Catalyst Chicago Notebook

Strike authorization vote likely before end of school year

Sarah Karp — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:27:54 -0500

Wednesday afternoon the Chicago Teachers Union is planning a massive rally to protest the current CPS contract proposal, which they call “unreasonable.” No strike authorization vote will be taken at the downtown event, but such a vote will likely happen before the end of this school year.

CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey says the vote is a “bargaining tool,” and emphasized that a strike date would not be set until after a final proposal is on the table, which won’t happen until the middle of the summer.

CPS spokeswoman Becky Carroll says a strike authorization vote is premature. CPS and CTU are engaged in a process called “fact-finding,” which means an arbitrator is considering CPS and CTU proposals. Both sides had to agree on the arbitrator. The arbitrator will issue a final report on July 15 and then the union and CPS have 15 days to respond to the report. Then, they have to wait 30 days for a cooling-off period.

Only then could the union call a strike.

“The independent fact-finding process can serve as a compromise,” Carroll says. “Why rush? They should let their members review the independent fact-finder’s report first. They have plenty of time for a vote.”

Carroll also notes that 1400 teachers are retiring and will end up voting for a strike authorization of a contract that they won’t be working under.

But Sharkey says there’s good reason to take a vote over the next few weeks. Union leaders do not want to hold a strike authorization vote during the summer, when teachers are dispersed. They also don’t want to wait until the beginning of the next school year, hoping to have a contract in place by the fall when school starts.

Once the next school year starts, things like the longer school day will be in place, making it harder for the union to negotiate over pay for the longer day, Sharkey says.

But taking a strike authorization vote is risky because a new law requires that CTU get 75 percent of its members to vote yes. That means a non-vote is essentially a “no” vote. If it fails, the union’s power will be greatly diminished.

However, union leadership has been emboldened by a poll showing the public supports teachers by a 2 to 1 margin. Also, a survey the union conducted on May 10 showed that 95 percent wanted to reject the current CPS proposal, according to the CTU.

Sharkey says that 21,000-plus of 25,000 members participated in the survey. The union has done a detailed analysis of where the non-surveyed members are, Sharkey says. In the units where the survey took place, participation was “very high,” Sharkey says. Some small units did not conduct the survey, mostly because the delegate wasn’t around.

The indication that a strike authorization vote is imminent comes as the two sides continue to spar about the details of the contract proposals.

On Tuesday, CTU officials again claimed the proposal presented by CPS only guarantees a one-year raise of 2 percent and removes numerous provisions, including those establishing class sizes; the allocation of art, music and gym teachers; and the number of classes teachers are expected to teach. Sharkey says CPS management also wants to eliminate the measures that set out rules for laying off or displacing teachers.

“They want the contract to go from more than 200 pages to about 40,” Sharkey says.

But Carroll says CPS labor negotiators have tried to streamline the contract, by taking out language referring to antiquated practices. Officials have no plans of changing class sizes or teacher allocation and they intend for those provisions to be in the contract. She says that there are “place holders” for these provisions.

“CTU officials know that,” she says.

Yet the absence of these provisions worries union leadership. CPS officials are projecting a deficit of $600 million. At the same time, they have decided to extend the school day and year and have laid out plans to open 100 more new schools in the next five years.

Sharkey says the fear is of massive teacher layoffs and ballooning class sizes, and that neither teachers nor students would be protected.

“Getting rid of those things would be the wrong thing to do,” he says.

Jay Rehak, a Whitney Young High School teacher and union delegate, says that CPS officials have already told staff at his school that they could have seminars with 50 students to accommodate the longer day.

In the News: Selective seats planned for new S. Side HS

Cassandra West — Tue, 22 May 2012 08:54:42 -0500

Chicago Public Schools plans to add 100 selective enrollment seats this fall at the new South Shore International College Prep, the district said.

