As many of you have seen in the media, Chicago is now living the “Thrilla’ in Manila” redux! With Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Karen Lewis throwing down in an epic battle for the future of education reform in Chicago with implications to the nation. Both the Chicago Board of Education and the CTU began negotiations for a new teachers contract late last year and in a dramatic up-to-the-wire scenario negotiations broke down at 10pm on Sunday, September 9th. On Monday, September 10th the Chicago Teachers Union began the first teachers strike in the city since 1987, leaving 350,000 children locked out of their classrooms and Chicago families in turmoil as they were forced to make alternate plans for their children.
Today Education Reform Now Advocacy and Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) called on the CTU to finalize an agreement, end its strike and return students to the classroom in a new radio campaign. (Listen to it here.) While we have directed our message of compromise to both sides since June, we now call on the CTU to stay at the negotiating table, compromise to end the strike and keep our students in the classroom. No issue still to be negotiated justifies Chicago Public Schools teachers striking and despite what you hear from CTU leadership, this has nothing to do with teaching, learning or even air-conditioners in classrooms.
This is about power, and who controls what happens in the schools – the Chicago Public Schools or the union leadership?
We believe strongly that teachers work hard under very tough circumstances, and we appreciate them. We just want the district and CTU to get to an agreement that’s fair to everyone, especially kids and the taxpayers. CPS and CTU need to come together and find a solution for the sake of Chicago’s kids who deserve a good education. The children are the ones who lose here during a strike.
87% of our students come from low income households who depend on their school to not only provide an education, but critical social services, and in many cases the only meals they will receive that day. These are the children that need our public schools open the most. Let’s be clear, we think teachers are important to our kids and deserve a raise and the district should give them one, but the city just can’t afford the CTU’s ask of up to a 30% raise right now.
The district’s last public offer of an average of a 16% pay increase–over the next four years ($380 million over the next four years–including COLA, 3% year 1; 2% years 2, 3, & 4) is fair.
Only the CTU has the ability and power to call off the strike and keep students in the classroom learning where they belong. So we continue to call on them to put students first and call off this strike now!
Here are two previous radio broadcasts on the strike by Put Students 1st: