Pension Pauses Audit

Chicago Teachers Pension Fund Votes Down Forensic Audit

By Jim Vail

Pension Fund Trustee Tina Padilla 

Chicago Teachers Pension Fund (CTPF) trustees voted down a forensic audit at the June 16, 2022 board meeting.

CORE and Members First Trustees voted against the forensic audit that would have taken a closer look at the $13 billion fund and any spending irregularities. Teacher Trustee Tina Padilla with the REAL Caucus and Retired Teacher Trustee Maria J. Rodriguez, an independent who introduced the motion, were the only two who voted in favor of the audit.

"Are we going to be fiduciary delinquent?" Trustee Padilla asked during the vote. "It should be investigated. I don't want to be delinquent."

A forensic audit can seek answers to longstanding trustee questions regarding potential conflicts of interest, fiduciary breaches and violations of law regarding its investments, said Edward Siedle, a pension expert.

Siedle wrote in an article entitled "Questions Surround Chicago Teachers Pension Fund Long, Long Overdue Forensic Audit," that it was a mystery why public pension funds were so reluctant to find out if they could be hurt by investment consultants' conflicted loyalties, which is a big concern in the industry.

A SEC investigation revealed that pension consultant conflicts of interest involving Wall Street money managers paying consultants to recommend them to pensions was pervasive and resulted in significant financial harm. 

Siedle who audits pension funds said teachers should know how safe their pension money is when it is only 45 percent funded. 

"Since the Government Accountability Office has estimated investment conflicts can result in 1.3 percent lower returns, the harm to the $13 billion pension from this single form of industry wrongdoing alone may amount to nearly $170 million per year over time and may exceed $3 billion," he wrote.

Siedle said the CTPF spokesperson refused to answer his following questions: would a BDO audit review conflicts of interest, fiduciary breaches, hidden and excessive fees and potential violations of law related to the investment portfolio. The CTPF spokesperson said the audit was "confidential." A lawyer for the fund said there are trade secrets which could cause competitive harm to a person or business. 

The CTPF had earlier voted for the first part of a 2 part phase of a forensic audit. CPS Board Trustee Dwayne Truss suggested scheduling another meeting to discuss the audit. Some stated they were worried about the cost of the audit.

A trustee said there will be a special meeting in July to further discuss the forensic audit.

Siedle said his audits were made public and revealed a lot of missing money. "Pension stakeholders deserve to know."

Are You Setting Yourself Up ForUnhealthy Aging

HOD June

House of Delegates June 1, 2022 Report

By George Milkowski 

Note:  you may find the last paragraph at the very end of my report of special interest.  I pulled a few selected items from our list of political contributions from April 1, 2021 through March 31, 2022.  None of this money is from dues, which is prohibited by law.  Instead. It comes from voluntary contributions from members

The meeting began at 4:34 p.m. and was a Zoom webinar.

I. Officers Reports

A.   Christel Williams- Hayes – Recording Secretary.  Christel said the CTU has received reports that PSRPs are having their pay docked.  There is no cause for this and any PSRP needs to contact the school delegate and their Field Rep if this takes place.

B.  Kathy Catalano – Financial Report.  Kathy reported we are now nine months into our fiscal year and revenues are about $338,000 in the black.  With more dues coming in next month the CTU expects to have a surplus of about $500,000; maybe even going up to $750,000!  Dues are based on a particular lane and step from the teachers’ salary schedule and the CTU expects to have an additional $1 million for next year’s budget.  Also, there will be no Union election next year that cost over $300,000.

C. Maria Moreno – Financial Secretary – Our membership has gone up to 28,313 and retiree membership has increased by 12 to 1,664. 

Our recent election had a 63% participation rate which is far beyond the rate in New York City (20%) where they vote by mail and of our own CTPF which had a rate of a paltry 13%.

In the election Stacy Davis Gates won the presidency with 56.9% of the vote.  Esposito-Usterbowski received 26,46 % and Dowd got 16.6% of the vote.

There is a runoff for two clinician functional vice presidents as no one received more than 50% of the vote.  Ballots were mailed to clinicians on May 26 and are due back by June 10.

