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..

Konkol Idiocy

Mark Konkol is a Complete Idiot

By Jim Vail

Anti-union corporate media hack Mark Konkol

First - Mark Konkol, a disgraced former Reader editor who constantly writes how much he hates the Chicago Teachers Union and Core, is an idiot.

Second - Core, who is blasting Members First for teaming up with the CTU-hating Chicago Tribune (Wishing for a Hurricane Katrina in Chicago), has benefited from a puff piece by the Chicago Magazine that lauded VP Stacy Gates as the heir to the CTU throne.

The Chicago Tribune owns the Chicago Magazine!

I have written about the corporate media who circle like sharks around the Chicago Teachers Union and the upcoming election May 20. Members First, the leading opposition caucus, has generated a lot of media attention from the Chicago Tribune, NBC News, WTTW TV and WGN. Core, who leads the Chicago Teachers Union, has cried foul about outside interference, but has also generated favorable media coverage from the Sun-Times, Wbez Radio and now the Chicago Magazine.

The latest story featured Stacy Gates like she was some fashion model ready to take over the city and lead us all to the promised land. It was a bit nauseating, especially the part about Gates being the heir apparent to be the next CTU President. Especially disgusting since Core has been lamenting about outside interference in this election.

"Heir apparent? I guess the votes of 25,000 members on May 20th is a forgone conclusion. Glad the media knows the pulse of our members," Joey McDermott, REAL Caucus candidate for CTU VP, wrote on fb.

Of course, Mr. Konkol beat me to the punch and called this all out in his April 25 article because anti-union writing is his thang, and pointing out any flaw in the CTU business is his modus operandi.

First, the title of his article in Patch was a joke: "Did Magazine Get Used By Davis Gates To Influence CTU Election?

Hello!, as my affable colleague says when I point out the latest absurd thing I heard. Everybody is playing somebody. The Chicago Tribune is presenting two sides of our ruling class: 

1- the cold hard conservative face of the business world that hates unions, especially vocal minority-led ones like the CTU who get results. 

2- the social/racial justice liberal face that needs to make concessions to black lives after massive protests exposed the ugliness of a country ruled by police brutality.

Konkol is a curious choice for the rulers to present as the face of anti-CTU and Stacy Davis Gates. This journalist was fired from the Chicago Reader back in 2018 for running an extremely racist picture of Gov. J.B. Pritzker with him seating on a black lawn jockey. 

Adeshina Emmanuel, who wrote the article that criticized the Gov for his subtle racism, strongly opposed the cover art and said Konkol initially suggested they include a full spelling of the N-word in the headline.

And this is the guy calling out Stacy Davis Gates? WTF??

But that's how it is - former disgraced criminals, bigots or racists who get fired after a public outroar slime their way back into a job because the criminal, racist bigot bosses always need them to put out their poison.

Mark Konkol won a Pulitzer Prize and I am not surprised. The ruling class always awards their lackeys for work on behalf of their crimes. The NY Times is Exhibit A - they have won how many Pulitzers and on the record lied to lead us into the disastrous Iraq War. That's who wins these top prizes.

Konkol more than that is just an ugly person. The Reader staff cheered after he was fired, tweeting out, "Ding Dong, the Wicked Witch is Dead."

Former music editor Philip Montoro said that Konkol, "shouted me down in meetings, berated me, insulted me, and disrespected and alienated longtime freelance contributors."

Boy, what a guy to be calling out the CTU and the follies of our Core VP Stacy Davis-Gates.

Almost makes you want to vote Core just to spite their racist hatred.

Still, the article in Chicago Magazine certainly had a number of teachers and union members scratching their heads. Core is a political beast that will use the corporate media as much as any powerful political machine hell bent on winning this election.

Little Village Election

Core Fights Back at Little Village High School Election Debate

By Jim Vail

Core VP candidate Jackson Potter is striking back at his opponents.

