Denounce NPR for Slanted Anti-Karen Lewis Story

NPR JOINS THE CORPORATE MEDIA WITH ANTI-LABOR, AGENDA-SETTING TONE
Karen Lewis has been the union leader of the decade, as president, leading the Chicago Teachers Union on a new path of being a democratic union, made over from a bureaucratic bosses-dominated union, with an active, conscious rank and file.

Teachers union leaders can do well to emulate her in style and substance. Thousands of teachers across the nation are applauding her leadership, as she is a strong and eloquent voice against the education reformers [sic -actually deformers]. On web pages that have reported her comments or reprinted her speeches people have written comments such as God Bless Karen Lewis, or she deserves to be president of the American Federation of Teacher.

Thus it was quite disgusting to hear on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" reporter Claudio Sanchez starting a whispering campaign against her leadership, with one person questioning her effectiveness as a spokesperson. Huh??? Lewis is someone that is at once a thoughtful figure, scrutinizing the issues at stake in education today, the class dynamic at play in student performance, the commercializing machinations of education profiteers, yet she does so in an energetic, accessible manner.

So, where does he get off with his agenda-creating reportage? I have been impressed with his reportage in the past. But I will now be far more skeptical when listening to his reports, given his misrepresentative, selective, biased report on Karen Lewis' leadership. How many people did he or his staff speak with to come up with this agenda-setting closer to his story on the ending of the strike?

Call NPR and criticize this agenda-pushing report:
NPR Listener Care (202) 513-3232, Hours: 10am to 5 pm ET, Monday through Friday Or file an online complaint at this web page.

Here is the controversial closer to the story on "All Things Considered," tonight. Closing words set the tone for news articles or debates, so Sanchez is leaving listeners with a feeling that Lewis is a deficient leader.

SANCHEZ: When Lewis came on WBEZ Public Radio this morning to talk about the strike, teachers at Pierce Elementary hovered around an iPhone listening to the broadcast and Lewis' words carefully.

LEWIS: I think that people that really want to go back to work will be able to make the argument..

SANCHEZ: Bridget Fabianski says no matter how the union delegates vote this afternoon, its time for someone other than Lewis to speak for teachers.

BRIDGET FABIANSKI: She seems confrontational. Any parent that I've talked to says she's confrontational. But..

SANCHEZ: That's her nature.

FABIANSKI: Maybe that's her nature and she's the one who's going to get it done. Maybe it's a confrontational...

SANCHEZ: So this next phase might call for (unintelligible).

FABIANSKI: For a different spokesperson, for a different person to stand up and to represent us.

SANCHEZ: As union delegates gather to vote, Karen Lewis will once again be in the hot seat and have a chance to show whether she's the right leader at the right time.

Sanchez's story is disappointing reportage. I would expect labor-bashing reportage, reducing union stewardship to personality characterization from Fox News.

On the other hand, maybe he's just a national counterpart to WNYC's Brian Lehrer who has a questioning ear as an interview on many subjects, but uncritically echoes the deformer agenda, promoting charter schools. CHECKING BACK TO REALITY
As I wrote in an update to my last post, "Despite myths: Parents do support CTU strikers; School-day killings not up," an impressive crowd formed tonight as Lewis and the CTU announced the end of the strike:

Hundreds of parents stood by the Chicago Board of Education to support teachers, as the announcement was made that the Chicago Teachers Union was ending its strike of the Chicago Public Schools. This should put to rest the media and politician's arguments that parents did not support the striking teachers.

And I also indicated:

Chicago parents do support the strikers. This support is at higher levels in the African-American and Latino communities, communities representing 87 percent of Chicago's schoolchildren, and by more than 20 percentage points, the public blames [mayor] Rahm Emanuel and the school board more than they blame the Chicago Teachers Union for the strike.

It looks like Sanchez needs to do a better job reporting. When do we get a chance to give him a letter grade?

Then there's Audie Cornish, who introduced the piece. Daily Kos has a contribution from a few days ago, "NPR Audie Cornish - swings right," discussing her treatment of Mitt Romney's presidential candidacy.

Despite myths: Parents do support CTU strikers; School-day killings not up

UPDATE: Tuesday, Sep 18, 2012 | Updated 8:47 PM CDT from WMAQ NBC 5, Chicago
Hundreds of parents stood by the Chicago Board of Education to support teachers, as the announcement was made that the Chicago Teachers Union was ending its strike of the Chicago Public Schools. This should put to rest the media and politician's arguments that parents did not support the striking teachers.
* * *
As indicated at the blog Choosing Democracy, Chicago parents do support the strikers. This support is at higher levels in the African-American and Latino communities, communities representing 87 percent of Chicago's schoolchildren, and by more than 20 percentage points, the public blames [mayor] Rahm Emanuel and the school board more than they blame the Chicago Teachers Union for the strike.

Read the polls, or just the press accounts of parental support for the teachers, however, and you come away with an altogether different impression. A poll commissioned and released Thursday by Capitol Fax, an Illinois political report, of 1,344 registered Chicago voters found that fully 66 percent of parents with children in the public schools, and 55.5 percent of Chicagoans overall "approve the Chicago Teachers Union decision to go on strike." Among African Americans, strike support stood at 63 percent; among Latinos, 65 percent. (Roughly 80 percent of Chicago's schoolchildren are minority.)

So, who disapproved of the strike? A majority (52 percent) of parents with children in private schools, and a majority of whites (also 52 percent).

