but young people come in and they don't last. 

"We should make classrooms less stressful and these contracts have not helped," he said.

The CTU endorsed Toni Preckwinkle for mayor. Boyle said whoever is the next mayor they will sit down at the table and negotiate the best contract for the teachers.

Members First started about two years ago as a watchdog group because of concerns with union finances. Deficit budgets necessitated a lot of cuts at the union. Boyle said a lack of transparency around spending, taking loans without asking members and making loans prompted the formation of Members First. In 2015 the CTU had $8.8 million in reserves and when they asked the union where this money went, the CTU responded, "We overspent." 

"We got more active asking questions and decided to step up even further and run for office," Boyle said at the press conference.

Boyle said she works with a lot of CORE members and they're doing great work. She said she doesn't have concern with the members, but with the way the union leadership is handling the resources. 

On Friday, May 17, 2019, Union members will elect officers of the Chicago Teachers Union for a three (3)-year term ending on June 30, 2022.  All active members may vote for the President, Vice President, Financial Secretary, Recording Secretary, six (6) Trustees, three (3) Area Vice Presidents, 150 AFT/IFT Delegates and 45 AFT/IFT Alternate Delegates.  Each member will also vote for the Functional Vice Presidents of her or his own functional group.

Teacher black list

THE BLACK SPOT

             SCORES OF MOSCOW SCHOOL TEACHERS ARE BEING BLACKLISTED

By  Stephen Wilson

             The Department of Education and Science, in Moscow, is believed to  hold

             a digital blacklist available, which on request, is accessible to  headmasters,  

             wondering whether to employ an applicant for a new post . By simply pressing

             a button against the candidate's name they will, in a split second, obtain either

             a 'Yes' or 'no'. If the headmaster receives a 'no', it means 'the teacher has no

             recommendations for the future post of teacher.' In other words, the teacher

             is deemed 'too troublesome' to employ. This is mostly done without any inquiry,

             explanation or full clarification of any kind. Due to this blacklist , many teachers,

             who in the past fell foul of a headmaster often for personal disagreements or trade

             union disputes, can't obtain any new post of teacher in other schools.Their career

             is ruined. The deep trauma of those teachers can't be weighed. They feel not

             just shunned or unwanted. They feel absolute alienation. It is almost like a kind

             of death. Russians refer being put on this list as being granted 'a black spot'

             based on the novel Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, where a pirate

             is sent a piece of paper with a black spot, which suggested a warning of his

             imminent death. {Черной  Меткой } . The Russians more articulately and aptly

             describe it. For the English word 'black-list ' seems a casual understatement !

             But for myself a quotation from Sophocles'  Philoctetes  seems more appropriate

             when he tells the Greeks : "You left me friendless, solitary, without a city, a corpse

             among the living '.

             When the Russian trade union 'Teacher' raised the issue with the Ministry of

             Education and Science they did not receive a straightforward answer. They

             did not deny the existence of such a blacklist. What they did claim is that if

             a headmaster receives the answer : 'No' it does not mean anything bad about

             the teacher but 'only that he receives no recommendations'. So they are trying

             to claim ' we don't have a blacklist but only make a list of teachers without

             recommendations. In succinct terms, they are dishonestly playing with words.

             This digital blacklist is thought to have been conceived only two years ago. It

             seems to have been largely the initiative of the present head of the Moscow

             Department of Education and Science Isaac Kalin . What makes it more effective

             than past blacklists is that it is a universally applied digital system easily available

             and accessible to a headmaster in seconds. A source in the Minister of Education

             claimed that headmasters are free to employ a teacher regardless of whether he is

             on the blacklist. However, the Union Teacher claims : "Our experience is that the

             vast majority of headmasters won't employ a candidate apart from a minority of

             decent headmasters ".The Chairman of Teacher, Vsevolod , stated : "Troubles

             begin when you press this button 'No.' It does not depend on what article you were

             fired under. All the ways to Moscow Education are closed ".

