Urban Prep Charter Charade

Urban Prep put its reputation ahead of results
by Chezare A. Warren
Chicago Tribune commentary

When I joined Urban Prep Academies in 2006 as the founding math teacher at what was to become the nation’s first all-boys public charter high school, the Chicago school’s faculty and staff had one central goal.

We were on a mission to get black boys from Englewood — a racially segregated and economically distressed neighborhood, and a community described in the media as one of the city’s most dangerous — to and through college.

Each spring, Urban Prep Academies boasts that 100% of seniors graduating from each of its three campuses gains admission to a four-year college or university. But if you look beneath the 100% college acceptance claim — which sometimes gets misinterpreted as 100% actually going to college — you may find results that raise serious questions about the quality of education at the school.

For starters, the reality is only 12.8% of Urban Prep students at the West campus met Illinois’ college readiness benchmarks. Further, only about two-thirds of the class of 2017 at Urban Prep’s West campus actually enrolled in college. A little less than 44% of the school’s 2016 graduates were persisting in college based on the latest report.

In a statement to The Conversation, school officials maintained that a major reason its graduates don’t persist in college is due to lack of money.

“The number one reason we are given as why Urban Prep graduates choose not to continue pursuing their degree is a lack of financial resources and proper supports at the colleges they attend,” Dennis Lacewell, chief academic officer at Urban Prep Academies, wrote in an email to The Conversation. “This is consistent with national data related to first-generation and black male students going to college.”

However, in my own and other higher education scholarship, lack of money is sometimes related to students’ lack of academic preparation for college. For instance, at least two young men who participated in my study of Urban Prep’s graduates revealed that they lost an academic scholarship because of low GPAs.

The future of one of the school’s campuses — Urban Prep West — became imperiled in December 2018 when officials at Chicago Public Schools recommended shutting it down. That decision was later overturned by the Illinois State Charter School Commission.

When the school was in danger of closing, “some students stated” that they “didn’t care” if the school closed down or that it was “good” that it was closing.

One student spoke about how the “teachers put on a show” for parents, but treat students badly “behind closed doors.”

Urban Prep graduates expressed similar sentiments when sociologist Derrick Brooms and I originally set out to conduct research. Our aim was to describe how students at Urban Prep saw the school in terms of helping them complete college.

Two of the young men shared how they felt like “commodities” and “caged in” at Urban Prep. Another young man revealed that “there was more time being put into the look of the school than the actual students.”

These young men admitted they did not want to let the school’s supporters down. They said they did whatever was asked of them to gain admission to college, which they knew would reflect well on the school. The young men’s comments point to pressure they felt to “look” the part of being college-ready, despite feeling as if they may not have initially had the necessary academic tools to succeed in college.

Several of the young men reported that they rarely felt academically “challenged” during their four years at the high school. Those who got to take an Advanced Placement course tended to agree these courses made them feel most prepared for college. Still, these young men’s broader reflections on their academic preparation, transition to college, as well as data from the Illinois Report Card, reveal that Urban Prep may have invested more in a portrait of academic success than they did in providing high quality educational experiences.

These criticisms aside, for other students and officials at Urban Prep, the March decision to allow the school to stay open is — as founder and CEO Tim King stated in a recent letter to supporters — a “major triumph.”

Publicly available data show that the school’s SAT scores and other indicators of college and career readiness remain a troubling reality. For instance, Urban Prep West students averaged scores in the 31st percentile on the SAT, which is considered “pretty low.”

Lacewell, the chief academic officer at Urban Prep, told The Conversation that Urban Prep students “outperform their peer groups on myriad metrics including high school graduation rates, daily attendance rates, standardized test growth.” Technically, that is true.

However, not everyone is convinced that Urban Prep West deserves to stay open.

“The school is not set up to be successful, and we are potentially just delaying a school closure because they’re not going to be able to do the turnaround that needs to happen,” Bill Farmer, one of two members of the Illinois State Charter School Commission who voted against keeping the school open, stated at a hearing in March. “There needs to be a bigger systemic approach to infuse areas with the appropriate resources they need.”

Much of what the public knows about Urban Prep is based on images of clean-cut young black men donning black blazers, button-down shirts and red ties, sporting the baseball cap of the college they intend to enroll. But that is where the cameras stop rolling. And this is precisely where the public must continue to ask probing questions such as: Do they enroll in college, do they persist and do they complete? And most importantly, do these young black men feel prepared to pursue their own dreams despite being confronted by “antiblack racism?”

Boasting about 100% college acceptance rates claiming to “change the narrative” about young black men and boys does very little to answer these questions.

The Conversation

Chezare A. Warren is an assistant professor of teacher education at Michigan State University.

CTU Audit Firm Troubling

CTU Audit Firm Involved in Big Scandal
By Jim Vail

Robert Hannigan, managing partner Bansley & Kiener LLP

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has been hit with a budget deficit the last two years.