CORE squared off against REAL at the CTU Caucus Debate at Little Village Lawndale High School campus. Members First did not attend.

About 25 teachers attended the Tues, April 19 debate where both caucuses gave opening statements about their mission. Real emphasized solidarity noting that some CTU members were forced to return earlier to school during the pandemic. Core emphasized social justice activism and strong ties to the community.

Joey McDermott, a former Core member and field rep, is running on the VP ticket for Real. He stated that the CTU has cut their grievance department from 20 to 15 field reps who are crucial to defending the members. 

"Grievances are taking years before they are resolved," McDermott said.

Jackson Potter, the founder of Core who served 8 years as the CTU chief of staff, is running on the VP ticket for Core. He said the old UPC ruling party told him to pack his bags when CPS wanted to close Englewood High School where he first taught. He helped form Core to fight back against the racist school closings and then recited an impressive list of accomplishments ever since Core took control in 2010.

"We restored our bargaining rights, we got the pension pickup restored to save our pensions, we got a four year moratorium on charter schools and we led the first charter school strike in history," he said.

He also stated that the union has increased the number of attorneys working at the union who are fighting for the teacher's contract rights and noted that 75% of the members supported the pandemic strike, including Real candidates who served on the executive board.

"They know the strength is in our numbers," Potter said. "MF wants to collaborate with the boss which was what got my school closed."

Jackson Potter said Real would be the first caucus to have two male officer candidates since 1957 in a union with 80 percent females. Real countered that they have an elementary school teacher president candidate; historically elementary teachers have been underrepresented on caucus slates.

Jackson said that the problem with grievances is that the Chicago Board of Education keeps changing its hearing officers which leads to delays in hearing cases. 

McDermott hit Core hard on the question of solidarity when the moderator asked how can the union restore solidarity.

"When the union leadership refers to Members First as the Mayor's caucus, these are members who pay our dues and to refer to them in such pejorative terms we're weakening our solidarity."

Jackson Potter said politics and caucus division fade away after the election, and with falling enrollment there are a lot of sharks circling who want to close the schools. The union must unite to fight this.

McDermott said he felt union democracy when members went out to campaign for Chuy Garcia for Mayor, but that it felt like an inside deal to endorse Toni Preckwinkle against Lori Lightfoot in the last election. He also cited a lack of transparency when it comes to political endorsements, adding that a CTU employee making $100,000 per year and also serving as a Cook County Commissioner is wrong.

However, the impressive list of political wins the CTU has earned including getting an entirely elected school board passed is crucial in the fight to withstand the corporate assault on public education and unions.

Lawsuit

Legal Fight Highlights CTU Election Politics

By Jim Vail

The fight is starting to get ugly in the Chicago Teachers Union May 20 election after the Members First caucus filed a lawsuit charging the union with violating election laws.

The lawsuit states that a deadline of March 25, 2022 was agreed upon at the February House of Delegates meeting for petitions and consent forms for each caucus candidate to be listed on the ballot. The Real Caucus submitted a petition with one consent form missing, Members First had 11 consent forms missing and Core had 154 consent forms missing. 

The chair of the CTU Rules & Election Committee called an emergency meeting to change the rules in order to give the caucuses four more days to submit their consent forms. Eight CORE committee members voted in favor of the extension against two non-Core members who voted no. The committee chair and all committee members are appointed by the CTU President Jesse Sharkey (Core). 

MF filed the lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Cook County arguing that the committee does not have the power to change the rules once they have been approved by the delegates. 

They stated that CTU counsel earlier stated that changing the rules would amount to violating federal laws that regulate union elections.

Real came to MF's defense in the lawsuit and noted that Real had multiple members ruled ineligible for placement on the CTU ballot because they took unpaid leave of absence during the Covid pandemic, but the CTU leadership refused to interpret the bylaws to recognize the pandemic despite encouraging members to protect their health.

"CTU leadership chose to stand by the letter of the law when it suited them, but changed the rules when the rules didn't serve their own interests," Real posted on fb.

