MORE Chicago Solidarity Update

Thursday  night there was a great turnout for the MORE Chicago Solidarity event -- SRO.

See Sean Ahern's report at Substance.
http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=3533&section=Article

And I'm editing a video of the event which I will put up.

Some brief numbers:  around a hundred  attendees...over $650 raised for CTU solidarity fund (contribute here if you haven't already)... 

Kim Bowsky and Al Ramirez on Skype

Sean proudly wears the CTU shirt

Here's more on the Chicago story:

Chicago teachers hold practice strikes (video and story) at HuffPo.

Members of the Chicago Teachers Union hold an informational picket outside Willa Cather Elementary School, calling attention to ongoing contract talks with the Board of Education on Monday, Aug. 20, 2012 in Chicago. The union says it is still trying to reach an agreement on wages, health benefits, and job security. (AP Photo/Sitthixay Ditthavong)

Here is a good report from Fred Klonsky:

CTU’s ten-day strike notice

When the House of Delegates of the Chicago Teachers Union met yesterday at Lane Tech, they voted to file a ten-day strike notice. CTU President Karen Lewis told the reporters in the parking lot next to Lane that the leadership was given authority to choose the date of a strike if one becomes necessary.
I think the vote sends three messages:

• It is a legal requirement.
• It puts pressure on the board, CEO JC Brizard and, of course, Rahm Emanuel.
• It says that the interim agreement, signed several weeks ago on the longer school day, is not working as promised.

Frankly, when I read the interim agreement I took note that it did not specifically say that the teachers that were to be rehired were to be music, art or PE teachers. It seemed to me then that the agreement required and would be a sign of whether there was honest intent on the part of the board and the Mayor.
That question has been answered in the negative.
If the longer day was to be a better day, than CPS has had ample time to demonstrate that with the opening of E-track schools.
Lewis made clear that the board has failed.

Lewis gave a litany of grievances at this morning’s press conference including that the interim agreement on a longer school day has not meant a “better day” but instead was rolled out “haphazardly and ridiculously.” For example, part of the deal is that CPS would give jobs to 477 recently laid off teachers. But the union says they are in the dark about this hiring process.

CPS is also allegedly ignoring matters dear to CTU like a reduction in class size and a desire for more social workers. “We have in this city 400,000 children and 370 social workers,” Lewis says. “No one in the city should think this is tolerable.”

http://youtu.be/j7QGOzfEL4w

Wed Aug 22, 2012 at 12:40 PM PDT

Tea Party Opportunist Attacks Chicago Teachers for Exposing His Anti-Union Work with Mayor

 

 

Caucuses and Unions: Part 2 - The Chicago Experience

Part 1: Unity

Part 2: The Chicago Experience
Building a democratic union and building a democratic caucus go hand in hand


I am trying to piece things together from afar so I may not be totally accurate but here is my sense of things.

When Debbie Lynch won the Chicago Teachers Union election on a reform slate in 2001, she had a few problems. More than a few. She had a caucus (PACT) but from what I can gather it was somewhat limited in reach. How did she win? Personal reputation, the worsening conditions in the school and a Unity like leadership (UPC) that was  incompetent. I mean of you want to rate Unity vs UPC on a scale of ability to manage the members - Unity was a 10 and UPC was a 3. Maybe.


So Debbie is in power. She is saddled with a staff hired by UPC that she can't get rid of because they are in the Teamsters union and have a contract (the same situation faced today by CORE). They do all they can to undermine her. She also doesn't have control of the House of Delegates which is still controlled by the UPC. Her caucus is not really strong enough to fend off the attacks by the UPC, which still continues to function to win back power. And she also makes some mistakes which I won't get into now.

I'm guessing here, but I have a sense she worked on building the union - CTU - and possibly neglected on continuing to build her caucus.

Still, in the 2004 election she almost wins without a runoff but falls short and it ends up with PACT vs UPC. And there are some irregularities and the AFT rules against her. And the UPC is back in power. In 2007 she gets smashed by the UPC.

Now stuff begins to happen. UPC's Marilyn Stewart who defeated Debbie in 2004 and 2007 goes after people in her own caucus, even having the guy who ran her campaign thrown out of the union and splitting with a person elected as an officer on her slate. Eventually, two caucuses will emerge from this split in the UPC.

In the meantime, Debbie Lynch rebuilds her caucus for a run at the 2010 elections, figuring she has a real chance with the UPC splits. But out of the grassroots, another group starts rising.

Caucus of Rank and File Educators
We found out from new CTU president Karen Lewis when we heard her speak to a CTU party in Chicago that CORE started out as a study group – things were so bad in the schools and in the union that a group of people started getting together to try to figure out what was happening. "We had no idea of getting involved in the union the way we did," Lewis said. But with the charter influx, the closing of schools and the numbers of teachers losing their jobs, they had no choice. More activist oriented than the other caucuses, they began to grow quickly. When I met with a group of CORE members in LA last summer they told me they felt they had a chance to get into the runoff and then "anything is possible."

