Chicago Teachers

Chicago Teachers Union Boss Blames Racist “Rich White People” For Chicago’s School Woes…”

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:26:11 GMT

Source: www.papamiket.com --- Wednesday, June 19, 2013
This women is NUTS and if she’s to freaking dumb to understand a situation she will blame it on “Racism”…..if so why is it always the “Rich White” people, why not the “Poor & Middle class White People”. If anyone is to blame for fueling the fires of RACISM” it starts with the ‘Liberal Media’ They still believe, “If it BLEEDS, it Leeds”……….Papa Mike CTU President Karen Lewis (who looks like Michael Moore in drag) plays the race card . . . again. Chicago (EAGNews) – Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis is full of excuses for why the city’s schools are hemorrhaging money, failing to educate students, and laying off Teachers by the hundreds. SOURCE: Weasel Zippers During her tenure as union head, Lewis has blamed Chicago Public Schools’ problems on Mayor Rahm Emanuel, charter schools, standardized tests, bankers, venture capitalists, a lack of funding and “a culture of fear.” During a recent speech to the City Club of Chicago, Lewis focused on her two most inflammatory excuses for CPS’ failures: “racism” and “rich white people.” “When are we going to address the elephant in the room? When will there be an honest conversation about the poverty, racism and inequality that hinders the delivery of a quality education product in our school system?” Lewis asked the decidedly upscale audience. “When will we address the fact that rich, white people, think they know what’s in the best interest of children of African Americans and Lati ...

Chicago Teachers Union President Points Finger At Rich White People

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:18:03 GMT

Source: www.politicalforum.com --- Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Quote: Lewis Points Finger At ‘Rich White People’ For School Problems June 19, 2013 6:53 AM Chicago (CBS) – A day before the first set of school closings was set to begin, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis had some harsh words about how the Chicago Public Schools are funded and managed, blaming much of the district’s problems on racism. WBBM Newsradio’s Nancy Harty reports, at a luncheon on education reform, Lewis told members of the City Club that Chicago is the most segregated city in America. “When will there be an honest conversation about poverty and racism and inequality that hinders the delivery of an education product in our school system? When will we address the fact that rich white people think they know what’s in the best interest of children of African-Americans and Latinos, no matter what the parents’ income or education level?” she asked. Lewis said minority neighborhoods are disproportionately disinvested by the city, and see more foreclosures and school closures. “It’s as if there were a concerted effort to make sure that these are not walkable, thriving, healthy communities,” she said. Lewis also blamed banks for driving people out of their homes through illegal foreclosures, resulting in underutilized schools and a smaller tax base. “If the banks had not crashed our economy, the district would now have nearly $180 million more to invest in our classrooms,” she said. As for efforts to reform schools, ...

Chicago Teachers Union president calls for tax changes to fund schools

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:10:38 GMT

Source: abclocal.go.com --- Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis had some sharp words Tuesday over the funding of public schools. ...

Why is the Chicago Teachers Union not surprised that 500 teachers have just been...

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 15:31:53 GMT

Source: www.facebook.com --- Saturday, June 15, 2013
Why is the Chicago Teachers Union not surprised that 500 Teachers have just been sacked? Chicago Teachers Union blasts mass firings ow.ly Well over... ...

Uh Oh: How Many Chicago Teachers Are Gonna be Laid Off This Summer???

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 03:27:45 GMT

Source: www.inflexwetrust.com --- Friday, June 14, 2013
Man this can’t be good for Chicago right now. More than 850 Teachers will be laid off before the new school year begins this fall. This is due to a major deficit that the school board is trying to take care of which at this point is looking like 1 Billion SMH. The school board is not happy about laying of the Teachers but they don’t see any other option and they do not want class room funding to be cut. Most of the Teachers will be laid off in the 55 schools that are closing this year in the shy. I don’t see any good coming out of this. This only sends a message to the younger generation that school is not important. Check out more on this story after the jump. KEVO “Given the historic financial crisis facing our District, next year’s budget will not come without painful decisions, which is why we are making tough choices at central office in order to minimize impacts to our classrooms,” said CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett in a statement Friday. “We will continue this work over the next several weeks to further identify reductions to central office spending to help close the District’s $1 billion deficit and make sure that every dollar helps protect precious classroom funding.” Affected employees are those in the 55 schools closing at the end of the current school year as well as those slated for “turnaround”, WBEZ reports. CPS said a portion of those losing their jobs were either probationary Teachers or Teachers with unsatisfacto ...

850 Chicago teachers, staffers get pink slips at closing, ‘turnaround’ schools

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 21:57:00 GMT

Source: nalert.blogspot.com --- Friday, June 14, 2013
The Chicago Sun-Times reports: About 850 Teachers and staffers at schools doomed to either close this month or to reboot their staffs were handed pink slips Friday afternoon, according to Chicago Public Schools. ...