D.  Chris Baehrend – Charter Division – Chris reported that the May 17 demonstration by the charter school division of the Union was successful.  They are in multi-employer negotiations and he said that what gains the charter division gets can help lead to similar gains for all CTU members in future negotiations.

Chris is stepping down as the head of the CTU’s charter division.  He decided not to run for re-election.

E.  Stacy Davis Gates - Vice President – Stacy said that COVID is not over and the CTU is working on strengthening member actions through school safety committees, Stacy also said the “We Care Mentoring” program for teachers with less than four years of experience has been a success.  The program mentored 300 teachers in the last two years with a positive retention rate.  There are hopes to increase that number to 500 for the next school year. Veteran teachers who would like to be mentors may apply for those positions and there will be a stipend provided.

II. President’s Report

Pres. Sharkey said that his term ends at the end of June and leaving to return to the classroom is bittersweet.  Some critics have called him undemocratic but he maintains the CTU tries to be open and transparent with often vigorous debates in the House of Delegates.  He said the current election with three slates of candidates is a good thing as issues and concerns of the membership may be presented and debated and then the members decide the direction the Union should go.

Jesse said the budget cuts in the schools need to be opposed.  In the last two weeks the CPS agreed to pay $175 million to the Municipal Workers fund, which is just a rationale for more cuts.  While many CPS paraprofessionals are covered by the Muni Fund, State law says it is the responsibility of the City, not the CPS, to make these payments.  Lightfoot has been getting her school board to help her cover City expenditures at the expense of the children.  

The CPS STILL is sitting on federal COVID relief funds and refuses to use them for programs in the schools.  The final CPS budget will be voted on in July and cuts need to be fought.  He also feels an economic recession is coming and that will put more strain on the CPS budget.  We need to be prepared to fight any additional cuts.

III. Items for Action

A.  The CTU budget for 2022-23 was presented.  It calls for expenditures of $18,020,00.  Mary Ann Esposito-Usterbowski asked about the “pass throughs” to the IFT and AFT.  Our constitution requires that we make these payments and the AFT and IFT are expected to increase the amount of ”pass throughs” they receive at their upcoming conventions.  A little over half of our expenses go to these organizations, but a chunk of it comes back to the CTU when we have state or federal legal actions and when we participate in sanctioned meetings and so on with those organizations.

A delegate asked if more money should be spent on member defense.  Jesse said that most of our expenses are for that already through the work of our field representatives and legal team.  

Frank McDonald (Washington High) asked if the CTU could install solar panels on the roof of the buildings.  Jesse said that that has been suggested in the past and the CTU will look into it.  Installation of solar panels can be expensive and doing so would depend, in part, on existing tax rebate laws from the State and the U.S. governments.

The budget was approved 91-9%.  I voted “yes”.

B.  Kurt Hilgendorf presented five additional names for endorsement in the June primary.  He said mailers will be going out to all members in the next week or so.  Margo Murray asked why we haven’t endorsed Gov. Pritzker?  Kurt said he is running unopposed and he hasn’t been able to meet with the endorsement committee but is expected to do so before the November election.

Terra S. asked why all endorse candidates are Democrats.  Are there any independents?  Kurt replied that independents need to request to be considered for endorsements.  He added that the Union also is the primary funder of United Working Families in Chicago that encourages independents to run for office.

A motion to close debate, which I opposed. passed 96-4% and the endorsements were approved 85-15%.  I voted “yes” on the endorsements.

C.  A resolution honoring Chris Baehrend for his work with building the CTU’s charter division passed 94-6%.  I voted “yes”.

D.  A resolution honoring Jesse Sharkey passed 97-3%.  I voted “yes”.

IV. Committee Reports

A.  Organizing – Jim Cavallero – Parents and the CTU from at least eight schools have been active in fighting the CPS’s budget cuts and at least $24 million in planned cuts have been rescinded.

The CTU plans to be in the Puerto Rican People’s Parade on June 12 and the Pride Parade on June 26.

B. Grievance – Jim Staros – Over 300 new positions opened up this year due to our contract agreement for a Joint CTU/CPS class size committee.

The CPS agreed to have an additional $5 million for more Cadre Subs and $2 million more for incentives for day-to-day subs.

