E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSView more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.
CHICAGO -- The Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools have come to a rare agreement, and both sides are claiming victory.
Under the tentative agreement, hundreds of teachers -- 754 of them -- will be added to the payroll, primarily in elementary schools. Two hundred seventy seven teachers were already in the pipeline, but Tuesday's agreement adds 477 more.
Additionally, the school day for all students will be lengthened.
See the original report at NBCChicago.com
Elementary school students will now attend classes for seven hours each day, up from five hours and 45 minutes. High school students will get an additional 34 minutes of instruction, with the full day now totaling seven and a half hours, announced Chicago Board of Education President David Vitale.
The agreement ensures that classes will begin as scheduled for the upcoming school year; Track E schools on Aug. 13 and regular track schools on Sept. 4.
Related: Chicago pushes longer school days as key to achievement
"A longer school day has been a goal for the last decade and a topic of other negotiations. Each time before, the interests of our students took a backseat. This agreement is a break with the past; a change that we've been waiting for, a change that we've been hoping for for a very long time and a change that is now coming," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said at a press event at Sexton Elementary School on the city's south side.
Sexton was one of the schools that last year voluntarily lengthened its school day.
The Chicago Teachers Union has long argued during contract negotiations for a "better school day" instead of a longer one.
"There was never anything in place to do the art, music, (physical education and) world languages," said President Karen Lewis.
Under the agreement, those subjects are specifically added to the curriculum.
Stay informed with the latest headlines; sign up for our newsletter
While all championed the longer school day announcement, they stressed that it is just one element in a long string of issues.
"We often say that a full school day is a necessary condition for success. We know it's not everything we need to do; we have curriculum, we have principal leadership we have to work on, etcetera, to make sure our schools are what they're supposed to be, but this is a great day for the kids of the city of Chicago. This is about them and what they need to do to be successful," said CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard.
Lewis said issues pertaining to health care, salary, evaluations and discipline remain unresolved.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- Teen charged with murder in Bronx playground shooting
- One in six sex offenders lives undetected digital double life, study finds
- Video: Killer whale tries to drown SeaWorld trainer
- Tragedy compounded: Killers' parents become instant pariahs
- Shop windows smashed, fires reported as Anaheim protest turns violent
Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
That Karen Lewis is really a person to look up to.
Eeeeeekkkk!
Thank you teachers for taking on not only the chore of teaching these kids, but also being baby sitters while their parents and other older family members go out and gang bang, sell drugs, and shoot people. Sad sad group of people.
The evolution of teaching math since the 1950s:
1. Teaching Math in the 1950s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit ?
2. Teaching Math in the 1960s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?
3. Teaching Math in the 1970s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?
4. Teaching Math in the 1980s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.
5. Teaching Math in the 1990s
A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers, and if you feel like crying, it's ok.)
6. Teaching Math in the 2000s
If you have special needs or just feel you need assistance because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, childhood memories, criminal background, then don't answer and the correct answer will be provided for you. There are no wrong answers.
7. Teaching Math in 2012
Un hachero vende una carrtada de maderapara 100 pesos. El costo de la producciones es 80 pesos. Cuanto dinero ha hecho?
Now, let's "Win the Future"!!!!!!!!
excellent job Jim....keep up the good work...........you may have a cookie................:)
IA.ScooterTramp
I'm just warming up,,,,lol.
Top ten ways to tell if you might be a member of a public sector union.
By David Letterman
02/21/2011
10.) You take a week off to protest in Wisconsin and your office runs better.
9.) On a snow day when they say “non-essential” people should stay home you know who they mean.
8.) You get paid twice as much as a private sector person doing the same job but make up the difference by doing half as much work.
7.) It takes longer to fire you than the average killer spends on death row.
6.) The worse you do your job, the more your boss avoids you.
5.) You think the French are working themselves to death.
4.) You know by having a copy of the Holy Koran on your desk your job is 100% safe.
3.) You spend more time at protest marches than at church.
2.) You have a Democratic congressman’s lips permanently attached to your butt.
and the #1 way you know you're a union member....
1.) You pay more in union dues than you do for your health care insurance.
read em both before, but they sure do work well here dont they...........:)
IA.ScooterTramp
The outrage should be, as outlandish as these two posts are, they border on factual.
sad but true sir.....sad but true.......
Great stuff, Jim. You need to squeeze this in on "First Read" somehow...
Good facts about teaching.
