Dem Mayor, Rahm Emanuel, accuses "teachers union of 'cheating children out of an education'"

[madfloridian]

I am having a lot of trouble with our party's attitude toward unions...especially teachers' unions. They seem to be treated more aggressively by the party than other unions. Guess that goes along with the new reformers agenda, and unions get in the way of their goals.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Mayor accuses teachers union of 'cheating children out of an education'

Most of CPS' 108 charter schools already keep students in class more hours each day than traditional CPS schools, but the 42 that don't will be eligible for $75,000 grants and their teachers could receive $800 stipends should they choose to implement a longer school day in 2011-12. So far, 32 schools have expressed interest in applying for the CPS grants, and Emanuel said the district has earmarked $5 million in CPS funds for the effort.

But he had harsh words were for the Chicago Teachers Union, which filed a complaint with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board against similar incentives offered to unionized teachers in non-charter schools. The complaint led last week to the labor board voting to seek court intervention to keep more schools from adopting the longer day plan. The union is now working with the Illinois Attorney General's office to pursue the case, which union officials have said the Cook County District Court could take up within "a couple of weeks."

"Start cheating a kid out of an education, how cheap is that?" said Emanuel at a press conference at Chicago International Charter School's Washington Park campus. "What's the legal expense of going through court? Try a generation of children cheated of an education."

Here's the problem. He lying. He's lying through omission, confusing the issue. But it's still a lie. Here's the full story:

Chicago CPO threatened school closings, banned union reps from consulting with teachers in order to push their policies.

The teachers are not against longer days. They just want to know the reasons. They want to see the plans the reformers and Rahm have in mind. Just simple fairness.

The Chicago Teachers Union filed an unfair labor practice complaint to block schools from signing waivers and lengthening class days as a fifth school voted to extend its day. The union accused the governing board of the Chicago Public Schools of “coercing” union members at schools to sign the waivers, which allow them to opt out of the existing teachers contract.

“Asking our members to void parts of their own contract it is unethical and illegal,” union president Karen Lewis said today.

“We want them to cease and desist from its unlawful activity, restore our teachers’ rights, post appropriate notices of its intent to extend school hours and tell us how they intend to make the school day better for our children. We’ve asked them over and over to work with us, not against us.”

The complaint, filed with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, contends CPS: threatened to close schools if teachers did not approve contract modifications; interrogated teachers about their union activities; directed teachers to report their communications with the union; wrote and distributed the contract waiver; and banned union representatives from consulting with teachers before they were coerced into waiving parts of their labor contract

Forbidding teachers to consult with union reps? That's union busting.

BTW, the labor board ruled that what Rahm did in coercing the schools to violate their union contracts and go for the longer day....is illegal.

Illinois Ed Labor Relations Board rules Rahm acted illegally on longer school day.

The longer school day started at more than a dozen Chicago Public Schools should be halted, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board ruled Thursday, essentially siding with the Chicago Teachers Union in its bitter dispute with district officials.

The move is a blow to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s push to implement a longer day this year, and district officials said they were “disappointed” with the board’s decision.

It has been an extreme disappointment to me that the last 3 years with Democrats in control have seen an escalation of attacks against public school teachers.

No, Rahm, the teachers' unions are not cheating students out of an education. They are trying to protect the rights of teachers as the reformers you cater to so much are trying to kill their profession and turn it into a temp job in which little training is required.

For shame.

[lob1]

1. Rahm is a Koch Bros. democrat.

[snot]

21. +1. But he WAS near (dear?) to the WH.

[vssmith]

35. Doesnt seem to be a contradiction to me

[russspeakeasy]

154. you beat me to it..

[Ken Burch]

203. Because it isn't.

Rahm's sole purpose in the White House was to tell the left, and most of the 99%, to go Cheney themselves.

The people's victory of 2008 was overturned the moment Rahm was appointed.

I still can't understand why he has any supporters here at all.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

204. Deleted message

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[Horse with no Name]

153. "Our Party"...??? Really Rahm?

You might "claim" to be a Democrat...but you really aren't fooling too many of us...

[CarmanK]

2. I am so glad this man is no where near the WH, a disappointment!

I find this RAHM EMMANUEL so hard to understand. His mother would be appalled. He is not representing the best interests of the people of Chicago and he certainly isn't governing well. I am so glad he is no where near Obama. It is clear nnow why the president got off the PEOPLE'S BAND WAGON after the election. God bless Chicago!!

[UnrepentantLiberal]

6. Obama was Rham Emanuel's buddy

long before he ran for president. Obama didn't change when he was elected, he lied when he was campaigning for that office.

[shireen]

3. do his kids attend public school?

Nope!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/chicago-mayor-rahm-emanuel-chooses-private-school-for-kids/2011/07/21/gIQAzES7RI_blog.html
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who strongly supports school reform that centers on standardized test-based accountability for students, schools and teachers, has decided to send his children to a private school that doesn’t obsess on standardized tests.


:mad:

[stillwaiting]

30. Yes, he wants HIS children to learn how to think critically AND....

he does not want YOUR/OUR children (the 99%'ers) to learn to think critically.

It's preposterous and widespread amongst the pro-education-reform movement participants.

[msanthrope]

33. You have a problem with John Dewey's schools??? Really?

His kids go to the Lab School.

I'm sure you would send your kid to CPS to make a political point instead of the Lab School, right???

Not bloody likely....

[Marrah_G]

53. I think you are missing the point

He is sending his kids to one sort of school, while at the same time tasking destructive actions against the public schools. He is not sending his kids to private school and then working to make public school BETTER.

[msanthrope]

75. How is insisting that public schools stay open past 2pm destructive?

I think that insisting that other children get educational opportunities that people with money can afford isn't destructive--it's a force for good.

People with money tend to send their children to the best schools available. Sometimes that's the public school (like Arne Duncan) sometimes not.

Why does that disqualify Rahm from insisting that ALL CPS kids get to go to school past 2 o'clock?

And let's be honest here--are you saying you would send YOUR KID to a CPS school over Chicago Lab?

[whathehell]

98. Trying to gut Teachers unions is destructive...

Especially when you want them to work longer for less.

Rahms a dick.:eyes:

[msanthrope]

109. What gut? The union is strong, and currently fighting having to work an 8 hour day.

School starts in Chicago at 8:15, and ends at 2.

Yes...they should be working longer before they get any raises.

[wickerwoman]

122. Teachers work more than 8 hours a day.

Six hours of class time plus class prep plus grading (usually at home) plus often coaching or leading extracurriculars plus continuing professional development plus staff meetings plus parent-teacher conferences often in the evenings, plus often moonlighting to supplement their income.

I bet you think teaching is a cushy job because "they get summers off!" too.

You might as well say theater actors are lazy because they only work 10 hours a week.

When I taught, for every hour I was in front of a class I spent at least 2 preparing and grading papers.

[msanthrope]

134. Not all my colleagues worked an 8 hour day.

Sorry, but while good teachers put in the time, I knew lots of teachers who simply didn't.

I never thought teaching a cushy job, but it is definitely a job where one can coast if one wishes.

Teachers are not saints.

[CreekDog]

163. you're changing your argument

you were arguing that teachers don't work an 8 hour day but will now have to.

you then conceded that many teachers do already work an 8 hour day --so you want them to work more still.

frustrating that you haven't thought this through.

:banghead:

[wickerwoman]

183. Lengthening the school day doesn't deal with the issue of teachers who coast.

Teachers who coast through 6 class hours a day will coast through 7 or 8. And in the meantime you've exponentially increased the workload of the teachers who do do their job possibly beyond what can physically be accomplished, leading to teacher burnout, leading to more teachers coasting or quitting.

[LiberalLovinLug]

226. "..definitely a job where one can coast if one wishes"?

My father was an elementary teacher in a public school.
He also put in many hours after class and weekends, and Summers were spent upgrading his skills and/or cab driving to make up salary.