The year since has been momentous. CORE influence kept growing as quickly as UPC ineptness and indications were coming in that the prediction of last summer would come through - that with 5 caucuses running, the UPC would not get a majority in round 1 and they had a shot at squeaking into the runoff. To show you how clueless Marilyn Stewart was, as late as the first round election she was sure the UPC would get over 50% and a runoff wouldn't be necessary.

The shocker was that CORE and UPC ran neck and neck with around 32% of the vote each, with the other 3 caucuses splitting the rest. Debbie Lynch got about 15%. A few days later all 3 of the groups out of the running endorsed CORE. Word is that Debbie truly delivered her vote into the hands of CORE, which had about 60% of the vote in the runoff.

Analysis shows that though some people in CORE are claiming an overwhelming victory, the reality is that the UPC still had about 40% and the other 3 caucuses might hold a balance of power in the future. It all depends on whether CORE learns from the past and continues to build the CORE caucus at the same time as rebuilding the devastated Chicago Teachers Union while trying to maintain democracy at the caucus level and within the CTU. (How tempting would it be to treat the UPC the way they treated everyone else all the years in power?) And let's not forget that a reform movement that refuses to cooperate with the ed deformers as Randi and Mulgrew do is a major threat to the political and financial forces arrayed against them and to the power structure in the AFT/UFT.

Some say it is never too early to win power when you can. But there are pitfalls if you are young like CORE and if you have not consolidate the organization into a cohesive force while at the same time maintaining a good relationship with the other non-UPC caucuses that supported them, in particular Debbie Lynch. They seem to be making moves in this direction. This was posted on their blog on Aug. 4:

CORE owes a debt of gratitude to the PACT team for their efforts to promote democracy in the CTU and defend the rights of all members to campaign. We are grateful, as well, for their far-sighted support (along with CSDU and SEA) of CORE in the runoff election to move the CTU forward.

 That they took the time in the midst of the enormous challenges they face is a good sign.

CORE seems to be in the tween faze - it grew real fast and seemed to keep control over things as they grew. Can they continue to grow while also trying to run the union and battle the forces of ed deform?

CORE certainly has its work cut out for it.


Read more at Substance


 Part 3 will address how NYC differs from Chicago and the chances of seeing a CORE-like group here in the near future.

CORE and Unity on Charter Schools - Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Chicago-based Lee Sustar, who I got to hang with at the press table at the AFT convention, does a penetrating analysis of the AFT convention – and links to reports from George Schmidt's Substance, Ed Notes and Leonie's HufPost article on Bill Gates, "The Most Dangerous Man in America".

Lee's piece is long but well worth reading. Lee writes for the Socialist Worker, associated with ISO (International Socialist Organization). We have been working closely with a number of ISO teachers here in NYC.

Lee goes beyond the Bill Gates issue and touches on the major Weingarten sell-outs in Colorado and beyond. This is information every single one of you should share with every single colleague in your school and beyond. Just send them a link to this ed notes post.

Before you delve into it, I want to highlight the area that I have been emphasizing – the flash points between the two big caucuses - Chicago's CORE and New York's Unity.

Lee writes:

While not formally part of the opposition--CTU President Karen Lewis joined the union's ruling Progressive Caucus and won election as an AFT vice president--there were frictions between the Chicago delegation and Weingarten's home union local, the United Federation of Teachers in New York City.

The main disagreements were over convention resolutions on charter schools--where the Chicagoans wanted to call for a moratorium on charters as a form of privatization, the New York delegation insisted on restating the AFT's support for charter schools as a matter of school choice, and prevailed.

For the moment, the debate over charters, teacher evaluation and merit pay may fade to the background as the Chicago teachers gear up to fight the threat of layoffs. But the AFT's pursuit of partnership even as teachers are under their greatest attack in decades will inevitably lead to a struggle over the future of teacher unionism.

Read the above carefully and connect the dots to the story on the firing of the 10 key teachers at the Merrick Charter School in Queens that were trying to organize for the UFT. This charter school is founded by the head of the NY State Senate Malcolm Smith, who I bet the UFT has endorsed in the past and maybe even is endorsing again - he has no opposition so it is a mute question. The UFT has a press conference today at 1pm on this issue. See our updated post from last night:

Malcolm Smith founded charter school fires UFT teachers- Mulgrew threatens law suit

It seems the UFT would be going wild in Albany over this outrage, calling for Smith's head. But I bet they are too timid to do this. So a law suit is all they can threaten.

So how does this connect, aside from exposing the bankrupt policy of the UFT's total focus on political action?

Chicago/CORE called for an moratorium on charter schools at the AFT convention because they undermine public schools.

The AFTUFT/Unity gang supports charters along with a policy of organizing charter school teachers. How is that working out so far? Chicago people have pointed to how few charters have been organized and also point to how even when they are, there are individual contracts signed, which dilutes the power of a big union. Another bankrupt strategy of the UFT/AFT.

I was asked last night by a parent activist if the UFT had issued a press release or has any notice of the press conference and I said I only knew about it from her.

"Why not," she asked?

"Because they are very nervous these firings will kill off any organizing they are doing as charter school teachers realize the UFT has no real ability to protect them from retaliation. So the UFT is doing a semi-public relations gambit and threatening a law suit which can take a bit of time and do no good to the teachers who were fired." This entire thing can turn out to be a major PR disaster for the UFT/AFT.

