Corporate Media

Corporate Media Knives Sharpen as Teachers Fight to Stay Alive

By Jim Vail

Sun-Times reporter Nader Issa is a friend of CPS, not teachers.

The news we consume everyday is owned by the ruling class - from newspapers like the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times, as well as the main television and radio stations.

And they are sharpening their knives against the Chicago Teachers Union to denounce the teachers action to take a vote to not return to school buildings during a raging pandemic killing many people.

CTU President Jesse Sharkey just posted on Twitter - "CPS is backing off the date of K-8 start. But this is not 'agreed.' We asked for a delay and demanded they stop discipline against locked-out pre-k/cluster. They can claim to be backing off, trying to buy more time, or whatever, but don't lie that this was an agreement."

This tweet was made in response to the Sun-Times reporter Nader Issa tweeting - "Breaking: CPS officials say they 'have agreed to a request from CTU leadership to push back the return of K-8 teachers and staff to Wednesday, Jan. 27 ... to ensure we have the time needed to resolve our discussions without risking disruption to student learning."

This Sun-Times reporter did not do what you are supposed to do if you are a reporter - get both sides to the story. He never called the CTU to confirm this so-called agreement. Instead, Nader just presented one side of the story, CPS, and did not bother to get the union's opinion. How's that for reporting both sides to a story so we can understand the problem.

But that is exactly what he is paid to do, report the news on behalf of the ruling class who own this paper. Not the union or people's perspective.

Issa, with his 12,000 followers on Twitter, went one step further to show he is not a 'journalist' but rather a paid PR hack on behalf of the city officials who represent big business.

He also tweeted out the CTU bulletin - "Breaking: CTU members vote to defy CPS reopening plans and continue working from home tomorrow because of health and safety concerns, a source says. About 86% of CTU members voted, and 71% of those members approved the collective action."

Issas then tweeted next - "To put this another way, 61% of the CTU's full membership voted to approve this resolution. The union set a 60% threshold for this vote, so this just eked - an unusually close vote for CTU labor actions."

So was this really the Sun-Times reporter's thoughts, because they just happen to perfectly coincide with the bosses of this city which is to avert a strike and make us all return to the school buildings, despite few safety precautions taken, like regular testing and clean schools.

How bad is the Sun-Times, despite being owned by the Chicago Federation of Laborers among other investors?

Members First Facebook page posted the Sun-Times editorial that demands the teachers return to the schools. They argued in the editorial that children falling behind academically due to the remote learning is more important than the lives of children and teachers who at are risk in buildings burning with the virus.

Both papers and the big four TV stations report the news in a way that appears 'objective' but in reality it is slanted and biased toward their owners. Right now the union on behalf of its members and the communities in Chicago, is in a fight to demand safe schools and teachers and students be vaccinated until we return so we are not risking our lives.

The corporate media we read does not agree with you the workers, they agree with the bosses who run CPS and tell the mayor what to do.

Schools Reopening

HUFFING AND PUFFING!

RUSSIAN SCHOOL STUDENTS RETURN TO SCHOOL

By Stephen Wilson

 

 

"For me this is delightful news! I'm glad about the news. As far as I am concerned, as a teacher of physics it was very hard to show my experiments on-line. When a person himself or herself does something they learn better this information.After two and a half months teaching on-line I had already found this teaching boring," stated a Russian teacher of physics called Tamara. Oksana Chebotareva, a Russian English teacher said that preparing for on-line lessons demanded a tremendous amount of work compared to face to face teaching. "Anything can go wrong during an on-line lesson. The face of a student freezes on your screen or the sound can go, or the computer can break down. But I am still teaching students at the institute on-line." She does not share the enthusiasm of a colleague called Anna who sees some advantages in using new material with the students and in enthralled by the novel options available.

 

On the 18th of January all school students were allowed to return to Russian schools after a long pause where for almost half a year children from the 6th to 11th grade were studying at home on-line. Mayor of Moscow Sergi Sobyanin claims that the measures to contain the spread of Covid 19 have brought positive results. He stated - 'In Moscow we have applied all the means to cut the illness in all directions ... The growth of the illness is down by 30% compared to what it was before New Year and the number of hospital admissions has fallen by 18%'. Such figures, as well as claims made by officials are again being questioned by many critics. 

 

But why was this decision taken so swiftly and lightly? The government claims that since the battle against Covid 19 is being won, it is safer in schools so children can go back. However, the safety of many school teachers is largely overlooked. Some figures claim that as many as 20% of school teachers fell ill. Pavel Suvorov, a headmaster of Internet school number two, in Moscow, stated that, 'Last October to November the organizing of the face to face teaching process was very difficult because 70% of school teachers were ill. It is possible that with on-line teaching this problem can be resolved but of course no monitor or technical measures can replace living contact'. Some people think that the main decision to send children to school was the emergence of grass-root groups of parents who launched a massive campaign involving petitions, meetings and rallies calling for the return of offline education. They had bitterly complained of the psychological toll of pupils, poor quality education and parents and teachers who were at wit's end. In deed, just over 80 % of pupils complained of disturbed sleep, feeling irritable and depressed. The government does not wish to lose the support of more and more people.

