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UNION NEWS
Privatization becoming a major issue facing the union...
Partisan bickerings continue to disrupt monthly Chicago Teachers Union
meetings
By Terry Daniels
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5 (Continued)
 Treasurer Maureen Callaghan
answered a question about school clerks who work on a summer bucket number,
saying that working in this capacity had to be completely voluntary, and
that what was wanted here was that it would be a twelve-month clerk position.
The clerk was saying that this should be changed to a regular position
number wherein the clerk could use the benefits for a week off during
the year.
A point of information
was given here stating that career service work was always pensionable
and that it was dependent on State Chapter One funding based on the number
of free lunch form applications received. The Chicago Union Teacher stated
that this summer, extended-year clerk positions would be paid as two-month,
seven-hour-per-day bucket positions. The union would work on making them
pensionable if State Chapter One guidelines permitted.
Another speaker pointed
out that while they were not union issues, poverty and evictions were
often issues among career service employees, and that should be kept in
mind.
A delegate spoke about
the confidentiality disclosure of student information complaining that
she did not have time to seek out parental permission before publicly
citing student achievements. The officers’ comments reflected the
fact that the courts were weighing in on the side of schools and teachers
being able to publish honor rolls, and of letting students grade each
other’s papers.
Another question dealt
with Type 73 certification. Would counselors and social workers need recertification?
The answer was not unless something changes, which it often does.
The speaker at the
next mike spoke about how important it was for the union to start sending
memos now to principals regarding teacher evaluation this June. She said
tenured teachers were being evaluated, principals were accumulating information,
and instead of the informative meeting principals are contractually mandated
to hold to explain the evaluation process, teachers are being shown E-3
(evaluation) forms piecemeal.
Teachers weren’t
even receiving copies of the discipline code, she said, and Gonzalez answered
that that was an issue. However, regarding training principals to do the
evaluation process correctly, he said that principals would just have
to mess up on their own since it was difficult to file a grievance regarding
an evaluation on anything but procedure. We can then grieve on their procedural
error, he said.
Socorro Mucino, delegate
from Clemente High School, related that the 2.2 deductions were still
being made from paychecks of people with thirty or more years of services,
deductions which were to have been stopped the previous month. Gonzalez
said the union had confirmed that the deductions would be stopped in February.
Another delegate rose
to ask about not finding the Political Action Committee (PAC) deduction
on her paycheck stub this year. She asked if one had to fill out a card
every year. She was told to send a copy of a pay stub to the union, and
they would work with the Board to correct the error.
At 4:30 the pre-meeting
Q&A ended, the meeting was called to order, and Financial Secretary
Alexander conducted the membership recruitment raffle. Two hundred-dollar
bonds were won for membership recruitment and one for PAC recruitment.
President Lynch and members of the House reported names of union members
or family who had passed away and a moment of silence was conducted.
The officers’ reports
Recording Secretary
Jacqueline Ward verified that there was no objection that the informal
minutes of the January meeting stand as distributed. (This was once a
taken-for-granted formality, but became a UPC-led fight at the October
House meeting, so I sometimes feel the acceptance of the minutes significant
to mention.)
Ward asked the new
delegates seated in the House to rise so that we could welcome them with
applause. She reviewed some of the contents of the delegates’ packet.
One hundred teachers are needed to review Certificate Renewal Plans at
the teachers’ regular rate of pay; call (773)553-2024 for information.
She highlighted the Quest tenth anniversary conference and dinner on March
16. She urged members send in nominating forms for the Margaret T. Burroughs
Women’s History Month Award.
Ward introduced Carlotta
Goodson, Chair of the Social Committee, who spoke about the sale of raffle
tickets to raise money for the Student Special Assistance Fund Benefit
Fashion Show. Jacqueline Vaughn had expanded the old Eyeglass Fund into
this more comprehensive assistance fund.
Norine Gutekanst, Chair
of the Union Testing Committee, asked delegates to write up narratives
against CASE, or CASE horror stories, as she described them.
Financial Secretary
Alexander in his report stated that the number of union members shown
as 34,948 for February was down by 1,261 from January, which had been
the highest number ever recorded by the Board. Alexander stated the Board
would have to be questioned about this discrepancy. He also gave the eternal
reminder for delegates to keep agency fee packets posted on union bulletin
boards. He mentioned a booklet entitled “Healthy Schools/Healthy
You” and an important conference referencing it.