The Merrick situation must be sending a chill in a very hot July down the spine of the UFT/AFT strategy because it is in the belly of the beast - with heavy Democratic black politicians associated with the firings. By the way, the charter school is managed by for profit Victory Schools which just hired Michael Duff away from the DOE. Victory also took a pound of flesh from another Malcolm Smith founded school in Rockaway - Peninsula Prep. Rockaway's local paper, The Wave, has been claiming that the closing of Beach Channel HS was related to a land grab by Smith for his charter.

The NY Times did a major front page expose on the Floyd Flake/Smith/Greg Meeks scams a few weeks ago.

Make sure to check out the Resolutions Chicago suggested at the AFT:

Chicago Teachers Union Resolution at AFT Convention

I usually include entire articles here for those too lazy to link or with slow networks. But I'm saving some scrolling space on the blog on the assumption that you all will read every word of Lee's article. There will be a high stakes test to follow.

The wrong partner for our schools

Lee Sustar looks at the implications of the "partnership" between American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.

July 22, 2010

http://socialistworker.org/2010/07/22/wrong-partner-our-schools

AFT Convention: UFT/CTU Deal Expose Fault Lines in School Closing Policy

There is no more volatile issue than that of closing schools. It leads to disruption of students, parents and teachers who are tossed onto the scrapheap– in NYC they are known as ATRs - absentee teacher reserves as even the most experienced teachers are used as subs.

The difference between the new Chicago Teachers Union leadership from CORE and the UFT/Unity Caucus almost came to a head at the recent AFT convention in Seattle, where the UFT initially supported a resolution that did not include much stronger language. Randi, fearing an embarrassing floor fight that might expose the fault lines in AFT/UFT policy on closing schools — they have refused to oppose them unequivocally — had Unity leaders approach the CTU and together they negotiated language the CTU would be willing to accept.

The 9 minute video below opens with Unity's Janella Hinds (one of the UFT point people in NYC on closing schools) making a strong statement on closing schools – which at first surprised me until I was filled in on what had gone on behind the scenes. She is followed by a strong statement from CORE's Jenninfer Johnson thanking Local 2 for "seeing the light" - my words.

Jen Johnson went where the UFT won't go – she flat out stated that the closing of schools is an attack on teacher tenure and seniority rights and talked about Chicago's ATR problem, where they can be fired after 10 months if they don't get a job. She said there was an attempt to cut into this time limit. (In NYC, ATRs cannot be fired at this time. It is hard to imagine even the UFT giving on this issue, especially after seeing the impact that issue has had in radicalizing Chicago teachers.)

Jen is followed by new CTU president Karen Lewis, who said, "I would like to thank Local 2 for understanding what it means to be on the front lines of a policy that is not only dangerous, it's deadly." You gotta love the underlying dig here at Unity. She talked about how closing schools undermine neighborhood stability and even lead to the deaths of students.

One of the reasons Lewis, who was teaching chemistry a few weeks ago, is now the CTU president is because the Unity style leadership in Chicago that preceded her went along with the closing schools, as has the Unity leadership in NYC. It wasn't until the slap in the face by the NYCDOE when they announced 19 school closings in Dec. 2009, that Unity, facing an upcoming union election, started to take action by organizing a rally in January and filing a lawsuit.

The UFT/Unity Caucus leadership has been making a big deal over their "victory" in lawsuit to keep schools open, especially at the AFT convention. I can't tell you how many people came over to talk about that "win" — even our pals in Chicago.

Of course, people on the ground here in NYC know better:

Bloomberg is sending so few students to those schools that, in effect, they won't be open anyway. And in a startling deal with the UFT, he's placing replacement schools in a bunch of them anyway. It's incomprehensible to me that they've agreed not to file another lawsuit and are essentially allowing him to walk all over the one they managed to win. But such is the transitory nature of victory when you have no follow-up strategy, I suppose.

Read full post at NYC Educator

There was disgust over a recent agreement between the UFT and DOE to insert new schools at Jamaica HS, one of the closing schools where ICE's James Eterno is the chapter leader (Eterno ran against Mulgrew for UFT president) while the incoming freshman class has been undermined by the DOE. Eterno wrote on the ICE blog:

We suffered a setback today when the DOE-UFT agreed to co-locate the two new schools in our building for September and the UFT agreed not to sue. It is hard to believe how we were stabbed in the back by the UFT. They didn't even have the decency to consult with us before they allowed the DOE to move new schools into our building.

Read James' full piece: Committee At Jamaica Vows to Fight on After UFT Gives us Away

Here is the video, also playing on the ed notes sidebar, GEM, and CPE.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhailiqr4uQ

AFT Convention: CTU and UFT Compromise on School Closing Reso

Want to see why the CORE victory in the June Chicago Teachers Union election has national implications? The UFT dominated convention was faced with a much stronger resolution on closing schools from Chicago than they advocated. The UFT backed off and offered a deal to include the CTU language in the school closing reso. Follow the bouncing ball with this excerpt from a powerful article written by CTU delegate Jen Johnson for Substance.