 

How do pupils feel about returning to school? According to a Russian Literature teacher Irina Lukyanova, one survey found 40% of pupils are happy to return to school, 30% are against returning to school and the remaining 30% feel 'it is all the same'. When I confronted the parents of some of my pupils and asked how they felt about this their faces began beaming and broke into a relieved smile. "I'm very glad. It has been very tiring for everyone," stated one mother of two called Kareni. Her 13-year-old daughter did not seem so happy. The pupils I have been teaching are still tired and it will take a lot of time before they get used to a new regime at school again.

 

Some Russians believe that the decision to return pupils to school was rash. They should have waited until everyone in schools were vaccinated. It seems more like a political decision. Although school students are returning to school, should any pupil in their class fall ill, it means that the whole class is immediately sent home to be quarantined! And in contrast to schools, students at institutes of Further Education are still not returning. A rumor was floating about that the authorities made this decision because they were afraid that students will return, meet and more effectively organize protests against the government. But this seems based on speculation, and conjecture rather than confirmed facts. But the government are certainly anxious about potential unrest among students. The government recently sent messages warning that any pupils and students attending unsanctioned protest meetings would be expelled! But such messages indicate a complete misunderstanding of the basic psychology of children and youth. A proverb goes 'Forbidden fruit is more tempting.' When older people tell the young not to do something in a tactless way, it more often has the opposite effect. In this case the warnings more likely encouraged rather than dampened down protest! In other words, threatening has actually incited the youth. What is certain is that when the authorities asked children to return to school they did not have in mind children taking down school wall portraits of Putin and replacing them with the photos of recently imprisoned Navalny. Due to the fact that at past protest demonstrations a large number of school children seemed conspicuous, the authorities have grown frightened of school children!  Returning back to school is one thing but going to unsanctioned protests is something else. 

HOD Special

Report on the Special Meeting of the House of Delegates on January 20, 2021

By George Milkowski

Please note:  Because of the COVID 19 pandemic, this meeting was conducted via video conference.  This is a Special Meeting called by the CTU to deal with the concerns over the CPS forcing all teachers back into the school buildings

The meeting began at 4:37 p.m..

The meeting started with some experiences of teachers who have refused to co-operate in returning to the classroom.,  Linda Perales of Corkery has been locked out of her on-line teaching since January 12.  She teaches cluster students who are unable to practice social distancing.  She said only ONE student has shown up but there are FOUR SECAs there!  Quentin Washington is an elementary school music teacher and unlike other teachers, he sees all students, not just those in a “pod” as the CPS maintains.  He has been locked out since January 11.  He argues that he has a right to be in a safe environment.

Stacy Davis Gates cited Pres. Biden’s pledge to provide proper resources to open schools.  That is what we want, she said; safe schools.  She referred to Gov. Pritzker shutting the schools over the objections of Lighfoot, Janice Jackson and Dr. Arwady of the Chicago Health Department.  She cited that now 42 of 50 aldermen have signed on to the letter to the CPS questioning their plans to open the schools to in person learning.  She also mentioned that to date 6,000 students were to already be in the classroom but the CPS refuses to release figures as to how many actually showed up.

Financial Secretary Maria Moreno said that for months the CPS has ignored our proposals in negotiations on re-opening until a few weeks ago.  That’s when public pressure and publicity over our members’ refusal to go into buildings started to have an effect.  Only in the past week has the CPS been taking our proposals seriously.  Maria is now enjoying negotiations; watching the CPS showing stress and “squirming” now.

Recording Secretary Christel Williams Hayes added that negotiations have been “torture” sitting with the CPS people since August and getting nothing done.

Thad Goodchild, deputy counsel for the CTU said we gave the CPS five distinct proposals.  They included enforceable school safety protocols with a mutually agreed upon safety checklist, the establishment of school and district safety committees, flexible schedules to minimize in-person work, granting all medical accommodations, robust testing (once a week) and vaccinations for all staff and students, and the need for the CPS to adapt a public health metric based on actual data.  Thad feels that Union actions to date have had a huge impact on the CPS.

Robert Bloch, the Union’s general counsel, cited the CPS ignoring the arbitrator’s decision regarding Paras from months ago.  He said the CPS just picked arbitrary dates to return to in classroom learning regardless of the science.  He also said that if Pritzker signs the recently enacted bill that would restore bargaining rights to the UNION, that that would strengthen our hand.  (NOTE: call the Governor’s office about this again).  Robert said that the Supreme Court decades ago ruled that workers can strike over Unfair Labor Practices (ULP) but this hasn’t been tested in our case, so if we strike it will be in uncharted legal territory.

CTU President Jesse Sharkey thinks the Board wants to find some mutual agreement.  He also mentioned that a CTU Executive Board member with a 5 or 6 year old son has a wife that has cancer and was rejected for accommodations.  Why should he be forced back into the classroom?

Jesse then turned to the proposed resolution.  It would be an action for members to vote on staring Thursday, January 21 through Saturday, January 23.  It would, due to the ULP, ask CTU members to refuse to go into any buildings and instead offer to continue remote learning.  If the CPS then retaliates by cutting salaries or other disciplinary actions, the resolution asks the membership to authorize a strike.  A strike date would have to be set by another meeting of the House of Delegates.

Then the meeting went into a Question and Answer period.  Karen Soto of Waters School asked if those who abstain from voting are considered “No” votes.  Jesse said no to that.  Karen also expressed concerns over social distancing while picketing.

