May HOD

CTU House of Delegates Meet to Discuss Budget & Successes

By Jim Vail

CPS CEO Janice Jackson denounced the CTU
 & its ugly politics after she announced she would
 step down as head of the Chicago Public Schools.

The Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates May 5, 2021 meeting presented the budget and outlined accomplishments.

CTU trustees Tammie Vinson and Jackson Potter, both members of Core, outlined the accomplishments of the union which included adding a record number of members despite the attack on the unions membership after Janus was passed that allows members to opt out of paying union dues, adding almost $1 million to the budget. They said the CTU is on the verge of passing the first elected school board (although the legislature is mulling Mayor Lightfoot's proposal that would considerably water down an elected board by giving her control to select most of the board members), they forced the city to declare a TIF surplus to give money back to the schools (the Tax Increment Finance or TIF took money from the schools to finance development), restored the pension levy, unionized many of the city's charter schools and restored bargaining rights for the union.

Budget director Kathy Catalano said as of the end of Feb. the CTU was over budget for the Contract Campaign, Member Defense and Professional Fees. Three pay dates with dues deductions in March will reduce the deficit.

For the proposed budget to begin in July there is an expected increase of $475,000 in dues (above the pass through increase) and assumes a 1% growth in membership. The CTU has a roughly $29 million budget.

CTU will still have 61 employees, paying rent for the Merchandise Mart will end in Oct. (resulting in a savings of about $620,000) and the election of officers will cost $250,000. She noted that the union took a hit with the pandemic in sales of merchandising, where union t-shirts and other union items have been a big hit.

VP Stacy Gates said the three top CPS officials who are leaving, including chief Janice Jackson, could not stand sitting at the table on an equal footing with the union.

"We don't celebrate this departure," Gates told the delegates during a teleconference. "It's pitiful and sad."

She added that they are upset the city is about to once again have an elected school board and their beloved AUSL management team that took over closed public schools after everyone in the buildings were fired is now gone. "Privatization has grounded to a halt!"

President Jesse Sharkey added that the departure of Jackson was different from the departure of former CPS Chief Forrest Claypool, a political hack who Mayor Rahm Emanuel hired after he helped privatize the Chicago Park District that he headed for a number of years battling their unions. Claypool fired Sarah Chambers and other activists for leading a protest to opt out of the punitive PARCC exam.

"I felt glee when Claypool left," Sharkey said, "but I don't feel glee that Jackson is leaving."

Jackson did not want nurses in every school or extra 30 minute prep time for the teachers. Jesse said Jackson didn't say mean things, while her boss Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the CTU push to get all teachers vaccinated was taking vaccines away from the elderly people.

"It was the case of good cop/bad cop," Sharkey said.

How many teachers across this city can relate to this strategy in their own schools where horrible principals are offset by personable assistants or vice versa. Butter them up, then go for the throat!

The CTU has fought the mayor tooth and nail during the last teachers strike and reopening of schools during the pandemic. But they decided to turn the other cheek after Janice Jackson blamed the CTU for its ugly politics after she announced her resignation.

The question of whether the schools will reopen fully next school school was addressed. Sharkey noted that CPS will ask the state to demand that the schools be forced to reopen in person but it is still unclear. He said that Covid is still a problem in the schools, with about 15 - 20 cases being reported in the schools every day. He said there should be better contract tracing, so that colleagues and others can be notified sooner by bypassing certain bureaucratic roadblocks.