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Subscribe to RSSKids may be back in school on Monday if the Chicago Teachers Union is able to reach an agreement about salary increases, teacher evaluations and rehiring policy for laid off teachers. NBC's Rehema Ellis reports.
Updated at 7:45 p.m. ET: President of the Chicago school board said on Friday that school negotiators had reached a "framework" agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union on a new contract that will end a strike in the third-largest school district in the nation.
"I am pleased to tell you we have in place frameworks around all of the major issues that should allow us to conclude this process and conclude it in time for our kids to be back in school on Monday morning," school board President Dave Vitale said.
Moments earlier, the attorney for the Chicago Teachers Union said the final deal wasn't done yet.
"The agreement has not been fully drafted and until an agreement is completed, the House of Delegates will not make a decision on whether to suspend the strike," CTU attorney Robert Bloch told reporters.
The union's delegates still will meet at 2 p.m. as planned, Bloch said, and a report will made to them about the progress of contract talks. Negotiations ended for the day, and Bloch said the two parties hope to have a deal drafted by Sunday. The union's delegates is a larger consultative body than the negotiating team.
"If the delegates so vote, we will suspend the strike and students can return to school on Monday," Bloch said.
Talks are expected to continue at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel issued a statement:
"This tentative framework is an honest and principled compromise that is about who we all work for: our students. It preserves more time for learning in the classroom, provides more support for teachers to excel at their craft, and gives principals the latitude and responsibility to build an environment in which our children can succeed. Now, our most important work continues: providing every child in every community of Chicago an education to match their potential."
Question at heart of Chicago strike: How do you measure teacher performance?
After a late night and early morning of negotiations, school officials had said they were confidently close to an agreement that would end Chicago's teacher strike over education reforms sought by the mayor.
Sitthixay Ditthavong / AP
Public school teachers rallying at Chicago's Congress Plaza protest against billionaire Hyatt Hotel mogul Penny Pritzker, who is also a member of the Chicago Board of Education on Thursday.
Thousands of teachers walked off the job Monday after months of negotiations failed to result in a new contract, affecting more than 350,000 students. It's the city's first teacher strike since October 1987.
"There were some creative ideas passed around, but we still do not have an agreement," Karen Lewis, the fiery former high school chemistry teacher who leads the union, told reporters. "We're going to go back to our respective shops and do some numbers crunching."
"It was a really, really long night," CPS chief education advisor Barbara Byrd-Bennett told NBCChicago.com. "We believe it was a beneficial night. We are so close I do believe it is very, very possible we could have a deal today."
She said she remained hopeful that students and teachers could return to class on Monday.
theGrio: 'Safe havens' for kids offered during Chicago teachers strike
"I think that we made some pretty good progress," Chicago School Board President David Vitale said on Thursday night. "We're closing a lot of gaps."
'A sense of urgency'
A more recent offer included provisions that would protect tenured teachers from dismissal in the first year of the evaluations.
It also altered categories that teachers can be rated on and added an appeals process. Additionally, evaluations could work on a graduated scale throughout the term of the contract, comprising between 25 and 35 percent of a teacher's total score.
"There's a sense of urgency today,'' said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who stopped by the hotel where the negotiators were working Thursday and spoke to reporters. A day earlier, he said the two sides were talking past each other.
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Leave a Comment:
What a clown. Jesse saw reporters and just stopped by to get his name in the papers and his face on tv.
He's becoming that wanna be in the group that jumps in front of every picture you take so they can be noticed... Rev. Jackson.. pease get the message that no one cares.. You stopped serving God a long time ago so you could serve your self interests.. Your reward is that you have become irrelevant.
Frankly, these are not public schools.....these are government schools. B/c this is where the funding comes from.
Cant blame the teachers.....they are reaching for what has become apparent. Reward dependency.
It will continue in other regions if this union is successful. Its just where we are headed with today's policies and it is not sustainable.
This is another reason my kid goes to private school. Anyone who hands their children over to the government for 8 hours a day to be indoctrinated is commiting child abuse.
Bowtie brigade--how nice for you. So--how is YOUR kid's school doing with regard to meeting state goals and criteria?