Frank MacDonald of Washington High suggested separating the strike authorization until we see what the Board does.  Jesse said that would stretch out the time frame and put us back into the classrooms before we can act.

Felicia Sanders-Ward of Ward school said she has a young staff but they support the CTU’s planned action.

Mary Esposito asked if members will lose their health insurance.  Jesse said they might but that requires a lot of paperwork and time.  The law requires coverage to continue at least 60 days and then members can continue coverage under COBRA.

Then the actual debate on the resolution began.  Chris Pedersen of Amundsen High motioned to delay any action until February1 in order to build support among the CTU’s rank and file.  This motion failed 79-21%.  (NOTE: as a retiree delegate I am not allowed to vote on strike matters).

Karin Moreno of Infinity High opposed the resolution because it is would be bad for the students.  However, all other delegates supported it, including Paul D’Addario, Karen Soto of Waters Anita Hill of Jackie Robinson and Natasha Carlsen.  Natasha said that a staff member died this past year from the coronavirus and that it is a question of when, not if, more will die.

The resolution passed 84-16%.

The meeting adjourned at 6:41 p.m.

Pension Fund Turmoil

Chicago Teachers Pension Fund Turmoil Continues

By Jim Vail

CTPF Dir. Mary Cavallaro just quit

The Chicago Teachers Pension Fund problems continue after the executive director Mary Cavallaro suddenly and unexpectedly resigned on January 5.

Her announcement was made just after the fund's trustees voted unanimously to increase her salary. There were two meetings to discuss her compensation and it was decided to increase it so that her pay would equal the previous executive director's salary, resulting in a significant increase.

Why the sudden exit after the interim director was just awarded a hefty raise?

The pension fund's claims and services committees noted in a monthly report that overpayments were made to hundreds of retirees, and some of those included pension payouts to people who had been deceased for a number of years.

During the claims and services committee meeting one trustee noted that Cavallaro was in charge of the benefits department that oversees pension payments made to retirees when the overpayments were being made, according to a source inside the fund. Cavallaro resigned shortly after that meeting.

Mary Cavallaro was named the interim executive director of the CTPF last October after Charles Burbridge also resigned unexpectedly. 

The CTPF will hold its monthly board meeting this Thursday and decide who will be the next interim director.

FundFire, an investment media that covers the fund industry, wrote about the recent resignation with the headline, "Departing Chicago Pension Executive Accuses Trustees of 'Vile Disrespect."

The fund has been rocked lately amidst charges of racism and whistle blower complaints between the fund's employees and trustees. CTPF President Jeffery Blackwell called it a 'cabal of evil' prompting Mayor Lori Lightfoot to express concern. 

There are six teachers, three retired teachers, one principal and two CPS board trustees who sit on the fund's board of directors that manages roughly $11 billion in teachers' retirement money.

Jeffery Blackwell told Second City Teachers that the problems at the fund centered on two trustees - Tina Padilla and Maria Rodriguez - who he said constantly disrupt the board meetings and antagonize staff members.

Insiders note that Padilla was battling Blackwell to be president of the fund, while Rodriguez disputed Blackwell's accusations by stating she cannot interupt the meetings since it is the president who controls the mics. 

Blackwell replaced Padilla with Phil Weiss, who upset the union's ruling party Core in the November pension fund election, to head the investments committee.

The CTPF Board of Trustees had voted unanimously to name Mary Cavallaro  the Interim Executive Director of the CTPF as part of a plan to seek a permanent successor through a national search after Burbridge left in October last year. Burbridge, who battled Tina Padilla and was forced to issue an official apology based on a prior altercation that was not detailed in the board's minutes, was charged with fostering a polarized fund where many employees have left due to a toxic work environment that has permeated the board of directors.

Cavallaro joined the fund in 2009 and served as the deputy executive director since 2017, where according to the fund's website, she worked with trustees to establish operational priorities and short and long-range plans for the organization. She had earlier served as the chief benefits officer (CBO) and the health benefits manager. That was the time overpayments were being made by the fund.

Cavallaro was named by Crain's Chicago Business as the 2020 Notable Woman Executive Over 50. Crain's has written about the teachers pension fund's connection to former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan. Blackwell claimed trustees were demanding the fund hire former Madigan staff members.

"Mary is a respected leader who has earned the trust of the Board of Trustees, members, partners and staff," stated Blackwell at the time she was named the acting director last October. "Mary has a track record of success in every role she has filled at the Fund. We are confident that her leadership skills, institutional knowledge, operational expertise, and collaborative style will serve the Fund well as we begin the search for a permanent Executive Director.

Blackwell told Second City Teachers he will comment on Cavallaro's sudden resignation after Thursday's board meeting. 

Blackwell may be interested in becoming the new interim director. Former CTPF President Jay Rehak, who was first elected to the fund's board of trustees on the Core ticket like Blackwell, became the fund's interim executive director for a brief stint and lobbied hard to be the permanent director. However, another similar scandal hit Rehak's short reign when pensioners were not receiving their checks for the first time in over 100 years.

Burbridge was then hired in 2015, and the pension fund's internal woes and toxic culture slowly took root.

Book Review

BOOK REVIEW: THE CASTLE  

By Franz Kafka.