It would be virtually impossible to "coast" just because you "wish" to in the teaching profession. Not only preparing lessons, marking, dealing with parents, but dealing with 30+ classrooms of kids, with a one or two troubled ones or special needs always in the mix, every day, and changing kids every hour with each class, and then brand new ones every year....

You knew "lots of teachers who simply didn't "? Sure you did.

[texshelters]

175. Exactly

Every teacher I know in public schools works 60 hours a week, on average.

What makes Rahm such an expert on teaching anyway?

I think teachers everywhere should run for public office. They would make better, more compassionate majors than RE and his ilk.

Here's my piece on the BS: http://texshelters.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/michelle-rhee-wisonsin-and-the-attack-on-teachers/


Peace,
Tex Shelters

[CreekDog]

162. so the teacher doesn't need to do anything after that 8 hours?

no preparation for the next day?

no grading papers or exams?

you know what, you just proved you don't know enough about a school (which i presume you went to once upon a time) to convincingly comment on this story. i think you're in over your head. :eyes:

[chervilant]

217. Gosh...

Given your rebuttal, I can see that I made the right decision, putting that person on my ignore list...

You might also assert to that person that we teachers selflessly participate in our students' extracurricular activities, that we often arrive early and leave late so that we can offer extra 'tutoring' in our core subjects, and that we are REQUIRED to attend continuing education courses throughout the summer and during the school year.

That being said, NOTHING will deter me from being an advocate--e.g., a TEACHER--for our children: not Rahm Emmanuel, not Arne Duncan, not Barack Obama.

[JDPriestly]

222. An 8-hour day?

Teachers often supervise the lunch hour, get no breaks or very short ones and then go home to grade papers and prepare lesson plans.

Haven't you ever talked to a teacher about what they do when they go home in the evening?

And some of the teachers have their own families, so if they teach from 9-2, that's 7 hours. If they only worked 8 hours, they would only have 1/7th of an hour or less than 10 minutes to prepare and grade papers for each hour of classroom teaching. These teachers are putting in more than an 8 hour day already.

Are you one of these people who think that teachers just walk into the classroom and know what they are going to do and say? That they have robots who grade the 30-40 papers they have several times a week if not every day?

Where were you in grade school and high school?

[Marrah_G]

100. by destroying the teachers union and forcing them to give up things already negotiated.......

What teachers will want to teach there without union protections?

[msanthrope]

108. The union is going strong, and fighting school being open past 2 pm.

That is destructive.

Why is the CTU fighting this measure?

[Laluchacontinua]

114. As I understand it, they're not fighting that issue at all.

[msanthrope]

126. Oh no--that was the point of their suit. nt

[Laluchacontinua]

131. Do you have a link?

[msanthrope]

139. Didn't you read the links in the OP?

You might try there, particularly the Sun-Times piece regarding the CTU's effort to quash the longer school day voted on by 13 schools this year.

[Laluchacontinua]

141. No, I mean the text of the suit. I don't see a link.

[msanthrope]

151. If you find the OP's links quoting the head of the CTU to be difficult to follow, then

I suggest you contact the OP writer for more information, or otherwise attempt to use the tubes for more information to clarify your questions.

Welcome to DU!

[Laluchacontinua]

188. I'm confused. You said the point of the suit was to keep the day short, so

I asked for a link. Just trying to find out about the lawsuit you mentioned.

Thanks for the welcome, btw.

[msanthrope]

210. I am sorry you are confused with the OP's links. I generally find that

clicking on them helps.

[Laluchacontinua]

216. Interesting, thanks. My understanding is that the lawsuit was not about the length of the school

day, but about the mayor's attempt to circumvent collective bargaining.

Until I see something different I will hold to that understanding.

[quakerboy]

207. Not according to the OP

"“Asking our members to void parts of their own contract it is unethical and illegal,” union president Karen Lewis said today.

“We want them to cease and desist from its unlawful activity, restore our teachers’ rights, post appropriate notices of its intent to extend school hours and tell us how they intend to make the school day better for our children. We’ve asked them over and over to work with us, not against us.”

The complaint, filed with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, contends CPS: threatened to close schools if teachers did not approve contract modifications; interrogated teachers about their union activities; directed teachers to report their communications with the union; wrote and distributed the contract waiver; and banned union representatives from consulting with teachers before they were coerced into waiving parts of their labor contract"

They want to talk about what is happening, have a chance to have feedback into what is happening, not just to be told by papa Rham how its gonna be.

[Tatiana]

117. Can you provide a list stating the majority of CPS schools close at 2 pm?

I truly do not know of a school that isn't open until at least 3.

[msanthrope]

125. Here's the link--

You wouldn't think it possible, but the majority of Chicago schools close at the teacher's lunch hour--2 pm. Rahm wants that to change. Google it for the loads of stories on how short the school year and school day is in Chi-town.


"Chicago students are “cheated” by not getting as much school time as Houston’s students, Emanuel said.

And if the school day grows by 18 percent — going from five hours and 45 minutes to six hours and 45 minutes or more — that doesn’t necessarily mean teachers’ pay will also be boosted 18 percent by the cash-strapped school board, Emanuel said.

“That’s not the only way to make sure our teachers are compensated,” he said.

His message to teachers: “Come to the table. We’re not going to argue about a longer school day. You’re good professionals. You want to be professionals. There is a longer school day and a longer school year.”"

http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/4852856-418/chicago-public-school-students-your-day-will-grow-emanuel-says.html

The current teacher contract runs through June 2012, but the Chicago Sun-Times reports that the mayor-elect hopes to get the school day lengthened for this coming school year. At five hours and 45 minutes for elementary schools and six hours for high schools, the Chicago school day is one of the shortest in the country. According to the New York Times, Chicago students spend 270 hours less in the classroom every year than students in New York City schools -- about 41 fewer days. The plan is to add an extra hour or hour and a half to each day.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/20/rahm-emanuel-chicago-schools_n_851294.html

[Tatiana]

143. Oh so now it's 5 hours 45 minutes from 5 hours.

I maintain this is union busting. The Board shortened the day on the pretense that they no longer had the funds to pay for the additional time for supervision and specials. Now all of a sudden we've found millions of dollars to extend the day?

Why wouldn't pay be proportional to the time added to the teachers' schedules?

This is an extension of Mayor Daley's scam he tried to rush through before leaving office.

Rahm Emanuel... busting Chicago's unions.

[msanthrope]

146. Um, what?

Are you really suggesting that CTU teachers should be paid more money to work a full day, when their salaries are already calculated on them working a full day?

And CTU wonders why they are losing the PR war on this one....they are going to have a longer school day next year, by law. And they are going to have to make do with the 2% raise.

[Tatiana]

156. I don't think you realize how long the workday of a CPS teacher is.

Last period at my building ended at 3:50 p.m. I left the building "officially" somewhere around 5:45 - 6:00 p.m. This, after starting my day at 7:30 a.m. That, my friend is a 10+ hour workday (in the building).

Of course, grading and additional planning as well as maintaining online blogs, home/school communications, and parent phone calls or home visits often extended by work time well into the night.

I don't know a teacher who works less than 60 hours per week.

I am proud to have a child that attends a world class public school and receives a quality education (average ACT composite score was 26.6), though it would be considered inadequate by our corporate mayor's school day standards.

Bottom line - not every school needs a lengthened day. Those schools that have the population of students that require extra assistance (and more minutes of instruction) need have teachers compensated per a proportionate amount of their daily rate.

[msanthrope]

157. Having been a teacher, I think I can guess that a teacher who gets out of school at 2 isn't

pulling the hours you are.

I knew plenty of teachers who did not work a 60 hour week. Sorry, but not every teacher is dedicated, or good.

The citizens of Chicago have decided that CPS needs a longer day, and they will get it, by law, next year. The union's stalling for this year will only serve to make them lose the PR war.

[CreekDog]

165. what are the hours teachers are required to be on site and on duty?

are they really the minute class starts until the minute it finishes?

or don't you know and are making it up?

[Tatiana]

168. If the school day ends at 2, common sense would tell anyone the teacher's day doesn't end then.

When do you think you have staff meetings?