I know of some VERY good private schools, and I also know that there is one in my town that is run by one of the protestant churches, and their TEACHERS don't even have to have a college DEGREE.
And a couple of years ago, when a pretty big group of them transferred back into public schools, lo and behold, they were all a year behind their similar age groups.
Seems the private school was teaching more Bible than they were ABC's.
And I think that is ALSO child abuse.
Just look at the success rates of public versus private school education and children's ability to get into college or get decent work. Maybe those state goals arent such a good measurement of success after all..
The US sucks at education... if you can find an alternative that you are pleased with.. Not saying all private options out there are good but if you the parent can find an alternative that you are pleased with and can afford.. I think it is a better option.. Just wish they wouldn't make parents that want to pay for private school pay the school taxes for public school.. Again why do I have to pay for something I don't need and others want more for less when it comes to public services.
MOmaid you are both a liar and anti-Christian bigot. Private schools 99% of the time do BETTER than the public schools and that is a FACT. Public schools rank DEAD LAST. Teaching children Sally has two same sex parents is a LIE and that is about all Public schools are good at teaching. You must have come from one, or are a teacher yourself.
LiberalsR: To add insult to injury...
39% of Chicago School Teachers send their Kids to PRIVATE schools!
Too bad the tax payers in Chicago can't afford private schools as well. Unions are
Typical of the Obama DEMOCRAT.
Whats mine is mine and Whats Yours is mine too!
Part of the reason private schools do better is that the schools can be very choosy about who they accept. If the student is acting up or not progressing, the school can tell them to leave. The public school can't kick out the students who fail, they have to keep them until they turn 18 and then they drop out. If a student is determined to not do what is needed to learn, no teacher will make them learn.
Assume your pay and even your keeping your job is based on the total amount of light that is in a particular spot in your workplace each year. In a good year, you have a good amount of daylight to add to the light provided by electric bulbs. If bulbs burn out, you are not the one to replace them. If the windows get dirty, you are not allowed to clean them or to tell someone else to clean them. However, your pay will be judged, from up to 25% to 40%, on the amount of light that there is. Your spot is compared to other spots in the workplace for the amount of light that is in it. If you don't have enough light in your spot, you can also be fired right before being able to receive your full pension, even though you have worked at the job for 29 years and there was a new wall put up covering the window. All that matters is that your light is less than what the light spot checker says it should be.
Now, would you say that is not FAIR ?
That is what the teachers are fighting about.
I just can't wait to hear Lewis presenting the extorted settlement as some sort of noble effort by the teacher's union, with the media hanging on every word, lapping it up. Yuch!
I find this disgusting woman's spin.... well, disgusting.
discustingly well said!
This is what you get with the unions of today. These teachers average salary is already over 50K a year and they were offered a 16% raise! How does this compare with your job or the raise you got this year??? The unemployment rate for teachers is no where near the national unemployment rate....why cant teachers be fired or laid off for their poor preformances? Unions....Unions....Unions.....one of the great evils in this country! I would fire them all and hire new fresh hungry teachers who are eager to work!
Teachers in san antonio were jumping up and down for a 2% increase to try to keep up with inflation and costs of living.. We are the 7th largest city in America.. Why is there such a disparity in salaries and increases?.. Chicago is the city where politics rule instead of mature choices.. But everyone is happy with the leaders that come from there ..Just weird to me
Personal Responsibility--no matter HOW they cut it, if the City of Chicago gives these teachers ONE penny in raises or benefits, then the city has to BORROW that money (and how do they think they could EVER pay it back?) or 'steal it' from other needed programs like fire departments and Police.
WHEN will the Unions learn that when there IS no money, the city can't pay it.
It's like the comic Gallagher (of smashing watermelons fame) used to say about banks charging you an over draft fee for bouncing a check--when they KNEW already that you didn't HAVE the money to pay the fee either!
MOmaid:
Maybe the Unions will learn that when Obama stops using
TAX PAYER money as a UNION slush fund.
If it weren't for the election Obama would be Johnny on the spot with those
GREEDY SHELFISH OBAMA UNION DEMOCRATS!