In the first court hearing Core-led CTU lawyers argued to change the judge, and the following judge decided to kick the case yet to another judge who is more familiar with union election law. The case will be continued next week.

This week the CTU sent out an email to membership stating that the union is asking the judge to dismiss the lawsuit that "seeks to stall upcoming elections for Union officers and delegates."

The union said the lawsuit could double the cost of the election, which cost $280,000 in the last election.

One MF insider said the cost to reprint the ballots would be no more than $20,000.

"This lawsuit to stall CTU elections threatens to undermine our rank and file democracy, in a union election that has seen unprecedented levels of outside interference," the CTU stated.

President Sharkey has called the lawsuit "frivolous" and said that it is an attack on union democracy.

Real VP candidate Joey McDermott said the CTU email to members was electioneering.

"It represents an attempt by Core to sway members against a rival caucus and promote its own candidacy," he said in a statement. "We call on CTU officers to cease and desist from using office staff and members' dues money to enhance Core's re-election campaign. We call on CTU officers to follow the CTU Constitution. We call on CTU leadership to end their interference with the integrity of our internal democratic process."

So who is correct? Who is more democratic?

Core for standing up against outside influences and alleged frivolous lawsuits or Members First for filing a lawsuit to force the union to follow the rules voted on by the delegates?

A third judge was assigned to the case and the hearing will be continued next week. The CTU is trying to block a restraining order that MF is asking for that would stop printing the ballots until the issue is resolved.

Stay tuned in the rough and tumble teacher union election politics that are getting thicker by the day!

Questions

 Asking good questions can help CTU members decide who will lead union

The May 20 elections are important for CTU members but they are also relevant for all those affected by the union’s decisions, including Chicago Public Schools students and their parents.

By Froylan Jimenez  Chicago Sun-Times

• 

Chicago Teachers Union members and their supporters march and protest in Pilsen after a press conference outside Joseph Jungman Elementary School to call for “safety, equity and trust in any school reopening plan” on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday morning, Jan. 18, 2021. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Asking good questions can be helpful in many ways. It can mean the difference between understanding a key lesson in class, selecting the right person for a job, making the correct verdict in a trial, or in this case, making the best choice in an election.

With several weeks to go before the next Chicago Teachers Union elections, this is a perfect time for members to ask relevant and probing questions.

Certainly, the May 20 elections are important for CTU members but they are also relevant for all those affected by the union’s decisions, including Chicago Public Schools students and their parents.

Who is running? There are three caucuses that have filed petitions and are vying for control of the top officer positions: Caucus of Rank and File Educators, Members First Caucus and Respect Educate Advocate Lead Caucus.

The next questions are what are the differences between the caucuses and what are their platforms? One way to find out is by researching the groups’ websites and social media accounts and by reading the materials they may distribute at schools. But most of this information is far from impartial.

Sadly, media coverage by the local TV networks, newspapers and education news sources won’t be as thorough as it would be for a government election. That leaves little to no objective sources to critique or report on the merit or flaws of the caucuses.

That leaves CTU members with one powerful tool to use as they decide who to vote for, the power of asking good questions.

Here are questions members should ask themselves, their colleagues, and if possible, the CTU candidates:

What would be the best way to handle major contractual disputes during the school year?

What are the plans to improve classroom working conditions for each of the member functional groups, including but not limited to elementary and high school teachers?

How can we be more proactive and collaborative to improve school health and safety?

How are union dues being spent?

Can management of union finances be improved and specifically how?

How can we best prepare and protect our pay and pensions?

How transparent and democratic are union decisions in bargaining, political endorsements and donations?

What are the plans to best adapt and collaborate with an elected school board?

What is the most efficient way to conduct school budgeting, ratings and teacher evaluations?

What mechanisms can our union establish to better seek feedback from parents that will help us better serve their children?

How can we better communicate, interact, and ask for input from CTU members acrossthe city and in each functional group?

