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September 17th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
No formal vote of delegates was taken, but they were asked to stand up so that
the union leadership could get a sense of how many were for and against
ending the strike, delegates said.
“A clear majority wanted to stay out. That’s why we are staying out,” Ms
Lewis told a news conference after a three-hour meeting of the delegates.
Mayor Emanuel called the strike “illegal” and said he would go to
court to seek an injunction to block the strike.
“I will not stand by while the children of Chicago are played as pawns
in an internal dispute within a union,” Mayor Emanuel said, adding that
the union walked out over issues that are not subject to a strike under
Illinois state law.
Teachers revolted last week against sweeping education reforms sought by Mayor
Emanuel, especially evaluating teachers based on the standardised test
scores of their students. They also fear a wave of neighbourhood school
closings that could result in mass teacher layoffs. They want a guarantee
that laid-off teachers will be “recalled” for other jobs in the
district.
“They’re still not happy with the evaluations. They’re not happy with
the recall (provision),” Mrs Lewis said of the union delegates.
Before the meeting of delegates on Sunday, Mrs Lewis had called the agreement
a “good contract.” But after the decision to extend the strike she
backtracked, saying: “This is not a good deal. This is the deal we got.”
Mayor Emanuel’s chief negotiator, School Board President David Vitale, said
the union should allow children to go back to school while the two sides go
through the process of approval of the agreement.
“We are extremely disappointed that after 10 months of discussion
reaching an honest and fair compromise that (the union) decided to continue
their strike of choice and keep our children out of the classroom,” Mr
Vitale said.
During the first week of the strike, parents and Chicago voters appeared to
back the union, with some parents and students joining boisterous rallies
and opinion polls showing support. A key question is whether the extension
of the strike will anger some parents and raise support for Mayor Emanuel’s
efforts to end it.
Both sides appeared to win some concessions, according to details of the
tentative agreement released by the parties.
Emanuel compromised on the design of the first update of the evaluation system
for Chicago teachers in 40 years. He agreed to phase in the new plan over
several years and reduced the weighting of standardised test results in
reviewing teachers.
Teachers won some job-security protections and prevented the introduction of
merit pay in their contract.
The Chicago strike has shone a bright light on a fierce national debate over
how to reform failing inner-city schools. The union believes that more money
and resources should be given to neighbourhood public schools to help them
improve.
Emanuel and a legion of financiers and philanthropists believe that failing
schools should be closed and reopened with new staff and principals to give
the students the best chance of improving academically.
In Chicago, more than 80 neighbourhood schools have been closed in the last
decade as the enrolment has declined by about 20 per cent. The Chicago
Tribune reported last week that another 120 of about 600 city public schools
could be closed.
At the same time, 96 so-called charter schools have been opened. Charters are
controversial because they are publicly funded but non-union and not subject
to some public school rules and regulations. Their record of improving
student academic performance is mixed, studies show.
Lewis and the union argue that charters are undermining public education.
The agreement calls for a 3 per cent pay raise for teachers this year and 2
per cent in each of the next two years. If the agreement is extended for an
optional fourth year, teachers get a 3 per cent increase. The increases will
result in an average 17.6 increase over four years, the district said.
The deal could worsen the Chicago Public Schools financial crisis. Mayor
Emanuel said the contract will cost $295 million over four years, or $74
million per year.
Debt rating agencies had previously warned that the new agreement with
teachers could bust the school district budget and lead to a downgrade of
its credit rating.
The district has drained all its financial reserves to cover an expected
budget deficit over the next year and has levied the maximum property tax
allowed by law.
Lewis said teachers also fear that when the strike ends, Emanuel will soon
announce the closing of scores of schools to save money to pay for the new
contract with teachers and to make room for opening more charter schools.
Teachers won a concession from Emanuel that half of all teachers hired by the
district must be union members laid off from school closings.
Source: agencies
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