Can child protective service workers.. police.. fireman and all other city workers decide they don't have enough in their paycheck and they don't want to be evaluated on their work performance and take a week off to hold a sign in their hands on the corner instead of meeting the requirements of the job description they signed to even get their job in the first place..? Give into their demands and it only rewards bad behavior... Figure teachers would understand why their bad behavior at the command of the union should go un rewarded.. think they teach you that in classroom management 101.. Get back to work so the kids in your poor neighborhoods dont get dumber and more likely to end up in prison or gangs...
With MANY educated teachers looking for work....
boot these "give me more, and give me more" greedy teachers...and hire some hungry,
motivated, educated, appreciative teachers.
Here is one of the biggest problems with unions....
They want more and more and more and more.....doesn't matter about the quality of the teacher...
just as long as the teacher pays their dues. Doesn't matter if the kids can't read or write when they graduate from school (or drop out)....just pay those teachers more and more and more.
Bring the wages down to match those paid in the lowest paying state, boot out these teachers that do nothing and can't teach...and give the jobs to people with drive and education.
This is simple blackmail--You really want these people to teach young open minds?
They could have done this in July, so not to deprive the children of the education, that they deserve, and that always being used by the unions to tell the story, why they should have much higher salaries to come to work part time and only work 180 days a year----they should try to have a chief engineering job, I worked that for 30 years at an average annual hours of appx 4200 every year!--and that is not that unusual at all, Yes, I was teaching the worlds fully automated computer integrated circuit factory in the worlds largest computer company, so I do know what we need, we do not need any more slackers to do anything!
Wow get a look at those angry faces, can you imagine as a child having to deal with this mob everyday! To bad they don't outlaw the teachers union and free our childern and their parents and give them a right be pro chocie in their education. Given an option would any of you send your kids to class were this angry, liberal, progressive , Dumbocrat voting gang "teach," of course you would not. Yea and their doing number crunching here are some you can crunch, teacher make way more than they should given the type of performance from our childern. All big blue states and cities that elect Dumbocrats are broke, it is only a matter of time before this house of cards comes crashing down. Can't wait for it to happen, how about you?
Pro choice only screws the poor when it comes to education. Private school costs money, even after a voucher, and do you really think they'll let just anybody into their schools? So public schools will have less funding and be stuck with students that nobody else wants.
The unions and school vouchers are two completely separate issues. Why don't you start arguing about Justin Beiber while you're at it? It's just as logical.
It's also funny that you believe in individual freedom but also want government to regulate abortion. So please, don't use the word "pro-choice" when it's more like "pro-only what I believe".
Not really if you watch the film Waiting for Superman you will see that private school students in the worse section of NYC all black far exceed those of even student in whitelandia in Westchester and Rockland counties. Not talking about abortion just using that term to be applied to right of the customer to chose the school they want to attend. If the teachers union really thought for one moment that they were offering a service of value they would not hesitate to allow you that option. But they know that the public school system is a joke, and along with the Dumbocrats make sure that you have no option where your childern attend school. You can marry who you want, live where you want, work where you want, travel where you want, you have many options when it come to buying consumer goods, except for school choice, I wonder why?
If your job is SO bad that you need to strike since you don't like the "new" rules (like job evaluations and working an 8 hour day 8 months a year) then get a new job. EVERY career has stress and most you have to bring work home and work after hours and on weekends. AND issues from work keep you up at night. WE GET IT!
Hey how about another job that serves people (since that is why you went into to teaching), the military is ALWAYS hiring. Or how about waiting tables?
The median income in Chicago is $46,877, the teachers at Chicago has a median income of $74,236 and there's only 181 school days in a year. Almost twice the pay and half the work.
The only reason they are so against performance evaluation is because they don't deserve to be the highest paid public school teachers in America. Chicago has the lowest test scores among all of the metro cities so they can't really blame other factors when places like Detroit out scores them. According to the current performance evaluation system, only 3% of the Chicago teachers are to be replaced because they suck.
Some may be against standardized tests. However, the proficiency exams are there to ensure that students are at least at the minimum level of reading, math and science. They're not trying to test the student's full abilities here, just to make sure they can at the very least, read Blues Clues and be able to calculate the change required to work the cash register at McDonald.