The last year budget problems resulted in forcing field reps and other employees to take early retirements or be fired.

This year the union announced to delegates during its budget presentation in May that they will need to take out a loan for almost $1 million to help pay the Merchandise Mart rent.

The CTU hired Bansley & Kiener, an accounting company, to audit its books. The firm has long worked for the Daley family's political funds.

According to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times, Bansley did the books and gave a clean financial bill of health during annual reviews to Washington Federal Bank for Savings before the bank was shut down due to unauthorized loans that the feds are now looking into. 

The president of the bank who authorized many illegal loans was found dead of an apparent suicide, although sources close to the bank believe one of his borrowers was concerned he might talk to police and therefore had him bumped off.

Bansley also handles the finances of 11th Ward Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson - the nephew of former Mayor Richard Daley - and have made campaign contributions to the Daleys.

A federal judge recently ordered Bansley & Kiener to turn over its records on the failed bank to the FDIC.

Authorities shut down Washington Federal Bank for Savings over a year ago over millions of dollars in unaccounted-for loans that now total at least $80 million, according to the FDIC as reported by the Sun-Times.

Ald. Thompson who took loans from Washington Federal is the third alderman under a federal investigation - Ald. Ed Burke (14) and Ald. Danny Solis (25) are the other two.

Bansley & Kiener contributed $12,480 on Oct. 26, 2018 to the CTU Political Action Committee fund.

"All vendors who do business with CTU pay to play," Members First President Therese Boyle wrote.

Boyle, who has looked closely at CTU's murky finances, said the CTU has still not released its audit report for the year ending June 30, 2018.

The CTU delegates will be asked to vote on the union budget at the June House of Delegates meeting.

Who Voted?

CTU Election Shows Many Did Not Vote
By Jim Vail


CORE - the Coalition of Rank & File Educators - won the recent Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) election over Members First.

Core won about 66 percent of the vote to Members First 34 percent.

The win proved Chicago teachers want to keep their leadership as we head into new contract negotiations and a possible strike.

The vote totals show 9,565 CTU members voted for President Jesse Sharkey and his team, while 4,840 voted for Members First.

However, more teachers and clinicians and teacher aids did not vote for anyone. There are more than 26,000 members.

For a union that prides itself on getting out the vote, this is quite disturbing.

What does that mean when so many of our union brothers and sisters do not vote?

Just like the local elections here where less than 50 percent of the population vote for our mayor - people probably don't think it makes any difference. 

Is it disgust, apathy or hopelessness? 

I can speak as a teacher to say I am overwhelmed in the school trying to stay afloat amidst mounting paperwork (computer work), mandates, webinars, more forms to fill out, behavior reports, etc, etc, that union politics may not be at the top. 

Still, the CTU brags how it has increased the number of teachers voting in the state elections, up to 70 percent.

But what about voting for our union leadership?

It appears unions play a subservient role to the Democrat Party by getting out the vote.

But politics starts at home. 

Whether we like it or not, the union plays a big role in our lives as teachers. Either we agree with the direction of our leadership - or not.  

But it isn't so simple. Do we really have a say in how our lives are governed? The schools have turned into a cold, corporate environment that no union election can fix - or can it?

The voters said yes to Core. But what do most of our teachers who didn't vote think?

CPS Lawyers being Investigated

ARDC Investigating CPS Attorneys

Attached is the ARDC correspondence that indicates an investigation has been opened on several Chicago Public Schools attorneys. 

The ARDC, Illinois Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission, investigates and prosecutes misconduct complaints and maintains registration and discipline information regarding Illinoislawyers.

The letter states:  

We have received your correspondence about the above named attorneys. 

We will request that the attorneys submit responses to the matters you have raised.  We will then determine if further investigation is necessary.

We will contact you if further information is needed.  

Thank you for your cooperation.

Very truly yours,

Myrrha Guzman

Senior Counsel

ARDC Intake Division

1) Joseph Moriarity, CPS General Counsel

2) Ruchi Verona, CPS Employee

3) Libby Massey, CPS Employee

Complaints about the above attorneys include the secret “ethics” department, information breach noncompliance, intimidating voicemails to parents who advocate for their children, manufactured “ban from CPS property” retaliation letters to parents, and more. 

Two other attorneys on the Ogden International School LSC are also under investigation for their role in the acute malfeasance of the Ogden LSC:

1) Rupa Ramaduri

2) Rachel Toft  

American inequality

AMERICAN INEQUALITY FORTY PERCENT FOREVER POOR?
By Stephen Wilson


"In short, from new research based on some novel metrics of well-being, I find
strong evidence that the American dream is in tatters, at that least. " declared
Carol Graham, in relation to a recent survey on Inequality in America. The
research was conducted by the Georgetown center on Poverty and Inequality
and appears to reaffirm the grim conclusions of a recent United Nation's
report on poverty in America. The survey found that poor people in America
are twenty times less likely to believe that hard work will improve their situation or offer a means to overcome poverty. However, Afro-American don't seem to be as pessimistic as  poor white workers. Another startling finding revealed that as many as 40% of those who were poor in childhood, remain poor.