After much-needed discussions on these and other key questions, the next step is how to vote.

CTU members can vote for the entire caucus slate or split the ballot by choosing a combination of individuals.

If a member prefers to vote for the entire slate, that gives complete power to one group.

If a member splits his or her ballots, this ensures power is distributed among the various caucuses. This method of voting also allows for some counter-balance of power, since there are top officer and executive board positions on the ballot.

Sample ballots will be made available for those who choose to look up individual candidates before the elections, which will be held at CPS schools. Members can also vote by mail if their job is categorized as city-wide.

All members are encouraged to exercise the right to vote and to maximize that opportunity by asking good questions that help them become more informed so they can make the best choice.

Froylan Jimenez is a Chicago Public Schools civics teacher and a member of the Chicago Teachers Union.

Send letters toletters@suntimes.com

Hoop Dreams?

All the Dreams We’ve Dreamed

By Rus Bradburd

Book Review

The book All the Dreams We’ve Dreamed is a heart-breaking account of the lives of many star basketball players for Marshall High School who were murdered. The book focuses on the tragic mistaken shooting of former star and assistant Coach Shawn Harrington who was paralyzed and how the author and his former coach worked hard to get him a job after everything in his life was destroyed that fateful morning driving his daughter to school in 2014.

This book that gives a riveting first-hand account of Chicago high school basketball and its tragedies on the West Side was written by a former high school coach and university recruiter who followed the Chicago Public Schools basketball leagues. 

The book begins by detailing the shooting of Shawn Harrington and goes back to his playing days at New Mexico State and later becoming an All American in Division II basketball. One of Coach/Author Rus Bradburd’s recruiting enticements to CPS players was offering the kids a refuge far away from the mean streets of Chicago. He landed a few big fish like future NBA superstar Tim Hardaway and the book’s protagonist Shawn Harrington, who also played a bit role in the powerful Chicago basketball documentary Hoop Dreams. I always wondered why our state’s top basketball colleges like The Fighting Illini, DePaul Blue Demons, Loyola Ramblers or Northwestern Wildcats have landed so few Chicago b-ball stars right in their backyard. Certainly Bradburd’s persistent non-stop recruiting of Harrington played a role, but you can’t help but scratch your head and say, no stories of Nike payoffs on behalf of college powerhouses such as Kentucky or North Carolina. Really?

The story of Harrington’s Marshall Coach Luther Bedford is powerful. He is the epitome of the old coach who cares so much about his players that he plays the role model of a parent who looks after them off the court as well as develop their skills on the hardwood floor. If his players didn’t make the grades, he took out the paddle and whooped them hard (F = 3 whacks, D = 1 whack). Of course, the times have changed and when the next coach was discovered employing similar corporal punishment, he was promptly fired. Bedford also made it mandatory for his players to share the gym and attend the girls basketball games at a time when respect for women was not high on the list. This respect impressed the legendary Marshall girls basketball Coach Dorothy Gaters who would win 8 state championships and over 1,000 games.

Shawn attended four elementary schools in six years, including Paderwski. I remember this school when we attended an event to support the school when it was put on the list of school closures during Mayor Daley’s Ren2010 privatization drive. A whole crew of kids jumped on my car when we turned into the alley to park before being escorted by a phalanx of security as we entered the building.

The author puts a lot of himself into this book. He has a personal connection to Harrington where he recruited him and he details from his personal professional view how CPS sports operates, and then his mission to help Shawn after his tragedy rendered him immobile in a wheelchair.

Until the 1980s, every CPS coach taught in their schools until CPS dropped the requirement that all students pass 4 years of physical education, and many coaches taught P.E. As a result, fewer teachers coached CPS basketball.

