WBEZ | teachers

Lincoln Park High School students walk out in support of teachers

Fri, 03 May 2013 19:46:00 -0500

On Friday morning, hundreds of teenagers poured out of Lincoln Park High School and onto Armitage Avenue.

To be fair, they warned their teachers beforehand.

The participating students wrote a letter explaining that they were going to walk out for a number of reasons--but mostly, they walked out for their teachers.
Before doing so, they presented a letter explaining why they planned to walk out.

“We want to show that we do care about our education and we wish to have a say in it,” it read. “We have been informed that many teachers are being fired so that newer teachers can be hired and we don’t want to sit back and let CPS make a business of our education.”

Senior Abina Redmond was among those gathered.

“We’re protesting the firing of our teachers...eight so far,” she explained.

In December, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that Lincoln Park would be converted into a wall-to-wall International Baccalaureate school the following school year.

IB programs were originally crafted for children of diplomats--the rigorous curriculum was designed to get students college-ready.

Currently, 20 percent of Lincoln Park’s students participate in the school’s IB program.

When the school goes wall-to-wall next year, all of its 2100-plus students will have some level of IB coursework.

But it seems not all of their teachers will be joining them.

Any time a Chicago Public School’s academic focus is changed, teachers re-apply for positions. Traditionally, principals have had complete authority over who stays and who goes.

But the Chicago Teachers Union asked CPS to make a deal: CPS agreed to let teachers with exceptional rating stay--those with a satisfactory ranking or lower had to reapply.

Earlier this spring, 128 teachers received offers--eight were recently rescinded.
The letters went out prematurely, before anyone ran the deal by the Board of Education. According to a CPS spokesperson, the board ultimately did not support requiring principals to accept candidates that they found unsuitable.

The same spokesperson added that the district is working to place the eight teachers whose offers were rescinded.

Junior Oswaldl Gomez spoke into a megaphone as he led his fellow students in chants. He then explained that the protest was about much more than their school, their teachers. Because, he said, it’s not just their school that’s changing.

“Our brothers, our sisters, they’re losing their teachers--whether they are five or they are 18,” Gomez said.

Principal Michael Boraz sent an email in response to the walkout. He wrote, “It is imperative for me to make decisions that are in the best interests of all our students and their academic success.”

In another part of the city on Friday morning, students at Williams Middle School staged a sit-in at the school Friday morning to protest the closure of their school. Next year, Williams will close and students will go to Drake, which will relocate in the Williams building.

Katie O’Brien is a WBEZ reporter and producer. Follow her @katieobez

Illinois House takes first major vote on pension reform

Thu, 02 May 2013 17:35:00 -0500

The Illinois House of Representatives took a major vote Thursday afternoon on pension reform. Many lawmakers said the plan is critical to the future of state government.

Shortly before House members passed the latest pension plan by a vote of 62-51, Speaker Michael Madigan (D-22) spoke about the proposal’s importance to the basic functions of government.

“In my judgment, this is a critical action that must be taken now,” Madigan said. “Must be taken for future budget-making. Must be taken for the fiscal well-being and reputation of the State of Illinois.”

State Representatives Esther Golar (D-6) and Camille Lilly (D-78) voted present.

Illinois has the worst-funded pensions of any state in the country. It has nearly $100 billion in pension debt.

The bill, which passed with two votes to spare, includes measures like raising the retirement age and capping pay increases state employees get in retirement. One of the most controversial aspects of pension negotiations, a proposal that would shift the cost of downstate and suburban teachers’ pensions from the state onto local school districts, was not included in the House-approved bill. Madigan said he wants to address that issue in a separate bill.

Labor groups vehemently oppose the plan and say it goes against Illinois’ constitution. Because they have vowed to sue, Madigan said he left judges’ pensions out of this bill so that there would not be a conflict of interest when the measure is debated in Illinois courts.

Instead, the measure approved by the House would affect teachers, university workers, lawmakers and other state employees.

The potential lawsuit and constitutionality of the bill were also on the mind of House members as they debated the plan.

“We have no choice,” said House Republican Leader Tom Cross (R-97). “If I’m a state worker or if I’m a teacher, a university worker, I have every right to be mad as hell.”

This is the first major bill the full House of Representatives has approved on pension reform, but its future is uncertain in the Senate.

Senate President John Cullerton (D-6th) supports a different plan that would give retirees the option of getting state-funded health care coverage in retirement, or getting pay increases. Cullerton has argued that option meets the standards set by the state constitution. On Wednesday, Cullerton’s office released a statement saying labor leaders have, “offered a credible and constitutional plan for consideration.” But no details of that plan have been made public. Before Wednesday, labor groups had asked lawmakers to change how the state taxes different industries as a way to pay for pensions, but that idea has garnered little attention from legislative leaders and the governor.