The new $94 million South Shore high school, at 1955 E. 75th St., opened last fall as a largely neighborhood school with an International Baccalaureate program and a trade program. This fall, half of South Shore's admissions will be through selective enrollment. The rest of the school will continue to offer International Baccalaureate courses and trade programs. The CPS board will vote on the plan Wednesday. (Tribune)

CPS on Monday said it intends to renew contracts for the district's two largest food vendors, Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality and Preferred Meal Systems, less than two months after the resignation of an official accused of accepting improper gifts from the district's two largest food vendors.

Illinois students are one step closer to a mandatory recess break if one of state Sen. Kimberly Lightford’s (4th) bills, which passed the Senate May 10, becomes law. SB 636 would require schools to offer children in kindergarten through fifth grade an outside recess – weather permitting – of at least 20 minutes. (Austin Talks)

Chicago's public schools remain one of the most overlooked aspects of the city's architectural heritage. It's good to take a closer look now and then, which architecture critic Lee Bey does in this photo essay, posted on his WBEZ blog, "Beyond the Boat Tour."

IN THE NATION
The number of teachers in Wisconsin public schools fell 2.4 percent in 2012, continuing a sharp three-year decline that began in 2010. (Post Crescent)

A year after a tornado devastated the Missouri town of Joplin and killed 161 people, President Obama on Monday night addressed the graduating seniors of Joplin High School, telling them that their resilience in the face of disaster was an inspiration to people everywhere. Story also includes the full text of Obama's speech.

A record number of California school districts are facing bankruptcy, the state's superintendent of public instruction announced Monday. (Los Angeles Times)

School closing lawsuit goes to court this week

Rebecca Harris — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:43:24 -0500

UPDATE:A judge has put off until Friday his decision about whether a lawsuit against school closings and turnarounds will be able to proceed.

If it does, the case will be heard on May 30 and 31 rather than on Wednesday, as had previously been planned.

The lawsuit claims that school actions disproportionately affect the district's African-American students. It was dismissed in mid-March when a judge ruled council members did not have standing to file it, but was re-filed it with changes.

Last week, CPS lawyers asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit. CPS filed a rebuttal to council members stating that the suit "essentially asks this Court to ignore the unfortunate and undisputed facts that the schools they purport to represent have been failing for many years, and that something has to be done about it."

The district is arguing that the powers to impose school actions were given by the state Legislature, "and their exercise should not be derailed by a handful of individuals who fear change."

The district says that only 84 students will have to change schools due to this year's closings and turnarounds, and in the court papers filed Thursday, slammed school action opponents for "Chicken Little allegations of violence and crossing gang boundaries."

Price Elementary parent Krista Alston, a plaintiff in the suit, says that she is glad the judge "is taking his time and digeting everything that was presented to him."

The lawsuit had previously been dismissed, but was re-filed. It claims that CPS cannot close and turn around schools because it did not take adequate steps to help them get off probation, and that school actions have a negative impact on students who a disproportionately minority. CPS, in its response, pointed out the district's demographics.

"They are trying to say there is no disparate impact because all of our worst-performing schools are disproportionately minority," says Michael Persoon, an attorney for the parents who are suing to stop school closures and turnarounds. "That's an unfortunate argument to make."

In the News: Comer Youth Center gets a spotlight

Mon, 21 May 2012 08:11:50 -0500

Education reporting over the weekend was completely eclipsed by coverage of the NATO meeting in Chicago and the concurrent protests, but there was one bit of news involving students: first lady Michelle Obama showing off the Gary Comer Youth Center on the South Side to the spouses of heads of state.

Video from the Tribune.

Video from ABC 7 News.

IN THE STATE
The Springfield School District could see a significant drop in general state aid, which accounts for about 30 percent of its education fund budget, if a resolution passed this spring by the Illinois House is ultimately approved. (State Journal Register)

Parents organize to protect area schools

Sarah Karp — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:45:11 -0500

Logan Square parents and community activists held a rally Friday morning in front of Ames Middle School. After rumors circulated about plans to re-purpose the middle school, the group decided to form the Logan Square Schools Facilities Committee. CPS officials denied the rumors, but parents are still skeptical, says Maria Trejo, a Logan Square Neighborhood Association staff member who works inside Ames. The committee will come up with their own plan for how schools in the community should be used and hopes that CPS officials will vet proposals with them, she says.