The situation has worsened, rather than improved as inequality and the erection of more obstacles such as rising low pay, enforced austerity and the declining power of the trade unions have intensified.

While 90% of the children born in 1940 ended up attaining higher incomes than their parents, only 40 % of those born in 1980 have done so. This research is important because there are so many people who believe in the American
Dream and don't even begin to questions the assumptions behind it. The basic
premise of the American Dream is that America is meritocratic and that everyone
has an equal opportunity to to realize their full potential and 'make it'. But even
this is over simplistic because 'success' can be defined in so many different ways
that it is not always very clear what it means to be successful. Are you successful
because you have two cars or one ? Have you made it if you finally 'own' your
apartment by the time you are 35 or 65 ? And how do counter a Buddhist monk
who claims to have successfully overcome consumerism by relinquishing all
his possessions ? Is not the latter making a mockery of the American dream?
What is crucial to understand is that the real causes of poverty in America are
not laziness, incompetence or a lack of the virtues but structural causes such
as an industry collapsing due to falling demand, discrimination, corruption,
corporate greed, highly rented accommodation and widespread low pay where
the wealthy refuse to share their wealth.

The childish and naive illusions that poverty can be magically conjured away
by a doze of positive thinking or 'pulling yourself together' through 'hard work'
seems absurd. It is like trying to wish away your toothache by thinking nice
thoughts. No matter how upbeat you are, the thronging pain remorselessly
returns.
The report is not all grim. Some poor people do manage to escape from poverty
An estimated 27% of poor Afro American school children managed to attain
some economic success. What is moving is how so many Afro-American
families manage to cope with such immense difficulties due to the help of
families, friends and informal social networks. In contrast to most poor whites,
they can draw on this safety net.

Another factor noted is the role which 'luck' can play in changing circumstances.
A poor person's misfortune might be reversed simply by being taken under the
wing by a benefactor or helpful mentor. Social support from churches can also
play an important part in preventing some poor people from falling into complete
despair. Many minorities tend to have a much stronger sense of resilience than
their poor white counter parts.  There might be a grain of truth behind the
benevolent person who intervenes to save the hero from relentless poverty as
in Charles Dickens '  novels 'Oliver Twist' , and 'Our Mutual Friend'. But we should
not overstate this narrative as Dickens indicated by the reversal of fortunes
experienced by Pip in 'Great Expectations'. The hero of those novels doesn't
always get a second chance.

Despite those and other previous findings which explodes the American Dream,
people will continue to believe in it. This is especially true of so many migrants
who view America as an attractive beacon of hope in a very stormy world.
They maintain that though America is not perfect, it seems fairer than , say,
IL Salvador or the Congo. Many people I encounter in Russia dream of living
in America forever. An artist i met could not understand why I was still in Russia.
"Don't you get sick of living here? I would love to live in America. At least they
would pay me on time, unlike here ! " She maybe wonders why I do not go
go to America or rather, doubts my sanity.  A few months ago I was teaching a
pleasant manager who told me his dream was to win a lottery ticket to go to
America. And I was asked to check the application of an actress who was seeking
to renew her Green card. Those people won't be dissuaded from going to
America or cherishing their dreams of a better life. Such people , as well as
minorities in America,  deserve something much better than to have their dreams
rudely shattered.

Textbook Scandal

JOURNALIST  FACES LEGAL ACTION FOR EXPOSING ERROR

 IN ENGLISH SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS

 By Stephen Wilson 

 

              'Reputation, reputation, reputation! Oh, I have lost my reputation ! ' Shouts

              the character of Shakespeare's  Cassio, from his play, Othello , after being

              arrested for drunken misbehavior. However, the publishing company Edu,

              Stream, founded in 2014, having a partnership with the more famous Express

              publishing, seems to have overreacted in the same hysterical tone as Cassio  

              by hastily taking a Journalist from Kazakhstan, Gulbanu Abenova to court

              on the grounds her published allegations 'have ruined the reputation of the

              company.'

 

              The dispute has arisen over the introduction of a school textbook for children

              known as 'Smiles'. Abenova claims that the textbook is full of all kinds of gross,

              and blatant linguistic mistakes not to mention violations of copyright. Many

              concerned parents complained to the school authorities about those errors as

              they understandably don't want their children to be taught with mistaken books.

              Those errors are not misprints or just the odd blunder. The translation guide is

              riddled with mistakes. Abenova stated that the publishing company did not

              employ professional translators, used the photos of children in the textbook

              without requesting their permission and may well be using the names of native

              speakers without proper consultation.

 

              Second City Teachers was sent a copy of the translation guide. It is embarrassing

              to read this. Inept would be to call it an understatement. For example, the word

              of motion, the verb :  cross , is translated as 'крест', when it should be ' переитй'.