While most Chicagoans support the strike, a 48 percent plurality believes that a portion of a teacher's evaluation should be based on student performance on standardized tests. And when it comes to fingering who's responsible for the strike, 29 percent blame the Teachers Union while 34 percent blame the mayor and 19 percent the school board (meaning, 53 percent blame management). Among whites, the share blaming the union rises to 41 percent.

A caveat is in order before we subject these numbers to interpretation: Strikes that are three days old (which is when the poll was taken) are sure to have higher levels of support than strikes that have dragged on for three weeks or three months. That said, the racial gap in the polling, which overlaps the gap between parents with their kids in Chicago public schools and everyone else, is what leaps out.

Does the strike harm children, is it true that the “CTU strike is a clear and present danger”?
(See the full text of the Chicago city government's request for the injunction, Board of Education of the City of Chicago v. Chicago Teachers Union, as reported in the Chicago Tribune.) A law professor strongly doubts that the city can make the claim that the strike hurts children, as reported by Arturo Garcia, September 17, 2012, "Judge denies mayor’s injunction as Chicago teachers strike continues."

“There is the legal right to strike in Illinois,” said Andrea Kayne Kaufman, who teaches courses in human resources management and home, school and community relations at the university. “[To say] any strike harms children, I don’t think that’s going to be the theory that’s successful here.”

And when have the killings of the last been occurring? They do not represent killings among school age children who would otherwise have been in class. Rather, when looking at patterns that arise from Chicago killings chronicled daily at the blog What About Our Sons?, it appears that the killings are usually occurring outside of school hours and the vast majority of the killings are among people 18 to 29 years old.

And Emanuel's professed concern for public safety at the time of the strike is sort of inconsistent in contrast to his behavior in running off to Charlotte, North Carolina for the 2012 Democratic National Convention for a good part of the first week of September. Chicago's very high murder rate has been the top political story of the year, as Progress Illinois indicated late this summer in "What To Make Of The Chicago Murder Rate."

The homicide rate is probably the top political story in Chicago so far this year, with an approximately 30 percent citywide increase in murders between 2011 and 2012 and a succession of new pronouncements from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy on how they are responding to the issue.

Unfortunately, the solution is complicated in terms of what local political leaders and also specific Chicago communities can do regarding a problem that stirs much emotion. The Chicago homicide rate has, in fact, gone down, significantly and continually, over the last 20 years. However, citywide numbers do not provide a complete picture because of the enormous fluctuations in homicides between neighborhoods.

Addressing the homicide problem looks to be an issue of addressing social and economic segregation as much as any change in law enforcement tactics.

Lies, Damn Lies, and Homicide Statistics

The daily coverage of homicides, for example stories on the number of city murders reported over a weekend or over a month, can elide the larger citywide trend. According to Chicago Police Department crime data, there were 308 murders at the end of July putting Chicago on pace to have 528 homicides by the end of 2012.

This is a higher per capita murder rate than New York City and Los Angeles, which have each seen declines in homicides this year. And it would exceed the 440 murders Chicago recorded in 2011.

TIME TO READ A CONTRACT
Community members supported teachers, citing their right to read a contract before signing it. As reported September 17 in the Chicago Sun-Times:

At noon Monday, an angry, pro-union group composed of community and labor leaders, parents, students and academics — with striking teachers and social workers mixed in — staged a noisy demonstration outside Emanuel’s office.

They denounced Emanuel for asking a judge to order teachers back to work before they had exercised their legitimate right to read the fine print.

Sarah Johnson, a senior at Roosevelt High School, held up a piece of paper with the handwritten words, “Full Proposal,” then ripped it in half to signify the summary distributed to the CTU’s House of Delegates.

“They only got half of this to read. Is that right?” Johnson said, as the crowd shouted, “No!”

“I’m only 17 years old and I know that I will not sign a contract that I have not fully read yet or I have not even fully received,” Johnson said.

RAVITCH ON DIANE REHM SHOW (NPR): THE STRIKE HELPS CHILDREN

"I think the union has a vision of a school system that has the kind of resources where children get what they actually need."

Historic Karen Lewis Announcement of CTU Strike, 9/9/12 Press Conference

[Scroll to end for more on need for air conditioners.]

Click on the video at right for the complete Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis press conference announcement 10 PM Sunday night, September 9, 2012, of the strike of the Chicago Public Schools, to begin on Monday, September 10. Video is from NBC, WMAQ, Channel 5, uploaded at WBEZ Chicago.
NYC Eye's Full corrected press conference transcript:

"Negotiations have been intense but productive, however we have failed to reach an agreement that will prevent a labor strike. This is a difficult decision and one we hoped we could have avoided. Throughout these negotiations have I remained hopeful but determined. We must do things differently in this city if we are to provide our students with the education they so rightfully deserve.

“Talks have been productive in many areas. We have successfully won concessions for nursing mothers and have put more than 500 of our members back to work. We have restored some of the art, music, world language, technology and physical education classes to many of our students. The Board also agreed that we will now have textbooks on the first day of school rather than have our students and teachers wait up to six weeks before receiving instructional materials.

“Recognizing the Board’s fiscal woes, we are not far apart on compensation. However, we are apart on benefits. We want to maintain the existing health benefits.

“Another concern is our evaluation procedures. After the initial phase-in of this new evaluation system it could result almost 6,000 teachers (or nearly 30 percent of our members) being discharged within one or two years. This is unacceptable and leads to instability for our students. We are also concerned that too much of the new evaluations will be based on students’ standardized test scores. This is no way to measure teacher effectiveness at all.

