But It’s For The Chiiiilllldrreeeennns Home - by Claudia - September 8, 2012 - 13:41 America/New_York - 25 Comments Chicago Teachers May Strike on Monday; News Coverage Doesn’t Disclose Their Current Pay, Initial Demands By Tom Blumer, NewsBusters Less than 48 hours from now, Chicago’s teachers, whose union head insists, as quoted by the Associated Press, that “we are here to negotiate for better schools in Chicago,” may walk off the job, leaving the children entrusted to them to languish in half-days of activities unrelated to learning “staffed by non-union and central office workers.” There seems to be an unwritten rule that news coverage of these matters not discuss the current earnings of those who are threatening to strike. In a writeup of over 900 words, AP writers Tammy Webber and Don Babwin stuck to that script, and also failed to tell their readers the size of the raise union negotiators initially requested. [snip] Chicago Teachers Union Demands 30 Percent Pay Raise It takes a lot of nerve to ask for a 30 percent pay raise. You’d better be sure you had a banner year. Yet in Chicago, where just 15 percent of fourth graders are proficient in reading (and just 56 percent of students graduate), the teachers union is set to strike if the district does not agree to a 30 percent increase in teachers’ salaries. The average teacher in Chicago Public Schools—a district facing a $700 million deficit—makes $71,000 per year before benefits are included. If the district meets union demands and rewards teachers with the requested salary increase, education employees will receive compensation north of $92,000 per year. According to the Illinois Policy Institute, the average annual income of a family in Chicago is $47,000 per year. If implemented, the 30 percent raise will mean that in nine months, a single teacher in the Chicago Public School system will take home nearly double what the average family in the city earns in a year. While the union bemoans the longer school day and is demanding a hefty pay raise as a result, taxpayers will be left holding the bill for a 30 percent salary increase and wondering whether $92,000 is appropriate compensation for public school employees. I don’t have to wonder. It’s not.
We have commercials here about a ballot inititive regarding collective bargaining. One of them is a teacher telling us how teachers negotiate class size and school supplies for students. In all the years here in Michigan, I don't recall one teacher strike that wasn't SOLELY FOR HIGHER PAY. The sad part is, that's the primary concern with most teachers today. It explains why schools are failing in properly educating our kids.
Union Director Raves That Teachers Started An “Arab Spring” Against Rahm Emanuel… The horror of only making $76,000 a year plus a benefits package private sector workers would die for. Via Newsbusters: On Monday’s edition of the Al Sharpton radio show — titled Keepin’ It Real – Sharpton asked Stacy Davis Gates, the political director of the Chicago Teachers Union, “What does the city need to do to bring this strike to an end?” She announced there was an Arab Spring breaking out in Chicago: STACY DAVIS GATES: Well, you know what’s interesting Reverend Al, is that this is sort of like an Arab Spring here in Chicago right now. Currently, there are five locals, AFT (American Federation of Teachers) locals, who are experiencing similar issues here. Eleven NEA locals have filed intent to strike within the last year. So this is not just confined to Chicago, either…. Our teachers have been bullied, they’ve been belittled by a Democratic mayor, who we think should be a friend to us. Why us? Why teachers?…Rahm Emanuel, that handpicked school board, bless their hearts. They don’t get it.