Collaboration between departments on interdisciplinary units?

Parent meetings (you MUST be available either before or after school)?

Certain comments lead me to believe that some are anti-union and use any argument available to advance an anti-union, anti-public education, pro-corporate D agenda, IMO.

[CreekDog]

172. an agenda, ignorance or a combination of both

:boring:

[Ken Burch]

224. The teachers don't "get out of school" at the end of the school day

They are working for hours after that NOW, grading papers and preparing for the next day. They're also helping lead after-school activities.

You make it sound like they're hitting the bars at 2:05.

Why are you accepting the Republican myth that teachers are the problem?

[Goblinmonger]

149. Why would he demand more and more standardized tests in public schools

and then send his kids to a school that avoids them? He clearly knows it wrong for kids, but has a different agenda. Keep up with the argument.

[CreekDog]

161. if he wants them to do more classroom instruction, then they should be paid more

what do you bet that's not part of the deal?

[JDPriestly]

220. Ending the school day later cuts down on the teachers' time to prepare

for the next day's lessons and to grade papers. It also means that teachers can't stay after school for special sessions with students who need it.

My husband taught school in a couple of countries outside the U.S. No matter the country, for the teacher, the school day does not end when the children go home.

In Austria, elementary schools ended the children's classes at around noon. The children were assigned lots of work to do at home in the afternoons. It was a great system.

[quakerboy]

206. Missing the point

you have done it.

The point is not that the school Rham's children go to is bad.

The point is that he has supported policy to make public schools less like the school he finds to be more valuable for his own children.


If you see a school as model of success that you believe in enough to trust with your own children, and then you had the power to influence how other schools operated, would you not want to steer them toward what you saw as the model of success, rather than directly away from it?

[crazyjoe]

54. you could ask that of almost all politicians at the fed level, on both sides!

[AnneD]

130. We have been raising this very issue.....

during our board election. Several of these folks have never sent their kids to public schools and dare force this crap down our throat and diss the teachers. Our one stellar board member is from an immigrant family, a product of public schools and one of the smartest people I know. Raised the IQ of the Board by 50 points just walking into the room. At every opportunity she credits our public school system for encouraging her and giving her a chance.

I have no patience with these kinds of reformers that come out of the Broad Foundation, Koch Brothers, or other educational deformers.

[Larkspur]

4. Rahm is the Crown Prince of Corporate Democrats or Corpor-crats

I'm sure he got contribution $$ to support privatizing education.

[Fumesucker]

5. Your headline should include the words "Obama confidante" or "Obama anointee"..

ONCGTC, we might as well make it an acronym, I'm typing it three or four times a week anyway, Only Nixon Could Go To China.

DU was all but rending flesh over this crap when Dubya was in charge, now Obama is doing it and it's infinitely more popular here.

[Number23]

7. "now Obama is doing it and it's infinitely more popular here."

What does this OP have to do with President Obama?

[Fumesucker]

14. Evidently you are not aware that Obama supports Rahm's policies..

:shrug:

[Number23]

189. There is nothing that supports that.

And it's a moot and completely irrelevant point anyway.

The issue here is what Rahm Emmanuel as Mayor of Chicago is doing there. Unless President Obama assigned Emmanuel mayor which we all know didn't happen (or at least I think some of us know didn't happen) the correct answer to my question would be, "this OP has nothing to do with President Obama."

[mopinko]

45. nothing.

[dionysus]

46. every post is supposed to campaign against obama here, didn't you know that?

;)

[totodeinhere]

173. Instead of coming back with a sarcastic answer like that, why don't you address whether or not

it is factual to assert that Rahm was an Obama appointee? That's what the poster said. And everybody knows he was appointed by Obama. What's wrong with saying it since it's true?

[Number23]

186. Wrong spot

[Number23]

191. Wow. Obama is a bad mother (shut yo' mouth!) Who knew that he'd appointed

Rahm as mayor of Chicago??

Has someone let the media know? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41715205/ns/politics-more_politics/t/rahm-emanuel-wins-chicago-mayoral-race/ They seem to be under the impression that he won some sort of "election" or something...

[chervilant]

52. Let's see...

Obama appointed Arne Duncan, who is a key player in the ongoing corporate assault on unions and public education. One might allege that Mr. Obama isn't aware of what Duncan is doing, but how sad would be THAT assertion--a president who is unaware of such an important post?

I have no respect for Arne Duncan, and no respect for Mr. Obama. A free and complete education for ALL of our children is the keystone of our democracy. Making the profitability of our schools (and standardized testing) more important than educating our children has been shown to degrade the quality of education for all. Thus, to ENABLE the corporate takeover of our system of PUBLIC education is beyond the pale.

AND, by DEMOCRATS, no less...

[Name removed]

187. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

8. Rahm, the Dick Cheney of the Dems.

[Barbed Wire]

10. We need our very own Dick Cheneys!

That's Okay; we need tough members of this party. Too often we are the party of the namby-pamby, battling with fierce advocates who will use any lying, smearing tactic to win their battles. And winning they are ...

[bengalherder]

16. cool story, bro...

[madfloridian]

17. We need tough very much.

The other side will never back down, they just keep pushing. We need to stand up against them.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

18. We need tough LIBERALS,

not tough Democrats who are fans of Ronald Reagan.

But then, I've given up on the Democratic Party. So carry on.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

38. No, we need more Henry Rollins. Not fake ass cardboard cut out punk ass tough guy wannabes. nt

[Vincardog]

142. we need tough members of this party fighting FOR liberal ideals not against them.

[frazzled]

9. New York has been shopping longer hours to individual schools for years

Staff at New York City schools routinely take similar votes, but with less fanfare. There has been no system-wide push for a longer school day in years, and educators do not foresee a Chicago-style showdown repeating in New York.

That’s in part because the average New York City school day is already much longer than Chicago’s (which is 5 hours), and slightly longer than other major cities’, with many students in school for 6.5 hours or more. In addition, the district already struck a flexible deal with the union five years ago to extend the school day by 37.5 minutes four days a week for at least 290,000 city students, mostly those who struggle academically. How that time is spent is, to a large degree, up to each school.

... The local decisions are made possible by a clause in the teachers contract that allows a “school-based option” on scheduling and other matters: Schools can lengthen or rearrange their days if 55 percent of their staff vote yes.

http://gothamschools.org/2011/09/19/why-new-york-city-isnt-joining-chicago-in-extended-day-uproar/

And by the way, since you don't live in Chicago, you probably don't know that there are no attacks against teachers with respect to the longer school day. It was a campaign promise from nine months ago, and it will be instituted district-wide next school year. The individual schools voting to institute these hours now are not in the least affected by the Labor Relation Board's position, which has not been ruled on yet by any court:

The nine elementary schools that already have extended their days by 90 minutes will be unaffected by whatever the court chooses to do, the board said in a statement clarifying the ruling.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-10-20/news/chi-labor-board-sides-with-chicago-teachers-union-in-dispute-over-longer-school-day-20111020_1_president-karen-lewis-labor-board-cps

It's an extreme disappointment that you present the story in an incomplete fashion, with false claims that attempts to lengthen what is by far the shortest school day of any major city in the country are somehow "attacks against teachers." The story is far more complex.

[Art_from_Ark]

12. A five-hour school day?

Wow. When I was in elementary school, the school day started at 8:20 and ended at 3:15-- almost 7 hours. And the high school day lasted 7 1/2 hours-- 8:15 to 3:45.

[EFerrari]

13. We had two recess periods, lunch and PE every day.

I wonder if kids get that any more.

[Art_from_Ark]

15. We also had two recess periods and lunch in elementary school

Every once in a while, a practice teacher from the local university would try to get us interested in PE, but nearly everyone hated it, so the principal gave up on that idea and instead gave us an hour every day in the nice, big library addition they had just built.

[mopinko]

47. not here.

recess is rare, lunch is 20 minutes, pe is once a week.
see why we need a longer day?

