A$ 50 billion list of demands from the Chicago Teachers Union ( CTU) will help the union’s students in the city, at the expense of taxpayers, and will have little to no, if any, impact on student achievement.
Chicago Public Schools currently delivers bad outcomes for a very high price. Last school year, the district spent more than$ 21, 000 per student, well above the national average of$ 14, 347. And on the last Nation’s Report Card, only 21 percent of the state’s seventh graders were proficient users.
But that is of no problem to the CTU, based on its list of requirements. The coalition intends to demand that every college have at least one sex-neutral restroom and that every counselor and social worker receive annual training on “LGBTQ+ issues.” Additionally, it states that no coalition member may be required to inform a child’s parents if a student refuses to have sex with them. When does a work union get to choose what information families can share with the public about their own kids?
Not only that, but this is one more way the deal veers into cultural issues and academic freedom. The CTU requests that taxpayers pay$ 2,000 in” support” for each unaccompanied minor and$ 2,000 for the conversion of unused classrooms into migrant housing. Previously- hungry for more members, the union likewise insists each school may include a “newcomer contact”.
The coalition is also pushing for legislation that will worsen the issue of children murder in its ranks. The CTU’s proposed contract calls for “police-free schools,” security personnel ( presumably union members ), and the establishment of school safety committees at each school, which are presided over by — who else? — the coalition member or the delegate’s nominee.
Additionally, the contract mandates that all school-based employees receive monthly restorative practices training. There’s one glaring problem: Restorative practices do n’t work. In a randomized controlled study conducted by Rand in Pittsburgh, it was discovered that restorative practices in schools had no impact on incarceration rates or academic performance ( in fact, academic performance decreased in scores six through eight ). Healing practices do, however, give the coalition pretext for forcing the area to get “restorative fairness coordinators”. One in every class and another 50 hired annually through 2028 are desired by the union.  ,
Another Reason No to Job
The union’s policies wo n’t stop school violence, but they will use unsafe environments to close schools and lower teacher performance standards. The director will need to meet with the mind of the CTU to explore closing the school for some time following any” traumatic function” at a college. The coalition incorporated a new justification into the deal to pay teachers for not working while kids suffer, and it learned from its success in keeping classrooms closed during Covid. ” No institution will resume until all essential supports, both physical and emotional, are in place”, the deal says, yet it does not establish a” tragic event” or “necessary helps”.
In the eyes of the union leaders,” pain” is also a reason to stop evaluating instructors. According to the contract,” the evaluation process shall be suspended for an entire year ( 365 days ) in the case of a traumatic event at a particular school or subset of schools.” However, the union wo n’t be waiting for a reason to lower teachers ‘ job performance standards. It is pushing for a decrease in the minimum rating required for a tutor to get rated “proficient” and a decrease in the frequency of assessments for some permanent teachers from periodically to every three years. Additionally, it opens up the possibility for teachers to have their low efficiency scores reversed.
More Give, More Professor Advisers
Poor teachers will get to stay around, and when they do, they’ll get compensated generously. The coalition wants 9 percent yearly price- of- living raises that may take the average teacher’s salary to practically$ 145, 000 over the next four years, per the Illinois Policy Institute, which published the contract online. In Chicago, where the Census Bureau reports a median household income of less than half that figure, that’s a difficult pill to eat. The coalition also wants to force the district to use 2, 500 new professor aides, despite sluggish area enrollment.
In the event of layoffs, the union wants a policy that prioritizes protecting the jobs of minority teachers. Its proposal includes nothing about teacher performance.
Mayor’s Support
For those who are not familiar with Chicago politics, it may be forgiven to assume that city officials are most likely to make the union bosses laugh out loud. Instead, the union has an ally in the mayor’s office because the union decided who would hold the mayor’s office. Former paid CTU organizer Mayor Brandon Johnson was paid millions to win his election. And if Johnson balks at any of the 700 demands? Well, the CTU is prepared to strike.
Stacy Davis Gates, the union’s boss, told the Chicago Sun-Times,” We’re a labor union that understands the power of work stoppage and the power of solidarity.” She sends her own son to a private Catholic school. Families in Chicago Public Schools are in a bind as a result. They have two options: allowing the public schools to do even worse for students, or resign from the position of being completely unproductive. This is what the power of the teacher union affects schools and the communities that they are supposed to support. Before it happens, every American city would be wise to learn this painful lesson.