              The Russian translation suggests a religious cross Christians wear which is out

              of context. Hare is translated as both заяц /кролик . No subtle distinction is made

              between a hare and  a  rabbit. Wooden basket is translated into Russian as :

              Плетенная корзинка. The adjective might be translated back into wicker basket

              which is of course misleading. I could go on but it would weary the reader.

 

              Believe it or not  those misleading textbooks have been published , printed

              and are currently used through all the schools in Kazakhstan. They were approved

              at the highest level by the Minster of Education . The publishers claimed that they

              had consulted 'experts'. Those Smiles books were not only introduced to the first

              grade but the 2nd,3rd,4th,5th .and so on... Despite justified complaints, nobody

              wants to replace those textbooks. It it too much trouble and expense for people.

              Abenova, worried about the education of children, has placed her child in a private

              school which has cost her a lot of money. When she tried to phone the head

              quarters of the firm Edu Stream in Greece, nobody answered the phone. She

              discovered that the person responsible for the translation has no linguistic

              qualifications. The book for 1st Grade school students , published by Express

              Publishing in 2016, claims to have been translated by N. Mukhamedjanova as

              well as written by Jenny Dooley and Virginia Evans. Perhaps those native

              speakers were not properly consulted or don't know basic Russian. Who knows?

              But those names surface again and again in many English language textbooks

              for school students published by Express Publishing. Those publishing companies

              often boast about their connections with English Universities which approve of

              them. Edu Stream claims to specialize in  increasing the standard of English

              language teaching in schools. They even offer to train school teachers on how to

              use their books free of charge.

 

              You would have thought that Express Publishing and Edu Stream had got the

              sense to employ a professional Linguist. Moscow is full of them and there are a lot

              of native speakers who would have happily helped them avoid embarrassing errors.

              What is amazing is how so many foreign language companies won't employ

              translators because they think it is too expensive or that anybody can do this job

              because it is just basic English conversation in some of those textbooks. They forget

              the axiom that it is just as easy to make basic mistakes as avoid them. If many

              linguists can make innocent errors then you can imagine the potential mistakes an

              amateur who badly knows languages can make. Linguistics is a demanding and

              daunting art that requires many years of hard training and practice. Not anyone can

              do this !

 

              A Russian Linguist called Kate {Not her real name} ,told me "We should fight

              against such books. If there is no justice or punishment for those publishers it

              will be very bad for the education of school children." Second City Teachers would

              happily support those who are fighting for justice and truth against poor education

              standards. School children should be granted the best education possible. We

              think the court case against the  journalist Gulbanu Abenova should be

              dropped and that the textbooks should at least be corrected if not withdrawn.

              Honesty is the best policy. It would raise respect for the publishing companies

              in the long term rather than damage them. So it is not too late to make

              corrections and improve the textbooks in a civil way.

 

Who Will Win?

Will the CORE Machine Grind to a Halt or Continue to Shine into an Uncertain Future?
By Jim Vail

The old union machine lives on today in the form of a dynamic and innovative caucus called CORE who captured national attention when they took the Chicago Teachers Union to its first strike in 25 years.

They defeated the old UPC caucus that ran the union for most of the previous 50 years (full disclosure: I was a member of CORE when it won in 2010). While they benefited by the fact that the UPC was divided (the president fired her vice president who then formed his own caucus), CORE has been run by a young group of enterprising trade unionists, led by Karen Lewis, who was so popular she was ready to become the city's mayor after the 2012 strike.

While CORE has led an admirable fight against the dark privatizing forces of the ruling class - stopping the charter school growth, unionizing the charter school teachers and going on strikes for better pay and benefits - they have become what they defeated - a machine. 

They have been a force in the political field. The CORE-led CTU has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in political candidates (one inside union source said up to $1 million was spent to elect Brandon Johnson to the Cook County Board with AFT & IFT money thrown in). They play a key role in the Democratic Party, having endorsed Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle for mayor.

They know how to hustle for votes, encourage their vendors, associates and employees to support their political activities and sign up new members.

But the Members First caucus who is challenging them have hit a chord with many frustrated teachers. They have attracted many disgruntled CTU members who feel the union's big picture ambitions for social justice and democratic party politics have come at a cost to the teachers in the trenches. Some teachers say they don't get their calls answered and the union cut back on field reps while continuing to dish out big bucks to the politicians.

MF President Therese Boyle says she is meeting a lot of teachers on the campaign trail who are responding to her message. She says teachers are worried about Reach evaluations, principal harassment, 32 kids in a kindergarten with no aid, and other bread and butter issues. 

"They're not talking about big global issues," Boyle said. "They want the union to talk about union issues."

She says the union is not transparent. Delegates first discovered a budget deficit last year, and Members First is warning CTU members that the leadership will raise our dues by $100. 

The union will take out a line of credit to cushion the payments to the Merchandise Mart where they still owe up to a $1 million for rent. 