[Laluchacontinua]

133. As I understand it, the union is all for that. But since class sizes in Chicago are the highest

in the state & in violation of law, they're saying hire more teachers & add those subjects to the curriculum again rather than make existing teachers teach 90 minutes more for free in already overcrowded, stressed classrooms.

There are videos on you tube of karen lewis saying this.

As I understand it, the reason the school day is short is because the admin cut out the frills to save money -- & there was some hanky-panky involved that I haven't quite figured out yet.

[EFerrari]

179. That's what I was thinking, after reading that recess and PE

have been cut from a lot of schedules.

[proud2BlibKansan]

195. No they don't.

Our kids get a lunch and a 20 minute recess. PE once a week.

[madfloridian]

19. Tell it to the labor board. They said what he did was wrong.

They PAID schools, bribed them, to go against their union.

I have written more about it, and it is all correct and fair.

I don't have to live in Chicago to see that Rahm is harming education.

[Tatiana]

22. This is a little disingenuous. Most CPS schools go for 6 or 6.5 hrs. per day.

Five is the minimum standard. My old grammar school goes from 8:30 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.

And there have been several attacks against teachers with respect to voting for the longer school day. Even the principals think it is out of hand and have been covertly telling us to go to our union. You know something stinks to high heaven when you have a CPS administrator telling you to go to the union.

Rahm should be ashamed of himself. I hope a court throws the book at him for his attempt at union busing.

[chervilant]

57. hmph

It's an extreme disappointment that someone so ill-informed about this issue could present a rebuttal in an incomplete fashion, with false claims that there are no "attacks against teachers." This story IS far more complex, and warrants a great deal of concern.

(BTW, anyone who's been following this issue on DU is aware of madfloridian's comprehensive and essential documentation of the corporate assault on teachers and unions, AND the corporatists' ongoing efforts to privatize our system of public education. You might want to educate yourself before you post another 'rebuttal' on this issue.)

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

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[Laluchacontinua]

20. Isn't the issue here that Rahm is trying to do an end run around collective bargaining rules?

The reporting on this is abysmal -- Everything I find is contradictory and unclear.

[madrchsod]

28. yes it is.....

bribing teachers to sign on to this and paying the school thousands of dollars if they go to longer hours.

this lowers the teachers wages since the extra hour is not paid under the existing contract.

[mopinko]

56. it will be next year.

[tcaudilllg]

23. Yuck, he went to the dark side.

Get rid of him.

[Sportsguy]

25. Is He A Democrat?

[Jamastiene]

27. Well, he has a D behind his name, but

he's anti-union and pro-corporatist among other things.

[liberalhistorian]

202. And remember, he clearly said

"fuck the UAW" during negotiations over the auto bailout a few years ago. Could not have cared LESS about the workers. Elitist fucker.

[Fumesucker]

31. He was Obama's right hand man for a couple of years.. n/t

[redqueen]

84. And Clinton's before that.

They're just playing the same triangulating tune that democratic voters have been dancing to for nearly two decades.

[madfloridian]

91. White House Chief of Staff

[whathehell]

99. No, he only pretends to be.

[tcaudilllg]

160. You mean Obama's former Chief of Staff?

[eppur_se_muova]

24. FRE nt

[Jamastiene]

26. When it comes to Rahm Emanuel,

I am not surprised. He is as right wing as they come for a Democrat and that phenomena is part of the reason the Democratic Party is so divided.

[lib2DaBone]

152. We all know where Rham's allegiance is...

Rham is a dual-citizen and a politician to boot. You can not cover all those bases and claim to be "For the People".

[City Lights]

29. Rahm is repulsive. eom

[Reader Rabbit]

32. I just don't get how this guy pretends to be a Democrat.

But I guess it's part of the trend that's sweeping the nation—Republican policies presented and promoted by Democrats.

[AngryAmish]

34. This is the problem - Chicago Public Schools are a complete shithole

This was done the wrong way (need to bargain collectively, Rahm!) but the extended school day is necessary. CPS has been run as a political dumping ground for years.

There are some very good schools. Some you have to test into or win a lottery. The good school nearest to me has a 2.9% vacancy rate. So I get to send my kids to catholic schools most likely or move.

Most parents support Rahm in this.

[Fumesucker]

36. Is it the fault of the union that Chicago schools are "shitholes"?

Or could it have something to do with graft, corruption and mismanagement in the administration of those schools?

[AngryAmish]

39. Both

The graft, corruption and mismanagement is legendary. But quite frankly the teachers are a problem also. For example the median ACT score for a CPS teacher is 19. The school day is way too short and most kids do not get recess. The food stinks (graft).

There are some good schools. I am sure a lot of teachers care.

The essential problem is that the teachers union has a fiduciary obligation to get the unions members paid the most for the least amount of work. Therein lies the problem. The union is very powerful, perhaps the single most powerful political force in Illinois. (caveat being CPS has a union, the rest of the teachers have another union.) Anyway, Rahm soured on them over this issue but more importantly Mike Madigan soured on them (Mike Madigan is the Speaker of the House in Illinois and is the Boss). So they got the hours extended by statute beginning next year. It is a fait accompli but Rahm pushed it into this year.

[Fumesucker]

48. If the union was the "single most powerful political force" then the statue would not have passed..

At least that's the way I see it.

Every organization that I've ever worked in or with it is the leaders, the decision makers who make the worst mistakes and create the worst problems, not the people doing the actual work.

:shrug:

[AngryAmish]

50. CTU approved the statute

Ms. Lewis is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Did not understand what was being done to her members.

[Laluchacontinua]

137. Maybe she's not. But how does that excuse "what was being done to her members"?

Chicago hasn't funded the teachers' pensions for a decade. It really looks like they're being screwed 6 ways to sunday.

When was that vote taken, btw?

[mopinko]

49. by getting teachers to vote on it. the nerve.

and karen lewis is being a complete ass. i take everything in that complaint with a big grain of salt.
karen lewis was elected to say "NO" to anything and everything, and that is what she does. not much hope and change in that, is there?

[Fumesucker]

51. I wonder if she would say "no" to decreased high stakes testing?

[mopinko]

55. i'm sure she would love it.

nothing to keep the system accountable.
i don't like the way tests are used, taught to, or any of that. but i think you need to have objective measures and accountability SOMEHOW.

[Fumesucker]

61. That sounds quite a bit like...

"Do something, anything, even if it's counterproductive".

And besides, I just destroyed the claim that she says no to everything.

[mopinko]

66. i wouldn't call that destroyed. refuted maybe, but

obviously that is not one of the questions that she was likely to be asked. and if there were any merit pay attached to it, she would defend it to her last breath.

[Fumesucker]

69. Education is unlike so many other fields...

The raw material you have to work with is remarkably variable and the final product is intangible and subject to a great deal of political controversy as to what constitutes an acceptable product.

Someone mentioned that Chicago teachers have low ACT scores, who hired these low scoring teachers and why didn't they hire higher scoring teachers?

Is the union doing the hiring too?

[mopinko]

72. i certainly agree that what walks in the door is the biggest

determinate to what walks out the door. we could and should do a better job of facilitating the growth and filling the needs of the disadvantaged kids in the system. that is part of the aim of the longer hours- less unsupervised time for kids, more of the, well, fulfilling is the only word that comes to mind, sort of activities that have been squeezed out.

as far as the hiring, for one thing it is a huge system that competes with an even more huge number of better systems for talent. the suburban schools pay better and get a better quality "raw material" to work with. plus they do not put stupid but well meaning restrictions on hiring like the residency requirement that cps has.
but the firing? there the union is in charge. you cannot, cannot, fire a teacher in chicago for less that rape or treason. it may not be like that elsewhere, but it sure the hell is here. that is how you end up with radical restructurings.

[Fumesucker]

79. So the teachers are already lower paid than many of their colleagues in other systems?

I doubt that does much for their morale, or their willingness to accept even less compensation for hours worked.

As for a residency requirement, perhaps they would rather the money stayed in their community rather than going to already wealthier suburbs.

