Posts tagged Chicago Public Schools
Union ties could make or break the Chicago mayoral race
March 23, 2023 // Progressive Brandon Johnson and centrist Paul Vallas, both Democrats, fought through a nine-way race that saw the incumbent mayor fail to make the April 4 runoff. The election is “a movement that unions helped to anchor,” CTU President Stacy Davis Gates told Morning Shift. Johnson, a former public school teacher who’s done paid work for the CTU — his opponents call him a lobbyist — has received millions from teachers’ unions, and is set to receive up to $2 million more from a recently-announced plan to apportion $8 from each CTU member’s monthly dues to PACs for him. Vallas, a former CEO of Chicago Public Schools who’s been criticized for relative conservatism in a Democrat-run town, nabbed endorsements from the local Fraternal Order of Police, firefighters and construction unions.
PRITZKER SIGNS BILL ALLOWING CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS PRINCIPALS TO UNIONIZE
February 13, 2023 // Chicago Public Schools principals already make nearly 30% more than their peers in the rest of the state. A newly signed law allows them to unionize and push for even more. Gov. J.B. Pritzker just signed a bill allowing principals within Chicago Public Schools to unionize and bargain. While supervisory employees have not traditionally had a right to unionize, House Bill 5107 redefines who constitutes a “managerial employee” within CPS. Under the new language, only those who negotiate with unions or formulate district-wide policies are prohibited from unionizing.
ILLINOIS HOUSE BILL WOULD GIVE MORE POWER TO CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS UNIONS
January 13, 2023 // Principals and other important administrative staff within the district will now be able to join a union. The average salary for a principal in Illinois is $116,398, according to the Illinois State Board of Education’s 2021 annual report. But ISBE’s data on principals’ salaries statewide shows CPS principals average $149,628 – nearly 30% more than their peers in the rest of the state. Yet they are pushing to unionize. CTU has a history of keeping kids out of school to get what it wants CTU has caused five work stoppages in just the past 11 years.
Teachers are fleeing partisan unions that some say undermine public education
January 11, 2023 // Teachers are fleeing unions in droves, citing the political partisanship of the organizations that charge $750 to $900 a year in membership fees. The National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers lost a combined total of 59,000 union members during the 2021-22 school year. And they lost 82,000 members the year before.
Audit: Widespread fraud, abuse of ‘extra pay’ in Chicago Public Schools
January 10, 2023 // "At one school, colleagues punched in a teacher’s ID number on days when the teacher stayed home from summer school," the report stated. In another example, one school district employee received nearly $150,000 in extra pay and other forms of supplemental pay over four years while clocked in at his school while casino records indicate he was visiting a casino. That same employee was paid for working two different types of supplemental pay jobs simultaneously.
ILLINOIS: WHAT’S NEXT FOR AMENDMENT 1?
January 6, 2023 // Now that the Illinois Constitution has been amended to expand government union power, residents can expect to see costly government union demands, increased taxes and litigation to clarify its vague language.
Teachers are fleeing partisan unions that some say undermine public education
December 20, 2022 // Teachers are fleeing unions in droves, citing the political partisanship of the organizations that charge $750 to $900 a year in membership fees. The National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers lost a combined total of 59,000 union members during the 2021-22 school year. And they lost 82,000 members the year before.
Illinois: Labor amendment remains on November ballot after court blocks petition
August 31, 2022 // Amendment 1 would create a state constitutional right for employees to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their choosing to negotiate wages, hours, and working conditions and to protect their economic welfare and safety at work. The case, Sarah Sachen v. Illinois State Board of Elections, was brought by parents and teachers from Chicago Public Schools and claimed the proposed amendment would unconstitutionally enshrine union powers in the Illinois Constitution. Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Citizen Advisory Coalition to Save Illinois,
Union organizers debate ‘Workers Rights Amendment’ as November vote draws near
June 20, 2022 // Bailey said many groups, such as the Illinois Policy Institute, have been spreading misinformation about the amendment, saying it would allow unions to raise taxes on taxpayers. “I was a lobbyist for five years, wrote and passed a lot of bills. I never saw anything in this amendment that allows us to set the tax rates,” he said. Annalise Peterson, Illinois Right to Collective Bargaining Measure, Amendment 1, Northwestern University Library Workers Union, NULWU, Josh Honn, Neva Legallet, Northwestern University Graduate Workers, Prof. Daniel Galvin, Safe Ride drivers,
MORE THAN 38,000 WORKERS HAVE LEFT GOVERNMENT UNIONS IN ILLINOIS
April 15, 2022 // The unions’ own federal reports show 9% of workers have chosen to break away from unions since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME. More than 38,000 state and local government workers across Illinois have chosen not to join or pay a government union since the U.S. Supreme Court restored that right in 2018 in Janus v. AFSCME.