Parents want to be proactive, rather than wait until they are fighting an already-announced school action, such as a closing or turnaround, says Bridget Murphy, an education organizer for the association. Parents are especially alarmed because of recent news that CPS plans to open 100 new schools in coming years, she says. Also, reacting to announcements about school closures or turnarounds does not seem to be a successful strategy with the current administration, she says. This past year, school officials did not reverse any plans for closures or turnarounds, despite strong community opposition.

Two members of CPS’ community and family engagement department attended the rally, but did not comment on the concerns of parents.

In the News: State to oversee N. Chicago's finances

Cassandra West — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:55:21 -0500

The Illinois Board of Education voted Thursday to put a five-member panel in charge of the troubled North Chicago school finances after the state schools chief described the school district's budgetary condition as a "train wreck."

On Thursday, the State Board of Education gave unanimous approval to establishing a financial oversight panel to control the district's spending. And, earlier this week, the state indicated plans to hire The Vallas Group, run by former Chicago schools chief Paul Vallas, to help improve low-performing districts, including North Chicago.

Students at Irma C. Ruiz Elementary School helped plant and water a new outdoor Learning Garden designed to encourage and teach students to develop healthier life habits on Thursday. The Learning Garden pilot program is part of a drive to promote a healthier Chicago and encourage students to make smart and balanced food choices. A $600,000 grant was directed to fund the program on behalf of The Kitchen Community (TKC), a Denver-based nonprofit organization focused on creating community through food. Six Chicago Public Schools are receiving Learning Gardens this month and next. The other schools are Benito Juarez Community Academy High School, Jonathan Burr Elementary School, Mildred I. Lavizzo Elementary School, Carter G. Woodson South Elementary School and Sir Miles Davis Magnet Elementary Academy.

IN THE NATION
Emerging research suggests that while the temptation to multitask may be pervasive, the ability to control it could be the real bellwether of academic success. (Education Week)

Teachers, pressured to better juggle disparate student needs, are finding that customized lessons help. (The Washington Post)

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said he doesn't understand why Florida passed a law requiring districts to continue offering free tutoring to students in struggling schools. (Education Week)

In the News: CPS plans to add 60 more charters

Cassandra West — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:36:20 -0500

Chicago Public Schools plans to add 60 more charter schools over five years, part of a larger proposal for 100 new schools over the same five years that is laid out in an application seeking $20 million for charter schools from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Tribune reports.

The Chicago Teachers Union emailed a registration form to media members who intend to cover its May 23 rally at the Auditorium Theatre. News organizations will be limited to three press passes for the CTU members-only event. When the auditorium reaches its capacity, people will be directed to an outdoor rally that will be held simultaneously at 431 S. Michigan Ave. in Grant Park.

Dyett High School on the South Side, one the 17 schools that the Chicago Board of Education to "phase out," held a combination of celebration, protest, and news conference on May 14 that also included a celebration of student art. One of Dyett's successes was a highly creative art program. (Substance News)

IN THE NATION
David Coleman, an architect of the common core curriculum standards, will take over the College Board in October, The New York Times reports. Coleman said one of his top priorities is to reshape the organization’s influential college-admissions test, the SAT, to better reflect the new standards.

In New York City public schools, a student’s educational outcomes and opportunity to learn are statistically more determined by where he or she lives than their abilities, according to "A Rotting Apple: Education Redlining in New York City," released by the Schott Foundation for Public Education.