JimSpence,
Good post, but I don't think you give today's kids enough credit. I offer in evidence the standardized Inner City High School Math Proficiency Exam:
this is some of the best reading i have seen :) lmfao !!!!!
we need to change the constitution to say that teacher's union's are illegal and, any politition that wants to take away from the educational system will automatically face a 10 year prison term.
because of these union's and political downgrades our school's have swaggered into some of the worst teaching levels on the face of the planet. we need to bring our schools back up to good standard's before we become a third world nation because our society wont have the ability to add subtract or read.
and if a teacher does not want to take the time to insure that the students are learning fire them and let them go wash dishes at mickey d's, that way they will know how it feels to live life with out a proper education.
cause if we start properly educating our children just maybe they will become less interested in gang life, drug life or, the life of a criminal.
The correct Republican question is, see what you can create to make sure kids in Chicago, because their parents are poor, will get no education at all. Republicans would prefer the children in Chicago who already go to sleep hungry should get less foodstamps, not more. Because some are black, Republicans believe they should be ignored and the schools removed!
When did keeping kids in schools equate to a license to demean the teacher that tried to make it better for them? I swear the Republican bubble is about to burst and one brain cell will fall out!
Blaming a teacher or the union for the children of extremely poor parents, with many mal-nourished and unprepared children, many of whom may have never learned to read, because the parents were working multiple jobs, or had other significant problems, and failed to get them into pre-schools or read to them at night is no reason to chastise the teacher's union.
Qualified teachers are not the problem! They are the solution. if lack of education is a problem in the poorest neighborhoods, then more education would seem to be a logical answer. Teachers should not be punished for the students they are asked to teach.
But Republicans are Sickos. To kill the unions that actually pay pretty crappy wages, but do provide for retirements, Republicans will stoop to starving our kids to succeed! Republicans would kick them to the curb, make them invisible, and claim the Republican way is just and fair!
The public schools work fine if you invest in them. Public schools that have no police protection because all the police were laid off is no reason to get rid of the teachers, because there is crime in the city!
Oops, the police are union members, too? And the firefighters, too? Republicans would rather see the city burn so their investment bankers and land developers could go in and build golf courses that no one can afford to use, like they did in Michigan!
But no union labor. No skilled artisans to do the work. Let's claim Republicans are against immigration, while all we see is immigrants on the jobsites, run by non-union shops and blame it on the unions and their five year apprenticeships.
Republicans are a dime short of a dollar when it comes to common sense. They would vote for the next President because Rush told them to. It doesn't matter if Romney is qualified! Romney already caused a kerfluffle in Britain, while criticizing the Brits task of providing adequate security in one of the most busy capital cities in the world, as compared to the Utah Winter Olympics, held on the lunar landscape Romney resided over. Romney doesn't care if he upsets the Right Wing of the Conservative Party in control of England. Nice going, Ambassador Romney! You are an idiot! Good thing you weren't in China!
But Republicans are satisfied we are 24th in world scholastic rankings, and would blame the teachers, and opt for Charter Schools without programs like sports, music, and art, so Mitt Romney, who has millions invested in them can take profits that could other wise go into the children's curriculum. What a bunch of losers!
Why do they need to add teachers when they extend the school day?
What? You expect the teachers there to put in that extra hour or so. Pllleeaasse.
savages,
of course they will.....course it'll cost ya...............:)
because they aren't extending class times, they are adding classes(music, art, PE)
What a waste of people, to live in America, To only act like some craze wild bamboon shooting and killing your own, and it seems there are no parents around, all stoned, high on crack, Chicago is what happens when you let negros try and run a city,
Bamboon?
What do you expect from part time workers with the best bennfits next to Polititions and Union leaders ????
My turnWi: based upon an evaluation of your writing skills, you must be a product of the Wisconsin public school system or, more likely, home schooled.
Just for your future reference the correct spellings are benefits, part-time, politicians and union should have been in lower case letters, unless you happen to equate them with being a deity.
We will continue our decline educationally as long as there are teachers unions.
Really?
Wow !!!!! They are everywhere!!!
yes they ARE everywhere.... and "they" are after YOU !!....(whatever "they" are),.... quick seek shelter here "they" come ...."they" are on your block......"they" are coming down the street...."They" are in your yard......"They are at your door.....EEEEKKKKKK TOO LATE........"They have YOU now............tsk tsk poor poor PO......."they" got him..........................:)
And we'll fee them free breakfast, lunch and dinner...add an overnight stay, and then we'll raise them for you from ages 4-18. Now that's a sweet deal! (Dripping of sarcasm)
unless YOUR the one trapped in a room with these little sociopaths.....er ....i mean..."mommy's precious little darlings".................:)
IA....You do mean YOU'RE don't you? There for a moment I thought you were a product of the Los Angeles school district.
