Even as CPS opens more new schools, children with special needs have a tougher time finding options. Placements in private therapeutic schools are scarce, and some charters are reluctant to enroll them.
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In the News: CTU makes a bold bid for raises
By: Cassandra West / February 17, 2012
The Tribune reported last night that it has obtained documents indicating that the Chicago Teachers Union is asking for raises amounting to 30 percent over the next two years, the opening salvo in heated contract negotiations with school officials.
Under a proposed overhaul of what Chicago Public School officials Thursday called an “antiquated’’ sick-day policy, principals and other non-union employees would for the first time receive paid maternity and illness leaves but could no longer stockpile sick days. (Sun-Times)
The Chicago Teachers Union Thursday issued a $713 million blueprint for change in the Chicago Public Schools grounded in smaller class sizes in the early grades and hiring more teachers in general. A 45-page paper titled “The Schools Chicago’s Students Deserve” also suggested $796 million in revenue sources, including new “taxes on the wealthy,” although some of its ideas would require changes in state law. (Sun-Times)
In the Sun-Times, Elaine Allensworth, interim executive director of the Consortium on Chicago School Research, says the recent report on school turnaround reforms in Chicago "continues CCSR’s long tradition of bringing the best possible evidence to bear on the most pressing problems of practice in Chicago."
IN THE STATE
More than 30 Illinois school districts will split $623 million in state construction funding to repair and update aging facilities, under a program announced Thursday by Gov. Pat Quinn’s office. (CBSChicago)
IN THE NATION
Washington, D.C., schools are expected to experience a middle-school surge, says a new study by D.C. Action for Children. (The Washington Post)
The Los Angeles Board of Education has delayed a vote on a $6-billion budget plan that would cause thousands of employees to lose their jobs, end all adult education classes, and remove funding for early education and arts programs. (Los Angeles Times)
The Humble Independent School District in Texas is pioneering a practice that an increasing number of districts across the state are adopting: selling advertisements on pieces of school property to help make up for some of the money lost through state budget cuts. (The New York Times)
A spate of accusations has put an intense spotlight on the way the Los Angeles Unified School District monitors its employees and responds to reports of abuse. (The New York Times)
Two former students of the Los Angeles teacher accused of lewd conduct appeared in a taped segment on the "Dr. Phil" television show Thursday afternoon. (Los Angeles Times)
Faced with the prospect of losing millions of dollars in federal funding, New York officials and representatives of the state's largest teachers' union announced Thursday they had settled a dispute over how to use test scores in evaluating educators. (Education Week)
It's a 5% raise!
Apparently the Board of Education has released CPS demands to the anti-Union, teacher-hating Chicago Tribune (or, as Substance News refers to them, the Scabune).
The Union is NOT asking for a 30% raise.
The Board has asked teachers to work a day that is 10.4% longer and a school year that is 5% longer. Naturally, the Union is asking for a 15% increase that is in line with the substantially longer hours teachers are being asked to work.
The Union is also asking for the 4% raise the Board withheld from us this year due to economic reasons. The predecessor Board promised us the 4% cost-of-living increase (btw, inflation for 2011 was 3%) which the current Board said it could not afford during the 2011-12 school year. The job of the Board of Education is to finance the public schools, however, and once they fulfill their duty, they must surely mean to reinstate the cost-of-living increase.
And so, the CTU is really asking for a 5% raise for 2012-13. Surely everyone understands that we are the beginning of negotiations. There is a give-and-take nature to the negotiation process whereby neither party gets everything it wants, but comes to an agreement somewhere in the middle. Negotiations are risky that way. But it is also certain that if you don't ask for something, you won't get it.
Please correct this erroneous fact. It's not 30%, but 5% raises.
The Trib pulled a fast on Casandra...........
and she took it, hook, line and sinker. Ms. West is a gullible fool.
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