It's no surprise that Chicago has more than a 50% fail rate, their teachers are only out for themselves.
fire um all, hire real teachers
Screw those teachers....they don't deserve all those perks! What the hell do they want! They make too much already!!......look like a bunch of savages!!
There is only one measure of performance in the eyes of a unionist:
In the eyes of the union, a member only has a few obligations:
Yep, for sure these folks made America great.
And always vote Dumbocrat cause they will make sure that no real school reform ever get passed. The Dumbocrat party and the lack of public service worker unions go hand and hand. Look at any big blue state and all the big blue cities, run by Dumbocrats and all on the verge of financial collapes. Ca, NJ, NY Ct, RI, Ill to name a few.
Teachers and their union bosses hold the city kidnapped with a ransom note for billions and they cut a deal. Unions can be eliminated and teachers can be replaced. That is the deal that should be done.
It's not about the kids, it's about teachers and their power, seniority, control, pension, future. Their greed and pious attitude. Fire them!
Government mandated education is little more than subsidised day care by taxpayers. The system is full of corruption and the kids are not the priority.
Time to privatise ALL education.
It doesnt need to be privatized, we just have to get the unions out of the way of education. They are the roadblock that had ruined the US education system, and until they are gone, this disgraceful version of "educating" will continue.
Agreed completely.
To the striking teachers. If it is SO bad please just quit already.
To the unions please go away. You are so 50 years ago.
Do not cave Rahm!!!
Fire the teachers now, hire new ones and install a new cost structure and move on to give the kids a fighting chance.
The current teacher salary/benefits cost structure is bankrupting the city.
Show your support to Mayor Emanuel on FB or by calling the Mayor's office 312 744 5000.
Strikers are wearing ponchos. Must be raining in Chicago, time to settle the strike.
Nah, now theyll just all take 2 weeks out paid for by taxpayers, to address the sniffles.
There is a spectrum of quality of teachers in the union: excellent, mediocre, bad and everything in between.
The unions hold back the excellent ones and prop up the bad and mediocre ones.
That is why unions in general are bad and why the Teachers' Union, in particular, is bankrupting our public school system.
This is why socialism is bad, unions just happen to be a socialist organization.
If the teachers get what they want out of this marathon negotiation, the teachers better make sure that the kids get double the good education the kids deserve, they cannot just ask for something and do nothing in return and just sit on their ass and forget about their obligations, there are good and bad teachers, if you are one of the bad ones then just get out of teaching, tax payers do not want to pay for a bad teacher that does not give a crap about kids and their future
"they cannot just ask for something and do nothing in return and just sit on their ass and forget about their obligations"
Oh, they can't huh? BS, they are no diff than the useless scum that we vote into office with our trust to serve and protect our best interests. Take a good look at how that has worked out for us, if you already don't know, and quit being so naive.
MIDNIGHTRIDR...LIKE I SAID, IF ANY OF THESE TEACHERS THAT ARE NEGOTIATING ARE ONE OF THE BAD TEACHERS, then just get out of teaching, tax paying Americans, like me, do not like to pay higher taxes to pay for someone that does not give a crap about our kids, if these teachers know how to talk the talk, then they better know how to walk the walk...
Would love to see a 16 - 33% increase in student performance to justify the raises they want.. If they can't produce the benefits for the tax payors providing an increase in salaries then they all get pink slips at the end of the year.
Any form of 'groupthink' which is exemplified by the CTU, is a guarantee of failure.
Too bad for the children of Chicago.
groupthink is bad.... hence the name.. think for yourself people and don't get caught up in right vs left wing rhetoric. If you don't know the definition of the concept of group think please look it up.. Very interesting social dynamic that allows sheep and lemings to rule decision making that leads this country right of the cliff
Fire every last one of em and give all the ghetto brats a free uzi and backpack full of ammo and turn em loose in the streets. Phuck em ALL.
Stand up to the union Rahm!
Rahm is only really good at bending over....oh and mailing dead fish to people.
The average job is 2040 hours per year. The average teacher's job is 1440 hours per year. That means at $60,000 per year the teacher earns $41.67 per hour plus benefits. If you put their salary on an annual basis its $85,000 per year. So Chicago is paying this and still has a 40% drop-out rate? No wonder the teachers don't want to be rated.