Rahm Emanuel Also Has A Union Problem

[WildCat]

Chicago rescinds a teacher raise:

The Chicago Public Schools board voted unanimously today to rescind a 4 percent increase in teacher salaries in the Chicago Teachers Union's contract.

The district says it's now facing a $712 million deficit--$8 million less than initially projected but including $75 million in reductions announced earlier this month.

I don't think many private sector employees are getting 4% raises this year. And obviously with a $712 million deficit the CPS can't afford it.

As the meeting began, Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis welcomed the new board and encouraged them to "signal to the people of CPS that you respect their life's work."

"This city did not get into this financial mess by paying teachers and paraprofessionals," Lewis said.

The average teacher salary in Chicago today is about $69,000.

It doesn't even matter Karen, the city is broke, the schools are broke. Property taxes are high and the sales tax is among the highest in the nation. There's 200,000 fewer Chicagoans to pay taxes than there was just 10 years ago, and many of them left because the schools suck. There is no magical pot of money somewhere for raises, particularly since inflation is negligible.

I predict a teacher's strike this fall, particularly since Emanuel wants a longer school day (Chicago's is among the shortest in the nation, just over 5 hours) and a longer school year. By the time they graduate from high school, for example, a student in Houston has spent the equivalent of 3 more years in the classroom as a Chicago student. You can't teach kids when school is out.

 

[Alt+F4]

I predict a teacher's strike this fall, particularly since Emanuel wants a longer school day (Chicago's is among the shortest in the nation, just over 5 hours) and a longer school year. By the time they graduate from high school, for example, a student in Houston has spent the equivalent of 3 more years in the classroom as a Chicago student. You can't teach kids when school is out.

I doubt the teachers will strike. It's not in their interest if the money just isn't there. The union will compromise with the mayor: no raise and no longer school day/year. A longer school day and a longer school sounds good politically but where's the money for extra three years of education the students of Chicago aren't getting?

Public schools have to start looking for ways to cut their budgets without harming instruction. I've always thought a major way to cut the budget is to get rid of the things schools do that should be done by parents - such as actually feeding them. Get rid of school meal programs, good gosh, it should be the parents that should be feeding their kids, not the tax payers money.

 

[WildCat]

And it's not just the teacher's union:

Mayor Rahm Emanuel today revealed that he's offered City Hall labor unions a choice: Agree to $20 million in savings through work-rule changes or face 625 layoffs.

"If you don't, that will be the choice left to me on behalf of the taxpayers," Emanuel said at a news conference to announce Walgreens will add 600 jobs in Chicago over the next two years.

Labor leaders will take 10 days to two weeks to put together their own package of proposed cuts, the mayor said. He would not say whether he will issue the layoff notices in the meantime. "I'm not just going to sit here and wait. I'll make certain decisions," he said.

 

[Malerin]

Chicago rescinds a teacher raise:

I don't think many private sector employees are getting 4% raises this year. And obviously with a $712 million deficit the CPS can't afford it.


It doesn't even matter Karen, the city is broke, the schools are broke. Property taxes are high and the sales tax is among the highest in the nation. There's 200,000 fewer Chicagoans to pay taxes than there was just 10 years ago, and many of them left because the schools suck. There is no magical pot of money somewhere for raises, particularly since inflation is negligible.

I predict a teacher's strike this fall, particularly since Emanuel wants a longer school day (Chicago's is among the shortest in the nation, just over 5 hours) and a longer school year. By the time they graduate from high school, for example, a student in Houston has spent the equivalent of 3 more years in the classroom as a Chicago student. You can't teach kids when school is out.

I had to look that up cause it was hard to believe, but it's true. That's insane. I thought my day was short (7.25 hours).

 

[Malerin]

Then read it again.

I did. Sounds like a grown-up version of "the dog ate my homework again, teacher".

Those are legitimate concerns. Last year was my 2nd best class ever and they did very well on the standardized test. This year was not good at all. I doubt the scores will be very good. You'd have to have data for probably five years at least before you can definitely conclude so-and-so is doing a bad job. They're probably doing a bad job, but it's definitely possible to have a string of bad classes, esp. in a huge district.

You may argue that I should be judged on how well the kids grew, even if they tested below-average. But you have to remember that teachers are often forbidden to deviate from the curriculum (called fidelity to the program). So if the average reading level of my students at the start of the year is 3.2 (which it was), and I teach 5th grade, I have to use a reading series that is way beyond them. It's not pleasent for me or the kids.

The entire class? You're unlikely in Chicago or NYC to have the same entire class from September to June in high school. Then factor in what the teacher doesn't have control over - learning disabilities, limited English, absenteeism, etc.

Ever hear of prorating? And why the hell are you sticking kids with learning disdabilities, who don't speak English, and who are disruptive/absent in the same class as kids who aren't in those categories?

Kids with learning disabilites have to be in the least restrictive environment. This often means that Johnny, who's got a ton of LD's will be in your class for four hours a day. And Johnny's brother. And cousin. And since they can't do the work, they act out.

And what are you going to do with disruptive kids? Put them in a seperate class? Who gets the honor of teaching that class? Behavior problems and chronically absent kids are sprinkled throughout the classes, you know, to spice things up.

In NYC (the largest school district in the U.S.) teachers are vested after just 5 years, so burn out isn't an issue with them. I can't make a student teacher a great teacher in one or two semesters, yet it's still my name connected to those kids.

Are the student teachers in charge of your classroom?

Yes. At first, they take over for a few subjects. Then, for about a month, they run the entire class (I actually had to leave the room most of the day to make the experience authentic. I wandered around the campus, writing kids up who were screwing around).

Ask a 4th grader. The "good teacher" is the one that never gives any homework and let's us watch movies all the time!

So if a 4th grader can figure this out why can't the adults? (obviously replace "good" with "bad")

Everyone knows who the good and bad teachers are. The best way would be to do what Alt suggested: tons of observations. And you would have to streamline the process, which means getting rid of a lot of teacher protections. This means more power to the administrators though, and the unions will fight that.

It's funny how my views on this have evolved as I took over my union, and saw firsthand the frustration the district faces knowing they can't get rid of so-and-so.

NOT standardized tests.

How does one compare different classrooms/schools/districts without standardized tests? Because guess what's going to determine to a large extent who's getting into college and who's not - a standardized test (ACT, SAT). Without them the temptation for social promotion is just too great, as we have seen in the past.

You're not going to get rid of social promotion. The research on retention shows it's not effective.
http://education.ucsb.edu/jimerson/retention/SPR_MetaAnalysis2001.pdf
http://fairtest.org/arn/retenfct.htm
http://www.childandfamilypolicy.duke.edu/pdfs/pubpres/FlawedStrategy_PartOne.pdf
http://www.ascd.org/publications/ed...01/Grade-Retention@-A-History-of-Failure.aspx

For the first five years I taught, I always felt guilty if I didn't retain all of my failing kids (I averaged 2 or 3 retentions a year). Then they started sending me to some worthwhile conferences (most conferences are a waste of time). If you retain kids early (K-1st-2nd), you may see some benefit. But by the time 5th grade rolls around, it doesn't do any good.