For his part, Gov. Pat Quinn has praised both Cullerton’s pension plan and the bill the House approved Thursday. He has said pension reform is his top priority, but some lawmakers from both parties have been critical of the governor for not doing more to pick a side in the debate. In a statement after Thursday’s House vote, Quinn said, “Today’s action sends a strong message to the people and businesses of our state: Illinois is ready for reform and we understand that this reform is critical to building a brighter future for all.”

Tony Arnold covers state politics for WBEZ. Follow him @tonyjarnold.

Teachers in suburban Chicago hit picket lines

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 08:11:00 -0600

CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. — Classes are canceled for more than 20,000 students because of a teacher strike in a suburban Chicago school district.

About 1,200 teachers are off the job Tuesday in Community Unit District 300. The district includes more than 20 schools in several northwest suburbs, including Carpentersville, Algonquin, Dundee and Lake in the Hills.

Officials say 11 months of negotiations failed to produce an agreement. The district's last contract with the teachers expired July 1.

Union officials contend the district's teachers are underpaid compared to teachers in other suburban districts.

The two sides spent most of the day Monday in negotiations, but afterward district spokesman Jose Stevens said the two sides were about $2 million apart on salary.

District, union prepare for possible strike

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 14:17:00 -0500

The Chicago Teachers Union this morning kicked off what it says will be a week of informational picketing at schools, while Chicago Public Schools also began ramping up preparations for a potential teachers strike.

Horns blared out in support as cars drove by a line of teachers carrying picket signs and handing out flyers outside Azuela Elementary near Midway Airport.

On its web site and in emails to teachers, the union declared, “Every CTU member MUST attend at least one picket!” The union also assigned teachers who haven’t yet started the new school year to picket outside schools that have.

Kimberly Bowsky, a teacher at Seward Elementary in Back of the Yards, said teachers need support from parents to get a fair contract.

“We love their children, we support their children. The teachers and their union, we are the ones who are gonna fight for more resources in the classroom,” said Bowsky.

Some parents responded coolly to the picket line their children had to walk by. But parent Marisa, who declined to give her last name, was sympathetic.

“I volunteer in the school and they work so hard,” she said, adding that one second grade teacher has a class of 37 children.

The district and union have agreed on terms of a longer school day, but are still talking about wages and rules around the rehiring of laid off teachers. The teachers' contract expired June 30.

School starts for the majority of the district’s schools the day after Labor Day.

A 30-day “cooling off” period expired over the weekend. It’s possible the union could vote to file a 10-day strike notice as soon as Wednesday at a special House of Delegates meeting.

That same morning, the Chicago’s Board of Education is set to consider a strike contingency plan. The school board agenda includes a resolution "authorizing the development and implementation of a plan to provide student and family support in the event the Chicago Teachers Union chooses to strike."

“We want to be prepared to provide critical services to children in our system who are most in need, and this would simply allow us to do that,” said district spokeswoman Becky Carroll. The details of the contingency plan won’t be made public until the board meets Wednesday, according to the district’s web site.

Despite strike preparations, both sides say progress is being made in negotiations.

Chicago teachers ready to strike, union says

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 18:34:53 -0500

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pushing for big changes at Chicago Public Schools next year, including a longer school day, a different calendar and new teacher evaluations.

Chicago Teachers Union officials say teachers at more than 150 schools are ready to go on strike.

Union president Karen Lewis told reporters Thursday that teachers at those schools are testing the “pro-strike sentiment” through informal polls.

“Teachers and paraprofessionals there have voted overwhelmingly, overwhelmingly, to strike should contract negotiations fail and CPS and the mayor does not reverse the hostile climate against us,” Lewis said.

But in to order strike, new Illinois law says the union needs 75 percent of its eligible voting members on board. There are 675 schools in CPS.

Lewis said CPS wants to lock in a five-year contract and is offering teachers a 2 percent raise in the first year, with salaries based on performance in later years.

CPS officials would not comment on the on-going negotiations, but CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard said talk of a strike is premature and problematic.

“We shouldn’t be talking about the ‘S-word,’” Brizard said at a news conference Thursday. “Let’s talk about finding a way to work together to improve a system that will benefit nearly a half million children.”

Emanuel reacted strongly to the possibility of teachers walking out of their classrooms.