The Clark County School District — the fifth largest in the nation and the largest public employer in Nevada — announced it will send pink slips to 1,015 teachers and literacy specialists next month, triggering the worst-case scenario in dealing with a $64 million budget shortfall. (Las Vegas Sun)

A study by researchers at John Hopkins University found that as many as 15 percent of U.S. students miss at least one school day in 10, and have gone undetected because of the way attendance is measured. Recent studies of children in New York, Chicago and other cities suggest that attendance may predict a student’s academic progress as effectively as test scores do. (NYT)

In the News: Voters side with CTU on school reform

Cassandra West — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:32:52 -0500

Chicago voters overwhelmingly back Mayor Rahm Emanuel's push to extend the school day, but far more of them side with the teachers union than the mayor on overall efforts to improve education, a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows.

Sizable majorities of Chicago residents as a whole (86 percent) and public school parents (92 percent) agreed with if teachers are going to teach longer hours, they should be paid more for it.

Chicago Teachers Union officials are calling Marc Wigler “a spy,’’ a “stool pigeon” and a “rat’’ following his April 24 ouster for life from the union for allegedly feeding a top Chicago Public Schools labor official information about an internal union meeting. Wigler was accused of sending CPS labor relations chief Rachel Resnick a 50-bullet-point email, detailing what CTU officials told union delegates during a special meeting the evening before, CTU officials say. Wigler, who earned $85,000 last year as a resource teacher working in multiple schools, declined to comment Tuesday. (Sun-Times)

Some parochial schools in Chicago will close because of the NATO summit May 20-21. But, Chicago Public School officials plan to hold classes at schools near McCormick Place. (ABC 7 News)

The State Board of Education has given preliminary approval to a nearly $1 million contract with the consulting firm that former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas heads. According to documents posted on the board's website, the contract would call for Vallas Group to work on "coordination of interventions in low-performing school districts."

Reading In Motion released the results from a study revealing that a combination of music-based curriculum, coaching of teachers and small-group instruction can raise the number of kindergarten students who are reading at grade level to 92 percent, compared to 63 percent without these components. The study involved six Chicago Public Schools and 550 students. In the first year, teachers got 63 percent of their students to grade level in reading, using their standard methods. The same teachers were able to get 92 percent of their students to grade level the following year with the use of Reading In Motion’s program which incorporates all three components – music, teacher support and small group instruction. (Press release)

IN THE NATION
Under a new pilot program, kindergartners could help put Georgia at the forefront of a growing movement to make student surveys part of how teachers are rated. Students in every grade will participate in the program, and, depending on its results, the state may incorporate the feedback into teacher evaluations as early as next year, when it will join other measures such as student test scores. (Washington Post)

As a response to the Department of Education’s $10 million funding cut to the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, advocates held a briefing on Capitol Hill Tuesday to defend the program’s strong track record and share data showcasing the program’s positive impact on underserved students. Founded in 1986, McNair prepares low-income, first-generation and minority undergraduates for careers in academia. (Press release)

The National Center for Education Statistics is rechecking data on about 5,000 high schools after faulty information from the federal agency led to erroneous rankings for the high schools on U.S. News & World Report's "Best High Schools" list. (Education Week)

In the News: Neighborhood group seeks to head off CPS

Cassandra West — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:33:12 -0500

The Logan Square Neighborhood Association is establishing the Logan Square School Facilities Council to make sure no closed-door decisions are made at the Board of Education about the future of Ames Middle School.

Three elementary schools currently feed into Ames (Mozart, McAuliffe and Nixon), but starting next year Mozart will keep its 7th graders, and 8th graders the following year. LSNA says this decision was made behind closed doors, without local principals or the network chief being made aware of the decision until it was a done deal. LSNA learned later, from the CPS website, that a public meeting was held March 12 regarding the decision, but the organization can find no one who was aware of this decision. LSNA is concerned that enrollment at Ames will drop, making way for a closing or co-location. (Academically, Ames is not at risk for turnaround or closing.) LSNA has a very strong history at Ames. The school was built as a result of an LSNA school overcrowding campaign in the mid-'90s. The LSCs of Ames and surrounding schools have all voted to endorse the Logan Square School Facilities Council.

