Posts tagged Stacy Davis Gates
CHICAGO: Mayor Brandon Johnson Asks CPS CEO Pedro Martinez To Resign. Martinez Says No, Sources Say
September 26, 2024 // ohnson’s desire to replace Martinez comes after he pushed school district leaders to take out a short-term loan to cover a pension payment for non-teaching staff and new costs related to the yet-to-be-settled Chicago Teachers Union contract. It also comes as school district leaders are in tense contract negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union. The mayor is also struggling to address looming deficits to the city budget he now oversees. Those deficits are driven, in part, by the CPS administration and school board’s refusal to take out the short-term loan.
Chicago teachers’ union claim that Black kids cannot pass standardized tests doesn’t go over well with mom
August 14, 2024 // Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union and executive vice president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, was asked by a Black radio station last week about public school students' declining reading and math scores. Specifically, criticism that Gates was advocating to boost teachers' contracts with money that would be better served addressing student achievement. She responded that gauging student achievement through testing was the problem.
Illinois Federation of Teachers, American Federation of Teachers spend a lot, but not on teachers
August 8, 2024 // The federal filings of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and its national affiliate, the American Federation of Teachers, reveal questionable spending, with little spent on representing teachers, millions spent on politics and deficit spending while the big boss got $500K.
Chicago Teachers Union Pushes Progressive Ideology in Negotiations
June 27, 2024 // Critics, including the Illinois Policy Insititute, scrutinized the CTU’s agenda, highlighting a focus on progressive causes rather than educational priorities or teacher welfare. The union’s demands include mandates for a 100% electric bus fleet, adding solar panels to facilities, and going “carbon neutral” by 2035, all in the name of “climate justice.” Additionally, the union advocates for policies that would prevent teachers from sharing students’ gender identities with parents and require all school wellness staff to complete annual training on LGBTQ+ issues. The union pushed for the district to provide 100% coverage for abortions (including out-of-state travel if Illinois restricts abortion), allocate $2,000 for each student seeking asylum, and use schools as homeless shelters. Brigette Herbst, senior organizing director at AFFT, believes there are more relevant issues facing Chicago Public Schools that the union should address instead. “In 2023 only 27% of Illinois students were proficient in math. 90% of schools in Illinois report staffing shortages. These are real issues that should have the focus of the union and the school administration,” said Herbst. “Perhaps it’s time the union starts putting the obvious needs of students and teachers first instead of this constant focus on social issues and politics.”
CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION CONTRACT COULD COST AT LEAST $10.2B TO $13.9B
June 6, 2024 // CTU wants massive pay raises, stipends and additional personnel – all of which are within the traditional scope of bargaining. It also wants the city to create new housing, levy new taxes, construct new parking garages, undertake new environmental initiatives, divest pension funds from fossil fuels, fully fund infertility and abortion care for members, subsidize weight-loss surgery and drugs such as Ozempic, add new members to the bargaining unit, offer free CTA passes for all students and employees, among many other things. The new contract also mandates certain positions to be staffed at every school, regardless of enrollment. The new positions include: librarian, librarian assistant, social worker, newcomer liaison, case manager, restorative justice coordinator, reading specialist and interventionist (elementary schools), three elective teachers (middle schools), technology coordinator, “Climate Champion,” and gender support coordinator and/or LGBTW+ lead/specialist and option to expand LGBTQ+ faculty support teams at each school. Because of the minimum staffing requirements laid out in the contract, this would constitute a minimum of 4,650 new hires. Based on the current average compensation for each type of employee, hiring the additional personnel would cost an estimated $1.7 billion.
THE POLICY SHOP: THE CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION’S AFFINITY FOR FAILURE
February 29, 2024 // The district already has 20 sustainable community schools, including 12 elementary schools and eight high schools. Sustainable community schools integrate student services coordinated by the school with outside organizations, such as housing or food assistance, medical or dental care, mental health services, English language or parenting classes. CTU claims the model promotes improved outcomes, such as decreased absenteeism rates, increased student performance and improved school culture, including “decreases in school discipline referrals, suspensions, and expulsions.” With dwindling enrollment in CPS, CTU markets the expansion of sustainable community schools as an attempt at “fortifying neighborhood schools.”
CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION IGNORES OWN MANDATE FOR FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
February 26, 2024 // And it’s certainly not good legacy-building for Davis Gates, whose first year as union president has been tainted by deficit spending, decreased spending on members, personally cheating Indiana schools out of taxes owed to them and sending her son to a private school while denying that choice to low-income families. CTU’s bylaws require publication of an annual audit of finances, but there’s been no sign of an audit for at least four years CTU’s internal rules are clear: an annual audit must be performed and published each year.
CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION SEES PLENTY OF SCANDALS IN 2023
December 27, 2023 // The union’s decisions directly impact residents. The union spent millions to get its former employee Brandon Johnson elected mayor. CTU has failed to provide required annual audits to members and had to raise its dues $160 for 2024 – most likely to make up for its financial missteps. Yet it spends less than 17 cents of each dollar representing those members.
CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION, AFFILIATES BIGGEST SPENDERS ON CHICAGO POLITICS
December 15, 2023 // Johnson’s deep ties to CTU should worry Chicagoans. Johnson, a former “legislative coordinator” for CTU, will be sitting across the table from his former CTU colleagues when they negotiate a new contract in 2024. Their tight relationship effectively places CTU on both sides of the bargaining table. What’s on the line if he keeps toeing the CTU line? A plethora of expensive contract demands, with taxpayers bearing the costs. Past demands include defunding the police – Johnson himself once said he would cut the Chicago Police budget by at least $150 million – and creating affordable housing. Those potential provisions are not typically negotiated into teachers union contracts, but could be under Johnson’s tenure. And while the union has focused on non-education demands, most students within Chicago Public Schools can’t read or do math at grade level.
Hunter Tower: Is Pittsburgh a blueprint for other union-dominated blue cities?
May 1, 2023 // SEIU leaders now hold key posts in Gainey’s administration. Silas Russell, SEIU Healthcare executive vice president and political director, co-chaired Gainey’s transition team. Maria Montano, former SEIU Healthcare communications director, is now Gainey’s press secretary. And Lisa Frank, former SEIU vice president and director of strategic communications, is now the city of Pittsburgh’s chief operating officer. Emails uncovered through right-to-know requests by CBS Pittsburgh reveal that Russell provided the mayor with union-generated talking points ahead of a meeting last year with UPMC officials.