“Any time anybody’s not focused on their first priority, which is teaching our children, that’s where I get angst,” he said. “Don’t take away from your main mission, your job, what the people of the city of Chicago, the parents, the taxpayers expect of you, which is to teach our children.”

CPS and the union are negotiating a new contract to replace the one that expires on June 30^th. Both parties characterized the negotiations as “cordial,” but said they remain far apart on key issues.

Chicago teachers have not gone out on strike since 1987. Lewis, who said she was a first-year teacher during the last strike, said the climate at CPS is the most hostile she has ever seen.

Listen to Becky Vevea talk about this story on Afternoon Shift

Bahrain teachers’ trial and Amnesty International’s 50th anniversary

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:26:00 -0500

In March, the Bahraini government initiated a deadly crackdown on Shiite-led protests against the ruling regime. Backed by Saudi-led troops, security forces squashed the demonstrations. The government opposition says they lost 30 people to the unrest.

Beth Ann Toupin, Bahrain and Iraq Country Specialist for Amnesty International - USA, has followed the crackdown closely. She has been paying particular attention to the story of two Bahraini teachers who were detained and are now on trial for their involvement in pro-reform protests. Now, the teachers are both are on hunger strike. Beth explains how their resistance fits into the larger context of protesters' struggle against Bahrain's government.

We also speak to David Safran, a local folk singer who will perform at Amnesty International's upcoming anniversary concert in Chicago. The event, “A Toast to Freedom: A Benefit Concert Honoring Amnesty International's 50th Anniversary,” celebrates the organization's history of fighting human rights violations.

Teachers feeling 'beat down' as school year starts

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 12:01:00 -0500

As students prepare to begin another school year, their teachers are hopping mad. They're facing layoffs and deep budget cuts and many say they're tired of being blamed unfairly for just about everything that's wrong in public education. They're so mad that many are bypassing their unions and mounting a campaign of their own to restore the public's faith in their profession.

Betsy Leis, a middle school teacher in Florida, is one of these angry teachers.

"I give my heart and my soul to every single student in my classroom and all I see on the news is that we aren't doing our job. We're constantly beat down. That's why I'm angry," Leis says. "I don't make any money and part of me is OK with that because I don't do it for the money."

And it's not enough that people don't appreciate teachers, they've become punching bags, says Claudia Rueda-Alvarez, a high school counselor in Chicago.

She says if people believe this country is going down the tubes, why don't they single out the people on Wall Street who are still getting million dollar bonuses?

"But everybody seems to be talking about a teacher making $50,000 to 60,000 a year — 'Oh my God, greedy teachers!' — so that passion that I feel for my profession will not be taken away by fear. If anything, it energizes me more," Rueda says.

This energy and need among teachers to speak out is not just in a few places. It's all over the country.

The group of 2,000 to 3,000 teachers who participated in a rally in Washington, D.C., late last month was tiny compared to the protests earlier this year in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and other states where lawmakers have curbed teachers' collective bargaining rights. But organizers of the "Save Our Schools" event in D.C., say they're different. They say they speak for classroom teachers who are not being heard on the issue of tenure, for example. Karen Klebba, a teacher from Illinois, says the unions' defense of tenure is wrong.

"If you're doing your job and you're doing a great job and you have an evaluative process that works, then there really should be no reason to have tenure and there really should be no reason to hide behind it," Klebba says.

Education Reform

The consensus though is that the Obama administration's education policies are no less prescriptive or punitive than the much maligned No Child Left Behind law. And high stakes tests are undermining quality instruction and good teachers, especially if test results are used to evaluate teachers or decide how much they should be paid.

"Testing is a more of a means of addressing the accountability issue despite the way it's been portrayed," says Joe Williams, who heads the Democrats For Education Reform, a liberal lobbying group that focuses on teacher quality issues.

Williams says no one is trying to punish teachers or make testing more important than children. The problem is that this discussion is taking place in a very polarized political climate.

"The notion that education reform could get wrapped up so closely with attempts to eliminate collective bargaining has made it very difficult to have this conversation all over the country," Williams say.

But it's not just about politics, says Mike Petrilli of the conservative Fordham Institute.

"The reason that these debates are happening now is because of the economy. You see policymakers seeing that this crisis is an opportunity to fix some things that have been broken for a long time," Petrilli says.

Petrilli says tenure and seniority policies are good examples. With teacher layoffs on the horizon, how do you decide who to let go?

"It has never made sense to say that when layoffs are necessary, we're going to get rid of the youngest teachers, regardless of effectiveness. How that could possibly be good for kids? That's crazy," Petrilli says.