On Friday, July 9th, UFT Vice President for Educational Issues Aminda Gentile approached CTU convention delegates Carol Caref (also CTU interim Staff Coordinator and CTU Area A Vice President) and Jen Johnson (also CTU Area B Vice President) to discuss possible ways for CTU and UFT to work together on the issue of school closings.

Vice President Gentile was in the Educational Issues Committee and witnessed the work of CTU delegates to have their concerns heard by the convention. That morning, CTU convention delegates Jen Johnson, Xian Barrett (also CTU interim Legislative Coordinator), and Carol Caref met with UFT Vice President of Academic High Schools Leo Casey, UFT Special Representative Janella Hinds and UFT Special Representative Amy Arundell to negotiate what amendments could be made to existing UFT resolutions based on the language of the CTU resolution.

The CTU and UFT representatives agree to add language to Resolution 8, which was the UFT’s main priority resolution and Resolution 58. The representatives also agreed to adding one from the CTU resolution resolving that AFT demand that RTTT funding being used equitably rather than competitively was also agreed to be added to Resolution 60, which was not made a priority in committee so the amendment never made it to the convention floor.

Because of disagreements between the CTU and UFT representatives over how charter schools should best be dealt with, the amendments to Resolution 58 did not include a call for a moratorium on new charters despite the CTU representatives’ desires for one. The CTU representatives made clear to the UFT representatives that CTU delegates would make the final decision as to the delegation’s support for the proposed amendments and that CTU delegates were free to speak their mind on the floor of the convention if they had disagreements, especially concerning their perspectives on charter schools.

Here is Jen Johnson's full report to Substance which includes the entire amazing resolution proposed by CORE/CTU.

AFT CONVENTION: Resolution on school closing, charters required hard work, some compromises

Jen Johnson made a passionate speech from the floor, followed by new CTU president Karen Lewis. They were preceded by Unity's Janella Hinds who also made a good speech, which we'll parse in our followup article.

See the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhailiqr4uQ
(The video is also at the GEM blog and playing in the ed notes sidebar.)

By the way, if you haven't noticed, Karen Lewis got the 2nd highest vote total for AFT Ex Bd VP.

Let's remember that CORE has just come out of a grueling half year election campaign, took control of the CTU on July 1 - only 2 weeks after winning - and then left for Seattle on July 6. Most had little idea of how a convention operates especially one controlled by the UFT out of NYC. (Think: Block of 800 out of 3400 - almost 25% - and they control many other blocks - a lot of NY State which has 650,000 out of the 1.5 million AFT members. By the way, most of these 800 - Unity might have as many as 1500 or more members - also pack the Delegate Assemblies in NYC - in a room that only holds 850 people.

So, they get there and have to figure things out. And they start learning quickly. In every conversation I had with a CORE member I was impressed — by their knowledge, their passion, their commitment to public education. Remember - almost every one of them, including Karen Lewis, were in classrooms teaching just a few weeks ago. Quite a contrast to New York City.

CORE/CTU/Local 1 delegate Katie Hogan left this comment on Jen's article at Substance based on what happened at the committee meeting:

It's hard to understand, unless one was there, the total and complete orchestration of Local 2 - New York - of all committees and floor debate. I did get up in my committee (Organizing and Labor Issues) and try to add our original Resolved: "Resolved that the AFT and its state and local affiliates will march, petition, rally, hold media events, mobilize its members and utilize the help of supportive community partners and use all resources at its disposal to dispel the myths about the success of charter schools compared to traditional public schools, to expose the inequalities that exist within the funding and management of public education and to improve the public perception of public education" -- the amendment was voted on by voice -- and in audible surprise it was unable to determine to pass or vote down. You had obviously NY delegation voting against -- they had actually stacked the committee. It went to vote by hand and we were unfortunately defeated -- but not overwhelmingly. I also got to speak in that committee about WHY it's so important to add this particular resolved considering the national wave that is on its wave courtesy of Arne Duncan. This was a huge learning experience for everyone and I think when we go to Detroit and can write our own resolutions we will be much more prepared. However, we were fighting tooth and nail for anything we could get with our limited experience and resources. I was very proud to represent Local 1.

George Schmidt over at Substance has started posting these wonderful reports from inside the CORE caucus who sent 108 delegates to Seattle and came up against the massive 800 member Unity juggernaut, totally controlled and under caucus discipline. They listened, learned, fought back and compromised when they could and stood their ground when they couldn't.


Ed Note:
Look for the follow-up article later in the day that discusses UFT policy related to closing schools.

Add-on:
Good point by commenter Esteban who said: "Call me a cynic, but passing a resolution and actually following it are not the same thing" Esteban is so right. The Unity compromise was for PR purposes and will have zero impact on policy - unless there is an increasing national uprising, especially in New York.

CORE Rocks, Unity S_cks! - Part 1

Photo by George Schmidt

I have a lot to write on this topic but won't throw it all at you in one shot. Here is Part 1.