C.  Subs of the Month – Georgia Waller – The Union presented a short video honoring all recognized outstanding subs from the past year.

D. Political/Legislative – Kurt Hilgendorf – Kurt reported that the bill to allow retirees to sub up to 140 days in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years with no reduction in their pension benefits has not yet been signed, but he expects the governor to do so by the end of the month.

Kurt also mentioned that thanks to our political activism with the IFT, the Illinois State Board of Education has backed off on its plans to have students tested three times during the school year.  It will stick with just one required test.  

Kurt reminded the assembly that early voting for the June 28 primary had begun.  He also said that in-Ward early voting begins June 13 and a voter can go to any in-Ward site to vote no matter where in the City we live.

V. New Business/Question and Answers

Anita Hill asked what is the source of revenue for “interventionist schools”?  The CTU doesn’t know but will look into it.

Christen Chapman motioned that the CTU participate in a local event against gun violence on June 11,which part of a national event.  The motion passed 97-3%.  I voted “yes”.

Margaret West expressed her hope that when in-person House meetings resume that they will be shorter.

Natasha Carlson said that a parent who had been banned from her school entered anyway and was removed without incident, but the school is now setting up a security committee.  She questioned whether she, as a delegate, should get involved on that committee.  Jesse said that it would probably best to instead go through the PPC and the school safety committee.

A motioned to extend debate failed 19-81%.  I voted to extend debate as I always do.

The meeting ended at 7:32 p.m..

These are the largest donations for that time period.  The CTU gave $59,900 to State Senate President Don Harmon, three separate donations to Delia Ramirez totaling $118,800 and $59,900 to United Working Families.

To be fair, there were a number of important laws that we favored that came from Springfield this past year including restoration of our full bargaining rights, an elected school board, and restoration of the required school tax levy to go to the pension fund.  Harmon and Ramirez were strong supporters of these measures and now Ramirez is running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ariel/Starbucks

Why is Teachers Pension Fund Not Cutting Ties to Union-Busting Starbucks?

By Jim Vail

Trustee Phil Weiss questioned Ariel Fund and its
affiliation to union-busting Starbucks.

Trustee Phil Weiss raised an important issue at the April 21 Chicago Teachers Pension Fund Board meeting - why is the fund continuing to work with Ariel Management which is not only performing poorly, but also connected to union-busting Starbucks.

He questioned why the CTPF would continue to do business with Ariel Management and its director Melody Hobson who sits on the board of directors for Starbucks.

Starbucks is currently engaged in an ugly union-busting campaign after several of its stores voted to go union because of poor working conditions and low pay that has resulted in high worker turnover.

Chicago Teachers Union VP Stacy Davis Gates who just won the election to be president posted a statement in support of the workers organizing and fighting against the union busting tactics of Starbucks on Facebook just before the election.

Ariel is politically connected to the Chicago machine and is run by an African-American woman who is married to billionaire George Lucas of Star Wars fame. Lucas married Hobson then tried to get a museum connected to his Star Wars franchise built on the Chicago lakefront.

The Ariel Fund was put on the CTPF watchlist in August of 2020 due to high staff turnover and poor returns. Robert Lopez, an equity portfolio manager for the $2.5 billion fund, said Ariel has made strides to improve employee retention.

Weiss, the Investment Committee Chair, was not convinced.

"They are anti-union which is pretty disturbing and does not line up with our philosophy," Weiss said during the board meeting. 

Ariel's Valerie King said Melody Hobson is not anti-union because she is a union card holder and the negative press with Starbucks is unfortunate.

"We're aware of the negative press," she said. "There is no story here. It is distracting. Melody is very hurt by this."

Trustee Lois Nelson, who ran on the CORE ticket, defended Ariel and Melody Hobson.

"Ariel has been with us for so many years," Nelson said. "Hobson does not own Starbucks. She is beholden to them. This is being blindsided."

Ariel appears to be a minority front investment fund run to the benefit of corrupt city insiders. Former schools chief and President Obama's Education Secretary Arne Duncan sits on Ariel's board of directors. Duncan worked on behalf of Mayor Daley and the business class and closed many city public schools and replaced them with charters.