A new translation by Anthea Bell

Oxford World Classics,Oxford ,New York, 2009

 

            I am the King of the Castle

           and you are a dirty rascal.

 

           Children's nursery rhyme

 

           'When may my boss come up to the Castle ?' 'Never ' was the reply.

           Page 22 , The Castle, Franz Kafka

           

 

Kafka's great novel 'The Castle' remains a classic which ought to be read by any serious reader intent on deeply and audaciously exploring the fragility of the human condition. It is the quintessential work of a person who finds himself displaced and alienated in an incomprehensible world without clear rules. The novel sums up the angst, alienation and confusion of a person who obsessively pursues a self -defeating quest. As John Macquarrie succinctly puts it: "Where is the modern sense of ontological lostness and bewilderment set forth as well as in The Castle', as we read of the surveyor's unavailing attempts to get into touch with the real forces that determine his life?" 

Contrary to some prevailing views, the novel is not simply a story about the little man being oppressed by an all pervasive and inaccessible bureaucracy, but about love, relationships, manipulation, and people being absorbed with finding prestige, power and acceptance from others.

 

Some people don't want to read Kafka because they think it is either too depressing or heavy going. One Russian told me, "I don't like Kafka because his characters are too hysterical". But Kafka had an answer to those critics. He argued the role of literature is not to amuse, or make us happy but to inspire us to think differently. The role of literature is not to make people happy. The aim is to find the truth, the immutable and the eternal. He once stated, 'If the book we are reading doesn't wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for? So that it will make us happy, as you write. Good Lord, we would be happy precisely if we had no books, and the kind of books that make us happy are the kind we could write ourselves'.

In fact, the novel is not that depressing. On the contrary, there is a lot of amusing moments in this work suggesting Kafka was a subtle master of comedy. What puts people off from the novel is the fact that there is no authoritative narrator who suggests the overall meaning of the events unfolding in the novel. The interpretation of the novel is intentionally ambiguous suggesting the reader has to make an effort to unravel the meaning. Therefore reading the novel can be hard work. The reader has to deeply think about things. So this novel demands a lot of patience and hard work! Not all readers seek to deeply think about daunting questions. They prefer light reading and escapism. But I think 'The Castle' is worth reading not once but several times because you gain insights into real problems which currently plague modern society, such as people losing self-esteem, struggling to maintain their dignity and how all kinds of things render people anxious. Perhaps it is no accident that R.D.Laing heavily quotes Kafka in his work on Schizophrenia 'The Divided Self,' 1959. So Kafka gives a voice to the powerless.

 

THE PLOT

 

The plot centers around a mysterious inscrutable stranger, a land surveyor, who suddenly turns up in a village dominated by a castle. He claims to have been summoned by Count Westwest to take up the post of Land surveyor. But the officials and villagers are perplexed by this claim. Nobody knows anything about this job offer. Either the land surveyor is an impostor attempting to con the Castle or an error has been made by the official. The land surveyor is told by the mayor the Castle has no need for any land surveyor and if a letter was sent it was posted by mistake! However 'K' or the Land Surveyor won't be fobbed off by excuses and demands the Castle keep their side of the promise. So a long and bitter confrontation between 'K', and the Castle begins where 'K' relentlessly pursues an explanation as well as the promised post. In his quest for justice 'K' encounters many odd characters as well as a family who are shunned and denied work by the villagers. The reason for this is that a woman, Amalia, rejected the predatory sexual advances of an official. Like 'K', the Castle and the villagers treat them as pariahs. In his quest, 'K' has an affair with a bar maid called Frieda, takes up a post as a school janitor under the tyrannical authority of a school teacher, meets the mayor, officials and the family of a messenger Barnabas. The novel was unfinished! But Max Brod, Kafka's close friend claimed the novel was to end with 'K' being allowed to stay in the village just as he was dying from exhaustion.

 

WONDERFUL WELL DRAWN CHARACTERS

 

What I like about this novel is how Kafka can  richly and vividly portray characters but still let them remain enigmatic. He doesn't kill the mystery of each character. For instance, though we know much about the character of 'K', in terms of being stubborn, angry, aggressive and at times understanding, we practically know nothing about his past. We find that he enjoyed his military service, and once climbed up the top of a steeple in a graveyard to plant a flag, but we don't know much about his family or roots. The official which 'K' is obsessed with finding is also depicted as something of a Godlike figure whom everyone is in awe of. Kafka writes - 'Klamm was far away; the landlady had once compared Klamm to an eagle, which had struck K. as ridiculous at the time, but not any more; he thought of Klamm's remote distance, his silence, perhaps only interrupted by screams as K. had never heard. He thought of Klamm's piercing glance from on high that would brook no contradiction and couldn't be tested either, of the immutable circles in which he soared, free from any interference by the likes of K. down below, moving by inscrutable laws and visible only for brief moments - Klamm and the eagle had all this in common.' {page 103}

 

A HAUNTING BUT HUMOROUS  ATMOSPHERE

 

The surreal and dreamlike atmosphere surrounding the Castle is very evocative. The Castle  seems so inaccessible and the high officials so remote. There is no direct road or path to the castle and no direct telephone line! When 'K' attempts to phone officials at the Castle he gets either a rude answer or no answer at all. Messages sent to and from the castle are either delayed, lost or forgotten. And there is always the sense that you are being watched.