I suspect you'll get some pushback shortly on your claim that it is impossible to fire a teacher but I have no knowledge so I'm not going to speak to that.

[mopinko]

86. the residency requirement is well meaning.

and in theory a very good thing. just, in practice, it limits the talent pool, something we can't afford. i would prefer some sort of incentive to this. it applies to all city employees, iirc.

honestly, sometimes i am amazed at the high quality of so many chicago schools. most stable neighborhoods have good schools. it's one of those vortex sort of things, better kids attract better teachers, attract better admins, etc. and the reverse, sadly, also has gravity added in.

[Laluchacontinua]

140. Do you know when that vote was taken?

[Tatiana]

59. Rahm soured on teachers before he ever became Mayor. He has no respect for unions at all.

They could have negotiated and bargained in good faith.

Rahm (and Madigan to a certain extent) didn't even try. They just decided to go around them, simply ignoring collective bargaining laws.

CPS is run by people who have no educational background whatsoever. That's part of the problem. How can you implement sound educational policy and practice when you have no idea what that entails?

A longer school day for *some* schools isn't going to fix what's wrong with CPS. That's a personnel and administrative issue.

I have met several administrators that are dumber than doornobs. Getting an administrative job is about who you know, not necesarily your talent or vision for student learning.

[mopinko]

43. it is both.

[JVS]

113. I blame Chicagoans.

There's a reason these people are called FIBs in Wisconsin.

[whathehell]

136. I blame Wisconsinites

There's a reason these people elected

Scott Walker and another repuke to

replace a progressive like Russ Feingold. :eyes:

[chervilant]

58. Really?

"Most parents support Rahm in this"? Please cite your source for this assertion.

Furthermore, if 'most parents' were actively involved in their children's education, we teachers would have the support we need to insure ALL children receive a comprehensive education.

[Laluchacontinua]

129. Because sending kids to shitholes for 8 hours is better than sending them for 6? I don't get it.

I have been trying to get up to speed on this. I find that Chicago schools have the highest class sizes in the state -- just for starters.

[Dont call me Shirley]

155. Especially if they're teaching that Chicago School Everyday Math Program.

It's not the teachers, Rahm, it's the intentionally "designed to fail" curriculum!

[vssmith]

37. None of these critics of public education have ever taught

That includes: Bill Gates, Eli Broad, Arne Duncan, Rahm Emmanuel and others.

They all have solutions to a situation they know next to nothing about.

Rich people dont want to pay taxes for schools their kids dont use. They do not want bright kids from the 99% to be in a postion to compete with their kids. Is there a conspiracy at work here? Damn right!

[PassingFair]

42. I've never taught, and I know how to "fix" public schools.

SMALLER FUCKING CLASSES.

The smaller, the better.

You can't give individualized attention
to kids at different levels of learning
if there are 40 or 50 of them in the same
classroom.

Some kids fall behind and never catch up,
and some get so bored they just tune out.

[Tatiana]

64. But Bill Gates says to make them LARGER.

If it were up to him, we'd have high school classes with 45 or 50 kids.

[PassingFair]

65. Maybe by high school the classes could be bigger, but only IF...

the tough work of bringing individual kids up to speed
has been tackled earlier in the educational process.

[Nevernose]

212. No, he doesn't.

At least not the NPR interview I heard him on. There he was pushing for larger class sizes, claiming that many studies show that large class sizes don't matter. But then he added -- and this is the part that gets left out -- that those studies break down once you get more than 25 or 30 kids in a class. Gates doesn't seem to realize that I've got 45 kids in second period, and that's not particularly unusual around here.

[bvar22]

81. If we really wanted to fix our Public Schools System,

...require EVERYONE who draws a Paycheck from Uncle Sam to send their children to the nearest Public School.
No exceptions.
It is shameful how quickly and effectively our politicians can respond when their self-interest is on the line.

I have no problem with Private (Charter) Schools,
as long as they don't receive One Nickle of Taxpayer Money.
The US has ONE Public School System.
THAT is the one that should receive our Tax Money and attention.

[Marazinia]

119. Thank you thank you thank you!

That's the answer, not longer hours. You want higher quality education? Hire more teachers, make sure their working conditions are good and their pay is commensurate with their education and abilities so they don't have to quit or moonlight to pay their student loans and make ends meet.

[whathehell]

105. Interesting point.

Obama is a product of private schools as well.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

40. This is not going to be popular here. But it's teachers fault. You see. If they

were all multimillionaires. Then they could buy time with the mayor and "persuade" him to see things their way.

The mayor's millionaire club
Who has access to Rahm Emanuel’s inner sanctum

By Ben Joravsky and Mick Dumke

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/who-has-access-to-mayor-rahm-emanuels/Content?oid=4887900

[blackspade]

41. Rahm is such an A-hole

All unions should be wary of this effort and should step in with their support if they haven't already.

Honestly, I don't see how a longer school day benefits kids. They are already buried in homework and stressed out enough as it is. We need to go back to the education model that worked, as in the model prior to the Reagan 'blue ribbon' report that is the fundimental underpinning of the education privatization movement.

[ieoeja]

85. Actually, yours is an argument for a longer school day *if* they use that time properly.

When I was a kid, most of us hardly ever brought work home. We did it in class or in study hall. CPS doesn't have study hall. Why?

They wanted to save money. So they squeezed the day (and the teacher salaries) then sent the kids home.

[blackspade]

218. But Rahm and the rest of the reformers' angle isn't

about improving the level of education.

It is about money. By squeezing the teachers for concessions they maximize the amount of money that they receive from the feds and state. Each student equals a dollar amount of state and federal money. If they increase the school day, they will have an excuse to 'up' the money per student. If they minimize the amount of money going to teachers and other professionals in the education system, that leaves a bigger slice of the money pie to 'shift' over to the big corporations that make up the education industrial complex.

As an aside, I remember school being longer as well. Elementary went from 8:30 to 3:00 and Junior High and High School went from 7:30 to 2:00. But then we had PE, recess, music class, art class, library time, study hall, etc as part of the day as well. We had 55 min periods with 5 min breaks in between. Like you I also didn't take home a lot of homework because I finished either during class or at breaks,lunch, etc. It actually wasn't too bad in retrospect.

Sad really. Learning should be a fun experience that opens your mind to the world around you. But instead we have folks who want to turn it into a money till for their personal use.

[Marrah_G]

44. I really, truly despise these people

[WinkyDink]

60. Never---as in, NEVER---do these "reformers" EVER state EXACTLY what they'd like students to learn,

that they are NOT learning now.

"How to write"? I can tell you that a teacher can teach, show, correct, cheer, criticize, praise, and give examples---and STILL a certain % of students will not be able to write well.

BECAUSE ONE CANNOT WRITE WELL IF ONE DOES NOT READ. The mind learns grammar, meaning, nuance, idioms, and material for references and allusions by READING, not simply through the ear. AND HOW MANY HOMES ENCOURAGE THE READING OF BOOKS?

"How to solve mathematical problems"? Really? Because students observe adults doing this? Or do they observe adults using technology, from calculators to computers to cell-phones, to "do math"?

"How to read a map"? Please. GPS. (Of COURSE students should be able to read a map; I'm just saying we have made this skill not particularly ESSENTIAL, worthy of REFORM.) As for locating countries ON a world map: Well, if geography is missing, how difficult can it be to add?! A globe and/or wall map doesn't require a privatization of an entire school, now, does it?

"How to understand history"? Whose? FOX's? A Texan textbook's? A school administrator's anti-union history? Tell me more, Rahm; recommend some authors.

"How to fathom biology, chemistry and physics"? Okay, show me where these subjects are being excluded from public education. Clue: THEY AREN'T. Students go on field trips galore, to study the environment, e.g.

I'll tell you where a HUGE problem lies, and it is not with the teaching staff: It lies with "Educationists" who infect Colleges of Education with emphases on "methodology" and never on FREAKING CONTENT.

