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| CTU President Karen Lewis |
Wednesday evening the Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates will decide whether or not they will accept the tentative agreement -- the “not perfect” one that was hammered out in the wee hours of the morning last Tuesday. While the agreement did prevent a repeat of the strike of 2102, it also left Chicago teachers with, if not a less perfect agreement, but one that leaves them open to future problems, with its two-tiered pension structure, for existing and new teachers, albeit one that is evened out with progressive raises.
Set against a background of acrimony from Mayor Rahm Emanuel still stinging from 2012, the lessons he learned from that time proved to give him more ammunition, and firepower as he and school CEO Forrest Claypool fired off salvos, soto voice, and warning signals with layoffs, that the teachers had to sacrifice, and that anything less would result in total chaos for parents in the nation’s third largest school system. The scapegoating and psychological assault were game on for the sharp-elbowed second term Emanuel.
While CTU can claim a victory in securing $87 million dollars from the TIF surplus, there was a palimpsest, to the proceedings when it was revealed that the 2017 city budget had a line item for exactly that amount, well in advance of the “concession.”
In a game of chicken, or almost chicken, the politicization of education has become part of the package in the city’s economic woes as it attempts to battle both the budget and win the war, in one that has been largely mismanaged for decades by previous mayors, who all but dissolved, goodwill, and good city management, at will, depending on the situation.
As those on the left wrote: “Emanuel and Rauner thought their tough-guy routine would get the teachers to cave. But Emanuel was the one who blinked first — and moreover, he’ll have to dip into his slush fund of siphoned-off tax revenue, destined for his developer pals, in order to meet the teachers’ demands,” noted the socialist press.
Yet, that item was there all along noted The Chicago Sun Times, who reported this: “Emanuel’s 2017 budget book, printed days before that deadline, included this line: “The 2017 declared TIF surplus of $175 million provides $87 million to Chicago Public Schools and $40.5 million to the city of Chicago.” That means Emanuel kept teachers and parents guessing until the very end, knowing full well the price he was prepared to pay to avert a strike.
Set against a background of acrimony from Mayor Rahm Emanuel still stinging from 2012, the lessons he learned from that time proved to give him more ammunition, and firepower as he and school CEO Forrest Claypool fired off salvos, soto voice, and warning signals with layoffs, that the teachers had to sacrifice, and that anything less would result in total chaos for parents in the nation’s third largest school system. The scapegoating and psychological assault were game on for the sharp-elbowed second term Emanuel.
While CTU can claim a victory in securing $87 million dollars from the TIF surplus, there was a palimpsest, to the proceedings when it was revealed that the 2017 city budget had a line item for exactly that amount, well in advance of the “concession.”
In a game of chicken, or almost chicken, the politicization of education has become part of the package in the city’s economic woes as it attempts to battle both the budget and win the war, in one that has been largely mismanaged for decades by previous mayors, who all but dissolved, goodwill, and good city management, at will, depending on the situation.
As those on the left wrote: “Emanuel and Rauner thought their tough-guy routine would get the teachers to cave. But Emanuel was the one who blinked first — and moreover, he’ll have to dip into his slush fund of siphoned-off tax revenue, destined for his developer pals, in order to meet the teachers’ demands,” noted the socialist press.
Yet, that item was there all along noted The Chicago Sun Times, who reported this: “Emanuel’s 2017 budget book, printed days before that deadline, included this line: “The 2017 declared TIF surplus of $175 million provides $87 million to Chicago Public Schools and $40.5 million to the city of Chicago.” That means Emanuel kept teachers and parents guessing until the very end, knowing full well the price he was prepared to pay to avert a strike.
At issue is “when and how a militant union like the CTU can forge ahead in struggle at a time when most others remain in full retreat. If Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) officials, despite all of their tough talk, were prepared to retreat part or most of the way on the most important contract issues, could a strike have forced them to come up with even more?”
There were significant gains: the step and lane raises for seniority and advanced education was unfrozen and there was $10 million to $27 million to help with counseling and mentor programs. As DNA Chicago reported, “to “wraparound” social services for between twenty and fifty-five schools in neighborhoods struggling with poverty and youth violence. School counselors would have the option to turn over case management tasks to administrators in order to spend more time with students.
Losses were felt with a reduction in ratio of social workers to students, far less than the National Association Of Social Workers recommends. "That was one of the last things to be dropped," said Vice President Jesse Sharkey, who concedes, "Those things cost a lot of money."
The most salient issue of pension obligations - and the current pick-up of 7 percent -- was lost by Emanuel and Claypool, but in its place was a “stay put” for current teachers and a “pick-up” for new hires. But, and this is significant: “Perhaps more importantly, the two-tier system would set the precedent of a different structure for compensation for new employees, potentially giving the city a tool to drive a wedge into the union’s ranks in future negotiations.”
While over 75 percent of Chicago teachers voted to strike, faced with the agreement before them, would or could they reject it and strike anyway? The idea is tantalizing and some are no doubt wondering if, it could be done. That would also endanger negative publicity, and TIF paychecks, in other words no long term solution And, it might also generate a phone call from the Hillary Clinton campaign, who must have given her thoughts on the spectre of a strike on the eve of the upcoming presidential election.
