My Blog

Tag: CTU

  • ‘Why Didn’t White Folks Keep Them for Themselves?’

    The Chicago Teachers Union, and school employee unions in general, are pulling out all the stops to slow down a school choice and education reform movement that is bowling them over in numerous states and cities.

    Bold reform efforts are being pushed by the likes of Republicans like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Democrats like Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. It’s a bipartisan effort that has Big Labor on its heels.

    In Chicago in particular, the teachers union is flailing to stop any meaningful reform it possibly can. In response to the move for a slightly longer school day, the union has demanded an astonishing  30% raise. For weeks, union leaders have been beating the war drums for a teachers’ strike, which could cripple the city.  …

    But perhaps the most remarkable accusation came when she said, “If charter schools were so good, why didn’t the white folks keep them for themselves?”

    via Breitbart.

    Just plain amazing.  This is what CPS has teaching our children.

    This is how brainwashed some people have become by CTU and it’s tactics.  A sorry state of society where race politics superceeds student and parent choice.  Troubling days ahead.

  • Chicago Teachers Union Wants to Strike

    The Chicago Teachers Union says internal polling shows there is support for a strike if contract talks with Chicago Public Schools break down.

    A new state law requires the union to get approval from 75 percent of its members before a strike, leading many to question if the union could muster support for a walkout.

    CTU spokeswoman Stephanie Gadlin said members at several schools were polled.

    “The preliminary results indicate that if a strike vote were held today, teachers in those schools would vote unanimously for a walkout,” Gadlin said.

    via Chicago Tribune.

    CTU’s voting block is just as out of touch as the Occupy Movement.

    I wrote awhile back about how teachers are overpaid.  Now they want a 30% raise over two years.  Clueless or ambivalent to the financial state of affairs in this town, county, state, country.

    I say go ahead and strike.  Show the world what you’re really all about.

  • WI Billboard: Truth to Power on Teachers’ Unions

    This is an idea I’ve discussed with CTU reps at a meeting one time.  CTU cannot represent “the children.”  The truth is that CTU, WEAC, and all other teacher’s unions have a fiduciary duty to the union members.  The union cannot do anything which would advance the interests of non-members (i.e. children) to the detriment of the members (i.e. teachers.)

    Glad someone’s bring the truth forward.

    A group purporting to advocate for education reform is putting up a billboard attacking the state teachers’ group, Wisconsin Education Association Council, or WEAC, as a tool of big labor uninterested in educating children.

    Reforming Education And Demanding Excellent Results-Wisconsin, or READER-WI, is fronted by Jeff Waksman, spokesman for the Republican Party of Dane County, and David Blaska, former Isthmus blogger.

    The group argues that public education is failing miserably and points to unions as the culprit: “Laws do not allow teachers to use children for partisan political advocacy, but that has not been the case, particularly in Wisconsin. Elementary school children have been forced to take part in anti-Scott Walker activities, even those young enough to not have any real grasp of the actual political issues facing the world. Big Labor has made the classroom much more political than it should be.”

    via The Daily Page.

    Did I mention that this is awesome!!

  • CPS Teacher’s Union Fights Everything

    Having absolutely no logic to defend their position:

    With a 90-day deadline on negotiations with the teachers union having passed, Chicago Public Schools can implement a teacher evaluation system that will see student performance count for 25 percent of an elementary school teacher’s assessment, a figure that will rise to 40 percent in five years.

    The Chicago Teachers Union has opposed such significant weight on student performance, but even at its highest the CPS proposal for student performance is less than the 50 percent used in states such as Colorado, Tennessee and Ohio.

    via Chicago Tribune.

    So we’re still going to be behind other states, but yet CTU is still fighting it:

    “We don’t disagree on every aspect, but we don’t agree on the plan as a whole,” said CTU’s lead negotiator, Carol Caref.  Currently, teachers are evaluated using a checklist that both principals and teachers have called useless.

    I see, the current system sucks and everyone knows it’s worthless but whatever you do, don’t include student performance in any new evaluation method.

    Caref said the union thinks having student performance count for 40 percent is too high because of concerns about the test data’s reliability. He said the union believes it’s a mistake to implement a new evaluation system without first trying it on a pilot basis to identify any problems.

    Ya, problems like it may show that teachers that suck have been given the green light to continue to not educate children year after year after year.  That would be a problem for the Union.

    Big win for the children though.

    CTU can’t die soon enough.  CPS has completely failed generations of students nearly entirely as a result of CTU pushing it’s significant weight around.  Can’t evaluate teachers… shear nonsense.

    CPS lost it’s moral imperative years ago.  We as a people owe it to our children to build a competitive network of schools which give parents a real choice — a voice — in their children’s education.

    If we’re really all in this together, then All Schools are Public Schools.

  • State Rep. Derrick Smith Charged, Arrested

    Ha ha ha ha!

    State Rep. Derrick Smith, a Democrat from Chicago, was arrested today for allegedly pocketing a $7,000 cash bribe to write an official letter of support for a day care center he believed was seeking a state grant.