So until Rahm, Arne, and their ilk get down to the brass tacks of WHAT STUDENTS NEED TO LEARN THAT THEY ARE NOT, I refuse to give them credence.

[Fumesucker]

63. Aaaaand it's going... going...

Gone!

A bases loaded home run..

[Tatiana]

67. AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!! n/t

[mopinko]

68. actually,

they have said that the extra time should be used to restore the things that have been squeezed out- the arts, more pe, the sort of things that parents end up paying for in afterschool programs because they know the kids need them.
i believe the schools that have accepted the deal to go to longer hours have been allowed to decide for themselves what they want to do with it.

[Fumesucker]

73. The "reformers" won't be happy until the kids are in school 12/6..

And the teachers are making minimum wage for 8 and "volunteering" to do 4 more unpaid.

[mopinko]

76. you know, i do not speak for them. i speak for parents.

because i am one. the system needs to get better.
too many children are not only not being helped, they are being hopelessly scarred.

[Fumesucker]

83. Do you really want your child's teacher to feel like you are her enemy?

That's where I see this going eventually.

I'm a grandparent these days so not directly involved in the parenting thing but I have been where you are and I think I understand your frustrations, I just suspect you have picked a scapegoat rather than the real enemy.

[mopinko]

88. i don't blame any one person or union or anything like that.

i am frustrated on all fronts by our lack of investment in our children. i think that there is a constant tension between those that focus on the present and those that focus on the future. looking at the difference between what we spend on weapon vs what we spend on school lunches makes clear what kind of choices we are making.

my kid's teachers never, ever felt that way. nor did the principal, even tho we knocked heads many times. most of them agreed with me about what was wrong with the system, INCLUDING the difficulty of getting rid of bad teachers.

[WinkyDink]

77. And why, pray, were the arts, etc. "squeezed out"? Don't say "teachers' salaries/bennies", until

the district's energy, transportation, and administrative costs and tax base are calculated.

[mopinko]

80. our biggest problem here is the state of illinois

which is required by law to provide "the majority" of the funding of the public school system. somehow, tho, 50%+1 is not the definition of majority.

but it is more time than money that squeezes them out.

[Laluchacontinua]

193. I think they're spending too much on lawyers. Over a million to one firm, + a legal staff of 70 on

the payroll? How many lawyers is that per student?

[Name removed]

62. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[blkmusclmachine]

70. Is Rahm a Dominionist? Dominionists want to subvert public education:

And the names of these so-called "reform" policies coyly incorporate RW religious symbolism: No Child LEFT BEHIND, Race to THE TOP, etc. :tinfoilhat:

[ancianita]

71. Emanuel is also behind IL HB 3827, which takes away ...

...pension members' constitutional right to elect their pension board members. This bill will allow Boss Rahm to appoint a majority of seats on the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund board, instead. It's a move toward private control of contracted workers' savings. The bill was removed from a recently held public hearing publicized on the Internet. Now, IL HB 3827 sits in the Illinois legislature, which will hold, as it usually does, a midnight, unpublicized vote to then allow Boss Rahm to control the pensions of not just teachers, but all city employees, firefighters and police. By the time unions hear about the vote, it will be too late to lobby Springfield, if it isn't already. Rahm Emanuel -- with the help of sold out Governor Pat Quinn, and legislators like Mike Madigan, House Speaker -- is moving to control the spending of over 100,000 workers' savings in Chicago.

Please keep an eye on IL HB 3827's progress. It might even get 'renamed.' "Leaders" like Boss Rahm in Chicago wait until there's a distraction or lull in public awareness, and then hold stealth votes against public employee unions. Any media coverage tells lies about it, as well, presenting the bill's passage as a reform based on a recent administrator's alleged embezzling of funds from the state teachers' fund. Its exact wording proves otherwise.

Mad, from the bottom of my heart I thank you for all the wonderful research and writing you do on behalf of public education everywhere. I admire your intelligent passion and commitment. You are a great patriot and role model for teaching professionals. Keep doing what you're doing!

[mopinko]

74. synopsis of the bill-

Synopsis As Introduced
Amends the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that any reasonable suspicion by any appointed or elected commissioner, trustee, director, board member, or employee of a retirement system or pension fund created under the Code or the State Board of Investment of a false statement or falsified record being submitted or permitted by a person under the Code shall be immediately referred to the board of trustees of a retirement system or pension fund created under the Code or the State Board of Investment or the State's Attorney of the jurisdiction where the alleged fraudulent activity occurred, and that the board of trustees of a retirement system or pension fund or the State Board of Investment shall immediately notify the State's Attorney of the jurisdiction where any alleged fraudulent activity occurred for investigation; Amends the Chicago Police, Chicago Firefighter, Chicago Municipal, Chicago Laborers, Chicago Park District, and Chicago Teacher Articles of the Illinois Pension Code to terminate the existing pension boards 90 days after the effective date of the amendatory Act and to provide for a new board comprised of 4 members appointed by the Mayor of the City of Chicago and 3 elected members representing active members and annuitant members of the fund. Amends the Cook County Article of the Illinois Pension Code to terminate the existing board of trustees 90 days after the effective date of the amendatory Act and to provide for a new board comprised of 5 members appointed by the President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners and 4 elected members representing active and annuitant members of the fund. Effective immediately.

[mopinko]

78. and adding that the ill leg is in veto session now.

i suspect this is dead for the year. it may come back up, but it will have to start from scratch.

[coalition_unwilling]

82. He's entitled to his opinion, I suppose, but Rahm' attitude is part of

the reason OWS has come into existence, the utter failure of the current Democratic Party to represent the working class.

With any luck, Rahm and his cohort will be shunted peacefully to the dustbin of history sooner rather than later. I'm putting my hopes on July 4, 2012 in Philadelphia, PA as the second nail in the Democratic Party's coffin. (First was OWS on September 17, 2011).

[whathehell]

104. I detest Rahm, corporate dems generally, and I agree with you overall, but

what's with "July 4, 2012 in Philadelphia"?

I live in Chicago now, but Philly is my hometown.

[coalition_unwilling]

110. All still very unofficial, but there are provisional calls out for a

National Assembly of Occupiers (2 delegates from each Congressional District) to convent in Philly on July 4, 2012 to compile a set of grievances. To those of us versed in the history of revolutions, this has the smell and feel of the 3rd Estate's 'Tennis Court Oath'.

Still unofficial and being worked through in one of the OWS affinity groups, from what I understand.

[ieoeja]

87. Lost in this discussion: why is the Chicago school day so short?

Chicago got rid of recesses and study halls, shortened lunch and squeezed any study time out of class time to save money.

It sure as heck was not the teachers' or their union's idea. The shortened day meant shortened pay. It makes it impossible for the students to get their work done before going home. The teachers have no time to work with their students (except voluntarily on their own time). It has to be done by the parent who is not a professional educator.

I am very, very, very good at my job. But I can't teach it worth shit.

Teachers complaining about parents should keep in mind that parents don't really know how to do that particular job.

Reformers complaining about teachers should keep in mind that the reformers don't really know how to do that particular job, but that the teachers do.

[mopinko]

89. it wasn't shortened pay, it was smaller raises.

but they did sign off on the contracts, so....

[ieoeja]

90. Semantics aside, it wasn't something the teachers wanted.

They accepted it. They never wanted it.

[Octafish]

92. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Unions a key Democratic constituency?

I seem to remember they were.

[mod mom]

94. that was true of the old Democratic Party but the Money Party Dems

put corporate profit over long time constituencies, just ask any progressive.

:mad:

[Octafish]

95. Thanks, mod mom!

I knew there was a reason.

More Thorazine, please.

Ahhh. Now, I feel better.

[madfloridian]

96. Not anymore. Especially not teachers' unions.

They targeted them right out of the gate when Arne Duncan was chosen.

Teachers unions are held in equal contempt by both parties.

[Octafish]

111. That hurts, on a personal level.

My family has several members who are educators. Many of our ancestors were educators, as well.

Guess the modern world has little use for education. There certainly is not much interest by the powerful in the Truth.