There were a lot of subtexts at the AFT convention in Seattle. Some emphasized the Detroit led BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) slate running against Randi's Progressive/Unity Caucus, but given the overall platform of BAMN and skepticism if not outright hostility of other left activists this is not a long-term building block to challenge Weingarten. I'll do more on the left at the convention and their impact at some other time.

More interesting was the role being played, and that might be played in the future by the newly elected CORE (Caucus of Rank & File Educators), a 2 year plus old caucus in Chicago that won a run-off in the recent elections against the UPC (Unity allied).

No matter where you ran into or listened to CORE members, they issued warnings about the disaster of the ed deform program on a system after 16 years, warnings that mostly went on the deaf ears of Unity and their national clones.

I was sitting with a national reporter at the press table and he assumed that the CORE leadership, based on their militancy in defense of teachers would naturally align with BAMN. Thus, he was somewhat surprised when new Chicago TU President Karen Lewis ran on Randi's Progressive Caucus platform as a VP while other CTU delegates ran with BAMN. One UFT leader asked someone in CORE, "Don't you have caucus discipline?" I guess not.

I explained to the reporter that if Lewis didn't run with Progressive which was destined to win (and did win with 95% of the vote), then Chicago for the first time in history wouldn't have a member of the AFT Executive Board council. To not have Local 1 (the UFT is local 2) as part of the council would be embarrassing for the AFT. Soon after arriving in Seattle, negotiations began between CORE and the Progressive Caucus. Reports surfaced that there were demands that at least 50% of the CTU delegates must join Progressive. CORE balked. In the end I believe 3 joined.

More interesting - when the election results came in, Karen Lewis finished with the second hightest total. Professional Staff Congress' (New York based) Barbara Bowen finished with the highest total. Bowen's caucus defeated the Unity supported caucus many years ago and is considered a left dissident group even though Bowen is in Progressive. At the Progressive Caucus meeting I attended Bowen consistently battled them, often against Leo Casey.

So, what does that say when the two VP's with an agenda that is not in alignment with Randi get the highest votes for VP? I'll let you mull that one over while I work on Part 2.

In the meantime, when it came to the Gates speech/walkout, CORE held a meeting to decide what to do. There was some division. The majority decided to remain in the hall, wear their red CTU hats and sit on their hands as a silent protest against Gates. Those that wanted to walk out were asked to remove their hats so as not to represent the CTU. A very democratic solution. As a matter of fact one of the leading people in the protest was a CORE member.

George Schmidt has a good article on Substance with a reprint of the late Gerald Bracey's comments on Gates and a reprint of Gates' speech. Here is his photo of the CTU delegation (around 145 strong) during the Gates speech. Karen Lewis is on the left in the red skirt.




http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?section=Article&page=1529#comments

Many of the members of the Chicago Teachers Union delegation, including President Karen Lewis and Financial Secretary Michael Brunson (above) remained in the hall during the walkout protesting Gates's speech. They then sat silently listening to Gates while delegates from some other union locals, especially New York City, gave Gates a standing ovation even after he promoted charter schools, merit pay, and an end to tenure in his speech (see speech). Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.

Class Size Victory in Chicago

The Chicago management tried to use threats of class size increases to get parents riled up against teachers but the new Chicago Teacher Union leadership - CORE and the parent -PURE- alliance held.

Leonie sent this:

Even though the Chicago Teachers Union has no power to negotiate class size limits, they may end up w/ smaller class sizes than we have in NYC!

A (partial) victory for the new CTU leaders and for teacher-parent cooperation:

From PURE:

http://pureparents.org/index.php?blog/show/First_and_partial_victory_for_new_CTU_and_for_parentteacher_cooperation

First (and partial) victory for new CTU and for parent-teacher cooperation

No to 37!

It really didn't take that long - CEO Huberman has already backed down on the 37/35 in a classroom threat.

Elementary class sizes are back to 2010 levels, though Huberman is still saying that high school class sizes have to go up from 31 to 33.

And he thinks the teachers should make up the rest of the supposed deficit by giving back the 4% pay raise called for in their contract.

To their great credit, the Raise Your Hand group, which CPS had invited to join Huberman at the press conference, disagreed, according to the Sun-Times, saying it was up to "lawmakers and Mayor Daley, not teachers, to work on filling the remaining budget gap."

Parents and teachers working together - so far, so good.

Eduwonk Takes Note of Events in Chicago as Karen Lewis is Turning into the Anti-Randi

With new Chicago union chief Karen Lewis taking office on July 1, expect her to become the anti-Randi. Eduwonk has noticed while Alex Russo who writes a Chicago blog while living in Brooklyn has his head in the sand. But both are open or closet ed deformers.

Eduwonk is Andrew Rotherham, a chief ed deformer - a Democrat who worked for Clinton so you know where the bread meets the butter - who went to some extent to challenge and expose Eduwonkette when she was anonymous.

Truth Stranger Than Fiction I

A lot going on in this curtain raiser for the new president of the Chicago Teachers Union. Here’s one:

AFT President Randi Weingarten has collaborated with Race to the Top and other White House education initiatives, even at the cost of retreating from the union’s opposition to merit pay and defense of tenure as the basis for teacher job security. But the election in the CTU–the third largest teachers’ union local in the U.S.–is a clear signal that rank-and-file teachers have different priorities.