"It's spend, spend, spend," Boyle says. "I will make it all transparent. What is the reason to keep it all secret?"

But if that spending gets results, despite the lack of transparency, checks and balances and questionable expenses, does it matter?

Although Ald. Ed Burke was indicted for shaking down a Burger King operator in his ward to benefit his side tax law firm, he got re-elected. A Sun-Times article showed he has brought a lot of business to his ward, a lot of jobs. And Burke is tied to the CTU, because he is tied to Preckwinkle, who is tied to the CTU. It's the Chicago machine.

Blagojevich may have been corrupt, making dirty deals (which many argue is how politics works), but he did bring health care for all kids and free public transportation for senior citizens.

Today the so-called 'clean' politicans (is there such a word?) give us austerity - gutting our city service while dishing out billions to billionairs like Jeff Bezos.

But the question is - is there a better way? Can we be open, honest, more democratic and make less dirty deals? Ultimately, when deals are made, the people lose out, despite some gains. Construction union members benefits when the city doles out TIF tax dollars to build, but the rest of us pay for it with higher tax bills. And it certainly hurts the schools who depend on those precious tax dollars! 


Churchill may have won the war, but he was later voted out of office.

Will CORE get re-elected or voted out? Is there enough disgust to remove this leadership? We'll see this weekend when our 25,000 plus members vote this Friday on May 17.

CORE vs. Members First

CORE Candidates Debate Members First Candidates at HOD
By Jim Vail

Members First slate Victor Ochoa, Debbie Yaker, Sharon Davis & Therese Boyle

The Chicago Teachers Union will vote May 17 to elect its next group of officers to lead the 26,000 plus members for the next three years that includes bargaining for a new teachers contract.

The Coalition of Rank and File Officers (CORE) will face its first significant challenger Members First since it upset the long-time ruling party UPC in 2010 when five caucuses ran in the election that forced a runoff. Core did not face a challenger in the previous election three years ago when Karen Lewis was still president.

CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates, who is running on the Core ticket, first debated Members First Vice President candidate Victor Ochoa at the House of Delegates meeting May 1. Ochoa said he is a 23 year veteran who had worked as an art teacher and is currently the counselor at Schurz High School. 

"We're not members only," he told delegates when introducing himself. "But we've gotten the short end of the stick in the last few contracts. We need to lower the stress level for teachers. The classroom is a more and more difficult place to be. When you tell someone you had a win, you should feel it."

Gates introduced herself by stating she has three kids and lives in Chatham. She said teachers all over the country are wearing red because they were inspired by the Core led first teachers strike in over 25 years in 2012. She said they had two successful strikes against Mayor Rahm Emanuel and they've organized teachers in charter schools.

Gates said the union is bargaining for a better school day and smaller class sizes. She said there is now a funding formula in place and they restored the pension levy.

Ochoa countered that teachers now have a longer school day but have not been compensated for that. He said they need to fight for the best salary and win back what they lost.

CORE slate Jesse Sharkey, Christel Williams, Stacy Gates & Maria Moreno

The CTU leadership has been criticized for holding lengthy delegates meetings and Ochoa said they should shorten the speeches and rah rahs, and just focus on giving the most important information to delegates to take back to their schools. "I won't take up most of your time with long speeches, we'll just get the answers you need."

Gates said the delegates receive information in their packets, including bulletins, and she pointed out that the HOD had a member driven discussion on health care that was beneficial.

Gates defended the unions focus on charter school teachers and the current rash of strikes to get better pay and benefits. "Closing the door on other laborers never benefits others," she said.

Ochoa said charter schools are a way to break the union and that they need a strategy to stop the charter system. (Editors note: Core has been very effective in fighting charter schools and even put a clause in the contract to limit the number of charters opening up in the city that have resulted in closing public schools.)

"We need affordable housing," Gates said. "Fight for justice. We have a union that leads nationally. Speak truth to power and we will win cause we're right!"

The next debate featured CTU President Jesse Sharkey and Members First President Therese Boyle.

Sharkey opened up by saying the union has a vision to win and "we're going to make the wealthy pay for it."

"Our kids deserve a social justice union," he said. "Karen united this union and (prevented) our disagreements from dividing us."

Boyle introduced herself by stating she has been a 35 year educator, taught for seven years and has worked as a clinician for 28 years. She has worked in over 100 schools, and served nine years as a delegate. She comes from a family of educators that date back to the 1900s. She said Members First started when in 2016 she saw how the clinicians demands were not supported by the union, and the losses from the last two contracts.

"I'm concerned how they are managing the finances," she said. "I'll fight for the best contract."

A couple of questions asked by the moderator Cliff Kelly, a radio personality and former alderman, appeared to be softballs for Sharkey. What do you think of white nationalism? How important a priority is racial and social justice for the union?

"It's important to our union," Sharkey said, matter of factly.

"I agree with Jesse that we need to address this," Boyle said. "White nationalism has no place in our country or in our union."