I'm going out on a limb, here, to say I think it's about time someone in the Democratic Party started to speak for the teachers, Unions and those interested in truth.

Thanks for being a real Democrat, madfloridian. Thanks to good teachers, you get it.

[madfloridian]

115. You are welcome, Octafish. And yes....some Democratic leaders need to speak for us.

They are trying to make teachers ashamed of being teachers, and that is unconscionable. I retired being proud of my career as a teacher. Now teachers just retire to avoid all the hate and pension cuts.

[Marrah_G]

102. The Only costituancy that matters to anyone in DC is the wealthy one

They don't care about unions or working people. They just care about the wealthy guys who can give them money.

[Octafish]

112. That is the Truth.

It's why, uh, candidates campaign and swear they are for campaign finance reform and when they start their new jobs they, all of a sudden, find other, more pressing, policy priorities.

Echoing Mark Twain, the journalist Greg Palast called in "The Finest Democracy Money Can Buy."

[Laluchacontinua]

97. Wow. I was googling around trying to find a clear story and found this:

The taxpayers compensate Franczek (CPS outside lawyer) well for his work. Since January 1, 2011, during a time when CPS has been claiming that it is facing a "fiscal emergency," the Chicago Board of Education has voted to pay Franczek's firm a total of $1.12 million.

On March 23, 2011, the Board voted to pay Franczek's firm $520,000. On July 27, 2011, six weeks after voting (at a special meeting on June 15) that it did not have the money to fund the raises for the unions representing the workers in the schools, the Chicago Board of Education voted to pay Franczek's firm an additional $600,000. The Board Reports to pay the $1.12 million to Franczek can be fond on the CPS website, under the "Action Agenda" of each Board meeting.

Franczek was the lawyer who advised the Board on June 15, 2011 how to frame the question when the Board, newly appointed by Rahm Emanuel, voted that it faced an enormous "deficit" and therefore did not have the money necessary to pay for the workers' raise in the fifth year of the negotiated union contracts.

http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=2720

According to the article, this is in addition to a 70-person legal staff that CPS has on the regular payroll.

Really amazing.

[madfloridian]

103. Here's more to clarify how they bribed schools to break with union.

Chicago schools CEO pays a school $150,000 to defy the teachers' union.

"Talk about a sudden reversal of fortune. On June 15, Mayor Emanuel's hand-picked Board of Education voted (unanimously, of course) against paying CPS teachers the 4% contractual raises they were scheduled to receive this year. At that time, the board claimed it did not have "a reasonable expectation" of finding the money -- roughly $80 million -- to cover those raises.

What a difference a couple of months make. On Tuesday, CPS CEO J.C. Brizard became a one-man stimulus package, offering to pay each of the city's 482 elementary schools $150,000, if the teachers at those schools quickly agree to extend the length of the school day by 90 minutes. If all the schools sign on, Brizard's so-called "incentive" payments will add up to about $72 million.

But just in case $72 million isn't enough to seal the deal, Brizard is also offering each of the roughly 13,600 teachers at those elementary schools a lump-sum payment of $1250 -- you know, just to show he cares. That's another $17 million in newly discovered greenbacks."

More here:

http://gapersblock.com/mechanics/2011/09/07/a-one-man-stimulus-package/

[Laluchacontinua]

106. Wow.

[Tatiana]

123. Exactly. But yet I thought we didn't have any money.

We couldn't afford our contractual salary obligations to the teachers, but yet we have lump sump payments which add up to millions to dole out?

Give me a break! This is union busting -- plain and simple!

[Name removed]

101. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[B Calm]

107. When Obama won his senate seat, he asked Lieberman to be his mentor

[madfloridian]

118. Wasn't Lieberman also Obama's mentor in the senate?

[Whisp]

116. those teachers in ATlanta sure cheated the kids out of something.

I'm not sure about where Rahm is, and I'm not sure it's only confined to Atlanta.

Teachers here on this forum were saying what Atlanta did was forced upon them. That the teachers were in their rights to cheat.
I still say it is very wrong and don't understand how anyone can excuse this sort of thing.

So of course, knowing what I know about how people protect themselves at all cost of what is right and wrong, I will assume that there is a lot of wrong information on the subject of unions and teachers in this place.

As on almost any other topic.
shift, wonder, discard, believe or not.

non believer here for consistent protection of teachers and hardly a rare mention of the children that are suffering and getting shafted.

[madfloridian]

120. Teachers have little protection now at all. You say teachers don't care about children?

You said:

"non believer here for consistent protection of teachers and hardly a rare mention of the children that are suffering and getting shafted."

That post means a quick good by. life is too short to read such stuff.

[Whisp]

177. some teachers don't care about the kids. The Atlanta teachers sure didn't

They were going for bonus money instead of teaching.
And there were dozens, if not a couple hundred of them.

Sorry if you are offended, but you shouldn't be if you aren't a cheater.

[Shining Jack]

181. You're so predictable. n/t

[Name removed]

121. Deleted message

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[ChiciB1]

124. I Told Many, Many People A VERY LONG TIME AGO That Rahm Is

UBER DLC. I have never been one of his fans, in fact he really irks me. When Obama picked him as COS I was really P.O'ed!

And now as Mayor his ego is in OVER DRIVE! Never could stand him, and would never stand in front of him. Have to watch out for that KNIFE in your back!

[Laluchacontinua]

127. Wow again. The more that I look into this, the more it seems that Chicago is massively screwing its

kids & teachers.


Our own school survey found over 200 classrooms where the Chicago Board of Education violates its own policy on the maximum number of students allowed. In one school, for example, we found 43 students packed into a third grade classroom. This is unacceptable.

Instability, mostly at neighborhood schools, begins on the very first day of school because each year the Chicago school board waits until the 20th day of the school year to announce final teacher class assignments. The result is four weeks of school understaffing and disruption of the teaching and learning that was already underway. Instead of adequate planning, the school board uses the entire first month of the school year as a "wait and see" period.

By law, Chicago Public School District 299 is the only one in Illinois with an appointed school board. The majority of Chicagoans support our call for democracy, a simple an fundamental principal, in how our school board members are chosen.

The average Chicago Teachers Pension Fund CTPF) retiree earns $42,000 per year. Of the 87,000 retired teachers in Illinois, almost one in five (17,269) receive a pension that's less than $20,000. Our retired members have spent up to 35 years educating students and count on the pension promised by the state.

We are not allowed to receive Social Security. We contribute 9% of our salary to our pension fund each payday. The Chicago Board of Education is still on a "pension holiday" and has not paid into the fund for over a decade — now our pension plan is in crisis and teachers have been blamed for the financial woes of the schools and state. Chicago corporate CEOs, many of whom will collect millions of dollar when they retire, are pushing "solutions" to take control of and reduce our pensions rather than require adequate funding for them.

http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=2763§ion=Article


They don't get SS & the gov't is trying to defund & take over their pensions? It's just outrageous. There's way more to this controversy than what's in the news.

[madfloridian]

132. You are right. Thanks for taking time to research.

In many areas teachers don't get SS. In our area it was not done until the 70s. Yes, Chicago under Rahm is on the fast track to harming teachers on the road to privatization.

[valerief]

128. Rahm is a mobster. nt

[Enthusiast]

135. Any "Democrat" against the teachers union is

a piece of Republican filth.

[Jakes Progress]

145. All the way to the top.

[FreeBillClinton]

138. As a former elementary school student, I oppose longer days.

School stinks.

[azmesa207]

144. The first mistake

Is to call this jerk a democrat at all he nothing but a republican posing as a democrat . That why we didn't get a decent health care bill when he was running the white house .

[Name removed]

147. Deleted message

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[Blue Owl]

148. DOWN WITH RAHM

Booooooo... Hissssss... (throws rotten tomatos)

:thumbsdown:

[Name removed]

150. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

158. Deleted message

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[MasonJar]

159. When Obama chose Emanuel and several similar thinkers for his

Cabinet, I knew immediately his administration would not be one for Change We Could Believe In.