Further, there are too many factors beyond our control which will impact how well some students perform on those standardized tests. Those factors include poverty which no one wants to talk about, exposure to violence which over this past summer we all know has increased exponentially, homelessness, hunger and other social issues beyond our control. Evaluate us on what we do, not the lives of our children that we do not control.

“We have talked seriously about job security. Job security is stability for our students. Despite a new curriculum and new, stringent evaluation system, CPS proposes no increase (or even a possible decreases) in teacher training. This is notable because our Union through our Quest Center is at the forefront teacher professional development in Illinois. We have been lauded by the District already and our colleagues across the country for our extensive teacher training programs that help emerging teachers strengthen their craft and increased the number of nationally board certified educators.

“We are demanding a reasonable timetable for the installation of air-conditioning in student classrooms--a sweltering, 98-degree classroom is not a productive learning environment for children. This type of environment is unacceptable for our members and all school personnel. A lack of climate control is unacceptable to our parents.

“As we continue to bargain in good faith, we stand in solidarity with parents, clergy and community-based organizations who are advocating for smaller class sizes, a better school day and an elected school board. Class size matters. It matters to parents. In the third largest school district in Illinois there are only 370 social workers -—putting their caseloads at over 1,000 students each. We join them in their call for more social workers, counselors, audio/visual and hearing technicians and school nurses. Our children are exposed to unprecedented levels of neighborhood violence and other social issues, so the fight for wrap-around services is critically important to all of us. Our members will continue to support this groundswell of parent activism and grassroots engagement on these issues. And we hope the Board will not shut these voices out.

“And while new Illinois law prohibits us from striking over the recall of laid-off teachers and compensation for a longer school year, we do not intend to sign an agreement until of the matters of our contract are addressed.

“Again, we are committed to staying at the table until a contract is place. However, in the morning no CTU member will be inside our schools. We will walk the picket lines. We will talk to parents. We will talk to clergy. We demand a fair contract today, we demand a fair contract now. And, until there is one in place that our members will accept, we will be on the line.

“We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters throughout the state and the country who are currently bargaining for their own fair contracts. Most people don't understand, it is not just Chicago it is file intent to strike. Let's be clear --in Illinois we have at least five AFT locals and twelve IEA locals.

“This announcement is made now so our parents and community are empowered with this knowledge and will know that schools --real schools-- will not open tomorrow. Please seek alternative care for your children. And, we ask all of you to join us in our education justice fight—for a fair contract—and call on the mayor and CEO Brizard to settle this matter now. Thank you.”



And for the need for air conditioners for the students and their teachers --remember, everything is being measured: From the New York Times:

Unfortunately, studies by Shin-ichi Tanabe, a professor of architecture at Waseda University in Tokyo who has long been interested in “thermal comfort,” found that while workers tolerated dimmer light just fine, every degree rise in temperature above 25 Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) resulted in a 2 percent drop in productivity. Over the course of the day that meant they accomplished 30 minutes less work, he said.

Other studies have found that with office temperatures between 82 and 86 degrees, symptoms like headache, drowsiness and difficulty concentrating increase, which may explain the drop in performance.

Worse still, perhaps, Mr. Tanabe calculated that the suffering was all for naught: When offices were kept above about 82 degrees, so many people were using inefficient fans at their desks that the total electricity consumption could be higher than if the building had been better cooled. “That’s just stupid,” he said.

Ravitch: Emanuel Cites Parent Effect on Children's Behavior But Not Their School Performance -Commenters Ask: What Other Profession Demands Perfection?

From Diane Ravitch.net:
What Does Rahm Emanuel Believe? & following Ravitch's post from 9/10, a still timely post from a monthly ago Why Won’t Rahm Talk to Parents?

What Does Rahm Emanuel Believe?, September 10, 2012

When [Chicago] Mayor Rahm Emanuel is talking about youth crime, he assigns responsibility to parents and families for the values and attitudes and behavior of what he calls “gang bangers.”

When he talks about schools, however, he forgets that parents and families have any influence on how students behave and the effort they are willing to expend on their studies. All of a sudden, teachers alone control test scores, no one else.

Categories Chicago, Emanuel, Rahm

Comment
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Linda
September 10, 2012 at 6:34 pm
And what exactly is Rahm responsible for? When is he held accountable? What does he do every day besides shoot his mouth off and blame others for his failings? Despicable human being!
teachingeconomist
September 10, 2012 at 9:57 pm
When he is up for reelection?
Teacher111
September 10, 2012 at 6:47 pm
Exactly! Everyone does that. We see kids do something crazy (like the Jacksonville, FL high school kids who “flash trashed” a Walmart) and you see comments very critical of their families. However, if negative test score data is released on these same kids the next day, all of the blame would fall on the teachers.

ME
September 10, 2012 at 7:19 pm
What’s the best way to move a child out of poverty?

Provide their family with a middle class job, something politicians have not been able to do for the last many decades.

The data speaks very clearly – our middle and upper class kids perform exceedingly well in multiple measures across their schooling career. The nagging problem is that we have more children in poverty now than we ever have – an inexcusable 25%.

As politicians have outsourced our middle class jobs to cheaper labor over seas, our child poverty rates have skyrocketed – more than doubling – since the 60′s. And then we wonder why our students can’t perform?

Quit placing the destiny of this country and its children on the backs of our schools and teachers and place the focus where it ought to be – the family unit. The number of female, single-headed families is astonishing, especially the rise of them since the 60′s. Female, single-headed families are 5 times more likely to be poverty stricken and send their kids to school a couple of grades behind.