    The arrest came after an undercover operation launched by the FBI in December with the help of an undisclosed individual who works on Smith’s political campaigns, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

    The informant told investigators that Smith had talked about needing help with fundraising since he was appointed to the House seat last year. Smith allegedly said he wanted donations in the range of $5,000 to $7,000 and was willing to accommodate reasonable requests from donors, prosecutors said.

    via Chicago Tribune.

    Oh, this guy is so going down.  Read the story; the U.S. attorney has this guy dead-to-rights.

    But the real question is who’s going to go down with him.  Mr. Smith is (was?) supported by a literal who’s who of the Chicago Democratic Party.  Jesse White, the Teachers’ Union, AFL-CIO, Ald. Fioretti, etc.

    What’s even more interesting is that Smith’s opponent, Tom Swiss, is a former GOP party official of some sort in Cook County.  So now Democrats are forced to decide whether to vote for a guy who takes bribes or a former Republican.

    Down right hilarious.

  • Emanuel vs. Lewis

    Karen Lewis, the Chicago Teacher’s Union President, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, have a testy relationship at best.  …

    The two leaders met privately last year ahead of Emanuel’s inauguration.  They went for dinner and to attend a dance — both are fans of the art form — and to develop a working relationship.   …

    “In that conversation he did say to me that 25 percent of the students in this city are never going to be anything, never going to amount to anything and he was never going to throw money at them.”

    via NBC Chicago.

    But naturally Emanuel’s people respond:

    The Mayor’s Office said Lewis made up the anecdote.

    “That’s simply false,” said Emanuel Press Secretary Sarah Hamilton. “The Mayor is committed to making sure that every single child in Chicago has access to an excellent education, which is why he is fighting so hard to transform the Chicago public schools that have failed our children year after year.”

    No one knows what was true except those who there.  But that’s not really the point is it?

    The real issue is that CTU President Karen Lewis believes that the way to improve education is to throw money at it.  And doesn’t that just about say about everything that needs to be said?

    We have been throwing more and more money at CPS for years.  The results have not trended with the spending.  Check this out:

    Educational Spending Over the Years

    I wonder how much more money Ms. Lewis want to spend?

  • Chicago Teachers Asking for 30% Raises

    The Chicago Teachers Union is asking for raises amounting to 30 percent over the next two years, the opening salvo in heated contract negotiations with school officials who are implementing a longer school day across Chicago Public Schools next school year.

    Documents obtained by the Tribune show that in the face of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s expansion of the school day, the union has led with an offer seeking a 24 percent raise in the 2012-13 school year and a 5 percent increase the following year, the net effect being 30 percent.

    via Chicago Tribune.

    This just goes to show the world how completely out of touch the CTU is with the taxpayers that pay the bills.

    The city is broke; the state is broke; the feds are broke.  The wheels are falling off the bus, people everywhere are struggling, and here comes the teachers asking for a 30% raise over two years.

    According to CPS’s own website the starting salary for a teaching with a bachelor’s degree is $50,577.00 for 38.6 weeks or 193 days.  It further provides that, “[t]he salary and total compensation figures are based on a regular school term of 40 weeks, at 6.25 hours per day….

    The way I figure that’s $50,577.00 / (6.25 * 193)  = $41.92 / hour.  That’s not too bad for some 22 year old right out of college.

    Consider some other public servants: Assistant State’s Attorneys.  A Cook County ASA starts at $57,196.00 for a regular, real, full-time job.  $57,196.00 / 2080 = $27.50 / hour.

    So we, the taxpayers, already pay teachers with a bachelor degree over 150% more per hour than we pay ASA’s with a law degree and passed the bar exam.  And on this they want a 30% raise.

    It’s no wonder our schools are failing.  Their They’re run by greed greedy pigs.

    UPDATE:  Fixed some bad grammar as noted.

  • Aldermen Push For What?

    This is just insane:

    On Sunday, Aldermen Deborah Graham (29th), Robert Fioretti (2nd), and Toni Foulkes (15th) joined members of the Chicago Teachers Union, Action Now, and a group of parents and community safety advocates for a press conference urging Mayor Rahm Emanuel to make the Vacant Property Safe Passages Ordinance a priority.

    If approved, the ordinance […] would require daylight watchmen to guard schoolchildren as they pass by vacant properties near public schools.

    “Recently, the mayor said he cares so much about student safety on the way to school that he’s installing speed cameras,” said Aileen Kelleher, Action Now communications director, during a phone interview Tuesday. “We’re saying if you care so much about safety this ordinance should be your number one priority.”  …

    This most recent push for the Vacant Property Safe Passages Ordinance comes just three months after the city passed a law requiring vacant property owners, whether an individual or a bank, to pay to register and maintain their abandoned buildings.  Similarly, last week Gov. Pat Quinn introduced a new program aimed at rehabilitating foreclosed homes in Cook County.