Chicago teachers keep eye on Philadelphia schools where 3,000 layoffs loom

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 20:20:00 GMT

Source: www.suntimes.com --- Sunday, June 09, 2013
Jackson Potter of the Chicago Teachers Union said based on the city’s deficit, in addition to jobs lost due to school closings, the city could see 6,000 layoffs. In the last school year, CPS recorded 41,498 employees. ...

Chicago Teachers Union fears hundreds of jobs lost with school closings

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 13:52:21 GMT

Source: workplacechoice.org --- Wednesday, June 05, 2013
By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, Chicago Tribune As Chicago Public Schools prepares to issue budgets for individual schools to principals, the Chicago Teachers Union is predicting that hundreds of its members could be laid off because of the district’s ongoing budget woes. Read Full Article Here ...

Chicago Teachers Union fears hundreds of layoffs

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 13:45:14 GMT

Source: www.chicagotribune.com --- Wednesday, June 05, 2013
As Chicago Public Schools prepares to issue budgets for individual schools, the Teachers union says hundreds of its members could lose their jobs. ...

Chicago Teachers Union fears hundreds of jobs could be lost with school closings

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 11:22:00 GMT

Source: www.chicagotribune.com --- Wednesday, June 05, 2013
As Chicago Public Schools prepares to issue budgets for individual schools to principals, the Chicago Teachers Union is predicting that hundreds of its members could be laid off because of the district's ongoing budget woes. ...

Rift widens between Emanuel and Chicago teachers union, pillar of Democratic support

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 10:15:03 GMT

Source: politics.getmash.net --- Sunday, June 02, 2013
Chicago’s final decision to close 50 public schools – the single biggest reported closure in U.S. history – has again pitted Mayor Rahm Emanuel against the powerful Teachers union. Read the full story ...

Emanuel and Chicago teachers union, the rift widens

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 03:50:37 GMT

Source: newsdeskinternational.wordpress.com --- Saturday, June 01, 2013
Chicago has decided to close 50 schools, and that doesn’t sit too well, with the powerful Teachers union. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is backing the city school board’s vote last week to help reduce an estimated $1 billion budget shortfall by closing the under-attended elementary schools and programs. “This decision has been delayed for a decade, […] ...

The Rebirth of the Chicago Teachers Union and Possibilities for a Counter-Hegemonic Education Movement

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 04:14:51 GMT

Source: monthlyreview.org --- Friday, May 31, 2013
For nine days in September, Chicago belonged to the Teachers, school paraprofessionals, and clinicians. On September 10, 2012, 26,000 members of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) went on strike. It was the first Teachers’ strike in Chicago in twenty-five years. While public and private sector unions have taken concessions and capitulated to cuts in wages, benefits, seniority rights, job protections, and much of what was won by the labor movement in the twentieth century, the CTU stood up to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the billionaire hedge-fund managers who have set out to break Teachers’ unions and dismantle public education. The post The Rebirth of the Chicago Teachers Union and Possibilities for a Counter-Hegemonic Education Movement appeared first on Monthly Review . ...

The Chicago Teachers’ Strike and Beyond

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 04:11:16 GMT

Source: monthlyreview.org --- Friday, May 31, 2013
Last September’s Chicago Teachers’ strike raises critical strategic questions for all progressives and socialists seeking to resist the relentless neoliberal austerity attacks against working people and their communities.… [While in many ways it was a success,] it must be frankly recognized that the CTU’s contract campaign, which culminated in the seven day strike, fell short of achieving its ambitious goals at the contract table. In particular, it was unable to: significantly slow the mayor’s crusade to close scores of schools; halt district funding for mostly non-union, privately run charter schools; stop the lengthening of the school day and year without adequate employee compensation; or prevent the establishment of a teacher evaluation system based to an important degree on unreliable student scores on standardized tests. These less-than-optimal results deserve serious analysis, especially in light of the local’s herculean efforts to transform CTU from a classic, conservative business union to a progressive, even radical, organizing union. Could the strike have achieved more if other strategic choices had been made? Were some demands simply unwinnable? The post The Chicago Teachers’ Strike and Beyond appeared first on Monthly Review . ...