Going along with the above as the Chicago establishment tries to challenge CORE even before they take office on July 1 here are some links from Gotham.

Chicago’s schools chief wants more than just seniority to determine layoffs. (Catalyst)

Chicago’s school board agreed to lay off teachers by quality rating, not seniority. (Chicago Sun-Times)

CORE will be sending 146 delegates to the AFT convention in Seattle (July 8-11.)

---------------
After-burn

See the Karen Lewis interview with Labor Beat:





If you haven't been following events in Detroit, Gotham has this link:
Momentum is growing for mayoral control of Detroit’s schools. (Detroit Free Press)

Now the Detroit union has also been in a state of flux and is sending 20 anti-Randi delegates to Seattle. Rest assured, the Chi/Detroit totals pale in comparison to the 800 Unity junketeers who dominate the convention.

CORE Organizes to Fight School Closings in Chicago and What We Have to Do in NYC

What role did the actions of Arne Duncan play in the rise of CORE in Chicago? CORE may give them a bigger nightmare than the one I had the other night. Look at the agenda below. People who have not been involved deeply in UFT politics ask me what's my beef with the UFT leadership and I would say where have they been all these years in teaching people at threatened schools how to fight back. There is no strategy (though considering how the leadership has pretty much been copying the GEM/ICE agenda - even handing out buttons that have the look of GEM buttons, we can expect some kind of copycat event). Right now the UFT is talking about going to court. Remember the CFE suit a decade ago? By the time this process is done there will be no public schools left to fight for. GEM hopefully will model itself on CORE and hold a similar conference for schools that are next on the chopping block.

Rank and File Opposition (CORE) Sweeps Chicago Teacher Pension Elections

"In what can only be described as a stunning upset, two Chicago public schools teachers, Lois Ashford (O'Keefe Elementary School) and Jay Rehak (Whitney Young High School) decisively defeated two incumbents to win seats on the Board of Trustees of the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund (CTPF) in an election held in all Chicago public schools and most of the city's charter schools on October 30, 2009." George Schmidt for Substance

George Schmidt called with the news yesterday and Substance is running a major article on its web site. There are lots of lessons for us in trying to build a movement within the union here in NYC.

Deteriorating conditions for public ed in Chicago, after 15 years of mayoral control are way ahead of NYC so a CORE type group emerging may have been inevitable. We should see the same type of development here within the next few years as the privatization movement accelerates. But the CTU has a much weaker leadership in terms of control than the uft. Core has a chance to actually win in the union election in May.

George's full article is at http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=966&section=Article

Here's another report from a CORE member:

Rank and File Opposition Sweeps Chicago Teacher Pension Elections

by Jesse Sharkey, Caucus Of Rank and File Educators (CORE)

Rank and File activists swept the election for the Chicago Teacher Pension Fund trustees (two were up for election) Friday night.

Jay Rehak, a teacher at Chicago's Whitney Young High School, and Lois Ashford, a teacher at O'Keefe Elementary were elected pension trustees to oversee the Pension Fund's $8 billion assets.

The election was significant because pension trustees will have to play an increasingly active role in defending the. The fund has been specifically targeted by, the new CEO of Chicago Public Schools, and many teachers fear their retirement is under threat. Huberman slashed the Chicago Transit Authority pension when he ran that agency in 2007, raising retirement age by ten years.

The election is also significant as an indicator of the popularity of the four main groups vying for control of the union.

Vote totals below indicate that CORE's candidates (Rehak and Ashford) beat out the current leadership's United Progressive Caucus candidates, Williams and Otero, while Finnegan--running with former president Debbie Lynch's Pro Active Chicago Teachers caucus, and Demeros (unaffiliated) brought up the rear.

The unexpected result signals that CORE may be the favorite to win the race for leadership of the CTU, coming up in May.

TEACHER TRUSTEE
Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund 2009 Teacher Election
Final Vote Summary - October 30, 2009

* Jay Rehak 6,551 23.72%
* Lois Ashford 4,842 17.53%
Nancy Williams 4,799 17.38%
Reina Otero 4,115 14.90%
Rose Mary Finnegan 3,037 11.00%
Aspasia Demeros 2,137 7.74%
Unexercised Vote 1,711 6.19%
Multiple Mark 428 1.55%
27,620

RELATED: HELP BUILD AN ALTERNATIVE TO UNITY CAUCUS IN NYC

Chicago Resistance to Ed Deform Grows as Does Opposition in the Union

Maybe it takes 15 years of mayoral control and the entire ed deform program to get things moving. Chicago has been the poster boy, having had first Paul Vallas (who ruled and ruined Philadelphia and is doing the same to New Orleans as we write) and then Arne Duncan, who was almost considered a joke when he ran the schools before Obama put a punctuation point on Duncan when he Peter Principled him into a national role as Education Secretary.

