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Subscribe to RSSUpdated at 3:29 p.m. ET: CHICAGO -- Amid a dispute over pay and longer school days, Chicago teachers have voted to authorize a strike, the union said Monday.
Leaders of the Chicago Teachers Union, which represents 25,000 members, say the vote gives the union the legal authority to call a strike in the fall and provides "added leverage" in negotiations with the city.
"While the Union has made no determination on whether a strike will be needed, leaders say the authorization vote has now given them added leverage at the bargaining table," teachers union spokeswoman Stephanie Gadlin said in a statement.
Even with the authorization, a walkout couldn't happen until at least mid-August under a process laid out in Illinois law, according to The Chicago Tribune. Upwards of 400,000 students would be affected.
The vote not only exceeded the 75 percent required by state law, but some school networks voted 100 percent to authorize a strike, the union said.
"We're pleased," Gadlin told NBCChicago.com, but added: "We know there will be challenges by [Chicago Public Schools].
Read NBCChicago.com's coverage of Chicago teacher's votes
Officials with Chicago Public Schools have called the vote premature. Chicago Public Schools’ CEO Jean-Claude Brizard has questioned why the vote was held before the district has made its final offer and before the recommendation by an independent fact-finder.
“The Chicago Teachers Union leadership pushed their members to authorize a strike before giving them the opportunity to consider the independent fact finder’s compromise report due in July," Brizard said in a statement. "That's a shame. The CTU leadership left the teachers with a choice between a strike and nothing -- that's a false choice. As a former teacher, I am disappointed that union leadership would rush their members to vote for a strike before having the complete information on the table."
The strike authorization vote began Wednesday, and according to union officials, 91.55 percent of union members cast a ballot. The tallied votes give the union legal authority to call a strike in the fall.
Teachers and school officials are in contract negotiations but union leaders say they are far apart when it comes to teacher pay and how teachers will be compensated for longer school days.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel last year rescinded a four percent pay increase and pushed for a longer school day. CPS has since proposed a five-year contract which guarantees teachers a two percent raise in their first year and lengthens the school day by 10 percent.
Union officials are pushing for a two-year contract that would reduce class sizes and give teachers a 24 percent raise in their first year and a five percent raise the second year.
"This is a reflection of the treatment we as teachers have been subjected to this year," David Rose, a teacher at Roberto Clemente Community Academy told NBCChicago.com. "The posturing of the board of education has created such misery and suffering and discontent that we needed to send a message."
Financial reports show the school system has a $700 million budget shortfall.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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"Chicago teachers vote for strike in battle over pay"
I have a better Idea.... Let them off this summer and if they come back to work in the fall...."THEY NEED THE JOB"
if not...We Did not need them!
The mayor thought it would be impossible for the union to get a 75% strike vote so he added 20% to their workload and took away a contracted 4% raise.
How's this for a better idea: Give the teachers a contract raise based on cpi and don't increase their hours unless you can pay them?
Stop blaming the teachers. Do you want Chicago to end up like Detroit? Pay them what they deserve and what you told them you would pay them.
Close all public schools. Everybody can send their brat to a private school or home school them. If you can't afford a private school or can't home school because you work, tough sh!t.
EXACTLY!
Why should I have to pay to educate YOUR children? Why should I have to pay to pave YOUR street? Why should I have to pay for YOUR kids to have libraries? Why should I have to pay to build a park near YOUR house?
Socialist, commie, muslim, nazi, fascist, scum.
Those teachers had better watch it. These days strikes often mean the union will be disbanded and contract labor will be hired.
Awesome! Illegal alien teachers.
That will save us a bunch of money!
Looks like you folks in Chicago face the same mess as those of us in other major cities. Lousy schools, a % of teachers who received tenure and who stink at the job. Tell me, does Chicago have the same type of "rubber rooms" we in NY have? This is where we "keep" teachers on full salary who have been accused of unsavory acts...oh, we pay them for years to sit in rooms where they can be found achieving higher levels of education: completing crossword puzzles, tweeting, etc. Some even run there own businesses right out of these rubber rooms! Yes, this is what the NYC teacher's union feels is just and fair. Good luck to you folks in Chicago...you'll need it!
Where did you go to school?
Too all the bitch about teachers, go back to school and become one. You can be the ones to work for 10 bucks an hour and have a 10 hour work day, plus after school activities. You will love it!
Don't forget the grading and preparation that you do at home every night, or the supplies you have to buy yourself, or the money you spend to buy supplies for kids who don't have them.
Then there are the nutjob parents who come to the school and scream at you because the science you taught their kid contradicts the Bible.