Chicago Teachers Union Files Lawsuit To Stop School Closings

Fri, 31 May 2013 15:34:20 GMT

Source: news.firedoglake.com --- Friday, May 31, 2013
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s latest attempt to privatize education in Chicago is running into considerable opposition. The Chicago Teachers Union, joining up with concerned parents, has filed a lawsuit to halt the school closings the privatizer-heavy Board of Education ordered. The lawsuit alleges Chicago Public Schools are not following their own guidelines for school closings. The Chicago Teachers Union filed a lawsuit Wednesday that seeks to keep 10 schools from being shuttered, the third such action aimed at reversing the Board of Education’s approval last week of closing 49 elementary schools and a high school program. Unlike two federal lawsuits filed by parents that, among other things, allege discrimination, the CTU’s lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court argues that Chicago Public Schools did not follow proper procedure in the 10 closures. Chicago Public Schools, despite current policies dictating otherwise, refused to take into account warnings by independent hearing officers that the school closings jeopardize student safety and special needs education. The lawsuit contends that CPS ignored recommendations of independent hearing officers who opposed the closings on the grounds that the district did not follow state law or its own guidelines for shutting down schools. Under state law, the district should have abided by those recommendations, argued CTU attorney Robert Bloch. “The law bars them from closing a school where the hea ...

From All In: The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and a group of...

Fri, 31 May 2013 02:03:39 GMT

Source: msnbc.tumblr.com --- Thursday, May 30, 2013
From All In : The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and a group of Chicago parents are asking a circuit court to block the school board from shutting down ten of the city’s schools. In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday, the plaintiffs claim that Chicago Public Schools (CPS) violated its own guidelines by disregarding the recommendations of independent hearing officers who objected to the closures. (Photo credit: Charles Rex Arbogast/AP) ...

Chicago Teachers Union and parents to go to court to try to block school closure plan

Thu, 30 May 2013 15:31:33 GMT

Source: eagnews.org --- Thursday, May 30, 2013
By Victor Skinner EAGnews.org Chicago – Another lawsuit has been filed in an attempt to stop Chicago’s planned school closings. The Chicago Teachers Union and district parents filed a new lawsuit this week to stop the Chicago Board of Education from shuttering some of the 50 underutilized, underperforming schools it plans to close [...] ...

What’s Next for the Chicago Teachers Union?

Wed, 29 May 2013 20:30:45 GMT

Source: inthesetimes.com --- Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Eight months after its historic strike , the Chicago Teachers Union ( CTU ) again finds itself at a crossroads. The union is dealing with the fallout from the Chicago Board of Education approving 50 public-school closings last week, which, among other issues, directly impacts the jobs of about 1,000 of their members. Partly in response, the CTU is focusing on a political movement that can challenge the power of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. That means there's a new item on the union's agenda: voter registration. Last Thursday, CTU President Karen Lewis, comfortably re-elected to a second three-year term a week before, hosted a voter-registration training session at a church in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the city's South Side. Lewis told her audience of CTU members that despite months of opposition—which included a three-day march , downtown rallies , two pending class action lawsuits and a third lawsuit that the union expects to file today—“a lot of us knew” the board would vote to close the schools, “which is why we had already scheduled this meeting.” The real problem, Lewis said, is that the mayor handpicks both the Chicago Public School ( CPS ) leaders who propose policies and the board members who then approve those policies. “We must change the political landscape in Chicago,” Lewis said. “If we have mayoral control and can’t get rid of it tomorrow, then we need to figure out a way to change the hearts and minds of the voters.” ...

Chicago Teachers Adds PE Fund, Considers Liquidity

Tue, 28 May 2013 05:38:24 GMT

Source: www.imweekly.com --- Monday, May 27, 2013
The Public School Teachers Pension and Retirement Fund of Chicago (CTPF) added additional monies to current private equity manager HarbourVest as it plans to continually up its ante to the alternative class. ...

AM News: Chicago Teachers Aim To Oust School Closing Lawmakers

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:57:00 GMT

Source: scholasticadministrator.typepad.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
Losers In Chicago School Closings Target Elected Officials NPR: The Chicago school board voted to close dozens of schools, despite community protests that the closings disproportionately affect minority students. Now the Teachers union and community activists want to change the system and oust the elected officials who disagreed with them. Fairfax County online standards tests hampered by Internet problems Washington Post: Widespread technical glitches interrupted thousands of Fairfax County schools students taking Virginia’s standards of learning tests online Thursday. Is Performance Pay Back on the Front Burner? TeacherBeat: There must be something in the water: Performance pay, after going through a fallow period following a 2010 study that found few effects on student learning, all of a sudden seems back on policymakers' radar screens. New Superintendents in Clark County, Nev., and Boston Education Week: As this school year comes to a close, we can expect a flurry of activity—and some superintendent musical chairs—at the helms of school districts. Arne Duncan Is Worried About Education Debt. Can He Fix It? Washington Monthly: Education Secretary Arne Duncan is getting concerned about America's estimated $1.1 trillion student loan burden. Speaking Tuesday during testimony before the House education committee, he said, “the fact that that debt surpasses a trillion dollars ... Conn. bill gives families say over Newtown records A ...