That move would also create another wrinkle in the ongoing friction between blue state Democrats and Republican Governor Bruce Rauner, who is also adept at scapegoating those who he does not like, or who want to stay in the game. In previous speeches and talks with the media he has suggested that giving money to Chicago, without passing his so-called “turn around agenda” is nigh to impossible. Secondly, the use of TIF monies does not address a weakened budget that has not prepared for an unanticipated shortfall, with no ready solution.
According to the Chicago Tribune, “The district's $5.4 billion operating budget assumed savings of $31 million through renegotiated contracts with unions including the CTU. That budget also assumed it would take in $32.5 million from TIF districts, but that figure would now increase to $87.5 million. It does not appear that they are going to get that savings, although the (TIF) surplus that they have declared will help pay for some of it," said Laurence Msall, head of the nonpartisan Civic Federation budget watchdog group.’”
Another idea in the works are planned buyouts to ease the pains of a fragile budget, yet "In this case, definitely, the new teachers who are replacing them are going to be paying more to the pensions," he said. "They are going to see a lesser pension benefit than existing employees, but we have to see the value of the lump sum that is being added before we can make a determination of how much savings or costs are associated."
There are also brighter days ahead, when “The union would see one of its biggest victories in negotiations start to take shape in the second semester of the 2016-17 school year. That's when kindergarten through second grade teachers with 32 or more students in their classrooms become eligible to receive an assistant to help with instruction, according to the tentative deal. Sharkey estimated that agreement would cost about $10 million a year” according to the Tribune.
What the CTU delegates will analyze, and process anyone's guess, but the agreement while providing much, also creates unhealthy gaps that might come back and haunt those that it proposes to serve.
Late breaking news: The delegates in a 2-1 decision approved the four year agreement. On Oct. 27th, the full rank and file will vote on the agreement. Sharkey noted that there were definite victories that were achieved.
There were significant gains: the step and lane raises for seniority and advanced education was unfrozen and there was $10 million to $27 million to help with counseling and mentor programs. As DNA Chicago reported, “to “wraparound” social services for between twenty and fifty-five schools in neighborhoods struggling with poverty and youth violence. School counselors would have the option to turn over case management tasks to administrators in order to spend more time with students.
Losses were felt with a reduction in ratio of social workers to students, far less than the National Association Of Social Workers recommends. "That was one of the last things to be dropped," said Vice President Jesse Sharkey, who concedes, "Those things cost a lot of money."
The most salient issue of pension obligations - and the current pick-up of 7 percent -- was lost by Emanuel and Claypool, but in its place was a “stay put” for current teachers and a “pick-up” for new hires. But, and this is significant: “Perhaps more importantly, the two-tier system would set the precedent of a different structure for compensation for new employees, potentially giving the city a tool to drive a wedge into the union’s ranks in future negotiations.”
While over 75 percent of Chicago teachers voted to strike, faced with the agreement before them, would or could they reject it and strike anyway? The idea is tantalizing and some are no doubt wondering if, it could be done. That would also endanger negative publicity, and TIF paychecks, in other words no long term solution And, it might also generate a phone call from the Hillary Clinton campaign, who must have given her thoughts on the spectre of a strike on the eve of the upcoming presidential election.
That move would also create another wrinkle in the ongoing friction between blue state Democrats and Republican Governor Bruce Rauner, who is also adept at scapegoating those who he does not like, or who want to stay in the game. In previous speeches and talks with the media he has suggested that giving money to Chicago, without passing his so-called “turn around agenda” is nigh to impossible. Secondly, the use of TIF monies does not address a weakened budget that has not prepared for an unanticipated shortfall, with no ready solution.
According to the Chicago Tribune, “The district's $5.4 billion operating budget assumed savings of $31 million through renegotiated contracts with unions including the CTU. That budget also assumed it would take in $32.5 million from TIF districts, but that figure would now increase to $87.5 million. It does not appear that they are going to get that savings, although the (TIF) surplus that they have declared will help pay for some of it," said Laurence Msall, head of the nonpartisan Civic Federation budget watchdog group.’”
Another idea in the works are planned buyouts to ease the pains of a fragile budget, yet "In this case, definitely, the new teachers who are replacing them are going to be paying more to the pensions," he said. "They are going to see a lesser pension benefit than existing employees, but we have to see the value of the lump sum that is being added before we can make a determination of how much savings or costs are associated."
There are also brighter days ahead, when “The union would see one of its biggest victories in negotiations start to take shape in the second semester of the 2016-17 school year. That's when kindergarten through second grade teachers with 32 or more students in their classrooms become eligible to receive an assistant to help with instruction, according to the tentative deal. Sharkey estimated that agreement would cost about $10 million a year” according to the Tribune.
What the CTU delegates will analyze, and process anyone's guess, but the agreement while providing much, also creates unhealthy gaps that might come back and haunt those that it proposes to serve.
Late breaking news: The delegates in a 2-1 decision approved the four year agreement. On Oct. 27th, the full rank and file will vote on the agreement. Sharkey noted that there were definite victories that were achieved.