Yeah, you'll love it.
I've also seen many teachers provide food for home for some students. Let's see some of you Republican, Independent and Democrats do what they do each and every day. I can't and wouldn't.
My wife is a teacher. I've told her many times that I would last about a week before I hit somebody. I'd be in jail for beating up a kid or a parent.
If I had been there when the Jesus freak came in and berated my wife for teaching evolution in science class, I would have clocked him.
Fixwing....dude, you need to understand their and there and you're and your before you complain about teachers. Just saying....I would be upset if I had merit based pay and had your children in my class because you can't spell and you were the one teaching them till age 5 and helping them with their homework for the next 12 years. Again, just saying
And I would like to be at your work when your boss tells you you get to work an hour longer or so with no pay.
Yeah. I have to educate your kid, but you take no interest, provide no discipline at home and don't back up the teachers when they have to discipline your kid. You don't ensure that they complete assignments and homework. They don't even own a winter coat and come to school hungry.
Yep. It's ALL the teacher's fault.
I say strike. Make the school district fat cats take a pay cut and work longer hours. Start the cuts at the top and work your way down. I work for a school district and none of the top fat cats have taken any concessions. It's not the unions, it's the big wigs. Take my boss's boss. He doesn't even know or understand the job we are a department do. How could he be running it? I say fired him and hired three union teachers.
I bet there are a lot of teachers out of work. Let them strike and employ new teachers. i do not believe that a striking employee can collect unemployment. Remember Regan with the Air Traffic Controllers? It worked then and it will work now. Let the crybabies go out and see how tough it is to find work.
I do remember Reagan and the air traffic controllers, and you are right, it worked then and it would work now.
The UNION Teachers could give a crap about the Students!
And the UNION bosses are RICH overpaid, greedy pigs! They don't care about the Members OR the students!
Have any of you EVER had every Summer off?
I haven't!
You seem more jealous than anything. You whole statement is incorrect. Teachers do care. Sometimes more than the actual parents care. You are also wrong about the union bosses. I see them doing their jobs and dedicating their evenings free to represent the union(s). As for the Summer off, there is your jealousy.
You, Dear are WRONG.....
Both of my Sisters are Teachers.....but, because we are in Virginia....there is NOT a Stupid Union! So, Virginia Teachers cannot hold the students "hostage".
They Love what they are doing, they are paid well and have great benefits! So don't tell ME I don't know what I'm talking about!
BTW......yes, I'm jealous, I would LOVE to have the summer off!
:-)
Way to generalize about an entire profession.
I'm guessing they flunked you and you're still angry.
What are the "great" benefits that they get in Virginian Beach?
In Texas, you can get health insurance, but it's too expensive for teachers to afford. My employer charges me a surcharge on my insurance because my wife is eligible for insurance through her job. It's still cheaper to pay the surcharge and keep her as a dependent on my insurance.
That's the only benefit I can think of. They don't work the whole year, but their salary is not based on working 52 weeks a year.
In most Texas school district, the starting salary and the salary of a 20 year teacher are not much different.
A masters degree adds about $2,000 a year.
"sam'
My Sisters have high option Anthem/Blue Cross hospitalization. I've NEVER heard that teachers can't get good insurance.....sounds fishy to me!
Maybe you should move to obama's California paradise.....where everything is FREE?
I don't know that my wife's insurnance in not "good". It's way more expensive than the insurance I get through my employer. Maybe they're not as cheap and don't hate teachers as much in Virginian Beach as they do in Texas.
How much do they make? How many years experience? What is their specialty?
There is a new contract being negotiated. Both sides have the option to ask or demand things. The union can ask for higher wages and benefits, lower class sizes, etc. The City can ask or demand longer days, more school days, larger class sizes. That is what contract negotiations are all about. But, given the current economic conditions and the deficit CPS is facing, it is highly unlikely the union will prevail. You simply can not get blood from a turnip.
For those of you wailing about the poor underpaid teachers, realize this:
America as a country spends more per student than any other country. We should be far ahead of the rest of the world. If money equated with quality education, the rest of the world would have never even caught up to us, never mind passing us! Lack of money is not what is hurting education.
Maybe with the teachers gone, real reform can be made in Chicago. This is a perfect example of the oppression of democracy. Go ahead, leave. We need you off the coffers, like real bad. Maybe go to Wisconsin, whoops, guess not. Maybe New York?
I can't wait until Republicans have to answer to why we have such a dumbed down population. Of course, in the years to come, they'll blame Democrats for all the cuts Republicans made. They are a spin machine.
They don't really care, as long as it's cheaper.