The first harrowing murder of his mother is told in heart-breaking detail. Shawn Harrington’s mother Frinda had a home business selling candy and single cigarettes. Two half brothers who lived a few streets away heard about her cash business. James, who was a Vice Lord, pounded on her door saying “Chicago Police” before entering with a gun and stealing the money, slitting the throats of two owners and a visitor (who later survived) when his mother entered. Frinda tried to run away out the back door, but they chased her and shot her twice in the head. The murderers were both convicted - one got a life sentence and the other 35 years - and testified that they split $40 worth of candy. I read this, shaking my head in disbelief, ‘Was this a movie?’ No, this is life on the West Side of Chicago. It was his mother Frinda who had earlier told the author/recruiter, “Get her son as far away from Chicago as possible!”

The reason CPS does not produce as many state champions as its suburban counterparts, save for basketball, is that coaches make only about $6,000 for the big team sports which is about half the rate of suburban coaches. Many basketball coaches in Chicago work in the schools but do not have college degrees which tells players getting a degree is not that important.

Shawn’s second brush with violence before his shooting was retold when he was living with his grandmother and a neighborhood friend he had just greeted and embraced went to help calm down an altercation between a few men nearby. “All of you stop this,” he pleaded. Suddenly someone started shooting and Shawn said he was taught to run zig zag when that happens. While Shawn survived that shooting, his neighbor Hawk who tried to broker peace was hit, yet miraculously survived because the bullet went through his cheeks and only knocked out a couple of teeth.

Such is life on the West Side.

Shawn Harrington eventually became that ESP or PSRP, the teacher’s assistant who was invaluable. He dressed well and was a voice of reason for the students. When he spoke the kids knew he knew the school, the neighborhood and he connected to the students. His work with a special education student named Anthony Hunter was the work of an angel. The boy was autistic and a loner and children shunned him. But Shawn took him under his wing and gave him the confidence to break out of his shell and connect with the students all around him. The amazing story was he worked with other students to help get Anothy elected Homecoming King. “I wanted Anthony to get the respect that I got at Marshall,” Shawn said. His plan included lollipops, and talking sense into the leading candidate to allow Anthony to win Homecoming King. He even helped Anthony rent a tux because he didn’t have the money and he rented a fancy sedan and found a chauffeur’s hat  and served as his driver to the dance. Although he mostly worked with just a few special ed kids, he knew almost every student’s name at Marshall High. He became known as the go-to person for any student having difficulties. Hunter would later visit Harrington 3 times in the hospital after he was shot and paralyzed. “You’ve helped me more than I’ve helped you,” Shawn told the boy after his third visit.

Author Bradburd said his motivation to write this book was 1) to get his story publicized to raise money to pay for his medical expenses, and 2) help Shawn find a new career. He mentioned being inspired by the book Out of Their League, David Meggyesy’s memoir about the brutality of professional football in the late 60s, and was inspired by the mix of sports and politics as exemplified by greats like Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali and John Carlos, who raised his fist in the black power salut at the 1968 Olympics which ended his career by challenging so openly the system of racism. He hoped Shawn would build a career preaching non violence in Chicago. One galling scene after he and his daughter were shot multiple times in their car was when the police arrived and aggressively moved his body thinking he was gangbanging, which they say you should not do if someone has been seriously injured and may have led to his later paralysis. 

 

Another powerful and sad story is that of Martin Satterfield, who like his old coach was shot multiple times and paralyzed. Except he had no money or support (he collects a monthly $300 social security check). He moved to the South Side to get away from the violent West Side. The most popular kid who helped Anthony Hunter win the Homecoming King at Marshall told Dorothy Gaters that he saw Satterfield in his wheelchair on the street in a windbreaker in freezing temperature. She promptly bought him a coat. He said he refused to testify against his executioner who went to prison because, “I’m from the streets and that’s the code.”

The rest of the book he chronicles his quest to find help for Shawn. He calls every college coach he can think of, sports writers, the Chicago Board of Education, city sports officials and others to help Shawn. It’s mostly a sad journey after the initial stories were written about his fallen player and the limelight briefly shined, now dark. Sometimes Shawn would spend days in his apartment not able to leave because there was no one to help him. One CPS athletic director told him that he assumed Shawn was a gangbanger, a common belief many of us have about the people being shot in the city. He also said his supervisor said if they gave a job to Shawn it would be like admitting gun violence was a problem in the city.