             In fact , a headmaster can find any petty excuse to fire a teacher he or she has

             fallen out with. Under Article 48 of the Law of Education of the Russian Federation

             you can be fired for 'amoral behavior 'which could be anything. For example, a

             teacher at a Moscow Nursery was fired for simply dropping into the toilet  and

             leaving her class unsupervised. But if she had urinated in a bottle in front of

             children she would be fired for 'inappropriate behavior' . So a headmaster will always

             find the slightest petty thing as a pretext for firing someone.

             In one case, the teacher Mikhail Zhdanov of school number 1973 was fired in 2016

             for alleged violations.He had been dismissed after a check of machine tools which

             had gone missing and amounted to a staggering amount of 1.7 million rubles in

             damage. He and his wife lost their posts after 'an investigation'. He states : "I refused

             to make a declaration that I willingly left my post . I and wife took  this up in court".

             He stated he had been without work for over two years. Unfortunately , he lost his

             case as the court refused to reinstate him to his former post.

             In another case, a biology teacher  refused to give his real name. He stated : "I have

             been without work for one and half years. I was forced out of school because I got

             into a conflict with parents who were not satisfied with how I taught their children....

             Yet I successfully prepared no less than ten children who entered a leading medical

             University of the country. " The biology teacher found that no matter what school he

             applied to, he never got the job. Then one headmaster interviewing him spilled the

             beans by informing him that his name was on a blacklist.

             However, the trade union Teacher has launched an impressive campaign to ban

             this blacklist which clearly and blatantly violates Russian law. They have made an

             appeal to fired teachers to come forward with details about their cases, organised

             a petition against the blacklist which has so far attracted thousands of signatures

             and organised public pickets of Government offices. Many sympathetic journalists

             in the Russian press have written great articles on the issue. For example , this

             article owes a great debt to Maria Lemutkina, who wrote an excellent article for

             Moskovskii  Komsomolets , 19.2.19  titled in Russian: 'Заклейменные Черной

             Меткой '.

           

Trade unions

PROPOSAL TO FOUND INDEPENDENT TRADE UNION

By Stephen Wilson

"Our Task is to create a spontaneous trade union movement which will have

one simple goal, not a political one. We don't say love Navalny or Putin . Just

demand a higher salary ". A supporter of Navalny, stated "Our trade unions

have never functioned as actual trade unions.We are planning to figure it out

as we go along." Navalny, in a public video, then went on to quote figures

about how the Russian government had failed to live up to its promise of

the May Decree of 2012 of  doubling the wages of teachers and doctors .

According to the May decree, salaries should have been increased to at

least 59,000 rubles a month for teachers in Saint Petersburg while doctors

should have attained 118,000 rubles a month. But in actual fact, teachers

only obtain a salary ranging from 20-30,000 rubles a month, and in some

of the worst cases, a meager 18,000 rubles. This comes as no great

revelation to sober and objective observers.

What are we to make of this public declaration? Can it be taken seriously?

It seems to be more like a pious intention or wish rather than a serious plan.

But even the proposal will strike many people as too vague, as well as

inarticulate. At worst, it seems insincere. How can the proposed creation of

a huge independent Trade Union by a prominent leader of the opposition

be regarded as 'non-political'? Call it what you will, the government would

certainly regard it as political especially if it is supported by the opposition.

The statement states the main goal would be simply to raise wages. That

is not the only goal of a trade union. What about burning issues such as

unfair dismissal, overwork, poor job security, and teachers doing a 60

hour week for a pittance? What about the issue of empowering workers

by giving them a voice in the decision making process? What about the

mass closure of schools and hospitals following optimization? But how

on earth can an eventually worked out plan to establish a trade union be

viewed as 'spontaneous'? By spontaneous most people understand a

group or strike organised at a grassroots level by workers involved in a

conflict. Many of the past industrial disputes and conflicts in Russia took

place without the aid of any unions. At most Navalvy can play a positive

role in investigating the corruption behind unpaid or low paid wages  as

well as unfair dismissals.