    With November’s ordinance in mind, those in support of the Safe Passages law say vacant property owners should also foot the bill for hiring the proposed watchmen.

    “We want the guards to be hired from within the communities where the vacant buildings are so that it’s also a job-creation program, because along with the housing crisis there’s also an employment crisis,” said Kelleher.

    Additionally, the ordinance would levy fines of up to $500 if the building’s mortgage holder fails to provide a watchman between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

    via Progress Illinois.

    This can never pass.  Nothing good can come of it.

    According to Illinois Statute — namely 225 ILCS 447 the Private Detective, Private Alarm, Private Security, Fingerprint Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004 — every one of these “watchmen” would be required to have a PERC.  The statute provides that:

     “Private security contractor” means a person who engages in the business of providing a private security officer, watchman, patrol, guard dog, canine odor detection, or a similar service by any other title or name on a contractual basis for another person, firm, corporation, or other entity for a fee or other consideration and performing one or more of the following functions:   …

    See 225 ILCS 447.

    This means that anyone who’s going to watch these houses must take and pass a 20-hour course with test.  They must also not have been convicted of a felony and submit their fingerprints for a background check.  Despite the requirements, it’s not uncommon to see these jobs listed on Craigslist for $10-12/hour.

    The proposed ordinance would require watchmen (or watchwomen I would assume) to be present between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. or 8 hours per day.  That’s $80 per day in pay for someone to basically sit on their duff and read the paper in front of a vacant building.  Of course the real cost (vacation, medical, workemen’s comp, payroll taxes, overhead, training, etc) would mean that the property owner would likely be charged more like $120/day.

    Even at $100/day, that’s $3,000/month… just to have someone watch a vacant property.  Who can afford to pay that?  The property owner will essentially be left with two options:  tear the place down or rent it out for someone well below market value.

    Given that one can get a building (single family house on a single lot) torn down and hauled away for $10,000-20,000 (depending on the size and condition of the place,) it stands to reason that anyone who expects their place to be vacant for a long time to just may be better off just tearing the place down.  The property owner can also now save on taxes (vacant land is hardly taxed) and insurance as well.  This will minimize the property expense over the long-haul.

    Equally problematic is that the ordinance may force the property owner to place anyone as a tenant in the property regardless of rent.  If you’re going to charge me $3,000/mo to keep the place empty and secured then it’s just better for me to find someone, anyone, who’s willing to stay in the place for $10/mo.  The question is then who’s renting the place for $10/mo?  Maybe someone who shouldn’t be living next to a school in the first place?

    And there’s the rub.  What makes these people think that a tenant on the property would be better than having the property vacant?  Would you rather have your child walk by a vacant property or Jeffery Dahmer’s place?

    Of course if the city was at full police strength wouldn’t there be more cops on the street looking over these places?  I’m just say’n.

    The article states there are 19,000 vacant properties in the city.  At $3,000 per month that’s $57,000,000 in new costs that would have to picked-up by property owners each month.

    That’s $57,000,000 in monthly transfer payments from “property owners” to  “guards to be hired from within the communities where the vacant buildings” exist.  Annually that a $684 million tax on property owners in the city.

    It’s a complete joke.  Just like paying mommies to walk their children to school when they should be doing it anyway.

     

  • Team Crane Unveil Turnaround Plan

    Crane is not a school; it’s voluntary daytime detainment for youth.  It can’t die soon enough.  If only parents had a real choice of schools they would never send their children to Crane.  But some refuse to let it die.

    A coalition of Crane teachers, students, parents and Near West Side community activists unveiled a plan Friday night to turn around the 109-year-old high school at 2245 W. Jackson Blvd., focusing on adding programming and services to the school.  …

    After an hour of testimony in support of keeping the school open from neighbors, teachers and students (including the basketball team), the Crane coalition took the stage with a rap music video created by Crane students in an After School Matters program in 2010.

    Then they showed off their plan. To improve Crane, they said, programs need to be added to make it more appealing. Add an International Baccalaureate program, add trade-focused classes like cosmetology and video game programming, and reach out more to Crane’s feeder schools.

    via Chicago Journal.

    Video game programming?  Do these people have any idea of what  kind of education it takes to program video game?  Knowledge of vector graphics.  Understanding of electronic inputs and outputs.  The ability to develop very complex logical structures.  And yet:

    In addition, since 26 percent of Crane’s students have special needs, and 87 percent of Crane students are from low-income households, more outreach programs are needed, they said. Solutions, they said, should include mentoring, tutoring and social services.

    An IB program?  Ok, will someone get a bus and drive these people straight to the men with the white suits.  Medication is not going to be enough, they need to be admitted.

    Also worth mentioning, one day I get a chance to write about the locals who are collection millions from the city for after school programs.  They have a financial self interest to be served; this has nothing to do with saving the children.

    If we really want to help our children we’ll inject some competition into the education marketplace and give parents a real choice of where to send their children.  Right now CPS (a/k/a CTU) has a monopoly on public education and it’s failing miserably.