The Chicago Teachers Union, being run a basic clone of our own Unity Caucus dominated UFT, not only didn't stand up to the Mayor Daley assault, but actually cooperated in many areas (sound familiar to UFTers?) The CTU version of Unity is called the United Progressive Caucus (UPC). In 2001, an opposition caucus led by Debbie Lynch won power (with George Schmidt's Substance playing a major organizing role by distributing 3 issues of the paper to every single Chicago teacher). By the way, it should be pointed out that Daley supporters on the editorial pages actually urged teachers to vote for the UPC and against Lynch's PACT Caucus.

For a number of reason too complicated to get into here, Lynch lost the next election (she got the most votes in the first round but lost in the run-off to UPC's Marilyn Stewart. But for those in NYC thinking about this spring's UFT elections that all it takes is "winning" an election, the point should be made that the UPC still controlled the House of Delegates (like out DA) and the staff positions and used these positions to undermine Lynch at every turn. (She also made some crucial mistakes.) Stewart won the next few elections as Lynch's power waned (she is running again with PACT in the CTU elections this May).

The ed deform program in Chicago is known as Renaissance 2010 and the attack on the public schools has been intense. We've seen the entire program here in NYC under BloomKlein. They have the nerve to call it Children First. I won't get into details of the impact of ed deform but watch the 5 minute video below for Jackson Potter's perfect representation. It is no accident that these deforms have been linked to the increasing violence in Chicago, as we reported on George Schmidt's wonderful piece a few weeks ago. (Chicago Turnaround' the deadliest 'reform' of them all.) I love it when Schmidt's bitter enemies and who were silent for so long write about this issue but make sure to never mention the work Substance does.

The impact on the CTU has been intense. The CTU has hemorrhaged over 6000 teachers to charter schools and other privatized operations. Stewart's response has been to try to repress the growing opposition. She recently forced opposition groups to give out their literature outside and banned Schmidt from selling Substance at the doors of the House of Delegate meetings (which he has been doing for 30 years) and even called 911 on him and two cops threatened to arrest him.*

The rise of the Caucus of Rank an File Educators (CORE)

Around 18 months ago, CORE came on the scene and created an alliance of sorts with Schmidt. The combo has had a dynamic effect on the Chicago scene. Jackson Potter is one of the chief spokespersons for CORE. I got to hang with Jackson and a group of CORE people in July at the 5 city conference we held in LA and I learned an enormous amount from them.**

Here is a 5 minute video from March 2009 where Jackson elucidates the impact of Renaissance 2010 and the work CORE has been doing.

The URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akv07-iXs_c




Related
Follow all the doings in Chicago at Schmidt's Substance News. http://www.substancenews.net/
And the CORE blog.

Must see 28 minute video of Chicago's George Schmidt and CORE Shredding Arne Duncan and the Chicago Corporate Model on our sidebar or at Labor Beat hosted on blip.tv: http://blip.tv/file/2428857

See the Black Agenda Report on CORE's anti-discrimination suit.
""The fired teachers are disproportionately African American, and the newly hired teachers are not-(ironic, eh, in Obama land?)

Chicago Teachers File Racial Discrimination Suit Against Obama Administration's School “Turnaround” Plan

*{By the way, this same kind of repression has started here in NYC. And I believe that was one of the reasons Mulgrew was chosen because the AFT/UFT hierarchy knows that what happens in Chicago will eventually happen here, but much more slowly because Unity is way more powerful than the UPC. Mulgrew is there to bring the goon mentality to the table, as opposed to Randi's "I feel your pain" mantra. (Speaking of goons, I saw Jeff Zahler at the DA after his return from Washington DC as AFT staff director - look for the usual red-baiting from Zahler in this year's union elections - mr. zahler goes to washington....). Mulgrew's new regime has forced all visitors to the DA up to the 19th floor to watch on TV, something I refused to do and was harassed by 2 Unity goons. I told them to call the cops and they backed down. But I think it will eventually happen as Mulgrew will feel he has to defend his toughness (GEMers and ICEers will be ready with cameras.) More on this issue in a separate post.}

**We are way behind here in NY in organizing efforts but maybe we need a decade or more of ed deform for things to jell. The work of GEM, ICE, TJC, NYCORE, and Teachers Unite allied with the growing core of parent and community activists, and even some politicians, give us hope.

AMAZING, MUST SEE Video as Chicago's George Schmidt and CORE Shred Arne Duncan and the Chicago Corporate Model

CORE (Caucus of Rank and File Educators) has only been around for about a year and is capturing the imagination of Chicago teachers, parents and students. And George Schmidt has been doing his Substance thing forever. Teaming up Substance and CORE will shake the pillars of the ed deformers in Chicago.

Obama got Arne got out of town just in time. Maybe Obama decided to rescue his basketball buddy from what is coming. Obama will not escape unscathed as the Chicago model of corporate/ed deformation is examined and protests grow. CORE is expected to challenge the Randi-like CTU leadership in union elections next May.

It is probably no accident that Chicago, the city with the longest history of mayoral control (since 1995), and with a collaborative union leadership (sound familiar, kiddies?) is facing the biggest pushback from the rank and file. Having just spent a bunch of time in LA with some of the leaders of this resistance movement, I am enlightened and encouraged. My guess is New York is a few years behind Chicago in building this movement, though I'll write more about these remarkable people as the weeks go by as we look for ways to support each other and activists in other cities.