A further reason why one should read the Castle is the humor. There are many amusing incidents. It is strange to hear 'K' being told by a villager that 'You are probably surprised to find us so inhospitable', said the man, 'but hospitality isn't a custom here, and we don't need any visitors'.{Page 15} Many officials keep on making absurdly contradictory statements to 'K' which don't make complete sense at all. 'K' actually runs away with the Mistress of Klamm yet still expects Klamm to help him secure his post! An official orders 'K' to return Klamm's mistress because it might have offended his sensibilities. I find hilarious the following statement where an official states, 'But the more important a man's work, and Klamm's is certainly the most important of all, the less strength he has left to defend himself against the outside world, and as a consequence any insignificant little things can be deeply disturbing to him. The smallest change on his desk, the removal of a dirty mark that has been there for ever, anything like that can upset a man, and so can the arrival of a new barmaid'. {Page 238}Poor Klamm!

Klamm even sends 'K' a letter congratulating the progress of his work as a land surveyor when he has not even begun his work. 'I will be keeping an eye on you', he writes.

There is even a scene where 'K' makes love with Frieda on the floor in a puddle of beer! When they make love in the school the two servants are shamelessly gawking at them.

 

How might we interpret this novel? Klaus Wagenbach argues 'The Castle' is Kafka's most autobiographical novel. He claims the novel partly mirrors his life in Zurau, the geography of the village and castle on his father's birthplace Wosek, and Frieda might be based on his lover Milena Jesenska and Klamm may be based on her husband. But this can be overstated and much of the novel was simply invented by Kafka! I think the novel can be understood on many levels and that the reader should be allowed to  reach his own conclusion.

 

HISTORICAL PARALLELS?

  

In what way might the novel part reflect the actual reality of the Austrian-Hungarian empire? Well, there are no clearly defined borders between the castle and the village. You sometimes hear that the village and the castle are one or they are separate! Nobody knew exactly where the borders between Austria began and finished! Just as the Castle is owned by an elusive Count Westwest nobody has ever seen, so many dukes and landlords were absent from their own territories. The Austrian Hungarian Empire seemed to endlessly expand. The motto of the empire was 'Plus Ultra' which means 'Still Further'. Despite the fact that the Austrian Empire had been defeated by the Italians, and the Prussians, the Austrian army were still under the delusion that their army was invincible. One historian has called the management of the empire as being based on 'institutionalized escapism'. This air of unreality comes across strikingly in Kafka's novel. When Kafka describes the chambermaids as practically having no days off he is accurate. A domestic servant in Vienna was only allowed 7 -8 hours off a day every second Sunday and was paid a pittance. Kafka is spot on when he describes many of the most oppressive jobs lacking clearly defined duties and responsibilities.

 

Why does 'K' not give up his quest to take up his post? Kafka offers hints in one passage when 'K' meets the mayor and offers an explanation. 'Let me tell you some of the things that keep me here : the sacrifices I made to leave my home; my long and difficult journey; my well founded hopes of an appointment here; my complete lack of means; the impossibility of finding suitable work at home now; and last but not least my fiancee, who comes from the village'.{page 68}. Where had I heard similar words? It reminded me of some homeless people who came to Moscow and would not dare return back to their home because there were no prospects and also they did not want to lose face. They felt it would be humiliating to return home empty handed. They didn't want to be viewed as a so called 'loser'. But 'K's condition might remind us of desperate people seeking work, displaced people and perhaps even refugees. The sad thing is  how 'K' and so many desperate people are treated when they enter a new village or country. They are often not allowed to fit in or be accepted by the community. So in one sense the Castle might be read as a profound account of the experience of people who feel complete outsiders and aliens.

The novel 'The Castle ' deserves to be read not just once but twice or three times. Every time you reread it you discover something new!

 

Ed Hershey

Why CPS High School Teacher is Against Reopening

By Ed Hershey

Ed Hershey, Lindblom High School

I wanted to share why I decided to take a PB day Friday. I was explaining some of the non-sense of the Inclusion Return plan with my course team on Wednesday, and thought it might be useful to share here as well (this will not be news to anyone working inclusion, I realize I am repeating some of what's already been put here).

The current inclusion plan at Lindblom requires everyone on the inclusion team to work from the building. Three students have come through for their educational services, though never all on the same day. One could understand that you need a cluster teacher there, one or two SECAs, perhaps an inclusion teacher to service the needs of the small handful of students who showed up.

But as it's been implemented, under Board guidance, the other three Cluster teachers, another dozen SECAs, the clinicians, and all of the inclusion teachers are expected to teach from Lindblom -- working remotely from a room in the building. That means a significant increase of risk of exposure for all of those I mentioned -- with NO "upside" in terms of instruction for their students.  Several of the inclusion teachers expected to report have no inclusion students at all on their roster for this semester.  

The only logic driving this plan is a bureaucratic one: putting more people in the building to set up an expanded re-opening.  With no re-opening on the horizon for high schools, I can only see it as a way to set a precedent for having more people there for the Elementary School Re-opening. Lightfoot's logic appears to me to be meant to serve business interests in the city -- opening schools means childcare for parents, so they could return to work and produce profits. 