During the April CTPF board meeting, Trustee Dwayne Truss told Weiss to stick to the investment committee issues. Truss represents Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago Board of Education.

This is not the first time Ariel has been put on the CTPF watchlist when it comes to performance for the Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund. 

The CTPF investment consultant recommended terminating Ariel Capital Management due to poor performance at a Feb. board meeting in 2009 and a motion for termination was approved.

The trustees who abstained on the vote at that time included Lois Nelson, who was an active teacher trustee on the fund, John O'Brill, the president of the fund, Nancy Williams, teacher trustee, and Alberto Carrero, a trustee with the Chicago Board of Education.

Carrero said he abstained from the vote because he was in a position of conflict because of Ariel's involvement with and support of the Chicago Public Schools. 

Nelson said she abstained because Morgan Stanley was on the watchlist for two years and had not been removed.

Managers are put on the CTPF watchlist for poor performance or high turnover.

Trustee Maria Rodriguez was an active teacher trustee in 2009 and she made a motion to accept the pension fund's consultant Mercer's recommendation to terminate Ariel at the March 19, 2009 CTPF Board Meeting.

But then a curious thing happened. At that same meeting a motion was made to reconsider the earlier motion to sever ties with Ariel.

Apparently Ariel's magic worked and they continued to do business with the teacher's pension fund for the next two years. 

Then in 2011 another motion to put Ariel on the watchlist failed in a 7-4 vote. Those trustees who voted in favor of terminating Ariel included current Teacher Trustee Tina Padilla, former Teacher Trustee Ray Wohl, Principal Trustee Chris Kotis and former Pension Fund President Jay Rehak. The nays who voted to not terminate Ariel included former CORE Trustees Lois Ashford who ran on the ticket with Rehak to win CORE's first citywide election before defeating the UPC in the 2010 election, Jeanne Freed, and Mary Sharon Reilly, who at the time was a member of the UPC. Strangely, Reilly had seconded the motion to terminate Ariel, but then voted against the motion to terminate. The Chicago Board of Ed Trustee Rodrigo Sierra also voted against severing ties with Ariel.

The pension fund put Ariel on its manager watchlist in July, 2020 for "personnel turnover and underperformance." They have invested $79 million with the fund that has earned the highest watchlist score, according to the CTPF Asset Allocation report Sept. 30, 2021. Investments that were terminated after being placed on the watchlist included three BMO accounts that totaled $646 million. Funds on the watchlist but not yet terminated include Lazard ($675 million), Earnest Partners ($212 million) and DFA ($181 million), the asset allocation report stated.

According to the CTPF, over the past five years Ariel has returned 4.5 percent compared with the MSCI index of foreign stocks that returned 8.8 percent, costing the fund about $16 million.

Hobson manages more than $640 million in assets for Chicago-area pension funds, earning more than $3 million per year in fees. Many of those funds are connected to the city's unions, including SEIU that is seeking to organize Starbucks workers, according to writer David Sirota who covers pension funds.

Starbucks just fired 16 pro-union workers and Hobson said they will not stay neutral in union elections. 

According to CTPF protocol, recommendations to terminate or place investment managers on a watchlist is initiated by the CTPF consultant and then reviewed by the CTPF investment team. A motion is then made by the investment chair to vote on at the CTPF committee meeting and then voted on by the full board of trustees.

So why wasn't a motion made by someone on the investment committee to terminate Ariel and its ties to union-busting Starbucks? 

CTU Election!

Chicago Teachers Union Election Looms Large

By Jim Vail

The CTU will elect a new union President. From left to right
MF Mary Esposito-Usterbowski, CORE Stacy Davis Gates
and REAL Darnell Dowd.

The Chicago public schools teachers will elect a president to lead a union that has battled the city and business class.

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) members will choose between the incumbents CORE who have led the union the past dozen years, Members First that is focused on teachers in the classroom and REAL, a group made up of many former CORE executive board members who are critical of CORE.

The CTU has led a courageous fight that included implementing school closing and charter school moratoriums, passing an elected school board, and restoring collective bargaining rights and the pension levy to protect teachers pensions.

The Members First opposition group has criticized the political focus of the union and has appealed to teachers classroom priorities such as increasing supplies reimbursements to $750, making all work pensionable and changing the residency requirements where most teachers have to live in the city.