[stillrockin]

164. When Obama named him Chief of Staff,

I knew we had been suckered.

[RetroLounge]

166. You mean Obama's Buddy?

Arne Duncan's friend?

He's no Democrat.

RL

[Shining Jack]

182. +1

[gtar100]

169. And Rahm is a Democrat beause ....???

I have seriously tried to like this guy but he ought to drop the charades and just call himself a republican.

[wakemewhenitsover]

170. That fuck. n/t

[texshelters]

171. Why the hell did Dems in Chicago elect Corporodem Rahm

is it because he's cuddly like John Daley?

He's a Wall Street Dem who doesn't care about workers. Why oh why Chicago. For shame is right.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[mopinko]

180. because you have to be able to be a jerk to run this town.

and this particular issue was one where he had broad voter support.

he won by a huge margin in a crowded field. the lack of respect paid to the voters of chicago makes me shake my head.

[madfloridian]

185. His lack of respect for teachers is stunning.

But hey, if that is what the people of Chicago want...go for it.

[alp227]

174. Rahm would NEVER confront greedy admins who will overwork teachers THEN steal the education

or politicians who cause poor children to attend substandard schools.

[totodeinhere]

176. Obama proposes longer school day.

http://www.eduinreview.com/blog/2009/03/obama-proposes-longer-school-days-extended-school-year/

This isn't just Rahm. Obama also specifically supports a longer school day.

Our children spend over a month less in school than children in South Korea. That is no way to prepare them for a 21st century economy.

[Shining Jack]

184. Yeah, sure.

More time in underfunded overpopulated crumbling schools, that's the solution.

[reggie the dog]

178. pay the teachers more if they work a longer day

otherwise why the hell should someone work longer hours for the same pay? they would lower their hourly income level by doing so.

i would have been a teacher in chicago had i not moved overseas....i am glad i left

[Zorra]

190. We have our very own Scott Walker wannabe! Can he be recalled?

[Deep13]

192. This is a perenial complaint, one that is never made about police or fire unions.

Only teachers are ruining America and to a lesser degree highway workers. (I'm referencing all those leaning-on-a-shovel memes.) So how come of all the unionized puplic employees, only teachers' unions are out to get us? Is it because politicians need safety union support more than educational unions? People seem more concerned about safety than teaching children. Is it because teaching is a largely feminized profession while police and fire are not? I don't know the answer, but I'm a little sick of teachers bearing the sins of the world.

Friendly reminder for Ohio voters: vote "hell no!" on issues 2 & 3.

[totodeinhere]

199. First of all, you are right to defend teachers' unions. I will join you in that.

But I don't think that police and firefighters' unions are off the hook either. The right wing wants to demonize all public employee unions, not just teachers. And we need to support all public employee unions. And private sector unions need supporting also. Let me change it to say that we need to support all unions.

[Deep13]

200. No doubt, Ohio's state issue 2 will strip ALL public unions of bargaining rights.

I'm thinking about what seems to be a public perception generally more than the actual RW agenda.

And yeah, today it's public workers, tomorrow it's "right to work" laws.

[TrollBuster9090]

194. Bottom line: we have no choice but to support Obama, BUT....

...RAHM should be SQUASHED LIKE A BUG in the next Chicago mayoral election.

As soon as somebody mentions Rahm, the Obama haters come flooding in on cue. But please do not conflate the following issues:

Yes, obama has/had an association with this guy. Yes this guy is a corporate Democrat. Yes, Obama is also a (lesser) corporate Democrat. Yes, corporate stooge Democrats must be purged from the Democratic party. But...NO, chopping support out from under Obama is not the right way to do this for a number of reasons.

The way to move the party and the country back to the left is to do the opposite of what the Republicans have successfully done for the last 30 years: MOVE THE OVERTON WINDOW to the left. The President (a NATIONAL rather than a REGIONAL office)must, in order to get elected, sit at the center of the Overton Window. The "center" of what is ACCEPTED as the normal political spectrum. The problem is not that the President is too far right. It's that the PERCIEVED "center" of the political spectrum has been distorted and shifted to the far right by 30 years of corporate manipulation of the media via think tanks, PACs etc. Pressuring a Democratic president to move to the left will only get him defeated. Instead, we must work to move the Overton Window to the left, and the president will and MUST follow it.


The most effective way to move the Overton Window to the left is not by attempting to change national politics, but REGIONAL politics. The Republicans succeeded in doing this by making districts that were already conservative even MORE conservate. The south is now deep deep red as a result of it. This effect soon spills over to other areas, and you get "red-creep." The results of the 2000 and 2004 elections spelled this out very clearly if you look at the electoral map. Dixie had spread to neighboring states, enough to tip the balance. Democrats should be attempting to do the opposite. Turn blue states even more blue.

A perfect way to do this would be to primary the hell out of any blue state Democrats who show themselves to be anti-union. STARTING WITH RAHM!

But as for Obama, he MUST be supported this time around, even if we may not like him, simply because the next occupant of the White House will likely get to nominate at least three more Supreme Court Justices WHO WILL SIT ON THE COURT FOR LIFE. Do you want three more Sotomeyors or three more Alitos? Supporting Obama or not is really THAT SIMPLE.

[proud2BlibKansan]

196. K&R

Too many ignored in this thread for me to participate much in the discussion. LOL

[LiberalFighter]

197. Everyone that attends the Convention next year needs to scuz him verbally.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

198. Rahm's barkin' up the wrong tree...

hard to believe a guy with his background and experience can be so far off the mark.............

[Ken Burch]

205. He's devoted his whole life to opposing everything his progressive activist mom supported

Rahm was NEVER a Democrat.

[Name removed]

214. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[liberalhistorian]

201. If Rahmy had his way, teachers would work 18 hours

a day, seven days a week, for five bucks an hour, no benefits, no sick days, and one bathroom break in those eighteen hours, timed at two minutes. Fucker.

My parents began their teaching careers in the days before education unions, and the horror stories they tell of the conditions are worthy competition for the scariest Halloween movies. And I grew up watching what they had to deal with even WITH unions and it wasn't pretty. Rahm can go to fucking hell on the broomstick he flew in on.

[Name removed]

208. Deleted message

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[Sportsguy]

209. K & R

Damn

[unkachuck]

211. "Start cheating a kid out of an education, how cheap is that?"

....the only people that are cheating our children out of a decent education and future in this country is rahm and his corporate buddies that refuse to pay a proper amount of taxes yet feed at the public trough....

....all our financial woes, in one way or another, can be laid at the doorstep of corporate America and the political and financial raping they've given us and our country....

[Phlem]

213. P.O.S

and the lack of empathy that emanates strongly from him makes me gag.
I've always thought he was a bad apple.

:puke:

-p

[Name removed]

215. Deleted message

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[JDPriestly]

219. Rahm Emmanuel should try teaching for a few years.

Teachers have to work nights -- planning lessons, grading papers and preparing tests. They also call parents in their "off" hours.

Ignorant people seem to think teachers only work in the classroom -- that they just come in and magically know what they are going to do -- that they ad lib all day -- and that grades are just sort of guessed at and jotted down.

Rahm needs to meet with teachers and talk to them about their work including their schedules.

[Name removed]

221. Deleted message

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[totodeinhere]

223. I don't necessarily oppose the concept of longer school hours. But it has to be

done that right way which means increasing funding for additional staff so that teachers who are already in the classroom don't have to shoulder this additional burden on their own. But in this day and age of cutting school funding I doubt if that will happen. I am just saying that in the abstract increasing school hours might be a strategy that needs to be looked at. We might consider trying to get funding for a pilot program that assess whether or not longer hours would put too much stress on students. And we might need to provide an extra free meal for low income students to keep their stomachs from starting to growl as the end of the longer day approaches. But the bottom line is, don't lay this at the door of teachers without providing them with extra help.

[MsPithy]

225. Let me give my response in words Rahm will understand.

Fuck you, you weaselly little piece of shit!