I know there had been a more reasonable and sane plan developed locally -- and this was over-ridden by the district. From the standpoint of the mayor's office, the education of students is not the priority. We know public education for the working class has never been a social priority -- if it were, we wouldn't have to scream and yell to get our bathrooms cleaned, or just to have kleenex in our rooms.   

I took a PB Day in solidarity with CTU members who do not feel safe, and who are facing retaliation from the district.   

Solidarity,

-- Ed H

Covid Russian Crisis

REFUSING TO REALLY RECORD

THE REST IS SILENCE

By Stephen Wilson

 

"I hear the same thing all the time from my friends or relatives who have fallen ill. The conversation tends to go {following two weeks treatment} 'Doctor do I have Covid ? 'No you don't have Covid. We think you have some virus' . 'So that means I can go outside?' 'No, you can't go outside and you have to keeping take the medication'. Or Doctors say, "We don't know what you have but you have to keep on taking anti-malaria tablets". This is the medicine which is usually given to patients who are ill with Covid 19. When patients keep asking doctors whether they have Covid 19 they don't give a straightforward answer and even keep silent. I'm certain that this is a result of political pressure and that doctors are being asked not to record new cases of Covid 19," stated Alexander ,{not his real name} a businessman who claims that up to 90% of people he knows have come down with the illness. 

Since Alexander has many useful contacts as well as experience at helping sick people, he is often asked to approach doctors or staff in clinics. For instance, last year Alexander had to help his aunt who had a two weeks fever. She was really worn out with fatigue. She called the Accident and Emergency and ended up being taken to one of the best hospitals number 52. But even the best hospital was in a dire state and was overstretched. There had been so many patients that they had to hastily build an extension. 

"The hospital extension was the like the size of a sports stadium," Alexander stated. "It was enormous but it was a terrible place. The air was very bad. There was no real air conditioning. She thought that her condition was getting worse in this place so she asked  the staff to discharge her. She agreed to sign all the documents they presented to her so she could leave the hospital." 

After his aunt returned home medical staff kept in regular contact with her every day and she fortunately recovered. Alexander states sick people picked up by ambulances often try to bribe the staff to take them to the best hospitals in Moscow which are usually number 52 and 40. When Alexander met some security men at the hospital they told them they had all been infected not just once but twice by Covid 19. Last December when Alexander had to arrange to put his cousin into one of the best hospitals he asked whether it was possible for his cousin to be treated by the best doctors at this hospital. An administrator replied, 'Yes, but you'll have to pay us 400,000 rubles'. Alexander was utterly astonished. It is not as if he is naive. He is well aware of the insipid deeply rooted corruption which pervades medical care. But he never expected to be asked for what amounts to one year's salary for some workers in Moscow! Instead, Alexander approached a very good doctor who supported a charity for assisting poor musicians. When he asked the doctor, "How much it would cost?" The doctor answered, "It won't cost your anything. But you can, if you want, donate something to our charity".

 

Although Medical care in Russia is supposed to be free as enshrined in article 41 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, in practice many patients feel obliged to pay staff some money just to receive any decent attention at all. The quality and conditions in hospitals can often be very dire. Some doctors are so badly trained that they can't make a straightforward diagnosis of simple cases and patients often ask for a secondary diagnosis from another doctor to just be sure. One of my young students who was diagnosed with deadly cancer in Moscow had a second examination in Germany to be told she had no such cancer! It was a case of irresponsible misdiagnosis which gave her and her mother untold stress!

 

Alexander's claims of a policy not to record most cases of Covid 19 has long been confirmed by scientists and doctors. It was so blatantly self evident that the Russian government even admitted this in public that there had been 230,000 excess deaths since the beginning of the pandemic which amounts to 6 times the official figures. The Deputy Prime Minister stated that 81% of the those excess deaths were related to Covid 19. This would amount to a staggering figure of almost 200,000 deaths. A leading demographer Alexey Raksha stated that the government website and Rospotrebnadzor had deliberately under reported the scale of the cases. In fact, whether Russia has more or less Covid 19 deaths than America is almost a non-competitive question. Russia is thought to have the third world's worst figures from Covid 19 after Brazil and America.

 

At this moment of time the Russian Government has no intention of implementing a full scale lock down in contrast to the new situation in Germany and Britain. This is despite the rapidly rising number of infections and deaths which know no reprieve. The government claim they just can't afford it at a time when many people have already lost their jobs, suffered depleted income and are psychologically showing the strain.{Already 83% of Russian school children report feeling depressed and down} But those times are very bizarre. 

Alexander could not help noticing that this was a December which we had never previously witnessed. It was not just a case of the Covid 19 crisis. He told me, "In one week in December we had more sunshine than for 200 years! The temperature was so warm. We usually only have one sunny day in December!" We seem to have woken up in a wholly unreal Russia! A Russia without a real winter is an awesome anomaly.

Wages

ARE AMERICAN WAGES SO HIGH?  

Assessing the latest claim of Navalny

By Stephen Wilson

 

Alexei Navalny says Americans are well paid.

