So, if you haven't been following, Chicago Public Schools has been in heated contract negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union for quite some time. We are set to strike this Monday. The district has hastily picked 140 scab schools to open from 8:30am-12:30pm in the event that parents need child care, meals, etc. They will be staffed with admin, clergy, park district staff, and other do-gooders from the community. As they expect to need care for up to 400,000 K-12 students, CPS has decided to provide some guidelines for those working with children. Here is my commentary: CPS’s How To Guide for workers at strike contingency schools BY ROSALIND ROSSI Education Reporter/rrossi@suntimes.com Last Modified: Sep 7, 2012 09:48PM A guide to manning Chicago strike-contingency schools released Friday advises non-teachers to bring their own food, carry a watch because their classroom may not have a clock, and load up on 30 sharpened pencils and a pencil sharpener. In one tip, non-teachers are told that when they “correct’’ a student, they should do so in a “15 second one-way communication,’’ delivered within 3 to 4 feet of the student, but to “move away from the student 1-2 seconds before finishing. “If you don’t you may invite a negative response,’’ according to the “Children First Site — Student Supervisor Toolkit.” (Also, make sure you do it for all 25 children with whom you have no relationship and who come to school with significant physical and emotional needs. No biggie. Good luck!) Chicago Teachers Union spokeswoman Stephanie Gadlin Friday tore into Chicago Public School proposal to man 144 schools in the event of a strike with non-teachers, saying the “Children First” plan amounted to “a train wreck.” (Duh.) The Chicago Public Schools have asked teachers not to picket at the 144 schools for the sake of the children, a request flatly rejected by CTU President Karen Lewis. (Surprise! ) She told the school officials if they don’t want picket lines at those schools, then don’t open them. Gadlin Friday released the “tool-kit” that she said was being given to non-teachers CPS hoped to use to watch children at what Gadlin called “holding centers.’’ She likened the tool-kit to a “how-to-be-a-teacher strike guide.’’ Among its suggestions on “how to prepare:” • “Wear a watch — your room may not have a functioning clock.’’ (Why would CPS schools have clocks? You're lucky if you have toilet paper!) • Dress comfortably as “many schools are NOT air-conditioned.’’ (Haven't you heard? It's been decided that optimal learning and working conditions cannot happen without triple digit temperatures!) • “You will need to bring your own breakfast and lunch. Please note that you cannot rely on access to refrigerators or microwaves.’’ (Or any reliable time to each lunch in the first place. ) • “Keep personal items to a minimum.’’ (.....so they don't get stolen. What? You want a drawer that locks? That's cute.) • Sessions for kids run from 8:30 to 12:30 but “you should arrive as early as possible” and be prepared to stay late. (You know, like those lazy teachers.) • Bring 30 sharpened pencils, 30 pens and a personal pencil sharpener. (Buy your own supplies....like those lazy teachers.) • Bring “stickers or other small inexpensive incentive items.’’ (For when everything below goes to ****.) • Bring old magazines and newspapers, puzzles and games. (For four hours.) Non-teachers are given a long list of things to do ahead of time to prepare. They should: study and “internalize’’ recommended classroom management techniques; determine their classroom procedures and “practice explaining them,’’ create a Day One sample schedule, write a supply list and collect it, and “attend trainings.’’ (All learnable in 24 hours. For sure.) To “create a climate of respect,’’ the tool-kit recommends that non-teachers “communicate with words” (versus WHAT exactly!? Beating children?) and “do not yell, threaten or insult, even if joking.’’ And to make students feel comfortable, they should appear “confident and calm by being firm but friendly. You can accomplish this by writing a general schedule on the board.’’ (Enough said. I die.) For third- through eighth-graders, non-teachers are urged to walk students in two single files in the classroom, and “greet each student with a smile and a handshake as they enter.’’ As a “get-to-know-you” game, non-teachers are advised to model a “two truths and a lie’’ game, in which participants share three facts about themselves and students have to guess which one is a lie. Games to be played during physical education include Simon Says, Farmer in the Dell, Mother May I and Four Corners. ("All right, 8th graders....let's sing Farmer in the Dell!" You let me know how that goes.) Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard has said that Children First sites will be manned by principals, assistant principals, Central Office Staff and non-CTU employees, as well as yet-to-be-approved vendors. (Sub-text: The Board needs warm bodies and they don't care if there are qualified people working with children. But that's fine. Gotta put "Children First.") Officials with the Service Employees International Union that provide custodians, school bus aides and security staff have said they will honor their contract and could work, if asked.
NOPE! VERY VERY REAL! :woot: Can't wait to tell my middle schoolers they'll be singing Farmer In The Dell during pretend P.E. They have not altered the "curriculum" for grade levels...so K or 8...same thing! :|
This is the best thing I have read all day. They are not 2 years old. I picture a toddler biting and the preschool teacher saying "use your words" in my head when I read that. :lol:
I have been following your saga. I have a question. What are teachers telling the students about the strike and the reasons behind it?