Treasurer Maureen Callaghan
presented four items from the delegates’ packet: the Statement of
Income and Expenses, the Board Personnel Actions Bulletins, the schedule
of meetings around the city for ESP’s (Educational Support Personnel’s)
contract negotiation proposals, and the new list of vendors for tax sheltered
annuities and mutual funds. The Board will be sending personnel letters
regarding the vendors, Callaghan stated, and that this was not the time
to move money, as it would cost. She said the contracts for these vendors
started April 1. Georgette Hampton and Palmieri would be coming to the
delegates’ meeting next month to speak about these companies.
Vice President Howard
Heath reported 630 hits per day on the union website. He reminded delegates
of the class size violation forms found in their packets. He stated that
the union is working hard to get our legislative agenda passed, and spoke
about meetings with Barbara Flynn Currie and Michael Madigan. He said
that the following week would see a joint legislative meeting of the union
and Arne Duncan and the Board’s legislative team to see which proposals
we could partnership on. Heath highlighted the recommendation lists to
be found in the delegates’ packet (and in the March issue of the
Chicago Union Teacher) for the Illinois primary, one from CTU-PAC, the
other from the Illinois Federation of Teachers. The CTU had maintained
its traditional position of neutrality in the governor’s race for
the primary, while the IFT has endorsed Blagojevich, he said.
Approval for these
endorsements was Item G of the agenda, Heath said. (However, it was never
taken up at this House meeting because of the UPC’s desperate attempt
to call for a quorum on Item E when they lost their fight to put in their
candidate, Ted Dallas, instead of the Executive Board’s recommended
candidate, Leandres White, for the CTU trustee vacancy. No other business
could then be conducted, nor could the official Q&A be held.)
President Lynch in
her report spoke of the success of the first Delegates Training and Leadership
Workshop and thanked Sarah Loftus and Bob Peickert for their organizing
work. She urged delegates to attend one of the workshops. She said there
was even an outreach workshop addressed to the needs of Generation X.
Lynch stated that at
the Governor’s Summit she argued against the concept of merit or
bonus pay for teachers based on test scores and against any form of lessening
of certification requirements for teachers, even in the face of the teachers’
shortage. She quipped that they’re not lessening the requirements
for brain surgeons or lawyers.
She reminded us that
our Chicago local has ten of the 38 seats on the IFT Board. She reported
that the IFT has agreed at our urging to look into the whole issue of
privatization of schools and talked about the management takeover of the
Philadelphia schools which proved so unsuccessful.
Lynch said she has
asked the Board about the grand total cost of the privatization in the
Chicago Public Schools in the form of the Sylvan reading group and about
any other groups. She added to the vice president’s report saying
that all the unions that negotiate with the Board sent representatives
to the meeting the CTU called, and are fashioning their own “End
4.5” buttons. She said she reminded Arne Duncan that reform needed
to be done with us, not to us. She said we wanted to be part of shaping
any plan, not just informed of it — even if we were informed of it
before the press conference, she jokingly added.
She said she was encouraged
by her discussion with Duncan about the eventual pensionability of overtime
work. She said he wanted to pick up where the past administration had
not, and to work with us. Lynch stated that $4 1/2 million are spent by
the Board on external partners. She said she has asked about who is holding
the external partners accountable. The Central Office says it’s not
their responsibility, she said, and added that some external partners
take the discretionary dollars schools are forced to spend and are no
shows at the schools or of no use to the schools.
She reported that the
Union/Board panel on overcrowding is getting regular reports and that
the Board is willing to restart the panel on this issue. Lynch wound up
her report by reiterating info on the 2.2 payments being stopped, the
mayor’s commitment on the career service 2.4 pension initiative being
retroactive, and congratulating Jay Rehak, delegate from Young High School,
who will now work in the Quest Center on high school reform issues.
Other inclusions in
the reports as a whole were the following items in the delegates’
packets: a form for contract demand proposals and rationale; a list of
informational meetings regarding recertification; a flyer about the Big
Brother/Big Sister “Party in the Alley” bowlathon March 30;
flyers for Quest classes and the National Board Certification program;
and a flyer for the four new members’ events.
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