Whew,..... for a minute there i was afraid they would be forcing these "precious little darling's" to actually LEARN SOMETHING USEFUL, you know silly things like.... math, English, reading, writing, or .....shudder....job skills. looks like the union squeaked by on this one..............anybody still wonder why Illinois is broke?.......:)
World languages are actually incredibly useful. Someone who can speak a second language has a huge competitive advantage over similarly qualified English only speaker in the job market.
Big deal. The Chicago Public School Graduation rate is almost 60%. Blacks are below 40%! It is hard to tell who is dumber. The teachers or the Black kids who must sit in classes with teachers speaking Eubonics instead of English! with the halls patrolled by Democrat Drug Gangs! and with Democrat Politicians screwing them every day.
Hey, at least it's not Texas. I'm surprised they still have high school down there!
If you're judging Texas by a few small towns - then you're letting your ignorance & bias shine. Texas doesn't have the best schools, but it also isn't home to a state full of worst schools either. Just like in EVERY state - you'll find the good, the bad and the ugly. Open your mind a bit and let the world in. Bias and hatred towards one state is just plain stupid.
Jon,
Im in Dallas on a contract right now. GREAT place, friendly folk, and i wish everybody had such a great interstate road system. so you live where? odds are i have been there, question is have YOU been here?
Dallasff,
agreed
Thank goodness Jaime didn't show any bias.
Texas might not be the worst bit its close.... Our GoP legislature has openly stated and written that they want to exclude and re-write history (The role of Thomas Jefferson) and wants to stop teaching critical thinking skills (Because it challenges a child to think about already accepted beliefs).
That is why you see the GoP constantly looking for education cuts and attacking teachers and their unions. They NEED voters dumb and gullible so they never question anything their told, and never actually find and research information from its source (the actual legislative documents and speeches in full context.), making attack adds more effective....
Have to again call you on your English IA, I think that you mean intrastate road system.
Maybe a few courses in parenting and life skills are in order. How to weave a bullet proof vest might also be a good one.
great job savage, kudos to you.....you too may have a cookie........:)
well at least there will be fewer guns on the street, i wonder how much the combat pay Bonus is for "teachers" ( and i use that term losely) in chitown............:)
Yet another example of how public sector unions are bad for America
World languages?
What Karen? Ebonics, kinda like you speak? Or should I say screech.
or spanish...............(here we go).....................:)
When will we learn..Whenever one deals with a public sector union - taxpayer loses!!
interesting, it would depend on what your being "taught" by same, don't you think?................:)
We will see if this improves the school system in Chicago. Only time will tell. At least the kids will get an added curriculum and more teachers added to their longer days.
Buffy
glass half full kinda gal huh? well that's nice....but simply put what has "time" ( say the last 40-50 years or so) of govt and union "interaction" ( for want of a better description) taught us so far? anything at all?........
Not picking on you Buffy....mind you...the world needs more of your kind. But sadly Time is there free for the study, problem is no one is studying it.
Why is the educators union allowed to dictate how and what they teach ???
Bravo for Chicage for placing the education of their children ahead of the unions. Here in LA the unions place themselves above the childrens education. And the state is worse, always cutting funding for education. Talk about short sighted, the less these children are educated the less they earn the less tax revenue they generate.
Not only does the teachers union put themselves ahead of the kids our politicians and teachers do as well. California has one of the worst school systems in the USA. Adding teachers and extending hours will do nothing unless we have quality teachers. Your comment about always cutting funding for education is a joke. You need to check the portion of the state budget and you will see schools get a large slice of the pie. Even with the lottery millions the teachers pay, pension, and medical benefits create a big part of the budget deficit. Limited work days, short hours, great pay and benefits, outlandish pension, ridiculous job security, and overly funded for crap school system = stupid. California need the Wisconsin system for teachers and public service workers.
The teachers union runs the school system in California not the state. Politicians want the teachers union support and give them anything they want. They also have millions to spend on feeding the people their standard line students will suffer.
Wow so negative you people - for some kids they are safer at school than at home, they get at least one hot meal a day & are in the warm - & before you start on me I live in the UK & am answering for the UK. I like the idea of a longer day so that kids can study & take instruction / be motivated to do something rather than go home & watch TV/play WII or hang around street corners. Also if it means more teachers are employed then that is good also - they have worked hard to get a qualification!!. Before you scoff...ask yourself...could you teach? could you stand up in front of 30/35 kids & interest them in what you are saying / explaining ? a very difficult job that I would not want to do...ever, I would be terrified..would you? It's a really good idea that should be taken on the world over so we do not have people who cannot read or write (and who can actually spell baboon !!)