It seems that this is an attempt to increase his popular support among

the poorer sections of the working class. Navalny is perceived by many

as being too center right and simply reflecting the interests of the middle

class and alienated business men and women. Many people claim that

Navalny has no program or at least no alluring or attractive program

which would win the poorest Russians. He is simply seen as standing

on 'a no corruption program'. From the money saved on halting corruption,

it would invested in a huge program of building schools, hospitals and

paying decent pensions. So Navalny's appeal is an attempt to appear

as ' not yet again another anti corruption politician'  such as the late Yeltsin

or the present President Putin, but something much more.

It appears that Navalny is unaware or has little idea at what is a genuine

trade union. He is not alone! Ask any Russians attending opposition

rallies whether they know anything about Independent trade Unions and

you bound to hear "We don't have independent trade unions in Russia."

This is because the ineffective, corrupt and decadent Confederation of

Trade  Union comprises 20 million members from the current 25 million

members of unions. This union not only collaborates with the government,

but is involved in murky property deals and even colludes in dismissing

workers. If you ask a worker or teacher, "Have you heard of the independent

trade Union Teacher, which was founded in 2011 and has a membership

of at least 6000, or the Union of University Teachers whose membership

hardly surpasses 1000," you will stump them. "I have never heard of those

Independent unions," is the almost standard reply.

A Russian Journalist, Andrei Polunin, stated: "We don't really have a tradition

of independent unions like in the West. The only successful exception was

when Ford workers near Saint Petersburg went on strike and won their

demands. But now under the increased centralization of the government, the

rise of independent trade unions will be impossible for now. But I think we are

going to witness big changes as I don't think Putin can last that much longer."

The Government has already been crushing the existence of Independent

Unions. Just around two years ago the Inter-regional Trade Union was

dissolved under the pretext of being 'a foreign agent where they accepted

grants from abroad'. The union, which comprised 4000 members, is

viewed by Andrei and others as one of the most successful independent

unions which won strikes at Ford. Only very few independent trade unions

have managed to emulate the success of this union. But now we can anticipate

increased repression of independent trade unions as salaries drop, inflation

soars and  unfair taxation schemes are imposed on free lance tutors, joiners,

mechanics and plumbers who are simply attempting to supplement their already

scant earnings.

In order to persuade people to join an Independent union, you have to offer them

something much more substantial than just pay rises. They require much better

benefits, protection and a reasonable amount of working hours. Creating an

independent trade union demands an enormous amount of effort, and work as

well as entailing largely unwanted risks.  It can't be set up overnight.

Gravel paths?

Where’s all the gravel on north lakefront trail?

By Jim Vail

News-Star

One of our dear readers who works as a nurse heard several of her elderly patients who enjoy walking along the North Lakefront Trail complain that the recent reconstruction project that has resulted in separate bike and walking pathways has made life more difficult on their joints.

The removal of the gravel along the paved trails is making for sore joints and an uncomfortable walk.

“The changes are part of the Lakefront Trail Separation project,” Michele Lemons, Chicago Park District communications director, wrote in an email to this newspaper. 

“Some segments of the completed 18 mile trail include a crushed stone shoulder while other segments do not due to space constraints (ie. mature trees, grading, lighting, lake edge, bridge widths, etc.). The Chicago Park District included the crushed stone shoulder into the new design wherever possible.”

Lemons said she is checking with various departments about complaints, but so far she is not aware of anybody complaining to the park district about the lack of gravel.

Some people have complained that the park district went nuts with creating super-wide swaths of blacktop, to the detriment of green space and drainage, in areas where the pedestrian and bike routes aren’t physically separated, but are painted side-by-side on the same broad path, such as between Montrose and Recreation Drive.

“So did the park district cop out here, or was it a case of not being able to make an omelet without cracking some eggs,” said John Greenfield, who edits Streetsblog Chicago. “It’s hard to say for sure, but it’s certainly understandable that some people, especially seniors, are upset that they have fewer opportunities for low-impact exercise now, even if they’re benefitting from the safety improvements.”

The Chicago runners group also weighed in on the problem.

“One of the greatest amenities has been the soft surface side path along nearly all the Lakefront Trail,” Dale Erdmier, communications and marketing manager for Chicago Area Runners Assoc. (CARA) told this newspaper. “We highly value the soft surface path, and we continue to advocate to the Chicago Park District for retaining all that we still have, to see areas lost returned, and to identify ways to replace lost path with new options.”