(Moscow, Russia) -- 'Putinists are jubilant at the chaos in the United States and are praising 'Putin's stability 'of course there is a problem. But in the U.S.A. there is still an average monthly salary of about 306,000 rubles.{4040 Dollars?} In the Russian Federation, according to official statistics, the average salary is about 40,000 rubles, or more likely about 30,000 rubles,' declared a prominent opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, in reaction to the complacency of many Russian establishment politicians and journalists. The tweet was made in response to the latest assault by militant supporters of Trump on the Capitol building on the 6th of January when demonstrators en-mass, broke through a weak police cordon and practically took over the building sending politicians into flight. What are we to make of this odd tweet? It sounds like a gaffe!  While it is certainly true that most Russians suffer from low wages, it is highly questionable that most Americans, in contrast, enjoy high wages and an affluent life style.That is putting it rather mildly! Navalny fails to take into account the cost of living, huge rent, as will as the vast expenses of paying for an education and medical care which is not free! The huge proportion of students who have fallen into massive debt has already been covered by many past articles by Second City Teachers. One Russian critic replied, 'Where do you get such claims about wages? It is like a fairy tale'.

 

Widespread evidence suggests that a growing number of American workers not only attain low wages but lead a precarious existence without much protection, security or prospects. A recent study by Martha Ross and Nicole Bateman, 2019, found that 53 million Americans between the ages of 18 to 64 accounting for 44% of all workers qualify as 'Low wage'. Their medium hourly wages are 10.22 dollars. Of course, wages vary from state to state, as 'Low wage workers make up the highest share of the workforce in smaller places in the Southern and Western parts of the United States, including Las Cruces, N.M.,and Jacksonville, N.Y.{both 62%}Visalia, Calif.{58%};Yuma,Arizo.{57%}; and McAllen, Texas,{56%}.

Ross and Bateman stated, 'We analysed data for nearly 400 metropolitan areas and the share of workers in a particular place earning low wages ranges from a low of 30% to a high of 62%'. The persistent problem of low pay has been compounded by the Covid 19 crisis where many American workers have lost their jobs and are either unemployed or underemployed.

 

Noam Chomsky, in his work, 'Who Rules the World?', [2017}, points out that American workers are much more insecure and exposed to poorer conditions that in the 1970's. He states how the Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan , "explained during his glory days, his successful policies were based on 'greater worker insecurity'". Intimidated workers would not ask for higher wages or benefits, but would accept lower living standards in exchange for being able to keep a job at all.' This lowering of wages was not connected with 'merit' or 'market forces' but a deliberate neoliberal experiment to drive down wages. Chomsky states:

'A look at the minimum wage in the United States illustrates what has been happening. Through the periods of high growth in the 1950's and '60's, the minimum wage - which sets a baseline for other wages - tracked productivity. That ended with the onset of neoliberal doctrine. Since then, the minimum wage adjusted for inflation has actually fallen. Had the previous trends continued, by now it would probably be close to 20 dollars per hour. Instead today, it it is considered a political revolution raising it to 15 dollars.' Chomsky points out how there exists a vast difference between holding a steady job in manufacturing with union wages and benefits, and a temporary job with no security.' Apart from the loss of wages, benefits, and security, there is a loss of dignity, of hope for the future, of a sense that this is a world in which one belongs and plays a worthwhile role.'

 

It is unfortunate that Trump by using populist rhetoric was able to win much support among impoverished workers who felt the reasons for their insecurity were due to immigrants, Chinese Exports and an elitist government that seems very remote and out of touch with the concerns of the American working class. The Democrats have self righteously condemned the attack on the White House without even asking a reasonable question, 'Why are so many people so angry and alienated from the American Democrats? Why is it that in many cases the policies of both the Democrats and Republicans are so identical?  It is as if Biden and so many of the elite have learnt nothing from the past as to why a demagogue such as Trump could secure enough votes to become President.

 

Many Russians, and not just Navalny, idealize either America or Britain. They can even adopt a very romantic and idyllic view of the west largely at odds with the experience of so many native residents. The grass is always greener on the other side. But why should Russians and Americans sell ourselves short? Why should we choose between a stagnant and authoritarian Russian model which is imploding and an American alternative where people are exposed to low wages, insecure work and lack basic rights such as free medical care and education? People are surely capable of developing a much more just and decent society!  In regard to both the American and Russian government, it is best to quote a line from a character in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet who declares - 'A plague on both your houses'.

HOD Jan

Report on the Meeting of the House of Delegates on January 6, 2021

By George Milkowski

Please note:  Because of the COVID 19 pandemic, this meeting was conducted as a webinar via a video conference

The meeting began at 4:41 p.m..

I. Officer Reports

A. Recording Secretary Christel Williams-Hayes – Christel said that the CTU is continuing its fight to keep members from returning to in person learning while the pandemic is raging.  She reminded delegates that the arbitrator’s decision last month said that specific workers could work remotely from home four days a week.  She stressed that clerks are NOT to take temperatures of students and the Union needs to know if there are HEPA filters on the machines in the offices

B. Financial Report Kathy Catalano – Kathy said that we are about $290,000 over in budgeted income but we also have additional expenses due to charter school organizing.  The Covid pandemic has also increased our spending by about $120,000 for legal fees in our current negotiations with the CPS, conducting town hall meetings, paying for surveys, podcasts and so on.

Currently, we are $4,000,000 in the red but this is about $400,000 better than last year at this time.  With more dues coming in, Kathy expects the Union to be in the black by April.