What do you admire most in your opponent? (This question was also asked at an earlier mayoral forum.)

"Jesse is very respectful of me," Boyle said. "I appreciate that. I wished he'd answer my questions more. He's a good unionist. I voted for Core the first time, but I feel they lost their way."

"Leading a movement on bread and butter issues I respect," Sharkey said. "She's a great unionist."

Boyle said it is important to take social justice issues into the classroom. She said one school she visited had lost four students to violence. They need grief counselors. (The CTU is demanding more counselors in the next contract.)

Boyle, who has a financial degree, has looked closely at the budget and noticed problems. A deficit has been revealed. She said she requested a five year cost analysis in the union to better understand the costs but has not gotten an answer.

Sharkey noted that after Core was elected in 2010, (President Barack Obama was forcing school reform and privatization down the throats of public schools) Mayor Emanuel cancelled the last year of the teachers' four percent raise, was trying to force merit pay on teachers, and wanted a 16-page contract that would have obliterated the rights of teachers.

"They wanted to roll us," Sharkey said. "We struck for seven days. We got as much as we thought we could. We weren't strong enough to go on an extended strike." (My school Hammond voted to continue the strike when the leadership got the union to end the strike.)

"It's upsetting that we lost a lot of what we fought for," Boyle said in response, noting the numerous teacher strikes in the 1980s that resulted in better teacher compensation and rights.

In closing, Boyle said she promises to put in a lot of checks and balances "to put the union back on solid footing." She said she would work with Core.

"We have a vision for the base of our union power," Sharkey said in his concluding remarks. "The vision of public schools is the heart of our political power ... Our hard work helped put $1 billion back in the schools. I agree with Therese on this - we need to be united."

CTU House of Delegates Meeting May 1st
By Jim Vail

CTU Pres. Jesse Sharkey & VP Stacy Gates are being challenged May 17.

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) members met for the May 1st workers day House of Delegates meeting to discuss the budget and hear a debate between the two caucuses running in the next union election May 17.

CTU President Jesse Sharkey said the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) said they had an unexpected health cost savings of nearly $10 million, and that should result in holding the line on health care costs for the members. CPS wanted to slightly raise the PPO insurance rates.

CTU interim financial director Kathy Catalano outlined the budget that the delegates will vote on in the June meeting. She said the union will take out a line of credit in order to pay for the Merchandise Mart lease that runs til 2022 and costs $1 million. The line of credit will soften the lump sum via monthly payments, but accrue interest payments like any loan over a certain time period.

Sharkey said the union has absorbed the costs for union members after its parent union American Federation of Teachers (AFT) raised its rates that the CTU must pay. The Members First (MF) caucus running in the election said they think the union will raise member dues by $100.

Catalano said half of the money in the roughly $29 million union budget goes to its parent union the AFT.

"We looked at everything with a fine tooth comb," Catalano said.

She said in 2018 there were 60 full time union staff, and after staff cuts in 2019 there are 53.5 people full time.

"We're trying to show a lot of transparency," she said, in response to the opposition caucus and others saying the union is not very transparent when it comes to expenses.

The CTU maintains that there will be considerable savings once it pays off the $1.9 million in rent due at the Merchandise Mart, which it was not able to sublease. They blamed the previous union leadership (UPC) for being stuck with a horrible lease at the Mart.

"There are just two and a half more years and once we're done we will have considerable savings that will affect cash flow," Catalano said at the meeting.

A pleasant surprise was the unexpected increased number of union members that the CTU expected to decrease. 

One delegate noted that the union must pay double rent, including paying rent to the Mart and to the CTU Foundation for the headquarters on Carroll. The leadership said we're basically paying ourselves (and herein lies the big question - what is the foundation budget that delegates have no access to. It is controlled by the four officers).

The CTU says it is subsidizing the increased AFT costs by about $200 per member.  

"We're trying to keep costs down," Sharkey said.

CTU lawyer Robert Bloch told the delegates that the new Mayor Lori Lightfoot wanted more time to negotiate, but CPS must follow the time line of negotiations that were agreed to.

Sharkey said to be ready to strike in the fall, however, he said nothing about teachers saving their money if the strike happens in September. 

"We should talk about being ready in the fall (to strike)," Sharkey said. "But there are those who say we have a new mayor and we shouldn't be hard on her."

These certainly are not fighting words to strike against Lightfoot.

How much better will Lightfoot be than her predecessor Rahm Emanuel? She's called the 'progressive' and talks about investing in the neglected neighborhoods and supports a ban on new charter schools. But her education transition team looks hell bent on continuing the education reform march the democrats are wedded to, to close schools and privatize further based on a Lightfoot survey that asks people to rate their neighborhood school, knowing full well that most people have no connection to their public school.