The REAL caucus has vowed to fight on similar issues of CORE including making sure every school has a delegate, fully-staffed special education, nurses, clinicians and case managers on the first day of school and tackle bully administrators and toxic work environments.

In terms of media exposure, many believe that CORE and Members First will get the most votes.

Members First has been an opposition caucus for the past several years. They were the first caucus to build a strong online presence with a Facebook page with about 6,000 followers.  

CORE is the incumbent, and they have used their position as leaders of the union to also push their campaign. They filed several lawsuits against outside interference that MF and REAL believe were politically motivated.

Members First has put money where their mouth is. They led all caucuses in mailing out a whopping six slick large postcard flyers. 

Their first two mailers focused on President candidate Stacy Davis Gates with the headings: With a toxic relationship with city leaders How can we expect Stacy Davis Gates to deliver for us? and Is it personal or does she just want her job? Insiders say that these type of mailers were too toxic themselves against our current CTU VP who is already under fire from the Mayor and the opposition caucus decided to take a different direction. 

(I saw Stacy's picture and thought it was a mailer to vote for her and CORE if I did not read the fine print carefully.)

MF then focused on its next mailers with their 2 bread and butter issues - $750 for supplies for every teacher and bring back the 30 min. morning prep. Another mailer cut out Stacy's head and read: We can deliver so much more for all CTU members with fresh leadership. 

Their rhetoric toned down considerably.

CORE sent out 4 similar slick postcard mailers that focused on themselves, touting what they have won (elected school board, secured pensions and Covid sick days), while noting the other caucuses were funded by Mayor Lightfoot's suburban donor and undermined contract negotiations by posting sensitive information online.

CORE focused in the mailers on their bread & butter issues - confronting 'relentless challenges from privatizers and politicians who sought to destroy our communities' and that CORE is a 'diverse and experienced slate of proven leaders Founded by Karen Lewis. Endorsed by Jesse Sharkey.'

REAL mailed out one postcard that read: 'Is working in CPS easier now than 3, 6 or 10 yrs ago? Is is easier to deliver the rewarding experience your students deserve? Is your position more secure with Student Based Budgeting & Reach? If you said 'NO' to any of these, it's time to get REAL!

They also promised to bring back a large grievance department with a staffed hotline, defend members from crony contracts like Skyline, Aramark and Tech Co., and insure transparency by giving members easy access to all major expenditures including officer salaries and political donations.

MF would most likely cut back the union's political spending which they believe is too high and said they would not have agreed to stop work or strike when the Covid virus was raging in January. 

Will teachers agree to this? A majority voted to stop working because of the virus, but the mayor and the democratic party were adamant that teachers could not teach remote and forced teachers back to the classrooms.   

Will there be a runoff? Most likely there will be, and if so, then who will it be. I would predict that CORE will either win in the first round, or go to a runoff with Members First. The question would then be who would REAL support in the runoff? Their platform in many ways mirrors CORE but critical.

Happy CTU elections!

Book Review

BOOK REVIEW

COMING UP FOR AIR by George Orwell

Oxford University Press, 2021, Oxford, Britain

Review by Stephen Wilson

 

'War! I started thinking about it again. It's coming soon, that's certain. But who's afraid of war? That's to say, who is afraid of the bombs and the machine-guns ? 'You are', you say. yes, I am, and so's anybody who's ever seen them. But it isn't the war that matters, it's the after-war. The World we are going into , the kind of hate-world ,slogan world. The colored shirts, the barbed wire, the rubber truncheons. The secret cells where the electric light burns night and day, and the detectives watching you while you sleep. And the processions and the posters and enormous faces, and the crowds of a million people all cheering for the leader till they deafen themselves into thinking they really worship him, and all the time, underneath, they hate him so that they want to puke.' {page 124 }laments the main character George Bowling of George Orwell's 'Coming Up For Air' , a novel set in pre-war England. The novel is a dark comedy where the disaffected , anguished and bored insurance agent George Bowling, decides to embark on a secret odyssey back into the England where he grew up in so as to relive some of the joy he once experienced as a child before the onslaught of the First World War. He hopes to forget about the imminent outbreak of war which seems so certain. But his hometown has  radically changed so much that he even gets lost.