And what do you mean “ultimately fail the teachers”? We’ve already done that as the modal teacher experience across the nation has dipped from the 15 year mark in the late 80′s to the 1 year mark at the present time. We lose 50% of our teachers within their rist five years because of people that blame them for why a kid can’t get a job, make it through college, or read or write.

Do you call having more 1st year teachers “championing for kids”?

Carrie
September 11, 2012 at 3:33 am
It’s not what he says, it’s what he does.

Here is an excellent summary of what he’s done during the bit more than a year he has been in office. From the blog, Mayorial Tutorial.

“While you are digesting the fact that the very concept of unionized public service is under attack, that our “free” public education system is grossly underfunded and that education does not respond like a business and cannot/should not be treated like business or a market; know that there are people who champions of a world view that does all of the above. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is one of them. … The Mayor’s point of reflection is that teachers are just workers not civil servants. This makes them obstacles to be overcome not crucial to the functioning of a civil society.

As a result everything the Mayor has done since taking office has been designed to eliminate them from the field of play and to demonstrate to them that they are powerless. He took their 4% raise. He just broke the agreement and stole the money from them. He marshaled out of state help and jammed SB7 down their throats, just like famous weasel Jonah Edelmen said in public on tape. He launched an aggressive campaign of charter expansion, teacher firings across the system via a growing number of Broad Academy-trained principals using redefinition to eliminate problematic and tenured teachers while putting in place “value-added” schemes and turnaround schools at a clip that would shame Richard M. Daley.
His aggression was calculated to show all the unions that the biggest union in the city was powerless to contend with him. The message was simple enough… get on the bus or get run over by it because if he can do this to teachers, firefighters and police officers had better believe that they, not even being able to strike, would be treated to deals only marginally better because at present the public doesn’t believe they should be privatized… but give our neo-liberal friends time and it could happen right here in America soon enough.”
http://mayoraltutorial.com/articles/a_striking_context_rahm_vs._the_ctu [Don Washington's] mayoraltutorial.com

Ari H. Steinfeld
September 10, 2012 at 7:27 pm
This will become the center of education debate and the focal point for real change. God Bless Karen God Bless the C.T.U. and the members of the C.T.U. who are making tremendous sacrifice for the sake of our nation, and our nations core values. Barack Obama, Arnie Duncan, and Rahm Emmanuel should be listening to this and asking one question. How are my policies going to benefit the core values which I profess to believe in? It is time for all children to have the quality education and support services they need to be the best people they can be, and to stop playing a blame game. Our support of politicians with dubious qualifications and ideals should stop. Stop playing politics and support education properly.

mike
September 10, 2012 at 7:33 pm
This reminds me of an excellent editorial written by a teacher some years ago…
http://www.examiner.com/article/in-what-other-profession

“If that entire attitude weren’t bad enough, what other profession is legally held to PERFECTION by 2014? Are police required to eliminate all crime? Are firefighters required to eliminate all fires? Are doctors required to cure all patients? Are lawyers required to win all cases? Are coaches required to win all games? Of course they aren’t.

For no other profession do so many outsiders refuse to accept the realities of an imperfect world. Crime happens. Fire happens. Illness happens. As for lawyers and coaches, where there’s a winner there must also be a loser. People accept all these realities, until they apply to public education.

If a poverty-stricken, drug-addled meth-cooker burns down his house, suffers third degree burns, and then goes to jail; we don’t blame the police, fire department, doctors, and defense attorneys for his predicament. But if that kid doesn’t graduate high school, it’s clearly the teacher’s fault.”

lellingw
September 10, 2012 at 8:33 pm
Are the parents responsible? Maybe some are, but the level of poverty in parts of Chicago and the lack of jobs is a huge problem that parents can’t resolve by themselves. When is the US going to get real about employment and work?

Reply
Carrie
September 11, 2012 at 3:44 am
31% of Chicago children live in poverty, 10,000 are homeless. The homeless children and parents must change shelters every 6 months. Think of the added hardship for them, because they often have to change schools, too.

For original Diane Ravitch post: What Does Rahm Emanuel Believe?, September 10, 2012

= = = = = = = = =
Why Won’t Rahm Talk to Parents?August 6, 2012

This parent activist in Chicago says that parents have good ideas about how to improve the schools but Mayor Rahm Emanuel won’t meet with them.

Parents in New York City say the same about Mayor Bloomberg.

Why won’t the mayor listen to the most informed and most committed stakeholders of all? Not the business community, not the entrepreneurs, but the parents of the children?

It would cost more than the city has which is a nearly 1 billion dollar deficit! Parent groups have proposed plans that would increase art and gym, support after school programs and allow more opportunity for hands-on learning, but CPS and the mayor emphatically refuse to discuss the future of our children’s education with parents. Rahm’s only solution is to impose a longer school day with no additional funding and essentially let schools try to figure out how to make it work, while secretly hoping schools fail so he can close them and create more charters.

Comments

Linda
August 6, 2012 at 9:26 am
It is ironic that they are all about student and parent choice and lettting them vote with their feet. Create good schools and the parents will flock to them. Until the schools they want are their local neighborhood public schools.

And for all of their talk about choice, when the parents choose to talk to their mayors they run and hide.

Rahm, I thought you were so tough….you can’t meet with a few Chicago moms? And I will quote you in reference to the Chick Fil A fiasco: “These are not Chicago values.”