How many days a year do those teachers "work"? 168 is what I heard!
Patty...maby you should have gone and gotten a BA in education and then a masters in education and then another 30+ hours(this is what most teachers have). There is still time and I know plenty of jobs teaching in inner cities. Should be no problems getting a job. And I know you will love teaching inner city kids. I know, I did it for two years and to be called the names I was called everyday was a real job. And their dedication to an education was just great. And their parents involvement was even better. Until you go to school to teach, you really can't complain about the job teachers do.
Read my post 70.2
BOTH my Sisters are teachers and my Niece teaches Special Ed .....one has a Masters Degree and they LOVE what they are doing, make good salaries and benefits!
Guess they are SMART enough to know that UNIONS benefit no one But the Big Bosses!
How much do they make?
Tell me about these "great" beneifts.
Other than the insurance, what are all these "great benefits"?
Compare the salaries of union Big Boses withe corporate America big bosses.
Not. even. close.
Most corporate VPs would be embarassed to make what the union "Big Bosses" earn.
Wow...how delusional are these teachers? Demanding 29% raises over two years? 29% raises over two years?!?! Have these people ever heard of Wisconsin, San Jose or San Diego? Don't they see that taxpayers are sick and tired of paying their absurd compensation? FIRE THEM ALL and make them reapply at half their salaries and benefits. While we're at it change them to 401K plans and make them retire at 67 like 90% of Americans. I'm sick of this privileged class of public sector employees. Put a referendum on the ballot and let the taxpayers bring them back to reality.
If there's somethin strange in your neighborhood
Who ya gonna call?
Scott Walker!
If there's somethin weird and it don't look good
Who ya gonna call?
Scott Walker!
I ain't afraid of no teacher
So called "Progressives" now reap what they have sowed. If he chooses to live up to his own words, this time, President Obama will be walking with the teachers too. Viva la revolution!
Not so much a revolution as a corporate junta.
I just love the people on here saying that it would be better if they just did not show up. Too funny. So I guess you will be the ones going into the classroom, for free, and teaching everyday? It's not like teachers have to go to college to get a certification to teach or anything. We should treat them like a taco bell worker if you ask me. Anyone could do their job...I mean how hard is it to teach alg 2 with trig, or bio3, or physics...anyone can do that. Screw teachers and their time off!
For all those that say they should get paid 1/2 of what they make, and the time off and all the other bs that you don't know shi@ about because you're not a teacher......WHY DID YOU NOT BECOME A TEACHER???? If it is such a great job, with huge salaries and the pension they get and time off...WHY ARE YOU NOT A TEACHER? When you can answer me that one question, then I will listen to your..".fire them all" bull shi@
Why?
Because it requires a degree, and it's hard.
Teaching and government jobs used to be the jobs nobody wanted because they didn't pay well. All you got was a pension.
Those jobs didn't get better, the private sector jobs got worse. We've outsourced and offshored our prosperity in the name of "globalism".
All of sudden all those crappy government and teaching jobs are the "good jobs" and we have to make them just as crappy as the private sector jobs.
Global Economy = Global Standard of Living. The markets work. This is all just a symptom.
Top 10 reasons I didn't become a teacher:
10) My conscience won't let me screw over the taxpayers
9) I didn't graduate in the bottom 20% of my class in college
8) I didn't want to have to memorize "I know I only work eight months each year but for the other four months I'm grading papers at home!" when someone asked me about all of my vacation time.
7) I don't know how to play goldfish and it's the most popular game in the teacher's lounge.
6) I didn't want to have to memorize "Think of the children....THE CHILDREN!!" when someone asked me why I won't take a smaller raise or pay more towards my health benefits.
5) I didn't want to have to memorize "I buy all my school supplies with my own money!!" when I'm asked why 80% of the school budget goes towards my salary, benefits and pension while school programs are cut.
4) I've been working since high school until 5:00 PM or later so I wouldn't know what to do with my time when I get out at 2:45 PM every day.
3) My brain can't comprehend getting two raises, STEP and contract, each year. In the real world this isn't normal.
2) Retiring at 57 with a guaranteed pension and guaranteed benefits reminds me too much of Greece...and Greece is bankrupt.
1) My neighbor, whose a teacher, starts his cocktail parties every day at 3PM.....and I don't want to become an alcoholic.
1. You're too stupid to be a teacher.
Why all the hate against teachers? At the end of these "negotiations" there will probably be something like the union agrees to take like a 2 percent raise (guessing at the CPI increase there) if even that and no change to the work week. Mikehataway was right that contract negotiations are going on...and as expected both sides are making unreasonable demands as part of the negotiating process.