Deborah Campbell, a 7th grade science teacher at Josephine Locke Elementary School in Chicago, left Monday to work with scientists studying the ecosystem in Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Georgia. She plans to incorporate this experience into her lessons to better engage students in the sciences. Through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Teacher at Sea program, Campbell is will spend11 days working on a ship, living the life of a field scientist. Campbell will be blogging about her voyage. You can read her posts here.

Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey filled in for union president Karen Lewis on FOX Chicago Sunday. A lot of the decision centered on teacher pay, a recent poll gauging teachers' willingness to strike, the union's reaction to school closures and the union's upcoming pep rally.

State education officials stepped up involvement in North Chicago public schools last month, announcing plans to replace the locally elected school board. (WBEZ)

IN THE NATION
Education Week is doing a special series on education advocacy groups and the influence these emerging interests are having over education policy and practice, particularly at the state and local levels. This week's content includes three stories, a video and an interactive game related to "The Changing Face of Education Advocacy." Read the entire series here.

"Degrees of Debt," a new series by The New York Times, examines the implications of soaring college costs and the indebtedness of students and their families.

It appears that DCPS is finally prepared to comply with the early retirement provision of the contract it signed with the Washington Teachers’ Union. The 2010 collective bargaining agreement says that teachers with good evaluations and 20 years of service who lose their jobs in the annual “excessing” process are eligible for early retirement with full benefits. (The Washington Post)

CTU: Poll shows members unhappy with contract proposal

Sarah Karp — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:25:46 -0500

In the ongoing battle between the Chicago Teachers Union and CPS over a new contract, CTU announced Friday that the first large-scale poll of its members found that more than 90 percent think the current proposal will "lower the quality of education in the city."

But CPS spokeswoman Becky Carroll fired back, accusing the CTU of putting out misleading information about the details of the proposal in an attempt to fire up the base. “If I were a CTU member, I would be disappointed,” she said.

The CTU also announced that it is planning a massive rally at 4:30 p.m. on May 23 at the Auditorium Theater. Once gathered, the group plans to march to district headquarters. The Board of Education holds its monthly meeting on May 23.

CTU delegates distributed the poll to members on Thursday. CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey said the union would not reveal how many of the 25,000 members took the poll, or release specific results for each of the four questions asked. He said the purpose of the poll was to “get a temperature” of how members feel and to see how the logistics of such a poll would work.

The poll did not ask the members whether they would vote to authorize a strike, though one of the questions was whether the union should reject the board proposal. After negotiations broke down, the CTU asked to call a fact-finding panel, which is now in the process of meeting. The fact-finding panel is one of the final steps of a lengthy, legally required pre-strike process set out in Illinois law. The fact-finding panel's report is scheduled to be completed on July 16.

Sharkey admits that the poll was designed to elicit specific “yes, no” answers to questions. He said the strongest reaction came to the question of whether members think the board’s proposal would harm students and lower the quality of education in schools.

Another question asked whether members think that CEO Jean-Claude Brizard should resign. Carroll called that question “unfortunate.”

Sharkey said the union is not releasing the poll results for the Brizard question. With the recent resignation announcement of the chief education officer, he said there’s already too much instability in the district.

Along with taking the poll, the union used the opportunity to present its summary of the board’s proposal. Carroll said many of the characterizations were inaccurate. On Thursday, CPS posted to its website its own fact sheet.

One example is that the union said CPS is offering a “one-time 2 percent raise with lanes and steps frozen; nothing in years 2, 3, 4 and 5 unless we agree to test-based merit pay and the elimination of lanes and steps.”

CPS negotiators have not included any proposal about a test-based merit pay system, Carroll said. Instead, the proposal is to have CPS and CTU come together next year to create a mutually agreed-upon compensation plan, she said.

Brizard has talked about a “differentiated compensation system” that would look at a number of factors, including student growth measures, she said.

Union delegates say they are having no problem convincing members that the board’s proposal is bad for them. Sue Garza, a union delegate at Addams Elementary School, said all 58 members at her school came to a meeting Thursday morning and they unanimously said CTU should reject the board’s proposal.

“We just want our job to be validated,” she said. “We feel disrespected.”