Neither is swearing at people, degrading teachers and refusing to speak to your constituents, Mayor Emanuel. Toughen up…walk the walk.

Teacher111
August 6, 2012 at 5:15 pm
So much for that “parent empowerment” stuff these politicians speak about all of the time.

Teacher111
August 6, 2012 at 5:17 pm
These politicians seem to be following the conservative education policy line. If they truly believe that parents are the most important and the most informed people in regards to educational decisions, then they need to listen to them

Linda
August 6, 2012 at 5:21 pm
They are only for parents when they can turn them against public schools and public school teachers. Once they disagree or question, they aren’t that interested anymore.

Reply
John Foster
August 7, 2012 at 8:28 am
Well, I’m not surprised by this. If Emanuel, and Bloomberg and LA’s mayor all seized control of the schools and eliminated the elected school boards—which they did—then why would they want to hear what parents have to say?

Wouldn’t parents be yet one more “obstacle” in their plans to turn our schools into “investment opportunities” for their hedge fund and Wall Street buddies?

The only parents these miscreants want to deal with are those who have been bought off or brainwashed—I used to be part of the latter group. Parents who question their decisions will be ignored, until they (hopefully) go away.

Message To The Mayors: We parents aren’t going anywhere. And we WILL remember…

For original Diane Ravitch post: Why Won’t Rahm Talk to Parents?

BREAKING: STRIKE IS ON!: Live Blogging the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) Strike

UPDATE: CTU PRESIDENT OUTLINES THE ISSUES THAT THE CPS REFUSES TO COOPERATE ON, ISSUES DEALING WITH THE SCHOOLS THAT CHICAGO'S SCHOOLCHILDREN DESERVE -
READ RUSH TRANSCRIPT BELOW -
CPS PRES. DAVID VITALE TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS -
GLORIA STEINEM TO WEAR RED IN SOLIDARITY WITH CHICAGO TEACHERS -
FULL CTU PRESS RELEASE ANNOUNCING CPS' FAILURE TO PREVENT STRIKE

The eyes of the world (doubt it?, just check with the UK Guardian of Manchester, which again said this today) are on Chicago, to see if the Chicago Teachers Union strikes.

Tune into Chicago radio stations at 10:00 PM (CDT) / 8:00 (PDT) / 9:00 (MDT) / 11:00 PM (EDT) to hear news conference of Karen Lewis, president of Chicago Teachers Union (CTU).

YOU CAN PICK UP CHICAGO STATIONS ON CLEAR CHANNEL STATIONS:
Clear channel (not to be confused with the commercial network) radio stations, accessible over the air far from Chicago (This is useful for the greater Midwest. Listeners in the Northeast will have to get a live stream online):
WSCR - 670 - Sports (CBS affiliate, Fox Sports, Yahoo sports)
WGN - 720 - News/Talk/Sports (Tribune, also owners of the Chicago newspaper)
WBBM - 780 - 24 hour News (CBS affiliate)
WLS - 890 - News/Talk (ABC affiliate)
WMVP - 1000 - Sports (Disney, ESPN Radio)

You can pick up a live stream from WBBM, Chicago's CBS news radio station. 780 AM and 105.9 FM.

NYC Eye's full corrected transcript of President Lewis' press conference:

"Negotiations have been intense but productive, however we have failed to reach an agreement that will prevent a labor strike. This is a difficult decision and one we hoped we could have avoided. Throughout these negotiations have I remained hopeful but determined. We must do things differently in this city if we are to provide our students with the education they so rightfully deserve.

“Talks have been productive in many areas. We have successfully won concessions for nursing mothers and have put more than 500 of our members back to work. We have restored some of the art, music, world language, technology and physical education classes to many of our students. The Board also agreed that we will now have textbooks on the first day of school rather than have our students and teachers wait up to six weeks before receiving instructional materials.

“Recognizing the Board’s fiscal woes, we are not far apart on compensation. However, we are apart on benefits. We want to maintain the existing health benefits.

“Another concern is our evaluation procedures. After the initial phase-in of this new evaluation system it could result almost 6,000 teachers (or nearly 30 percent of our members) being discharged within one or two years. This is unacceptable and leads to instability for our students. We are also concerned that too much of the new evaluations will be based on students’ standardized test scores. This is no way to measure teacher effectiveness at all.

Further, there are too many factors beyond our control which will impact how well some students perform on those standardized tests. Those factors include poverty which no one wants to talk about, exposure to violence which over this past summer we all know has increased exponentially, homelessness, hunger and other social issues beyond our control. Evaluate us on what we do, not the lives of our children that we do not control.

“We have talked seriously about job security. Job security is stability for our students. Despite a new curriculum and new, stringent evaluation system, CPS proposes no increase (or even a possible decreases) in teacher training. This is notable because our Union through our Quest Center is at the forefront teacher professional development in Illinois. We have been lauded by the District already and our colleagues across the country for our extensive teacher training programs that help emerging teachers strengthen their craft and increased the number of nationally board certified educators.

“We are demanding a reasonable timetable for the installation of air-conditioning in student classrooms--a sweltering, 98-degree classroom is not a productive learning environment for children. This type of environment is unacceptable for our members and all school personnel. A lack of climate control is unacceptable to our parents.