Bradburd profiled several Marshall basketball players murdered, in particular a star named Tim Triplett. He wrote that the area where he lived and died was called Holy City, which runs from Pulaski to Kezie and Roosevelt to Cermak, right near where I work. It received the Biblical name from the Vice Lords 50 years ago. CPS open enrollment policy has created a recruiting battle for high school coaches. They may leave schools like free agents to other schools where the coaches will ‘coddle’ them. I question what he means by coddle? These coaches certainly hold a lot of power when future multi-million dollar contracts are being waved in their players faces. He wrote that future Illinois at Champaign Final Four Superstar and NBA star Nick Anderson was poached from Prosser High School, which prompted their coach Gene Ideno to quit in disgust. Triplett did not choose his neighborhood school Farragut, a basketball powerhouse where NBA legend Kevin Garnett played, as well as high school phenom Ronnie Fields. Instead he chose Crane, a few miles away. Crane Principal Richard Smith knew that students who attended different schools because of athletics or a school closure were particularly vulnerable to gangs. Smith went from custodian at Crane to the Principal in 2007. He wrote further that Smith ordered Triplett his first year to remove his baseball cap on sideways that symbolized gang affiliation. He said he didn’t think the basketball star had been around strong men who demanded respect. This reminded me of George Schmidt, the editor and founder of Substance News, who told us how either strong principals or tough gangs ran the schools in certain neighborhoods. Due to Chicago’s privatization craze under Ren2010 that mandated closing public schools and opening charters, Triplett played under 3 coaches in 3 years at the school. After razing the Rockwell Gardens and Henry Horner housing projects on the West Side, gangs were broken up and instability led to more violence. According to the story told to Bradburd, gang leaders came to Principal Smith and warned him that Triplett’s life was in danger, so Smith got him to transfer to Farragut, and according to the author, saved his life. However, that story told in the book doesn’t quite hold water with one insider.

While Bradburd is a high school basketball insider, his knowledge of the city education politics is a bit disjointed. He writes correctly that gangs have changed over the years in the city after leaders were jailed, high-rise public housing was torn down, guns proliferated, many public schools were closed and more kids crossed lines into unfamiliar territory. One of the stars of his story, ironically enough, is Arne Duncan, the guy who finally got Shawn Harrington a job after Bradburd's endless search. Duncan was the chief of the public schools under Mayor Richard Daley who helped close all these schools that led to the deaths and explosion of violence inside and outside the schools before becoming the Education Secretary under President Barack Obama. I would say they were crocodile tears Bradburd writes to describe Duncan - who now heads some nonviolence non-profit group - sheds when he talks about murdered kids in the city. It was also Duncan who took credit for the Turnaround model that went national when he went to work in Washington D.C. Turnaround was the wonderful idea that the school was a failure and so you needed to fire everyone in the building and start over. Marshall High School was a turnaround, something Bradburd barely mentions. It was interesting reading how he skipped around this inconvenient truth - for example, he writes that Tim Triplett, another murdered basketball star told people he transferred from Crane because it was a failing ‘turnaround’ but fails to mention that he went to Marshall which was also a turnaround school. The Marshall turnaround was so embarrassing until someone finally told the fools at CPS that they had to make an exception and keep Gaters, the winningest girls basketball coach in state history. That could have been a reason why even though Arne and his minions finally got Shawn a job at Marshall again, he ended up leaving because he couldn’t recognize anyone. The Marshall Family highlighted in the book was destroyed by the very guy the author lauded.