And yet, at the beginning of the year, Petrilli says, 14 states mandated that layoffs be based on seniority, not effectiveness. The other huge issue that doesn't get nearly as much attention is the teacher pension crisis.

"Many teachers teach for 30 years and then retire for 30 years and for those 30 years, they're making 60 or 70 or 80 percent of their salary indexed to inflation. This is like the Social Security debate. At some point the numbers just don't add up," Petrilli says.

That's why state lawmakers are asking teachers to put more of their own pay into their pensions and health care benefits, which teachers view as attack on their profession.

As for the broader education debate, Petrilli and others agree that Washington will remain in gridlock and the big education battles on the horizon are going to play out in the states.

"This is where teachers unions are at their strongest and this is where you've got some of these bold Republican governors who are ready for a fight," Petrilli says.

Just in time for the 2012 election.

New CPS leadership likes its schools run by outside group

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 10:00:00 -0500

A homegrown non-profit is pushing its way onto center stage in Chicago’s education scene. The Academy for Urban School Leadership thinks it knows how to run strong urban schools. And, pointing to the latest test scores, the school district agrees.

Chicago Public Schools' strategy recently for fixing its lowest performing schools has been to fire everyone — from the principal to the teachers to the lunch ladies. Then, give the whole school over to someone else to run.

And the group taking those schools over—the Academy for Urban School Leadership, or AUSL—just posted test score gains more than double the gains in the rest of the district.

ambi: clapping

BRIZARD: 26 points?! My God--from 49 to 75 percent! No one can argue that.

Last week, in an empty classroom on the West Side, schools chief Jean-Claude Brizard asked AUSL principals and teachers for their secrets.

They described on-the-job coaching. Teachers walking through neighborhoods to reach out to families. And AUSL’s “training academies”—public schools where new teachers are put through one-year residencies, like what medical students go through before becoming doctors.

Former computer programmer Mauricia Dantes teaches third grade at an AUSL-run school surrounded by vacant lots and board-ups. Before she got her own classroom, Dantes worked under a master teacher in another AUSL school.

DANTES: For a whole year—hands on. Observing her, practicing things that she said I needed to learn. She would coach me, then being evaluated. And that’s every day. So, it was systematic, it was methodical—and there were things that I was doing every single day to complete the big picture of being a teacher. And it was effective, ‘cause I really feel like I know what I’m doing.

ambi: Criss-cross, applesauce, hands in your lap. Hey! Good job.

I first met Dantes last winter. Her students sat on a classroom rug—totally engaged—as Dantes showed them necklaces she’d made for them. Hanging from each string was a thick bunch of words on laminated cards. Each child’s was unique.

DANTES: Every moment—when you’re standing in lunch and you’re waiting for your turn to get your tray—guess what you’ll be doing? [Studying!] Studying the words that you struggled with. So that means you won’t be wasting any time with your brain off.

Dantes and her colleagues are CPS employees—union teachers. But they and principals told Brizard the teacher residency is key to AUSL’s success. Principals see it as a steady pipeline of teachers, all pre-screened and then prepared in the same way.

HENRY: Every single person being on one drumbeat is key.

AUSL principal Alice Henry told Brizard that getting a critical mass of like-minded teachers allows AUSL to create its hallmark culture.

HENRY: If you come back tomorrow unannounced you’ll see the same thing. It’s going to be clean, it’s going to smell good, it’s going to be excellent. The teachers are going to be friendly and smiling and greeting people at the door—every single day.

AUSL is a well-endowed, politically connected group. It was started by venture capitalist and philanthropist Martin Koldyke; he also founded the Golden Apple award for teachers.

AUSL has become a favorite of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s. The chairman of AUSL’s board is now president of the Chicago Board of Education. CPS’s new Chief Operating Officer also comes from AUSL.

Donald Feinstein is the group’s director:

FEINSTEIN: We run good schools. When it’s all said and done, we manage good schools, it’s a good place for children to be. And hopefully there will be communities who would say, ‘I’d like them to come manage and help our school get better.’

Across the country, districts are increasingly contracting out the work of running their schools. AUSL now manages 19 CPS schools. That’s been controversial, but Brizard says he's been wowed by visits to AUSL schools.

BRIZARD: I’m a big believer in great schools—I don’t really care who actually creates them.

Chicago paid AUSL $4.5 million last year to run schools, and that will increase. In the next two years, Emanuel wants to double the number of teacher training schools AUSL runs.

Meanwhile, AUSL is planning its first foray outside the city. It’s in negotiations now to begin work in suburban North Chicago High School.

Teachers protest as Brizard contract gets approved

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 22:57:00 -0500

Under a freshly inked contract, Chicago's new schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard will be expected to significantly boost graduation rates, increase test scores, and get more kindergartners and preschoolers to enroll in school.