I guess the working conditions suck (from your comments) but the salary looks pretty good from here. I work an hour and fifteen minutes more (by contract ) each day and make 22k less per year. Im betting the pension is WAY better than mine after 30 years. http://www.nctq.org/docs/4_6812.pdf
I had a closing circle with my kids and mostly kept it to a Q and A session. I asked them what they thought was going on. I sort of felt like I was talking about a divorce. I said something like "Please know that I can only speak for me, but I will not be marching because I don't love you and don't want to teach you. I march because I want you to have the best learning environment and best resources possible." (AKA this is an adult problem not caused by children, whichever side you're on.) They seemed satisfied with that....mostly curious about logistics. We could be off 1 day or 30+ days...nobody knows. I emphasized to DO YOUR HOMEWORK because hopefully we have school. It was left up to each teacher to decide how to discuss it. Most of my friends did some version of the above. Salary is not the #1 issue for myself or most teachers I've talked to. I don't have a problem with my pay. I have a problem with the Board making contracts that they feel they don't need to honor....like the 4% raise the agreed to and then took away last year, all while lengthening the school day and paying us NOTHING extra. The 2% raise they're proposing is eaten up by a rise in healthcare premiums. So we're back to square one...more work and higher healthcare costs, but no pay increase. THAT being said....I would be okay losing the 4% and taking the 2% standard raise. I feel well-compensated and do not hide that. But if the Board can let the raise slide...what else can they get away with? They also want to get rid of lanes and steps, propose a ridiculous wellness program where my cholesterol will be CPS knowledge, ignore displaced teachers, strip us of rights to fair discipline, cut the arts and languages, test our kids to death...dozens of standardized tests...all without teacher input. Furthermore, the schools have an enormous resource and achievement gap along race lines. CPS only wants to further segregation in Chicago. Most of our school buildings are crumbling. My building fits 700 children and we have 1500 kids spread out over 2 buildings, 4 trailers, and the top floor of a working high school. All classes have 30-35 kids. Not good! No doubt we have one of the strongest unions in the country, but we have worked really hard for rights and protections that Rahm would like to take away in the blink of an eye. I will not let our profession be disrespected like this. If we fight back in Chicago, there might be a ripple of change for teachers across the country.
http://www.ctunet.com/blog/text/SCSD_Report-02-16-2012-1.pdf This document is helpful if anyone's interested in the issues at hand. There are a bunch I didn't even mention.
The full manual is now on the CTU website. http://www.ctunet.com/blog/contract...hool-contingency-plan-sounds-like-train-wreck It is a word file. As to the comments on our salary. Not sure where the commenters are from, but we have to live in the City Of Chicago and the cost of living in the city is fairly high. We have one of the highest sales tax rates in the country as well as high rent, high gas prices, etc.
Also like foursquare said, this fight is not about salary. It has to be about salary because of a state law, well until we filed an unfair labor practice suit earlier this week. Now it can be about unfair labor practices. It can sound confusing to an outsider. There was a law passed that said we can only bargain over the length of the school year and salary. The idea is that we have other things we want, but we have to get them on the table first and CPS is not willing to talk about these things.
Two points when it comes to salary: 1. It looks like Chicago has a step scale that doesn't necessarily align with years of service, like mine does in PA. If you don't have this type of scale, you might be putting yourself on the wrong step. 2. Cost of living in a city is very high.
Our step scale aligns with years of service until 14 or 15. Then it is every 5 years. The "new" proposed contract will get rid of step increases. At least in the last offer I heard. They will give us steps, but not pay for them. Our salaries start out very high and then decrease over time, whereas the suburbs start out quite low and increase.
I'm watching this very closely--we may be in the same position soon here in Ontario. There is pending legislation that will strip us of the right to collective bargaining and will impose a contract on us (which will dramatically cut benefits). Best of luck!
Catalyst Chicago Mag @CatalystChicago source: Bargaining team has rejected latest CPS offer and is now waiting for the last desperate offer from district
Yeah I know HOD hasn't been called yet. I didn't see that on Catalyst. Or is that on twitter? I haven't fully grasped onto Twitter. Catalyst and the 299 blog (Some posters) have been the best sources of info and I haven't seen much today.
*BREAKING* Track E proposed for all schools?! I'll take that! (Most recent Tweets first.) Catalyst Chicago Mag @CatalystChicago Source: cps has proposed a unified districtwide calendar- probably similar to track e- with 190 tchr work days. Catalyst Chicago Mag @CatalystChicago On recall, new offer would create reassigned pool. Tchrs w ratings in top 2 categories would be eligible but only have 5mos to find new job Catalyst Chicago Mag @CatalystChicago This is the offer sources say the bargaining team rejected, for those just tuning in. Catalyst Chicago Mag @CatalystChicago Source: On class size, cps has offered to keep current language and very slightly increase class size reduction funding Catalyst Chicago Mag @CatalystChicago On evaluation, cps has offered not to implement 5th year of new evals w/o union consultation and to rename the "needs improvement" category Catalyst Chicago Mag Catalyst Chicago Mag @CatalystChicago Teachers would keep lanes. PSRPs would be paid hourly, meaning more money for a longer day. Catalyst Chicago Mag Catalyst Chicago Mag @CatalystChicago Source: latest offer from cps is 2.25 percent raise in 1st year, followed by 2 percent a year Catalyst Chicago Mag Catalyst Chicago Mag @CatalystChicago CTU plans to picket CPS headquarters at one minute after midnight if no deal is reached.
I wish they would preserve Steps too. Also, no word on the Big Brother Wellness Plan that creeps me out. No word on social workers and psychologists. Catalyst says this offer was rejected anyway, so doesn't matter.
Latest offer: 3% raise this year, 2% each year after that. 4 year deal. District-wide school calendar No wellness plan No merit pay No increased health insurance for families New evaluation doesn't count for tenured teachers 5 month recall pool for displaced teachers who get preference for interviews. Principals who don't hire them need to provide a reason for not doing so. Can keep sick days and sick day banks Retained lanes and (adjusted) steps. (Meaning probably not a raise every year, but every few years...I think?) Retained 7% pension pick up Honestly, I might take this one. No word on class size though. We'll see what the Union says in 5 minutes.
Lewis: negotiations have been intense but productive but we've failed to come to an agreement to avoid a labor strike. WEAR RED TOMORROW!