I'm an American living in New Zealand from the Chicago area and would like to share what they do here that has worked great with my children, who had attended American schools. They are in second and fourth grade - they go to school for 10 weeks with a 2 week holiday in between the four terms. After the fourth term, they get a 7-8 week holiday. This really allows them to sort-of decompress after weeks of learning, have a quick break, but also allow them to retain all of what they've been learning without long breaks in between. In addition, their school day is 9 - 3, which I thought was great considering the school they went to in Illinois started at 8:00 - which I always thought was a bit early for kids, especially when they're bus riders having to be picked up at 7:10. They also get 2 breaks during the day, 40 minutes each at 10:30 and 12:30, where they're allowed to eat and then play and run around for awhile. Again, I was concerned at first that it didn't seem to leave a lot of time for education, but they are doing so much better here because they do have those breaks and then they're ready to learn again instead of being drained from such a long day. They've been learning math on an abicus, which I thought was bizarre at first, but my second grader can add 2 digit numbers in her head like nothing. School curriculum includes swimming and kayaking, music and art classes as well as a "passion day" where they can spend 2 hours a week learning things like wood carving, gardening, sewing and cooking - and this is all in primary school. They also have camps for each class every year for all the students, most of which is paid for in their free education here. I love my country, but I think they need to revisit how we educate our children - and keep education fun to keep the kids interested. Maybe then without getting burned out, we'll have more children graduating.
I can't believe for one thing, that they didn't have P.E. For another thing, I can't believe elementary school was only 5.5 hours. Wow. I knew the big cities had it rougher, but holy crap, now we KNOW what's wrong with Chicago. Holy hell, I've live in a lot of cities in my life all over the country, and I've never encountered, either with my kids, or when I was a child, such blatant neglect in the school systems. I will never again massively complain about where my kids are now. This is atrocious, and it's about time someone did do something - I'm glad they finally decided to improve. Wow. There's your dumbing down of America - something they've done for years with curriculum, but I had no idea how bad their hours and subjects were there. I really hope they do make things better - and there's where a large portion of problems with crime came from - ignorant and uneducated people.
I did type I've lived, with a 'd', but somehow managed to erase it. I want to make sure it is known that I am literate. :)
How dare you commetn on an education article without proofreading!!
"Commetn" Ed?
You can't have a better start in education than committed parents
longer hours don't equate to smarter students, lmao. gotta love the educrats.
When Rahm championed longer school days, we thought he meant reading/math/science/etc., not art and gym class!
Based on the quality of these comments, I would say that the Chicago Public School System is not the only one in the U.S. in need of reform.
For you complaining about how much teachers make for the time they put in, don't forget that these teachers have a lot of college debt to pay. Maybe if it was cheaper to become a teacher they wouldn't cost so much.
Well, it was nice to see that you all think so badly of teachers. Most of you can't spell and guess what, it's not the teacher's fault. It's yours! I worked in the private sector and now am a public school teacher. I had it so easy in the private sector compared to this job, that I find your comments laughable about our short days, etc., and how easy it is to get kids to learn something. You cannot believe the scrutiny we work with and the amount of extra hours we put in to help your children grow. I say if you want to get rid of the unions that protect teachers from lousy administrators, failing parents, and corrupt politicians then let's make parents truly responsible for their children's educations. If your kid misses a day of school without a dr.'s excuse, you get fined. If your kid doesn't do his/her homework, you get fined. If you take your kid out of school for a two-week vacation and expect the teachers to bend over backwards for your convenience, then you should pay a bonus to the teachers for making more work for them. You let your kids stay up on Facebook until 3 a.m. and then he/she falls asleep in class, you get fined. Your kid comes to school smelling to high heaven because you don't have enough parental control to make him/her take a shower, you get arrested for child abuse. Your kid comes to school hungry, you get arrested. Your kid calls the teacher a bitch, you get arrested. Maybe the problem isn't the teachers as much as the parents of this generation who are so much more interested in their sex lives, drugs, careers, 2nd and 3rd marriages, blended families, etc., who don't give two craps about what their kids do at school and the teacher is always at fault. When I went to school in the 60s and 70s and if I got in trouble in school, my parents would ask me what I did, not what the teacher did to me. Just some food for thought.
I am not an educator @ Remyson but I loved your post. I agree wholeheartedly.