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Chicago Public Schools
Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
2:23pm
Wed Jun 27, 2012

Parents, Teachers Rally For Fair Contract, Better School Conditions At Board Of Ed Meeting

In three days, Chicago Public Schools teachers will see their contracts expire. This morning, members of the Chicago Teachers Union along with dozens of public school parents and students rallied outside CPS headquarters, calling on the Board of Education to negotiate non-salary issues.

Since November 2011, the CTU has negotiated with the Board of Education for a fair labor contract. The union presented the board with proposals for art, music and foreign language classes for all students, smaller class sizes, properly staffed schools and fair compensation for teachers, among other education-improvement efforts. 

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Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
4:07pm
Fri Jun 22, 2012
2 comments

Urban Education Activists Take Complaints To Obama Administration (VIDEO)

The Kenwood Oakland community organization on Chicago’s South Side joined with education activists across the country at a press conference yesterday in downtown Chicago to contend that so-called education reform policies violate their civil rights by marginalizing the voices of minority parents and students.

Plaintiffs from Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Washington, D.C. as well as Wichita, Kansas and Eureka, Mississippi announced that they plan to file seven separate complaints with the U.S. Department of Education stating that their respective city’s education policies violate the Civil Rights Act.

“Since we pay taxes we should have the right to have input in these schools,” said Jitu Brown, an organizer with Kenwood Oakland. “The common denominator in all these city policies is that we don’t.” Read more »

PI Original
by Matthew Blake
10:38am
Fri Jun 15, 2012
1 comment

National Education Group Aims To Shape Chicago Teacher Contract Negotiations

Education

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis has claimed that national education policy groups disruptively shape the Chicago Public Schools' agenda and are now interfering in contract negotiations between CPS and the teachers union. The one outside group that has indisputably stepped into the collective bargaining fray is Education Reform Now, which is headquartered in New York.

PI Original
by Matthew Blake
6:24pm
Mon Jun 11, 2012
3 comments

What's Next After CTU Strike Authorization Vote

Labor

The Chicago Teachers Union announced today that – by a wide margin – its members are prepared to strike if the union and Chicago Public Schools management cannot agree on a contract before the 2012-13 school year begins. The vote does not mean a strike is imminent, even with CPS and CTU escalating their public rhetoric, and the parties being significantly apart on teacher raises and other issues.

Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
10:20am
Mon Jun 11, 2012
2 comments

By Authorizing Strike, Teachers Union May Relive The 1980’s

The Chicago Teachers Union announced this morning that 75 percent of its members voted to authorize a strike, the first step in a potential walkout to open the 2012-13 school year. "The vote has well surpassed the 75 percent threshold required by state law," CTU said in a news release.

Teachers are probably closer to a walkout than they have been at any time since the 1980’s – when, during a pre-Mayor Richard Daley period, the union actually went on a number of strikes. Read more »

Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
5:44pm
Thu Jun 7, 2012
3 comments

Report: TIF Great For Selective Enrollment Schools, Bad For Neighborhood Schools

A new report puts in clear terms how the Tax Increment Finance program, or TIF, strips away millions of dollars from traditional Chicago neighborhood attendance area schools, while financing pricey new selective enrollment and charter schools. Read more »