“As we continue to bargain in good faith, we stand in solidarity with parents, clergy and community-based organizations who are advocating for smaller class sizes, a better school day and an elected school board. Class size matters. It matters to parents. In the third largest school district in Illinois there are only 370 social workers -—putting their caseloads at over 1,000 students each. We join them in their call for more social workers, counselors, audio/visual and hearing technicians and school nurses. Our children are exposed to unprecedented levels of neighborhood violence and other social issues, so the fight for wrap-around services is critically important to all of us. Our members will continue to support this groundswell of parent activism and grassroots engagement on these issues. And we hope the Board will not shut these voices out.

“And while new Illinois law prohibits us from striking over the recall of laid-off teachers and compensation for a longer school year, we do not intend to sign an agreement until of the matters of our contract are addressed.

“Again, we are committed to staying at the table until a contract is place. However, in the morning no CTU member will be inside our schools. We will walk the picket lines. We will talk to parents. We will talk to clergy. We demand a fair contract today, we demand a fair contract now. And, until there is one in place that our members will accept, we will be on the line.

“We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters throughout the state and the country who are currently bargaining for their own fair contracts. Most people don't understand, it is not just Chicago it is file intent to strike. Let's be clear --in Illinois we have at least five AFT locals and twelve IEA locals.

“This announcement is made now so our parents and community are empowered with this knowledge and will know that schools --real schools-- will not open tomorrow. Please seek alternative care for your children. And, we ask all of you to join us in our education justice fight—for a fair contract—and call on the mayor and CEO Brizard to settle this matter now. Thank you.”

CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey then took questions.

David Vitale, just on WBBM, says impasse continues. Says that CPS has offered all that city can offer, pending budget constraints. Says latest, best offer, 3 % in year one (COLA + increase). On merit pay, city not proposing merit pay.
Have retained the steps that will give more pay to experienced teachers.
Have retained lanes. (????)
Will continue 7 % employee pension contribution.
Health care: rates for singles, couples, unchanged; CPS proposing more equity between singles, couples. Have taken wellness program off the table.
Sick days. Employees will retain sick day banks. Offering free disability program.
On layoff and recall area, and regarding school consolidations, teachers will follow students to the new positions.
Teachers will have the right to recall positions.
Teachers losing positions in school closing will go to a reassigned teacher pool. Will have to apply for jobs. Will get preference. Principals will have to explain if they reject applicants.
Will go to a single calendar, replacing the two calendar; proposing CTU contribute.
On teacher evaluation, will not use high-stakes tests. Will only be used to evaluate, to improve teachers.
Full proposal on the table is online at CPS site.

CTU website reports that writer, publisher Gloria Steinem will wear red in solidarity with striking Chicago Teacher Union members.

Gloria Steinem, Co-Founder of the Women’s Media Center, released the following statement this evening:

“Tonight, I proudly wear a red t-shirt in support of the Chicago Teachers Union strike. They have been forced to strike – for the first time in 25 years – by the false economy of firing and penalizing the experienced teachers most needed by the students and by new teachers; by lengthening the school day as warehousing without educational services, healthy school buildings, and paid teachers; by what they have the knowledge to call the “apartheid-like system” of differential discipline policies; and by what seems to be a national tactic of demonizing teachers in order to turn public schools into corporate profit centers.

“For instance, three years ago, a Stanford Study found that ‘students in charter schools are not faring as well as students in traditional public school.’ I’m glad to see that in a recent poll, twice as many Chicagoans trusted the Chicago Teachers Union, not the Mayor, when it comes to public education.

“As an 87% female workforce, and one that is nearly half African American and Latino, the Chicago Teachers Union know what their students need. This is why this country needs unions, collective bargaining, and mayors who recognize, honor and fairly pay the people our children know – and who know our children.” Steinem continued, "I join my colleagues at The Women's Media Center, in calling on the media to ensure that women are part of this story — as teachers, parents, union members, and as journalists.”

The CTU website also published a detailed statement echoing president Lewis' press conference statement.

Press Release: CPS Fails To Negotiate Fair Contract To Prevent First Strike In 25 Years
09/09/2012

More than 29,000 teachers and education professionals will not report to work today 9/10

CHICAGO— After hours of intense negotiations, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) have failed to reach an agreement that will prevent the first teachers strike in 25 years. Pickets are expected to begin Monday at 675 schools and the Board of Education as early as 6:30 a.m. Teachers, paraprofessionals and school clinicians have been without a labor agreement since June of this year.

Union leaders expressed disappointment in the District’s refusal to concede on issues involving compensation, job security and resources for their students. CTU President Karen Lewis said, “Negotiations have been intense but productive, however we have failed to reach an agreement that will prevent a labor strike. This is a difficult decision and one we hoped we could avoid. Throughout these negotiations have I remained hopeful but determined. We must do things differently in this city if we are to provide our students with the education they so rightfully deserve.

“Talks have been productive in many areas. We have successfully won concessions for nursing mothers and have put more than 500 of our members back to work. We have restored some of the art, music, world language, technology and physical education classes to many of our students. The Board also agreed that we will now have textbooks on the first day of school rather than have our students and teachers wait up to six weeks before receiving instructional materials.

“Recognizing the Board’s fiscal woes, we are not far apart on compensation. However, we are apart on benefits. We want to maintain the existing health benefits.

“Another concern is evaluation procedures. After the initial phase-in of the new evaluation system it could result in 6,000 teachers (or nearly 30 percent of our members) being discharged within one or two years. This is unacceptable. We are also concerned that too much of the new evaluations will be based on students’ standardized test scores. This is no way to measure the effectiveness of an educator. Further there are too many factors beyond our control which impact how well some students perform on standardized tests such as poverty, exposure to violence, homelessness, hunger and other social issues beyond our control.

