The Chicago Teachers Union will continue its week-old strike in the nation’s third-largest city, extending an acrimonious standoff with Mayor Rahm Emanuel over teacher evaluations and job security provisions. Emanuel said he would seek a court order to end the strike, which he said is illegal under state law.
Karen Lewis, president of the 25,500-member union, said teachers want the opportunity to continue to discuss the offer that is on the table. “Our members are not happy,” Lewis said. “They want to know if there is anything more they can get.” She added, “They feel rushed.”
The union was considering a proposed contract giving teachers annual raises over three years and offering some laid-off teachers a first shot at jobs at other schools. Officials from the union and school district met until late Saturday to work out the exact language of a contract after announcing Friday that they had reached the “framework” of an agreement that could return 350,000 students to the classroom.
Many teachers were still unhappy with the wording of some of the contract provisions contained in a rough outline provided by the Chicago Teachers Union late Saturday, said second-grade teacher Julie McDevitt. The contract gives teachers annual raises, but doesn’t restore a 4% raise that was rescinded last year. Teachers also expressed concern about overcrowding, scarce office supplies and an evaluation procedure they said was too heavily based on student test scores.
“Some teachers are saying no, and some are saying this is pretty good, let’s do this,” McDevitt said.
The union’s 800-member House of Delegates met to consider the contract proposal and whether to suspend the walkout that began Monday. Chicago teachers hadn’t gone on strike in 25 years. The proposal provided by the union includes a 3% raise in the first year and 2% raises in the second and third years, along with additional pay based on seniority and advanced education. The district and union would have the option of extending the contract into a fourth year, with a 3% raise.
The deal also would create a hiring pool aiming to give half of open jobs to laid-off teachers. It includes a new evaluation procedure based in part on student test scores, but teachers can appeal their ratings, the union said.
“We believe this is a good contract; however, no contract will solve all of the inequities in our district,” Lewis said. But she cautioned that the group would review the details carefully and that no decision had been made. If delegates suspend the strike, all teachers would vote on the contract at a later date.
School board spokeswoman Becky Carroll said the district would release its own version of what was in the contract and declined to comment on the specifics disclosed by the union. “We feel very good about the framework and the agreement that’s in place. We have every confidence that school will be back in school on Monday,” she said. “Ultimately, it will rest with the outcome of the House of Delegates meeting.” The walkout forced students out of class just after the start of the year. The last major teacher’s strike in a U.S. city was in Detroit six years ago.
The strike erupted after months of bitter contract negotiations amid disagreement over a new teacher evaluation process the union said was too heavily based on student test scores. Teachers also hoped to preserve pay increases based on their seniority and level of education, and wanted to ensure recall rights for laid-off teachers who want to work in other schools.
“I’m pretty confident that something will come together that both sides will agree on, whether that’s tomorrow” or another day, said Ramses James, a sixth-grade math teacher who joined thousands of teachers and their allies for a rally Saturday in a city park. McDevitt said that some schools would fare better than others, depending on their individual needs. The contract proposed hiring 600 additional teachers to teach physical education, art, music and languages, but didn’t specify where the jobs would be filled.
The strike “put into perspective the daily life of a teacher and our basic needs to make a classroom work,” she said.
“We’re not office workers. We’re not lucky enough to walk into a classroom and (have) everything be equipped for us,” she said. “We don’t open our desk drawers and see pencils … or Post-its. We have to supply everything for those classrooms.”
The contract calls for reimbursing teachers for up to $250 of what they spend out of their own pockets, but McDevitt said she’s already spent $477 for classroom supplies and kids have only been in school for a week.
Tags: Chicago:, continue, strike, Teachers, union
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