Running and walking on gravel, which was plentiful before the construction, made it easier on joggers and seniors’ joints.

Greenfield, who covers all areas of city transportation on Streetsblog Chicago, said the Lakefront Trail project should include as much soft-surface side paths as possible.

“In general the Lakefront Trail separation project has been a big improvement to the shoreline path, which has reduced the potential for crashes between pedestrians and cyclists,” he stated. “That’s a win for seniors, for whom a collision and fall could easily have life-changing consequences.”

But he noted that removing the gravel is not helpful.

“On the other hand, if the project has resulted in the removal of a significant amount of soft-surface paths for walking and running, that’s not a good thing for seniors, or anyone else who wants or needs low-impact physical activity. As such, the park district should take steps to ensure that there is no net loss of soft-surface path mileage, even if that means tearing up some of the new asphalt.”

The question is did the park district make a good-faith effort to put in crushed limestone wherever possible, or was it simply more convenient to lay down asphalt and took the easy way out, Greenfield said.

“I’d be interested to know the total mileage of crushed limestone side paths that were lost,” he said.

Inside Publications also reached out to Active Transportation Alliance – a non-profit advocacy organization that works to improve conditions for bicycling, walking and transit and engage people in healthy and active ways to get around. However, as of press time, they have not responded to the case of missing gravel along the lakefront paths.

T.S. Eliot

'LIKE A BAD RUSSIAN NOVEL'  - HOW THE POET T.S. ELIOT STILL INSPIRES RUSSIANS AND OTHERS

By Stephen Wilson

MOSCOW -- "I really enjoy his poetry. I especially like his poems about

cats" admits Svetlana Wilson, a 57 year old  artist. And

the Russian teacher Oksana  Chebotareva, a teacher,

is fond of his poem : The Wasteland , where she can

detect deep spiritual meaning. The late theologian and

Philosopher Alexander Men, in his works, freely quoted

the Wasteland where he rhetorically raises the question

posed by T.S. Eliot : 'Who is the Other who walks beside

you ? ' For Men, this is evidently Christ but for other

readers it could be perceived as either an angel, a

delusion or a mirage one imagines when one is disorientated

in the desert. While there are a myriad of endless interpretations

of Eliot there is one thing which is beyond doubt. Not only

has Eliot strongly influenced Russian thought but, Russian

writers, thinkers and philosophers had a profound influence

on the writing of his poetry not to mention his personal life.

One only has to peruse the eight volumes of his letters that

have been published, examine his journal : The Criterion and

just take a sharper look at his poems. In deed , Eliot's description

of London as a kind of hell not only owes much to Dante but

also Dostoyevsky. who wrote a scathing attack of London in

his work "Winter Notes on Summer Impressions' as a city of

alienated and isolated residents. Eliot, portrays a city of

people who have died already :

He who was living is now dead

We who are all living are now dying

With a little patience.

Eliot published book reviews of Russian philosophers in exile like

Leo Shestov and Nicholas Berdyaev. When on the verge of a

nervous Breakdown due to family troubles, Eliot even went so

far as to describe his life as being "like a bad Russian novel ". It

is often thought that it was this darkest period of his life when

his wife had lost her sanity, his father died and he could find

no peace of mind as being the chief influence on the pessimism

which haunts the wasteland. Some critics claim that the work is

an inherently dark and pessimistic. But an English teacher called

Neil who worked as an English teacher in Moscow strongly

disagreed. He told me "I studied English literature at university

and argued in an essay that Eliot's Wasteland could be viewed

as optimistic. But the tutor marking my essay told me it was

impossible to make this interpretation. They just impose their

views on students and don't allow students to express their own

opinion" stated Neil bitterly. In deed, all the books I had read

on The Wasteland ' seemed to reach the same conclusion that

The Wasteland is about the decline of western civilization and

the growing spiritual vacuum in Europe. Just take a read of

Colin Wilson's book 'The Outsider'. However , is this not a very

one sided and over simplistic interpretation of The Wasteland ?