“We want job security. Despite a new curriculum and new, stringent evaluation system, CPS proposes no increase (or even decreases) in teacher training. This is notable because our Union through our Quest Center is at the forefront teacher professional development in Illinois. We have been lauded by the District and our colleagues across the country for our extensive teacher training programs that helped emerging teachers strengthen their craft and increased the number of nationally board certified educators.

“We are demanding a reasonable timetable for the installation of air-conditioning in student classrooms--a sweltering, 98-degree classroom is not a productive learning environment for children. This type of environment is unacceptable for our members and all school personnel. A lack of climate control is unacceptable to our parents.

“As we continue to bargain in good faith, we stand in solidarity with parents, clergy and community-based organizations who are advocating for smaller class sizes, a better school day and an elected school board. Class size matters. It matters to parents. In the third largest school district in Illinois there are only 350 social workers—putting their caseloads at nearly 1,000 students each. We join them in their call for more social workers, counselors, audio/visual and hearing technicians and school nurses. Our children are exposed to unprecedented levels of neighborhood violence and other social issues, so the fight for wraparound services is critically important to all of us. Our members will continue to support this ground swell of parent activism and grassroots engagement on these issues. And we hope the Board will not shut these voices out.

“While new Illinois law prohibits us from striking over the recall of laid-off teachers and compensation for a longer school year, we do not intend to sign an agreement until these matters are addressed.

“Again, we are committed to staying at the table until a contract is place. However, in the morning no CTU member will be inside our schools. We will walk the picket lines. We will talk to parents. We will talk to clergy. We will talk to the community. We will talk to anyone who will listen—we demand a fair contract today, we demand a fair contract now. And, until there is one in place that our members accept, we will on the line.

“We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters throughout the state and country who are currently bargaining for their own fair contracts. We stand with those who have already declared they too are prepared to strike, in the best interests of their students.”

“This announcement is made now so our parents and community are empowered with this knowledge and will know that schools will not open on tomorrow. Please seek alternative care for your children. And, we ask all of you to join us in our education justice fight—for a fair contract—and call on the mayor and CEO Brizard to settle this matter now. Thank you.”

###
The union is not on strike over matters governed exclusively by IELRA Section 4.5 and 12(b).

The Chicago Teachers Union represents 30,000 teachers and educational support personnel working in the Chicago Public Schools, and by extension, the more than 400,000 students and families they serve. The CTU is an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Federation of Teachers and is the third largest teachers local in the United States and the largest local union in Illinois. For more information please visit CTU’s website at www.ctunet.com

[WBBM initially reported at 9:28 PM (CDT) that there would be no strike tomorrow because it would require house of delegates meeting and they were not convening then.]

Click to my previous blogpost for the Sun-Times' publishing of Chicago Public Schools' advice guide to replacement workers / scabs.

[UPDATED links] CTUTV 24 Min. Video: Chicago Teachers Union vs. Astroturf Billionaries

Powerful 24 min video, "Chicago Teachers Union Vs. Astroturf Billionaires," produced by Chicago Teachers Union on astroturf billionaires' thorough campaign vs. education and Chicago teachers was released by CTUTV yesterday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxVYFm2g9CM&feature=player_embedded#!.
Short address: http://youtu.be/IxVYFm2g9CM
(CTUTV1 YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/CTUTV1)

The video includes extensive statements by activists, present and former CTU leaders, as well as revealing video statements by the conservative and neoliberal astroturf engineers of education "reform" in Chicago.


(Links on the type lead to expose sites on these right-wing astroturf groups.)

It cites the role of the Dick DeVos (the regional level Gates/Koch Bros engines for education deform) the scion of Richard DeVos, Amway billionaire in backing the:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy -Michigan based,
and the Education Action Group (EAG) -Michigan based, headed by Kyle Olson
Stand for Children -and this piece too. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) gave them a [giving] "standards not met" rating. [sic, should be called Stand on Children]

The video cites Democratic mayor Rahm Emanuel and Democrats for Education Reform (DFER). Read the truth of DFER here, here, here and here.

From a more inspiring perspective, the video includes information on how the CTU built grassroots support that culminated in the 90 percent vote for a strike authorization. Also, it includes a long statement by a parent ally of the CTU.

Chicago Parents Urge Streep Avoid Parent Trigger Movie Event

As one Chicago parents group's blog (Parents United for Responsible Education: Building powerful public school parents and communities) notes, the education deform / privatization forces are in full propaganda war mode as they push the pro-parent trigger movie, "Won't Back Down." Parents United for Responsible Education publicized the letter it sent to acclaimed actress Meryl Streep, asking her to avoid a promo "Teachers Rock" subterfuge event for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) promoted film.

NYC Eye asks other progressive pro-student, pro-parent, pro-teachers to likewise petition Streep and other Hollywood media heavies to distance themselves from or renounce the mean undertoned "Won't Back Down."

Immediately after this letter I have posted contact information for personalities connected to the "Won't Back Down" film.

PURE's letter's text appears below:

Dear Meryl

August 10th, 2012

Ms. Meryl Streep

c/o Leslee Dart

Dart Group

sent by facsimile

212 277 7550



If you really appreciate teachers, please pull out of

phony “Teachers Rock” event promoting

the themes of the “Won’t Back Down” movie:

public school privatization and wholesale teacher firing



Dear Ms Streep:

I am writing to ask you to reconsider your participation in the “Teachers Rock” event next week. As parents, we are concerned that this event is part of a larger propaganda campaign to force privatization on public schools. The movie, “Won’t Back Down,” is just the latest and most intensive move in this effort.