Oriole Park delegate Erica Wozniak, who ran for alderwoman in Uptown, said she has a petition that calls for more services for children outside the classroom. She noted there is just one social worker for every 1,053 children. Another delegate from Ogden said he sent a letter to his administration that they must first go through the elected PPLC before presenting a budget to the local school council. Ogden has been through about seven principals in the last eight years. The latest is suing the Chicago Board of Education (CBOE) because he says his rights were violated.

There will be a rally for a fair contract Wednesday, May 22 at 5pm at the Thompson Center, 100 W. Randolph. The union flyer states every school community deserves fair pay and benefits, adequate staffing, smaller class sizes and justice for students and families.

The delegates passed a resolution to Lift the Ban (affordable housing), which resolves "the CTU will formerly join the Lift the Ban Coalition and send one officer or staffer and member to monthly coalition meetings, the CTU will develop educational materials for delegates to share facts about Lift the Ban campaign, links to our contract campaign, student and teacher housing issues, student enrollment and well-being for students and members, and CTU delegates will share vital information, resolution, FAQ and Powerpoint with their schools at the next union meeting to spread knowledge and awareness around the issue."

The delegates then heard an articulate and passionate debate between CORE President and Vice President candidates Jesse Sharkey and Stacy Davis Gates and Members First Therese Boyle and Victor Ochoa.

Some say it comes down to either supporting an active union fighting for social justice and challenging the political environment controlled by strong money interests that want to privatize education, or an opposition group that wants the union to focus on its nuts and bolts of the needs of teachers and be much more transparent about the money issues that have concerned many.  

Second City Teachers hopes to present our readers with a recap of the vigorous debate in our upcoming posts.

MF Interview

With union elections on horizon, challengers try and build momentum around ‘bread-and-butter’ issues

By Yana Kunichoff

Chalkbeat.org

It’s been nearly a decade since an upstart leadership group took the reins of the Chicago Teachers Union and gained national attention for agitating on issues beyond the conditions of the city’s classrooms.  The Caucus of Rank and File Educators has taken on racial inequality in the labor force, argued for social supports in schools, and given millions of dollars to progressive political candidates.

But that group now faces an internal challenger: a small but vocal cadre of current and retired educators running on bread-and-butter issues like teacher pay and working conditions.

“Teachers aren’t feeling supported in the nuts and bolts of their daily work concerns,” said Therese Boyle, a school psychologist and 35-year district veteran who is running for president on the Members First slate.

Boyle also has concerns about the union’s financial management, particularly the cost to build its current headquarters while still paying rent on its former building.

The challengers also include Victor Ochoa for vice president, Deborah Yaker for financial secretary and Sharon Davis as recording secretary. To get on the ballot for the May 17 election, they submitted petitions from teachers in over 100 schools.

We spoke with Boyle about her experience and why she’s running. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

What inspired you to run for leadership of the union, and what is Members First’s main promise to teachers?

I am a citywide delegate, so I represent citywide clinicians. I also serve on several committees, currently on the schools and election committee, and the clinicians committee. I believe that the CTU needs a change in leadership. I am looking to put the focus and resources back into serving our members, and I am looking to bring some radical reform in terms of transparency to the union in terms of their decision-making and spending. I want to get their financial house in order. Some checks and balances are needed.

You’ve mentioned concerns about CTU finances. How would you like to see decision-making change?

I started taking a closer look at the way CTU was managing its finances, and I became very concerned about their ability to serve members.  When we were doing our constitution change, I asked if they would consider having the foundation be more member driven. The original purpose of the foundation [Chicago Teachers Union Foundation] was to support both the students and families in CPS, and the teachers, so I would like some input on that.

Part of the problem started with the desire to have our own union home. The purchase we made of the building on Carroll Street, we did that when we still held a lease at the Merchandise Mart location. [In response, Jesse Sharkey of the Caucus of Rank and File Educators said that decision-making is currently done through elected bodies. He also noted the lease for the space at the Merchandise Mart was negotiated by the former leadership in 2009 and extends through to 2021.]

The Chicago Teachers Union is recognized as a national leader in how it’s approached education issues. How do you think its leadership has performed in the decade they’ve led the union?

Initially, when the [current leaders] were running, I remember listening to Karen Lewis and being impressed. They were inclusive of other caucuses, and I liked that. They have gotten away from that now, they have changed in their level of transparency, and they have changed in their level of encouraging members to drive decisions. I think they have lost their way, and members in the schools are suffering as a result.

They are following a dream they believe one day will help all of the city of Chicago, and I can understand and support some of that. But my main concern is when I am out in the schools every day, I hear teachers telling me they are concerned about the level of trauma and violence they are seeing their classrooms, and the conditions at the schools. But they see the union as separate from that.

How would your caucus deal with the challenge of negotiating the next contract with a new mayor?

Working as a school psychologist, I have spent a lot of time at the table with parents, community agencies, attorneys and administration from CPS presenting information to get the very best I can for students. Those things will serve me well in negotiating. I was heartened to hear Lori Lightfoot on the night she won her victory speech give a shoutout to teachers, and I thought that was very gracious of her.