 

Bradburd toward the end of the book tells his readers that one of his hopes for the book was encouraging others, especially students to write or talk about how gun violence has affected their lives. His book has brought out the humanity behind the victims. I remember reading CPS students' essays published in The Chicago Tribune too many years ago when I was a student and what they wrote - they hope to live long enough to graduate. It had a profound effect on me, but nothing has changed.

After you read this harrowing tale of woe and the lives destroyed in this city, many who performed incredibly on the hardcourt, you feel a sense of despair. There is a sense of despair that there really is no plan to stop this carnage on our streets in which young black boys are murdered every day. If people like Arne Duncan need to say Black Lives Matter, when they certainly did not when he was a top education official who closed many of their schools and fired many of their teachers, then we are certainly facing a world under seemingly eternal dark clouds. The problem here is we live in a capitalist system where nobody’s lives matter, only the almighty dollar. Profits over People. This government has no problem murdering minority people here everyday, and millions around the world in its pursuit for territorial control to keep making money. Until we throw out this system, and form something by and for the people, (not to be confused with the words of the wealthy slave-holding uber capitalist Founding Fathers), then the murders will only continue, and the tears keep flowing.

One Staff Member Returns to Marine Academy After Sex Scandal Investigation

By Jim Vail

Former MLA Principal Erin Galfer was accused of coverup.

The Chicago Public Schools removed 12 Marine Leadership Academy (MLA) employees including the principal, teachers and staff last fall after they were accused of sexual misconduct with students or trying to cover it up.

But an internal investigation has found one of the employees was not guilty and returned to the school in February.

"In some cases, employees return to their school after being investigated and cleared of all threats to student safety," MLA Principal Kristin Novy wrote in an email to parents on Feb 23. "One of our previously-pulled staff members has been found to be safe to return to school and will return on Thur, Feb. 24."

Novy wrote that they will be working carefully with the employee to implement a re-entry plan that supports all students and staff. She said that they are working with the Office of Student Protections and Title IX and the Office of Social Emotional Learning to identify and provide resources for the school community as well as working with the Office of Safety and Security regarding MLA social media posts.

"Our goal is to be able to move forward as a school community and work together in the best interests of the students."

The Marine Academy sex scandal rocked CPS when it was revealed teachers and employees were grooming students that dated back more than two years. However, CPS promoted Principal Galfer last summer rather than fire, which they did once everything blew up in the media.

Was this a CPS coverup?

For years, MLA staff in Logan Square alerted admin and CPS officials about pervasive sex abuse on and off the campus, but the issue was not taken seriously. The military high school had also lost two students to suicide and the whistle blowers blame the school environment. The whistleblower employees said they face harassment from other school employees for speaking out about the sex abuse.

One teacher had a sexual relationship with a student and a volunteer groomed multiple students. They say about a dozen students were affected. "We fought really hard," the whistleblower told the media. "Because it felt like the upper people were covering up."

The Chicago Tribune featured an alarming report called Betrayed in 2018 that featured a series of rampant sex abuse in the schools that were covered up, including a track star at Simeon Career Academy who was raped 40 times by the coach.

While some predators were prosecuted and fired, hundreds of teachers and staff were rounded up and investigated. Suddenly every Chicago public school teacher and staff member was being watched with suspicious eyes by a district that appeared to have covered up the crimes. At this time, many of my colleagues were under unrelenting scrutiny and in fear of losing our jobs.

What the mainstream media did not report was how many teachers were exonerated. Many moved on or transferred to other schools. Trying to wipe out pedophilia in the schools is like trying to root out corruption in the city, an impossible mission. The question not asked is how many innocent teachers and staff were forced out.

Making life a living hell for teachers across the city for the actions of a few criminals certainly aligned with the ruling money interests agenda to destroy public schools.

At Marine Leadership, while one was found not guilty, another staff member was snagged up in the continuing investigation.

"I am writing to inform you that there has been an allegation of inappropriate conduct with students; this involves one of our non-teaching staff members," Principal Novy wrote on April 7. "This employee has been removed from the school, and an investigation has been initiated by the Office of Inspector General."