While we have been unable to view the entire movie, we have seen the trailer and read promotional stories that are already being published. We also know that the producer, Walden Media and Philip Anschutz, were behind the “Waiting for Superman” documentary whose one-sided and often misleading content created a great deal of controversy among those of us who strongly support our nation’s teachers. Even Roger Ebert eventually rethought his positive “Superman” review.

“Won’t Back Down” is poised to be equally if not more controversial because it claims to be “based on real events” about the “parent trigger law” which allows parents to sign petitions to close their school and turn it into a charter school.

As an active and informed parent, I know that parent empowerment is not the real agenda behind this so-called parent trigger law. It was in fact written by the head of a charter management company which initiated the first parent trigger campaign. The law was taken up by ALEC and has been pushed in a number of other states with generous financial backing of the Walton Foundation (which is sponsoring “Teacher Rocks”) and other corporate school reform funders.

Our small Chicago organization and a larger network with which we are affiliated, Parents Across America, are working to get out the truth about “Won’t Back Down.” We can’t afford to put on a big show or produce a Hollywood movie to make our voices heard, but we do hope you will listen to us. You can find more information about this issue on our web sites, www.pureparents,org and www.parentsacrtossamerica.org.

Thank you so much for your attention.

Best wishes,

Julie Woestehoff

Executive Director

PURE's previous post:

Time to tweet some stars about the Won’t Back Down movie

August 10th, 2012
The propaganda campaign for the parent trigger law created by charter school operators and promoted by ALEC is in full swing.

The big kick-off event is a concert called “Teachers Rock.” Like the “parent tricker” itself, this concert pretends to honor teachers while promoting a movie, “Won’t Back Down,” that is designed to get a lot of them fired and replaced by Teach for America newbies.

The concert will take place this Tuesday, Aug, 14th, at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. CBS will air a one-hour special using footage from the concert and the WBD movie, tributes to teachers from stars, etc. on Friday, Aug. 17th, at 8 pm EDT.

We know that most of the performers, like the actors in the movie, don’t have a clue how they are being used to promote school privatization in the guise of parent empowerment, but this concert and WBD movie are going to put the issue front and center and we need to make sure that our voices are heard.

Here’s what you can do:

PAA and I have written about the Won’t Back Down movie before, but if you don’t remember details, take a few moments to read PAA’s review of the WBD movie trailer (which is all we have been able to see so far – we are requesting a screening) and fact sheet on the WBD movie.

Then reach out to everyone you can about this movie and concert. This movie is designed to be even more powerful than Waiting for Superman, and we need to counter it with every thing we have. How do you fight Hollywood? Make the movie controversial, not feel-good. Take it to the stars who mean well but need to open their eyes to what they are doing. Everyone needs to write to CBS, too.

Everyone wants to write to a star, right? A list of contact info for a few of those involved in the Teachers Rock concert follows (gleaned from posters on Diane Ravitch’s blog). The easiest thing to do is to facebook and tweet them, keeping on mind that they are not the enemy. Post your thoughts on their facebook pages, twitter feeds, use their e-mails, write to their publicist! This is the big one and we need all hands on board!

I’ll post my letter the Meryl Streep next.

Here are a few message points:

*The Won’t Back Down movie and the 8/17 Teacher Rocks concert are propaganda for the parent trigger law created by charter school operators and promoted by ALEC.
*Won”t Back Down is a “feel-bad” movie for parents and teachers who support public education.
*The controversial WBD movie promotes charter takeovers of schools, yet charter schools are no better than our regular schools.
*No real teachers were depicted in the filming of the WBD movie.
*Parents won’t be fooled by the “Parent Tricker” or the Won’t Back Down movie.

Teachers Rock performers:
1. Dave Grohl: Manager-Gabby at 323-856-8222
2. Adam Levine: Receptionist will take message at 310-776-7640
3. Jack Black: email to sjackson_asst@WMEentertainment.com
4. Meryl Streep: publicist’s voice mail at 212-277-7555
5. Viola Davis: email to ewolff@apanewyork.com
6. Morgan Freeman: email to stan@sra-pr.com

More:
1. Dave Grohl – Foo Fighters – Agent: Don Muller – WME 1325 Avenue Of The Americas, New York, NY 10019 T.212.586.5100 F.212.246.3583
2. Adam Levine – Maroon 5 singer – Manger: Career Artist Management – 1100 Glendon Avenue, Suite 1100 | Los Angeles, CA 90024 | 310.776.7640 (p) | 310.776.7659 (f)
3. Jack Black – Agent: WME 1325 Avenue Of The Americas, New York, NY 10019 T.212.586.5100 F.212.246.3583
4. Meryl Streep – Publicist: Leslee Dart. Dart Group. 90 Park Avenue. 19th Floor. New York, NY 10016. Phone: 212-277-7555.
5. Viola Davis – Agent: Agency for the Performing Arts (APA) 45 West 45th St. 4th floor, New York, NY 10036 T. 212.687.0092 F. 212.245.5062
6. Morgan Freeman – Publicist: Stan Rosenfield & Associates, Inc., 2029 Century Park E., Suite 1190, Los Angeles, CA 90067, USA. Phone: (310) 286-7474, Fax: (310) 286-2255.
7. Josh Groban
8. Maggie Gyllenhaal (last, but not least)