Spend 28 minutes watching this Labor Beat video of Chicago-based Substance editor George Schmidt and my new best friends from CORE (Caucus of Rank and File Educators) challenge Arne Duncan and the Chicago model being imposed on the entire nation. Watch Arne gulp and break into a rash when a black student rakes him over the coals. George's comments are featured throughout and CORE members are prominent. CORE gave me a dvd which can be reproduced if you want to show it to people in your school. Or just watch it together online.

The best PD you can do to inform your colleagues as to what is coming down and the corporate rationale behind and demonstrate a model of how resistance can form in the absence of teacher unions. Let me amend that. Not the absence. The UFT/AFT is very present – on the wrong side. (See Schmidt's comments on CTU President Marilyn Stewart applauding Duncan as he outlines the plans to decimate the teachers in her union and the children they teach.)

The video is titled: Secretary of Education Duncan: Pushing the Chicago Plan

Here is the Labor Beat intro:

Before President Obama appointed Arne Duncan Secretary of Education, Duncan was the CEO of the Chicago Public Schools. Under his control there, Chicago Public Schools endured a relentless wave of privatization, school closings, militarization, union busting and blaming teachers for the problems of urban schools. Now, the war on public education pursued during the Bush administration will only continue and intensify under the new Secretary of Education Duncan. His Chicago Plan, as former teacher and editor of Substance News George Schmidt explains, is the template for a national strategy to dismantle public education. Through revealing footage and comments from Chicago teachers, this video shows the resistance that has been growing among teachers and community organizations.

Here is a national alert for everyone who cares about the future of public schools, threatened now by Arne Duncan and his corporate vision for the nation's school systems.

The video is hosted on blip.tv: http://blip.tv/file/2428857

Photo: Labor Beat

Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators try to talk to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at his recent Chicago speech at the Hyatt, but are turned back [ED NOTE: also threatened with arrest if they enter the hall.]

Educators File Discrimination Charges Against Chicago Board of Education

ICE and GEM will be opening links to CORE next weekend in Chicago.



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: Carol Caref, Teacher
CORE
June 10, 2009 (773) 791-5500
ccaref@gmail.com

Jennifer Purcell, Attorney
Robin Potter & Associates
(312) 861-1800
jennifer.n.purcell@gmail.com

Educators File Discrimination Charges Against Board of Education

Chicago Public Schools "Turnaround" Policy Unfair to African American Teachers

On Wednesday, June 10th, the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE) filed charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that school "turnarounds," a "Renaissance 2010" policy, have a disparate impact on African American teachers. Teachers who filed the charges contend that African American teachers suffer a disproportionately adverse impact as a result of the school turnarounds.

LINK to Charges

The charges filed fall under Title VII which prohibits not only overt, obvious, and intentional discrimination, but also practices that are fair in form but discriminatory in operation. Essentially, a "turnaround" constitutes a layoff policy that almost exclusively impacts African American teachers.

Wanda Evans, a teacher who worked at Orr High School for 11 years before it was turned-around, claims that the plan is designed to get rid of senior teachers and replace them with lower-salaried new teachers to save money; "I'm completely offended by the way veteran teachers have been treated, it's like a fast food special, let's get a 2 for 1." Ms. Evans has been nominated for Golden Apple and DRIVE teaching awards and now feels "swept right out of the door."

Lois Ashford, a member of CORE's steering committee, taught at Copernicus Elementary for sixteen years before losing her job to the "turnaround" process. "In my professional opinion, Ren2010 has been a disaster for everyone concerned: parents who have been left out of decision-making, students who are forced out of stable educational environments in their neighborhoods, and minority teachers who are being disenfranchised at an alarming rate for no other reason than they've taught for over 10 years."

For Karen Lewis, a teacher and co-chair of CORE, the turnarounds have undermined an entire sector of black teachers in the Chicago Public Schools. "Since the beginning of the year, I've met black teachers who are working as substitutes. They are in tears, not just about the loss of their jobs but also about the loss of their status in the community. These school and position closings are insidious and Draconian. They are based on only one measurement -- test scores -- which say more about socio-economic status than they do about teaching and learning."

"Turnaround" is a program where everyone at a school is fired, including teachers, cafeteria staff, administration, and every other employee on site. This program is a part of "Renaissance 2010" which is Mayor Daley's program to overhaul the Chicago Public Schools through privatization and destabilization of the city's schools.

CORE researchers, looking at statistics compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education, concluded that since 2002, when the term "Renaissance Schools" was first used in relation to the closing of Dodge, Terrell and Williams elementary schools, the percentage of African American teachers in CPS has dropped from 39.4 to 31.6. Currently, there are 2,000 fewer Black teachers working in CPS than there were in 2002.

CORE is the reform caucus of the Chicago Teachers Union that represents rank-and-file members. The group is composed of teachers, retired teachers, educational staff and other champions of public education who hope to democratize the Chicago Teachers Union and turn it into an organization that fights on behalf of its members and the students they teach.