 

This novel is highly underrated. It is worth ignoring literary critics who claim that while Orwell was a great essayist he was not such a good novelist. That is just bunk! This is difficult to square with the compelling images, scenes and convincing characters you find in 1984, Animal farm as well as 'Coming Up For Air'. The novel 'Coming Up for Air' bluntly captures the tense atmosphere being experienced just before the Second War World where people were genuinely afraid of air-raids and falling under Fascism. The pathetic attempts to escape this harsh reality by drinking, flirting or in Bowling's case  trying to take up fishing again seem understandable. I enjoyed the amusing dialogue between Bowling and his uptight wife Hilda who is permanently worried and anxious about the future, and the strange academic Porteous. Porteous is completely complacent concerning the threat of Hitler. He feels Hitler is irrelevant. He does not think of him at all. He is more interested in the siege of Troy than the impending war. He just goes on reciting old Latin and Greek poetry with a beautiful voice. Bowling thinks 'Funny those public school chaps. Schoolboys all their days. Whole life revolving round the old school and their bits of Latin and Greek and poetry. And suddenly I remembered that almost the first time I was here with Porteous he'd read me the very same poem. Read it in just the same way, and his voice quivered when he got to the same bit- the bit about magic casements, or something. And a curious thought struck me . He 's dead. He 's a ghost. All people like that are dead.'{pages 131-132} Bowling concludes that there are many people in England who are stuck in a mindset where they imagine England will never change and England is the World.  

 

Bowling is utterly bored with his job. He is frustrated with his dull domestic situation and yearns for a new adventure. But he now realizes that he is not the same man but has lost all his teeth and put on weight. In deed the novel begins with the first line -'The idea came to me the day I got my new false teeth.' Bowling wins some money on horse-racing which allows him to take a holiday back to his Lower Binfield in Oxfordshire. But he soon becomes disillusioned by what he finds. All the fields where mushrooms used to grow have been swallowed up by new houses and old pubs have had their old decor destroyed by new renovations.

 

One wonders why Bowling keeps his holiday secret. It is as if he is ashamed and embarrassed to admit to his wife his feelings of nostalgia. He even feels that the hobby of fishing might be frowned upon as a  childish hobby fit only for children and not middle-aged men. It reminds me of how some people in Britain still make fun of adults who keep model railways at their homes.  

It turns out that keeping the aim of his holiday a secret backfires on Bowling. His wife suspects he is having an affair when in reality he has been seeing no woman and has even had his advances rebuffed by a woman in a humiliating way.

 

Orwell makes some sharp comments on the state of England where everyone seems afraid of losing their jobs, poverty,  the threat of war, Communism and  Fascism. It is worth noting that the authoritarian trends which Orwell notices in Britain such as censorship, declining diversity and growing intolerance are what convinced him that Britain could one day turn into a dictatorship. Reading this book ought to help you better understand 1984. For the novel 1984 is not just based on the historical experience of Germany and Russia but also Britain. And if you look at the situation in Britain at present then it turns out Orwell has been spot on. Britain has the largest amount of surveillance cameras in the whole world. Everywhere you go a camera follows you. There is even more surveillance in Britain than Russia. Journalists are being persecuted in Britain for revealing the truth and even British citizens are being illegally deported because they can't find their documents on time to prove they are British. We are living in a 'hostile environment' not just for illegal migrants but practically anyone who expresses disagreeable views. What is disquieting is how timely Orwell's novel is. It is easy to forget this was written in 1939. It could have been written now. The current conflict in Ukraine has made people anxious about the threat of a Third World War. The demagogues which frightened Orwell have not faded away but over the past decade appeared to have mushroomed.

 

Bowling returns home with the sad words - 'One thing, I thought as I drove down the hill, I am finished with this notion of getting back into the past. What's the good of trying to revisit the scenes of your boyhood? They don't exist. Coming up for air! But there isn't any air. The dustbin we are in reaches up to the stratosphere. All the same I didn't particularly care. After all, I thought, I 've still got three days left. I'd have a bit of peace and quiet, and stop bothering about what they had done to Lower Binfield.{pages 149} Even the name Binfield suggests a bin of rubbish in a field!

