Posted on 09/11/2012 10:00:55 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Chicago Teachers Union President: Strike is About ‘The Very Soul of Public Education’ By Matt Cover September 11, 2012
(CNSNews.com) – Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Karen Lewis told a Labor Day rally last week that the teachers’ strike that began on Monday was not just about the CTU’s salary demands, but about “the very soul of public education.”
Speaking to a labor day rally on Sept. 3, Lewis said that the fight between Chicago Public School (CPS) officials and the CTU over how large a raise teachers would receive over the coming years was not a fight she or the union picked, noting that instead it was a fight for the soul of government-run education.
“This fight is not about Karen Lewis,” she said. “Let’s be clear, this fight is for the very soul of public education not only in Chicago, but everywhere.”
“Brothers and sisters, we did not start this fight,” Lewis said. “And I do want to correct something -- Karen Lewis did not get a strike vote. Let’s be clear: that was the hard work of every single member of the Chicago Teachers Union.” (Her quote starts at around 2:30 into the video.)
The CTU went on strike on Monday, Sept. 10, after rejecting CPS officials’ offer of a 16 percent raise spread out over four years. Both sides had reportedly agreed on a longer work day for teachers; the current day ends at 3 p.m.
At issue are CTU demands for a hire-back policy for laid-off teachers and CTU opposition to tying teacher performance reviews to student test scores, in addition to the size of teacher raises.
Approximately 350,000 Chicago students remain locked out of their schools as the strike continues on Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
It’s about the “very soul” of their wallets
Every urban public education district in the Nation is an absolute disaster. These people are the selfish 1%, the 99% students are the victims
Karen Lewis obviously needs to start eating the Michele Mini-Meals that are now starving school children from coast to coast.
Never believe a union person it the media when they cite those non-economic issues. They are bogus. Issues like the longer school day and class size magically resolve when enough money is paid out.
It certainly is! And a black and gnarled soul it is.
Drive an oaken stake through the heart of public education and our civilization might survive.
Silver bullets and garlic might also be helpful in subduing the beast.
Reagan and PATCO.
If you don’t report for work, you are fired.
In a down economy they won’t have much of a problem filling the positions with qualified instructors. And the former teachers will regret their poor judgement as they join the ranks of the unemployed.
Democrats War on Kids.
Democrats War on Kids.
What a crock! This has everything to do with poor teacher performance and feeding their union. They should fire all of them and rehire at lower salaries ..way overpaid
Obama best not allow Karen Lewis to pick him up like the weight lifter in Ft. Pierce did; she may crush him. On a more of a polite side, who want their kids under her grab of thuggery. What a representative for quality education. Rah! Rah! Rah!
Yes, now it is CLEAR that the “very soul of public education” equates to “how to get more salary and benefits to the teachers and unions”.
A very situation, IMHO.
The class-size “issue” won’t disappear any time soon. It’s simple arithmetic (even public school grads can figure it out): smaller class sizes = more teachers = more union dues.
So the highest paid, least performing teachers rejecting a 16% raise during the worst economic time since the Great Depression and striking is the soul of public education?
That is an evil soul.
A bloated leader for a union with bloated salaries.
82,981 of 132,502 Illinois Teachers Pay Nothing or Little into Their Pensions
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2701628/posts
Illinois’ credit rating downgraded after pension reform failure
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2924499/posts
Pension gap divides public and private workers (2007 article but timely)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-02-20-pensions-cover_x.htm
You can bet the politicians will be looking for ways to steal the 401k savings of the non-government retirees to fund the bloated benefits of the government retirees. The former group has nobody to defend them. The latter has politicians and unions feeding at the trough.
They just released the test results that shoed the 79% of the * grade students these losers teach can't even read, much less do math.
They are striking because a 16% pay raise is not enough when they are already making an average of $76,000 per year before benefits which include health care and retirement.
This is so egregious that it has to be a set up - create a huge story in the media and Obama step in and get the union to concede to “only” a 10% raise.
A Downgrade for Illinois-The worst credit rating aside from California
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2924482/posts
democrap’s war on math.
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