It's the first time a Chicago's schools CEO has been given a performance-based contract.

The Board of Education approved Brizard's contract late Wednesday, after two and a half hours behind closed doors. His base pay will be $250,000 annually. The district released a statement saying that given the current fiscal crisis facing CPS Brizard will "forgo" any performance bonuses during the first year of the contract. After that, he'll be eligible for bonuses of up to 15 percent of his annual salary. Brizard is getting $30,000 to cover his moving expenses from Rochester, New York, where he was schools superintendent before being plucked by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to head Chicago's schools.

Board president David Vitale called the goals in Brizard's contract "robust" and "aggressive." They include getting 60 percent of students to graduate by 2014 (up from 55.8 percent in 2010), moving third grade reading scores from 57.8 percent in 2010 to 70 percent in 2014. High school scores must go up by at least 4 percentage points in Brizard's first year on the job; those scores have been relatively stagnant. The contract allows Brizard to say by October 1 if he believes his initial goals should modified. (Brizard's contract is posted below in EXTRAS.)

The board also approved six-figure salaries for top officials under Brizard. Chief operating officer Tim Cawley will make $215,000 annually, $35,000 more than his predecessor, who district officials say oversaw fewer departments. The board also granted Cawley a waiver from the district's residency requirement. He will be allowed to continue to live in Winnetka so as not to disrupt life for his recently adopted daughter.

Meanwhile, Chicago teachers took to the streets Wednesday over their own pay and work issues and broader school funding concerns. The Board of Education voted last week that the district could not afford the 4 percent raises called for in their contract.

One police official estimated around 2,000 teachers showed up at the protest downtown. It was the first day of summer vacation for Chicago teachers.

"We’re mad about the whole thing--demonizing teachers, blaming us for all the problems," said John Cusick, who teaches fifth grade at Ray Elementary in Hyde Park.

Cusick said he had the clerk at Ray calculate how many hours he's worked since January 2. It turns out he had clocked 186 hours above those he was required to put in.

"Thirty more days of school I was on the clock but I wasn’t getting paid for. That’s only at school—it doesn’t include Sunday afternoons grading papers, writing lesson plans, going to used book stores to buy books for my kids out of my own money, so that’s why we’re here." Cusick was surrounded by teachers from Ray, who all wore the same T-shirt for the event.

Hamline Elementary fourth-grade teacher Michelle Maldonado said she's "a little bit" upset about raises, but more concerned about job security.

"You work for years and years to find out now--it doesn't matter. You could just say good-bye. There's no job security. So with that, what happens? People are not going to buy a house, they're not going to buy a car. Why? Because you don't know if you have a job next year. So it trickles down."

The Chicago Teachers Union led protesters to march outside Bank of America and the Chicago Board of Trade. Union official Jackson Potter said corporations and banks have benefited from publicly funded bailouts, TIFs, and high-interest loans with the school district.

Many teachers talked about being offended by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s comment last week. He said the current teachers contract gave labor peace to politicians and raises to teachers, while kids got "the shaft."

New school board to mull teacher raises today

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 23:45:00 -0500

Chicago’s new Board of Education will convene for the first time Wednesday to address a hot topic: whether the district can afford $100 million in raises scheduled for unionized employees.

Less than four years ago, it was Chicago Public Schools that pushed the Chicago Teachers Union for an agreement that locked teachers into 4 percent raises each year until 2012. Now that the economy has soured and federal stimulus dollars have run out, the district says it will be $720 million in the hole next year. That’s despite about $75 million in planned cuts from the school district’s central-office budget.

Some teachers see more to trim there.

“There are still large numbers of very well-paid bureaucrats,” says Debby Pope, a history and psychology teacher at Gage Park High School. “There are still all kinds of incredible waste. Why don’t they put the money into the classrooms and the teachers? That’s when we’ll see school improvement.”

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration has not explained how it came up with the deficit figure, prompting teachers to call for the district to open its books before asking unions for any concession. This is the second year in a row the board has held an emergency meeting to consider whether it can afford the raises. Last year the district went ahead with the hikes, but then laid off 1,050 teachers and 200 coaches.

If the board decides it can not afford the teacher raises, the district and union will have a chance to negotiate a new salary schedule. If those talks fail, the union could open the entire contract, leaving the district vulnerable to a strike.

If the board approves the raises, it will be the eighth consecutive year Chicago teachers get a 4 percent pay bump. On top of that, teachers get raises as they gain years of experience and earn additional degrees.