 

Perhaps this novel appeals to me because I once tried to do what Bowling did. I returned to some of my childhood haunts in Scotland and also kept this secret. When I told my sister that I had returned to Scotland in order to write poetry she answered "Is that why you are staying for some time? To write poetry? You have gone mad! " Like Bowling I found my favorite pubs had been destroyed by new renovations and some churches had been transformed into pubs. The old fields we had once played football in had been replaced by huge supermarkets. Even the old bookshop has now closed down...

 

But I think that Bowling should not be ashamed of going fishing ! Reliving old pursuits from childhood isn't childish. On the contrary it might help you connect better with your own children. And we need to come up for some fresh air in those trying times !

HOD May

CTU House of Delegates May Meeting

By George Milkowski

 

Note: This is NOT part of the House meeting but I am involved with this as a Union member, history buff, and former steel worker, so I thought you should be aware of this event. The Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees is hosting a commemoration of the Memorial Day Police Riot Massacre at Republic Steel in 1937.  The ceremony will be on Saturday, May 21, at 11731 S. Avenue “0”, just three blocks down the street from George Washington H.S..   (Avenue 0 is 3432 east).  Doors open at 1:00 p.m. and the ceremony will begin at 2:00 p.m..  Fred Redmond of the AFL-CIO will be the keynote speaker and Ald. Sue Garza, a CTU member, will also speak.  Not yet committed is CTU Vice-president Stacy Davis Gates.  I hope you can attend.   

Report on the meeting of the House of Delegates held on May 4, 2022

The meeting began at 4:35 p.m. and was a Zoom webinar.

I. Officers Reports

A.   Christel Williams- Hayes – Recording Secretary.  Christel said the CTU is fighting CPS plans to increase the privatization of Technology Coordinators as they had tried to do, unsuccessfully, with school clerks. 

Christel also reported that a delegation of PSRPs recently attended a PSRP convention sponsored by the AFT in St. Louis.

B.  Kathy Catalano – Financial Report.  Kathy reported that revenues for the year are right on track.  As of February 2, 2022, we are $1,315,432 in the red, but as more revenue comes in we expect to have a surplus of about $500,000 by the end of June.

As required by the CTU constitution, a proposed budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year was presented.  Kathy described it as a “conservative” budget. There will be no expenses for a Union election next year so it is projected that we will have a surplus of about $750,000 by June, 2023.  Typically, a little over 50% of our revenue goes to the AFT and IFT as “pass throughs” although some is rebated to us and there are re-imbursements when we host or are involved in IFT or AFT programs or legal actions.

The current CTU staff is at 62.

C. Maria Moreno – Financial Secretary – Our membership is currently up to 28,261 and retiree membership has dropped by 3 to 1,652. 

The May print edition of the Chicago Union Teacher was mailed out this week.

D.  Chris Baehrend – Charter Division – Chris reported that plans to conduct negotiations as a group with all the charter school operators.  Also, he said that a new unit of art teachers has filed to become affiliated with the CTU charter division.

The Charter Division will conduct a rally at the CPS headquarters, 42 W. Washington, on May 17 starting at 4:30 p.m. and all CTU members are asked to join in.

E.  Stacy Davis Gates - Vice President – Stacy lauded Tara Stamps for her role in organizing the “We Care Mentoring” program for teachers with less than four years of experience.  The program currently has about 175 teachers but there are hopes to increase that to 300-500 next school year. Veteran teachers who would like to be mentors may apply for those positions and there will be a stipend provided.

Stacy also referred to a Tribune article that came out that day that dealt with educators demanding an end to standardized testing.  She said that we have been able to change the narrative on this issue so that the negative affects of too much testing is the main point.

Stacy provided a list of schools that are having mobile COVID vaccinations.  She said the CPS does not really push this information..

Lastly, Stacy referenced the news that it looks Like the U.S. Supreme Court is set to overturn Roe v. Wade.  She said that this may be used as a precedent to overturn other assumed rights that we have that are not specifically mentioned in the Constitution.

II. President’s Report

Pres. Sharkey also referenced the Roe v. Wade news.  He said that numerous assumed rights, like maternity leave and other issues specifically affecting women, are on the line.