If I come to the table with a lot of data and show how our proposals would work, I think she will listen. There is some motivation right now because of the teacher shortage — we can’t find teachers, something is going to have to be done in order to attract and maintain teachers.

The current union leadership has expanded its organizing to include charter teachers. Would you continue investing in that area?

Initially, I was very much against the charter merger. At the time CTU was not able to give me a five-year cost-benefit analysis of how this would impact our ability to function as a union. Now I do believe unionizing charters has slowed down the proliferation of charter schools. I would support going forward, but I would want to take a very careful look at how much of it we would take on at once, because I would like to make sure we could do well within our budget.

Teach business?

            TEACH CHILDREN TO DO BUSINESS    

      RUSSIAN POLITICIAN PROPOSES

              By Stephen Wilson 

 

             "I think we must create more business men in school and that a

              spirit of business men needs to be fostered. Therefore we are

              now proposing to include in the school program of Education

              propaganda to create new business men and women. We

              must speak about what government support has to go with those

              words and what advantages must be created for small and

              average businesses. School children have to be prepared for

              not only jobs in the civil service, but in the first place, how to

              work in business and how the state can help them," stated

              the Minister of Finance, Anton Siluanov. While this proposal

              has been lauded by many journalists and the odd psychologist

              such as Irina Benett as representing an opportunity to encourage  

              school students to be more creative and independent, as well as

              young students who are already doing business in their free

              time by buying , selling or blogging, it will emit an exasperated

              groan from many overworked teachers and school students who

              already don't have any free time.

 

              There are so many proposals and further notions for new subjects

              or introduction of new courses and methodology that teachers have

              become disorientated if not overwhelmed by endless changes from

              politicians which are largely unrealistic as well as harmful. We have

              heard proposals to introduce a course on 'Numerical literacy',

              astronomy, chess, martial arts courses and now a 'pro -business'

              course. But often those proposals sound like a great idea, but

              they are often not thought out beyond abstractions and don't even come

              to grips with the specifics. For instance, who would teach such a

              course? What textbooks, if any, would be developed ?, and how would

              such classes be crammed into an already overloaded curriculum?

              We already have a situation where school students actually work longer

              than adults in their jobs. In many cases they study 60 hours or more

              and have no free time. So much for school days being the best days of

              your life!

 

              The proposal has not been without critics. "I think that Siluanov, is

              without  a doubt a specialist in his financial discipline, but unfortunately

              all the specialists in their own areas -such as ecology, spiritual -moral

              upbringing or agriculture - they believe that namely such a proposal

              or course, won't have enough time to fit into the school program. Not

              long ago someone proposed a course on how to pay tax ... It was not

              brought into the school program ... What will be the price for introducing

              those subjects? What will we cut from the existing school program?

              Russian? Mathematics? Literature? " stated the teacher and advocate

              for Children's rights, Yevgenii Bunimovich.                

 

              Ill considered proposals can have a disastrous impact on the school

              system. For instance, new changes are being made in the teaching of Foreign Languages where the teaching of German in school is to be relegated to second place in favor of English. This threatens the jobs of German school teachers

              as well as the number of hours which they usually perform. While previously

              it was acceptable for German to be the first language in some schools, now

              it will take second place . While Russian English teachers' hours are boosted,

              the workload of Russian German teachers is set to fall. Russian German

              teachers understandably feel anxious.

 

              When a Russian teacher once complained to Medvedev about how poorly

              paid teachers were, he was advised to go out and become a businessman.

              But if everyone in education took this advice the whole school system would

              collapse as the job of a school teacher demands practically all your time. It

              might be argued that there are already too many business men and women

              doing business by selling useless products. Yet there is a desperate shortage of well trained plumbers and joiners. It is just that less prestige is attached

              to such trades than say, a banker or businessman in Russia.

 

              That someone from the Duma would propose  teaching business comes as

              no great surprise. Russia remains a highly materialistic society, like Britain

              and America, where the main ethos is not on serving the common good or

              practicing the virtues of honesty, charity or helping others, but in making as

              much money as possible. No consideration is given to the costs of maximizing profits like the cost of pollution, ill health or the psychological damage to people that grows each year. But even learning to do a modest business is

              problematic. I always wondered why there exists so many pharmacies all

              around my way to the local underground station. I can find five pharmacies

              alone along a distance of a few hundred meters. Then there are so many

              clothes shops. But forget about bookshops. They constantly close down. 

              The reason why there are so many pharmacies is because these kinds of                       shops are the easiest to attain permission to open. A new business can be closed  down on a whim due to a rise in rent, tax or countless inspectors who all

              want their share of your income. If you establish a new business, you will

              receive visits from fire-inspectors, tax inspectors and sanitation inspectors.

              And that is just the beginning!

              It is doubtful whether any new 'pro-business' course would cover the  

              realities of maintaining a small business. Reading Kafka might be a better

              way to learn about the reality of doing business than any course or book

              on Classical Economics.