And for an example of why unions still need to exist take the NBA lockout. The owners wanted to roll back all salaries of contracted players by 30%. You would never stand for that kind of treatment in your work place. Are there some problems with unions currently, yeah absolutely, but that doesn't mean they need to be completely destroyed.
NBA and teachers? Apples and oranges. The average NBA player makes over $5 million a year. A 30% decrease still allows the average salary to be $3.5 million. As to raises for teachers, most of us in the private sector haven't seen a raise in four years. And we can get fired anytime.
Metik - unions in the private sector are very different than unions in the public sector. If prices for tickets to NBA games get too expensive, don't go to a game. Public sector union salaries and benefits are funded by taxpayers and you don't have the option of opting out and not paying your taxes.
Um, not if yuo have a contract...you can only be filed for violating your contract, which yeah there should be methods for removing teachers who violate their contracts. And yeah teachers should make some concessions, as the union did in Wisconsin before they were broken up, but that doesn't mean they should blindly give in to whatever the mayor/governor decides he wants.
And oh i am sorry I thought making a point about unions stopping employers from cutting salaries 30% would be an example of why unions should still exist. I am sorry a picked a highly recognizable labor dispute to use. Next time i will use an obscure one you have never heard but has people who are much poorer.
@Peter
You are correct. And there are limitations on public unions that are not in place on private unions. I am just saying unions do still serve a purpose. You want to reform them go ahead, by all means they need some reform. But don't completely destroy that protection mechanism.
Road Warrior, In the US, the average pay raise overall for 2009 & 2010 was 2.5% each year. In 2011 & 2012, it's 3% each year. So teacher salary is going up no more than private wages, and they even waived their last raise, to save the taxpayers.
This latest contract issue is not an hourly raise, but 20% extra salary for 20% extra hours added to the school day.
Close all public schools. Everybody can send their brat to a private school or home school them. If you can't afford a private school or can't home school because you work, tough sh!t.
Everyone can afford a charter school.
We finally agree on something. We already have the worst test scores in the world. Closing the public schools will, uh, make us the worst in the world?
Yeah because the child of a single parent in the inner city who works two or three jobs to provide for the family should be screwed and have no way of bettering himself. That is absolutely the American dream! Oh and while we are at it, lets set women's rights back a century, after all they have to stay home and teach the kids, that's their place. Oh, i know we could have education be a benefit provided by the employers! Oh but you want no unions to argue for that privilege so it won't happen...
Metik,
School vouchers for the poor single parent in the inner city who works two or three jobs, something the Democrats have fought against for decades. Why?
Because they want the money invested in public schools, much more expensive to go to private school from the ones i talked to. And would i personally be against vouchers, not really. But that is still public money providing education. Don't just tell people to fend for themselves.
In private business, you don't keep pumping money into failed ventures. You weed out the failed systems and take advantage of successful ones by expanding them.
Ok, so you want vouchers because you think private schools are better run/produce better results and can be expanded to meet the demand. That is a fine and respectable position. Its not my position but i won't call you stupid. But i will wholeheartedly reject the notion that not every child in America deserves the chance at getting an education. Thermen was saying you can't afford it, tough, you dont deserve an education. Much of our middle class exists because of people whose families couldn't afford education.
The only thing more laughable than a 24% raise in the first year, are the results that these 'people' have achieved with the Chicago Schools! Well it would be laughable if it weren't so sad for the kids, the
City, the Country, etc. I am guessing, that even the 'Mexico City' of the North, is going to tell you people what you can do with your 24%. There are thousands of teachers pouring out of schools around the Country, and I will take their inexperience and enthusiasm, over the thug like attitudes and malaise, of what is in place today. A message needs to be sent!!
Well, wouldn't you know it! Illinois is in just about as bad a financial shape as it's ever been in, we're struggling in a bad recession that is not showing many signs of being healed, and many are out of work, struggling to keep a job they are clinging to, have had to take pay cuts or days off to help their employer hold their company together, or have had to take very, very little out of their own businesses to try and hold them together for awhile longer..... and the teacher's have decided this is a great time for their UNION to ask for MORE FOR THEM, or else they'll go out on strike against us, against the taxpayers who struggle to pay in the taxes to cover the teacher's paychecks already! Once again, bend over and take it from those who aren't willing to wait through the hard times with the rest of us, shoulder to shoulder, everybody helping to keep everybody else upright as much as possible. Screw that! Teacher's are going to STRIKE for MORE! Screw them. They're part of the PROBLEM!
Give the Democrats credit. They almost have the class size reduction under control.
They just need a few more of their voting block to keep killing children.
.