Is Chalkbeat the official Chicago Teachers Union news source?
By Jim Vail
It appears the Chicago Teachers Union is in a race to get a new contract and the source that is telling us what to expect is linked to education reformers.
The CTU sent out a news blast with the story "With new video and deadline, the Chicago Teachers Union expresses urgency for a deal" written by Catherine Henderson from the education online news source Chalkbeat.
"The Chicago's teachers union is upping pressure on Mayor Lori Lightfoot, issuing a new deal-making deadline and a minute-long video of several educators explaining why they're pushing so hard on contract negotiations."
My own thoughts are the Mayor has proposed a five year contract so we keep quiet for a while, just like the deal Mayor Richard Daley got so he could keep labor peace while trying to snag the Olympics for 2016. But he gave us a 4 percent raise each year of a similar 5-year contract to get it. What is Lightfoot offering other than a 2.5% raise that is even less since she wants to raise health care costs?
I got the following text from the CTU about the new contract negotiations: "Hey James! This is Leslie and I'm a member of the CTU's Big Bargaining Team. As you may have heard, the Lightfoot administration has offered a five year contract at 2.5% and 3% raises but also a .5% increase in healthcare costs that will eat into the raises. So far, she has rejected all of our proposals on class size reductions, staffing key areas like nurses, social workers, SpEd, ELL, librarians, counselors, etc. CPS has also rejected our suggestions on preparation time, salary and benefits, and demands to create sanctuary and sustainable community schools for our most vulnerable students that would fortify trauma supports, legal aid, protection from ICE/deportation and detention, housing for homeless students, etc. Does this seem right to you?"
When I texted back to speak further with Leslie, she said someone from the union would call me. They never did.
In fact, it appears Chalkbeat is getting more up to date information about the bargaining than the CTU's big bargaining members.
One inside source told me that a Chalkbeat story that detailed the countered demands from the principals (highly unlikely it was coming from the principals, but most likely CPS) was information the big bargaining members did not have access to.
How is this?
Chalkbeat is an excellent education news source, but it is close to CPS and bankrolled by the big business players who have bankrolled the education reform movement that has been hell bent on destroying public schools and the union.
Chalkbeat's funders include the Walton family, Gates Foundation, Zuckerberg and plenty of other big rollers for education reform.
I was a member of the first big bargaining team when CORE won election in 2010. But I decided I no longer needed to be involved with what I saw was more of a publicity stunt. Yes, more people from the CTU were involved in the ongoing negotiations, and this upset CPS, but gave the CTU some leverage. But at the end of the day, it came down to a handshake between the top union officials and the mayor's team. They of course had to sell the contract to their audience. That's why they get paid the big bucks!
The business community who helped fund the mayor's race play a big role in these negotiations. Their media via Chalkbeat will inform us of what's happening. But it's up to the members to ultimately vote on the contract.
By Jim Vail
It appears the Chicago Teachers Union is in a race to get a new contract and the source that is telling us what to expect is linked to education reformers.
The CTU sent out a news blast with the story "With new video and deadline, the Chicago Teachers Union expresses urgency for a deal" written by Catherine Henderson from the education online news source Chalkbeat.
"The Chicago's teachers union is upping pressure on Mayor Lori Lightfoot, issuing a new deal-making deadline and a minute-long video of several educators explaining why they're pushing so hard on contract negotiations."
My own thoughts are the Mayor has proposed a five year contract so we keep quiet for a while, just like the deal Mayor Richard Daley got so he could keep labor peace while trying to snag the Olympics for 2016. But he gave us a 4 percent raise each year of a similar 5-year contract to get it. What is Lightfoot offering other than a 2.5% raise that is even less since she wants to raise health care costs?
I got the following text from the CTU about the new contract negotiations: "Hey James! This is Leslie and I'm a member of the CTU's Big Bargaining Team. As you may have heard, the Lightfoot administration has offered a five year contract at 2.5% and 3% raises but also a .5% increase in healthcare costs that will eat into the raises. So far, she has rejected all of our proposals on class size reductions, staffing key areas like nurses, social workers, SpEd, ELL, librarians, counselors, etc. CPS has also rejected our suggestions on preparation time, salary and benefits, and demands to create sanctuary and sustainable community schools for our most vulnerable students that would fortify trauma supports, legal aid, protection from ICE/deportation and detention, housing for homeless students, etc. Does this seem right to you?"
When I texted back to speak further with Leslie, she said someone from the union would call me. They never did.
In fact, it appears Chalkbeat is getting more up to date information about the bargaining than the CTU's big bargaining members.
One inside source told me that a Chalkbeat story that detailed the countered demands from the principals (highly unlikely it was coming from the principals, but most likely CPS) was information the big bargaining members did not have access to.
How is this?
Chalkbeat is an excellent education news source, but it is close to CPS and bankrolled by the big business players who have bankrolled the education reform movement that has been hell bent on destroying public schools and the union.
Chalkbeat's funders include the Walton family, Gates Foundation, Zuckerberg and plenty of other big rollers for education reform.
I was a member of the first big bargaining team when CORE won election in 2010. But I decided I no longer needed to be involved with what I saw was more of a publicity stunt. Yes, more people from the CTU were involved in the ongoing negotiations, and this upset CPS, but gave the CTU some leverage. But at the end of the day, it came down to a handshake between the top union officials and the mayor's team. They of course had to sell the contract to their audience. That's why they get paid the big bucks!
The business community who helped fund the mayor's race play a big role in these negotiations. Their media via Chalkbeat will inform us of what's happening. But it's up to the members to ultimately vote on the contract.
No comments:
Post a Comment