Illinois Policy Institute statement on Chicago Teachers Union strike; Institute experts available for interviews
CHICAGO (Sept. 10, 2012) – Illinois Policy Institute CEO John Tillman released the following statement after Chicago Teachers Union announced it would go on strike starting Monday morning:
"Now that Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis has announced that CTU will strike Monday morning, it is very clear: Children are not the top priority for teachers who belong to the Chicago Teachers Union. The two things that matter most to these teachers are money and avoiding accountability for poor performance.
Lewis and the CTU waited hours to announce the teacher walkout so they could hold a live press conference at the top of the 10 p.m. news hour. This focus on press impact rather than the impact on children’s and parents’ lives should once and for all tell Chicago Public School negotiators and Mayor Emanuel this: The time is now for the transformative reforms the children and parents need. The Mayor and CPS should pull all offers from the table and reset the negotiations.
The fiscal reality is that Chicago Public Schools are broke. CPS will be draining cash reserves this year just to stay afloat, and will be $1 billion in the red next school year. The 30 percent raise CTU originally asked for is out of the question, and so are other double-digit raises that CTU has demanded. Average teacher pay in Chicago is already at $71,000 without benefits, while the average Chicagoan makes only $30,203 and the unemployment rate in the city is nearly 11 percent.
The reality facing students is much more grim. Four out of 10 children who enter a CPS high school will not graduate. That's why the focus of these negotiations should be on reforms that empower parents rather than perpetuating a broken system. Monday morning, more than 80,000 kids in Chicago will show up to be taught in charter schools or independent private schools, and those teachers will be showing up to work – unlike the teachers who belong to the CTU. These schools have something in common that is different from those CPS schools that will not operate tomorrow: the CTU is not the monopoly provider of labor to those schools.
At minimum, CPS must put the option of merit pay back on the table. Chicago cannot be a place where bad teachers are protected at are the expense of great teachers who deserve to be recognized and rewarded. And Chicago must allow for more educational competition. By expanding the number of charter schools and establishing opportunity scholarships, we can begin to chip away at the monopoly that the Chicago Teachers Union has over the city's educational system. We must empower parents to choose what is best for their children, instead of letting Karen Lewis decide when kids can and cannot learn."
Illinois Policy Institute experts are available for interviews about the strike, the contentious negotiations and what both sides must do to ultimately help Chicago students. The Institute also has released a new video highlighting Chicago Teachers Union, and why collective bargaining is blocking needed reforms in Chicago and statewide. The YouTube video is online here: http://illin.is/P29SDE
EXPERTS AVAILABLE: John Tillman, CEO of Illinois Policy Institute Ted Dabrowski, Vice President of Policy Paul Kersey, Director of Labor Policy
To book interviews, contact: Diana Rickert (312) 607-4977
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The Illinois Policy Institute is a nonpartisan research and education organization dedicated to making our state a beacon for liberty and prosperity for all citizens. As a leading voice for economic liberty and government accountability, the Institute engages policy makers, opinion leaders and citizens on the state and local level by promoting free market principles and liberty-based public policy initiatives for a better Illinois. To learn more about the Institute or review our policy work, please visit: illinoispolicy.org.