Jesse said that action by CTU members are starting to have an effect on some school budgets.  Some schools are having budgets slashed dramatically yet the CPS is STILL sitting on $1.4 billion in federal COVID relief funds.  The total cuts the Board is planning on making is about $42 million, a small fraction of the funds that are available.

The Union has not yet taken any action on any of those members who went in to “work” those four days in January.  The CTU is still investigating and recognizes that individual situations vary widely.

Jesse said he testified at an Unfair Labor Practice hearing regarding the CPS’ unilateral decision to stop requiring masks in the schools..  He expects the hearing board to make a decision by June.  He thinks we will win on the point that the CPS violated a written agreement on the issue with the CTU.

The CTU will conduct its traditional debate between candidates for president and vice president on May 5.  This time it will be a hybrid event with some people being present in the Union main hall and others viewing it on-line.  If one wants to see it one must register in advance.    

III. Items for Action

A.  A resolution in Opposition to the New State Testing Regime was passed.  A growing body of evidence shows that too much standardized testing does little good and takes time away from actual learning in the classroom.  The resolution passed 97-2%.  I voted “yes”.

B.  Political endorsement of Lamont Wilson for the 16th State district was amended from the floor to include Sonja Harper in the 6th district.  It passes 92-8%

C. Resolution Against CPS Budget Cuts passed 98-2%

IV. Committee Reports

A.  Organizing – Linda Perales – To continue to fight the CPS budget cuts the Union is encouraging and supporting members and having meetings with parental and community groups and with alderpersons plus putting pressure on the Board at its meetings.  These actions appear to be having some affect.

The Union is planning its 12th annual CTO Organizing Institute.  It will take place over three weeks in the summer and a stipend and gas mileage allowance will be provided.

B. Grievance – Gervaise Clay – Gervaise went over the rules and procedures for the end of year assessment at each school.

The CPS is providing opportunities for members who lost income by staying out for four days In January to make up that loss.  Gervaise explained what members need to do to apply for this extra work and pay.

Gervaise also made it clear that teachers should be receiving their end of year preference sheets, the schedule for the REACH evaluations, and when to expect their tentative schedule for next year.

Lastly, she made it clear that those who were docked sick days for being out do to COVID are eligible by State law to have those days restored, but the need to be vaccinated and fill out the proper form by May 6.

C.  Subs of the Month – Georgia Waller – The two recognized subs (guest workers new political correct term) are Ray Weisman at Locke School and Patrice Thomas at Vicky Early childhood Center.

D. Political/Legislative – Kurt Hilgendorf – Kurt reported on bills that have passed but have not yet been signed into law by the governor.  They are a doubling of educator’s expense tax credit from $250 to $500, the bill to limit testing in grades K-2 and the bill to allow retirees to sub up to 140 days in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years with no reduction in their pension benefits,

Kurt reminded the assembly that the Primary election is unusually late, on June 28 this year, and if one would like to see the CTU’s endorsements, go to ctulocal1.org/vote.

V. New Business/Question and Answers

Margaret Taylor (Chappell) asked about five positions in the proposed budget that have no names specified.  Jesse said that those were lobbyist engaged by the CTU.

Jim McIntosh (Roosevelt) asked when will the House return to in-person meetings.  Jesse said that the House voted against doing that for the last three meetings of this school year, but he hopes we will return to in-person or perhaps hybrid meetings by September.

Scott Zwierzychowski  (Lincoln Park) asked if the Union would help members at individual schools to organize protests over the Roe v. Wade probably repeal.  Jesse said that the Union is planning on something in its committees.

Debby Pope (Retired) introduced a resolution requiring the CTU to take strong public action to defend Roe v. Wade, stressing the emergency nature of the issue.   Jesse ruled to submit it to a committee, but the House overruled him and the resolution was debated and passed, 95-5%.  Everyone who spoke argued in favor of it, including me.  I concluded my remarks buy saying that “any man who opposes Roe v. Wade should be required to get a vasectomy”.

There was a motion to extend the meeting but it failed.  As is usual, I vote d to continue going.

The meeting ended at 7:53 p.m..