C. Recording Secretary Maria Moreno – Our membership is 28,076, of which about 2.000 are retiree members.

Delegate elections are being held and so far have been finished in about 160 schools.  This is a low number and delegates were urged to start and carry out the specified process if they wish to be recognized and seated for the February House meeting

D. Vice President Stacy Davis Gates  - Stacy admitted to being distracted about the events in Washing, D.C. (throngs of people marching on the Capitol Building) but stressed that our solidarity is our strength.  We have to view the Union not just as dues paying members but also include parents and community allies.  She cited a letter signed by three dozen alderpersons questioning the CTU plans on returning to in person learning and support for that position from a number of LSCs in the City as an example of our impact and our connections.

Stacy made a distinction between “common good unionism” and “bread and butter unionism” and said that by choosing “common good unionism” we have a lot of allies on out side; that we are not alone and should not feel alone.

II. President’s Report – Jesse Sharkey

Pres. Sharkey started off by recognizing the fear and anxiety members are feeling.  He said we must all reach out to co-workers for mutual support.

Jesse said we are having an impact on the public narrative.  He said that in the ongoing talks with the CPS that Board negotiators for the first time seemed more open to suggestions from the CTU, but he added that favorable public opinion doesn’t guarantee victory.  He said Janet Jackson admitted that the CPS plan is to get every worker back into the buildings by the end of the month and the Board’s actions for this week are just the start but our resistance has slowed their plans.  He rhetorically asked how can the Board threaten Special Ed teachers with firing if they cannot find enough people to fill all the Special Ed positions that exist now?   Despite CPS threats, he has not heard of a single incidence of anyone being disciplined.

Regarding the possibility of an Unfair Labor Practice strike, Jesse said there is nothing in the law that favors our position nor does it NOT favor our position.  Therefore, if an ULP takes place, a judge may rule in favor of the Board.  To that end the Union has a strategy to build pressure on the CPS in three phases.  

III. Items for Action

The only Item for Action was to approve a resolution for the CTU to Support Instructional Support Leaders.  There are about 100 in these positions in the CPS system and they have been denied a pay raise that all other CTU members have received.  The resolution passed 93% to 2%, with 5% abstaining.  I voted “yes” on this matter

IV. Department/Committee Reports 

A.  Organizing – Matthew Luskin.  Matthew stressed the need for solidarity.  He said that reports, based on a CTU safety check list, indicate that required temperature checks, mask wearing, and the installation of HEPA filters are NOT being carried out despite CPS statements to the public

B. Grievance –Latoyia Kimbrough, CTU in-house attorney – Latoyia addressed issues of the right to work remotely, health screening affidavits and ADA requests being denied.  She said that no documentation is required if one is expressing one’s right to not work in unsafe conditions.  She said that one should just submit a letter stating as much to the principal.

C. Political/Legislative - Kurt Hilgendorf – Kurt said that the lame duck meeting of the General Assembly might vote on HB 2267, a bill that would establish a representative elected school board in Chicago.  Another bill, HB 2275, which would restore full bargaining rights to the CTU, may be voted on by Monday, January 11.  He asked delegates to spread the word to their co-workers and ask them to contact their state senators in support of these two measures.  Both of them have already passed the House.

The CTU will also be conducting a training session on “how to talk to your elected politician”.  Contact Kurt at KurtHilgendorf@ctulocal1.org if you are interested.

D. CTU-ACTS – Chris Baehrend – Chris reported that Latino Youth H.S. is in its 19th week of refusing to return to in person learning.  There have been NO cases of teachers or staff being disciplined for not reporting to the building.

Chris also said that Passages E.S. teachers and staff were told they must report to the school on January 14.  Negotiations about this are underway.

V. New Business/Questions and Answers

A high school delegate would like to have an energetic and hard working PSRP member be elected as an associate delegate to the CTU’s House of Delegates from Young.  Jesse responded by saying the Union’s constitution states the members of the House must be teachers but he referred the issue to the CTU’s PSRP Committee for further consideration and recommendations.

Another high school delegate asked if teachers can put out a “report card” on principals.  Jesse said no, but they may want to have an informal one. The principals association objected because they say it is akin to the infamous Do Not Hire List for CPS teachers that the union has fought against.

A delegate asked for confirmation that some principals are “looking the other way” when it comes to requiring faculty and staff to report to the schools.  Jesse didn’t confirm this but he said it might be happening.

Paula Sontog asked if a teacher would lose their pension if they were fired for not reporting to a school.  Jesse said that if the teacher is vested then their pension is safe.  He added though, that there is safety and strength in numbers and that the CPS has a progressive discipline structure so being fired would not happen immediately or quickly.

Time ended but a motion to extend debate passed 62-38%.  I voted to extend debate.

One delegate asked if teachers would really have to go into work if they are “terrified” to do so.  Jesse said they could ask for a leave or use their sick days.

Another delegate asked where the letters of support from her LSC should be sent.  Jesse will have Lightfoot’s e-mail address, Janet Jackson’s at the CPS and others posted on the CTU website.

Lastly, one delegate just commented she was concerned that  if we act too slowly or wait too long and the public sees kids back in the classroom and things are going smoothly, that our opposition to returning to in person learning will collapse.

The meeting then ended at 7:06 p.m.