Now that Chicago Teachers Union members have ratified a new contract, CTU President Karen Lewis detailed what comes next for the union and Chicago Public Schools district.
“We will work with them to shore up their financial issues by promoting legislation that will adequately and equitably fund all of Illinois’ schools,” she said during a speech before the City Club of Chicago.
In discussing the vote results, Lewis said, “What I can tell you is that the level of distrust between the district, parents, educators and communities is still high, and will need a lot of work to repair these wounds.”
Chicago Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) says he thinks he has solved the city’s budget for next year.
“We’ll just add an additional tax on every item that the Cubs sell this season,” Waguespack joked Thursday during a City Club of Chicago panel discussion on the city’s 2017 budget.
“I’ve never seen so many people wearing Cubs gear, not only in Chicago but just nationwide,” the alderman said. “It’s a good thing to see a team doing so well, because it does add to the bottom line. It adds to Chicago’s stature at a time when things are pretty difficult, when we see so much increase in crime and violence throughout our city, that we can have one thing to look at and say this is a good thing.”
Most states are spending less on K-12 education now than they did before the Great Recession. Illinois, however, is among the exceptions, according to a new report.
With a potential strike looming, unionized Chicago teachers at the UNO Charter School Network (UCSN) rallied with their allies Thursday afternoon in their push for a “fair contract.”
They picketed outside the charter network’s downtown headquarters, 209 W. Jackson Boulevard, with signs that read: “We don’t want to strike but we’re ready” and “We will fight for a fair contract.”
“Our students are all low income, and (UCSN has) offices down here in this fancy building, and they’re not willing to make cuts at the top” to improve the quality of education for students, said Erica Stewart.
Chicago parents, aldermen and state lawmakers urged the city Friday to support a TIF surplus ordinance to help avert a potential teachers strike next week and alleviate school budget cuts.
A recent analysis of 57 Midwest public colleges and universities shows that “most Illinois schools suffered significant decreases in enrollment from fall 2015-2016” after the yearlong state budget impasse.
The Chicago Teachers Union’s governing body approved an October 11 strike date Wednesday, putting the union one step closer toward its second walkout since 2012.
“If we cannot reach an agreement by then, we will withhold our labor,” CTU President Karen Lewis told reporters Wednesday evening after a special meeting of the union’s House of Delegates.
CTU and school district officials have yet to agree on a new labor contract to replace the one that expired in June 2015.
Chicago Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) says he thinks he has solved the city’s budget for next year.
The Chicago Teachers Union’s governing body approved an October 11 strike date Wednesday, putting the union one step closer toward its second walkout since 2012.