Chicago Teachers Union Teachers Fed Up, Ready To
Strike At 150 Schools

Published by Huffington Post
April 6, 2012

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/chicago-teachers-union-te_n_1408029.html

As negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union and
Chicago Public Schools continue, the union announced
Thursday that, according to their own informal polling,
support for a strike among the city's public school
teachers is widespread.

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said that
teachers are fed up when it comes to the hostile
climate teachers are currently dealing with, the
Chicago Sun-Times reports. At least 75 percent of the
teachers polled at 150 schools reportedly support
striking should the city and union not agree on a
contract.

"Chicago teachers and paraprofessionals are fed up.
They are tired of being blamed, bullied and belittled
by the very district that should be supporting them,"
Lewis said, according to the Sun-Times. "They live in a
city that has done everything it can to take the joy
out of teaching and learning."

Teachers are reportedly angered by the CPS's proposal
to move toward a merit-based pay model where raises are
based upon a new evaluation system based heavily on
student growth, including their test scores, according
to the Sun-Times. National researches have blasted the
merit pay model, saying that the "new evaluation system
for teachers and principals centers on misconceptions
about student growth, with potentially negative impact
on the education of Chicago’s children."

Teachers are also frustrated by the longer school day,
which will be implemented in the coming school year,
recent school closures and proposed benefit cuts, ABC
Chicago reports. Teachers and parents at some schools
say the district is forcing them into the longer day
without a plan as to what they will do with the extra
time -- and in some cases, without the money to do much
of anything.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel responded to the union's
announcement by stating, according to ABC, "Don't take
away from your main mission. Your job, what the people
of the city of Chicago, the parents, the taxpayers
expect of you, which is to teach our children. Any time
away from that is time away from our children. And
remember, what you're here for is to teach our
children."

To read the rest of this article, click the link below:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/chicago-teachers-union-te_n_1408029.html

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