Has Neil got a point ? The following quotation from The

Wasteland can be seen as conveying a positive subtle note or

shining beacon in the all pervasive darkness of the poem.The

darkness is certainly there but does not have the last word !

Who is the third who walks always beside you ?

When I count, there are only you and I together

But when I look ahead up the white road

There is always another one walking beside you

Gliding wrapt  in a brown mantle, hooded

I do not know whether a man or a woman

-But who is that on the other side of you ?

Eliot himself was inspired by reading an account of an Antarctic

explorer called Sir Ernest Shackleton who wrote in his work

'South' that he believed that on the last leg of his journey

to reach the pole  : " During that long and racky march

of 36 hours over the unnamed mountains and glaciers of south

Georgia it seemed to me that we were four and not three".

But Eliot also made notes linked to these lines of a famous

incident in the Gospel of Luke where two fleeing disciples

meet Christ on the road after his death but don't recognize

him and gives them bread after being invited to their home.

However, the poem and other events from real traumatic

and dramatic incidents suggest what psychologists call

The Third man factor or syndrome. This is a situation where

a person in a daunting and dangerous situation feels the

unseen presence of some person, spirit or angel who helps

them find away out of the crisis. While some people will

claim the person is experiencing delusions or 'is seeing things',

a more religious person might believe it is a dead member of

his family , an angel, saint or Christ. For instance, at a storytelling

session at Moscow State University I recall a student telling me

how a soldier in the Great Patriotic War was warned by a dead

member of the person to immediately move out of a dug out.

After he moved out a shell landed in the very dug out he had

wisely abandoned. It could be argued that although a person

is in the wasteland there is always a possible way out and

a third person is always there to assist. You never know who

might be looking over your shoulder ! So in a sense , Neil

was right after all. And so was the Russian philosopher Alexander

men!

Teacher Dies in Fire

Chicago Public School Teacher Dies in Fire
By Jim Vail

Kathleen Gomez, 48, beloved CPS teacher died in a fire this week.

When I got the news that Kathy Gomez, a CPS teacher, died on Monday in a fire in her building, I was stunned.

I knew Gomez because we taught together at Hammond Elementary School about 13 years when our school just added 8th grade. 

She was nice, strong and very dedicated to teaching. 

The papers say she was an ESL teacher at Gage Park High School and had planned to transfer to Roberto Clemente High School.

Gomez, 48,  had taught at a number of schools. She was a tough mujer on the SW Side who battled many administrations. She told me she worked at a school in Pilsen as the bilingual lead teacher.

Gomez kept you on your toes. She always challenged people around her, whether they wanted to be challenged or not. But she did with a sweet smile, over a hard interior.

She also enjoyed working in real estate and helped manage a building that her mother owned.

Our family at Hammond has lost yet another young teacher. 

We lost Celia Rivero, 31, our 5th grade bilingual teacher, then Orlando Rodriguez, 41, our 7th grade social studies teacher, and now Kathy Gomez, 48.

Rivero and Rodriguez lost their battles to cancer.

The papers reported that Gomez did not have a working smoke detector in her building. Guess what I just ordered?

This has happened before. The house in Little Village just down the street where six children died in a fire also did not have a working smoke detector. 

Residents told the TV news that they saw Gomez's lifeless body being removed from the building at 1800 S. Peoria in Pilsen in the early hours Monday.  

The firefighters said the blaze started in the living room and they are investigating the cause of the fire.

Gomez is another beloved teacher who left our world before her time. She was dedicated to her students and the world around her. She loved her faith and always had kind words and a warm personality.

I just kept thinking, Kathy was with us just a little while ago. And now she's gone.

May her beautiful memory live on. 

Services will be at Michael Coletta Funeral Home 544 W. 31st. The wake will be Friday, Feb. 8 from 3pm - 9pm and the funeral Saturday, Feb. 9 at 10am. 

CPS teacher Kathleen Gomez, 48, died in a fire early Monday morning in Pilsen.

GAGE PARK HIGH SCHOOL WEBSITE