But perhaps their greatest cumulative impact was in shifting public opinion on education policy and organized labor. Bankers and millionaires (with the help of politicians theyve supported) refuse to pay their fair share of taxes to fund quality schools. But some key facets of the unions experienceand of militant labor organizing more generallyremain under-explored. Elizabeth D. Steiner and Ashley Woo, Job-Related Stress Threatens the Teacher Supply: Key Findings from the 2021 State of the U.S. [9][10] At this point about 3,500 teachers were members of the new Local. Lightfoot has been dogged by persistent crime, which has been a top concern among Chicagoans. As he put itwhen he resigned in 2013We severely underestimated the ability of the Chicago Teachers Union to lead a massive grassroots campaign against our administration. The states student population is about half white. We were under the high-rises and wed see workers everywhere supporting us, waving, holding signs . But she faced stiff competition, particularly from Johnson, who had the backing and organizational benefits of the powerful Chicago Teachers Union, as well as Willie Wilson, a Black entrepreneur who had been polling ahead of Johnson. Over 90% of Chicago Teachers Union members polled said they would participate in a remote-work action when they resume school in January. Living in same house 1 year ago, percent of persons age 1 year+, 2017-2021. Racial make-up of 10 biggest [41] The city averted a strike by agreeing to negotiate,[42] and, after long delays (including litigation from a rival union, the Chicago Education Association),[43] the CTU became the official bargaining agent of Chicago teachers in April 1966. From that point until her 2018 retirement, Karen Lewis was president. [15], The CTU sought collective bargaining rights early on, but Superintendent William Johnson refused to grant them. Vallas ran as a moderate law-and-order candidate, while Johnson ran on an unabashedly progressive agenda. ", More from NBC News:Iowa legislators propose a ban on same-sex marriageAmid a crime spike and affair allegations, New Orleans mayor faces a possible recall electionBiden to nominate Julie Su as labor secretary. 1971: Four-day strike results in salary increases and full health benefits. The Movement Goes National Chicago's Lori Lightfoot has lost her bid for reelection, becoming the first mayor of the city to do so since 1983. On December 4, 2018, CTU members at the Acero charter school network initiated the first strike at a unionized charter school in US history. Chicagos impact on the national teachers revolt was even more direct in Arizona. Hiring more black and Latino teachers isnt just a matter of fairness or progressive sensibilities. And it was a significant move away from organized labors longstanding deference to Democratic leaders. 11. 12. Amid a stalemate in reopening negotiations, the Chicago Teachers Union is threatening a Wednesday labor action in which high school educators would refuse to work from school buildings unless an agreement is reached with the district before then. Leftist scholars, journalists, and organizers tend to gloss over the tension between the dramatically increased expectations generated by militant work stoppages and the resulting contractual outcomes. After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that: 63% of Chicago Teachers Uni employees are women, while 37% are men. CHICAGO Paul Vallas, the former schools CEO endorsed by the Chicago police union, advanced to a two-candidate runoff for Chicago mayor on Tuesday. WebSalaries. Chicagos 2012 strike was the first serious union challenge to the bipartisan reform consensus on K-12 schools. Faith Karimi, Chicago Braces for Possible Teachers Strike Its First in 25 Years, September 7, 2012, available at https://www.cnn.com/2012/09/07/us/chicago-braces-for-possible-teachers-strike-its-first-in-25-years/index.html. They appeared poised to win their races outright, avoiding April runoff elections. Though strike action is a more exciting topic than electoral politics and organization building, further investigations may reveal the myriad of ways these two factors determine the long-term impact of victories won through workplace militancy. She was at times lauded for her handling of the pandemic but saw violent riots in the wake of George Floyd's death at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis. [73] Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced that CPS would not add any makeup days for any school days lost during the strike, stating that "There's no plan to make up any days We want to make sure we get a deal done." Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox, Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services., 2023 CNBC LLC. And as a Black educator leader, Lewis was not afraid to call out perceived hypocrisy: Rich white people think they know whats in the best interests of children of African-Americans and Latinos . keeping, not just hiring black teachers, is one of the districts biggest diversity problems. Additionally, it was noted that teachers could lose pay if the strike days were not added back to the district calendar. [68], After the expiration of the CPS contract with CTU in June 2019, a contract dispute emerged. WebOn August 26, 2019, the Chicago Teachers Union rejected an independent fact-finding report that suggests a 16% raise over 5 years and a 1% increase in healthcare costs. [74], On Thursday, October 17, 2019, teachers took to picket lines early in the morning, and the CTU stated that it planned to resume negotiations with the city at Malcolm X College. With schools now scrambling to deal with remote learning, student traumas, and ongoing Covid safety concerns, issues of understaffing, underfunding, and excessive workloads became especially trying. Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, Suresh Naidu, and Adam Reich, Do Teacher Strikes Make Parents Pro- or Anti-Labor? 2. It has more than 25,000 members. Though educator actionsfrom West Virginia to Los Angeles to Chicagodid bring about major gains, and achieved more than years of backroom lobbying have achieved, they did not decisively reverse decades of neoliberal policies. [39] Pressure increased after the New York recognized collective bargaining rights for the UFT in 1961,[40] and the CTU threatened an illegal strike in 19631964 if the School Board would not grant it the same status. The second bill also allowed some issues to be brought to the table only if both sides agreed. At Chicago Public Schools, the percentage of black teachers continues to decline, and the percentage of Latino teachers has only increased slightly in recent years. [18][19] The strike was averted hours before it was scheduled to begin, when the school board approved a new budget and announced that the checks due to the teachers had been mailed with all possible haste. The district is relaunching and expanding teaching academies at high schools, which prepare students to pursue an education degree, and has partnerships with teacher training programs that place special emphasis on recruiting people of color. Combined, these Chicago metro unionsemploy 10,653 people, earn more than $882 Chicagos Democratic Party machine under Mayor Rahm EmanuelBarack Obamas former chief of staffwas promoting a sharp uptick in closures of neighborhood public schools in Black and Brown communities, for the benefit of privately run, publicly funded charters. We were so inspired and uplifted by CTUthey were really the first major teachers unions to bring back the strike, to expose the privatizers, to develop authentic parent-community coalitions to win the schools our students deserve, and to call out the racism of school closings in communities of color. requiring tests unless families opt out with the goal of randomly testing at least 10% of the student and staff population weekly. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Chicago Teachers Uni and its employees or that of Zippia. To be sure, systematic problems in K-12 are very far from being resolved and the 2018 to 2019 educator offensive was thrown backwards almost overnight by the onset of Covid-19 in early 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Article. Chicagos influence was not limited to so-called red states. By 2012, mass job actions had all but disappeared in the United Statesindeed, the year 2009 witnessed the fewest number of major strikes, five in total, since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking labor conflicts. Experts said that diversifying the teacher pipeline starts with improving the work conditions and changing the narrative around teaching, and connecting students with the idea of a rewarding and viable career in education as early as high school. [opinion] Some elementary school teachers were paid less than janitors, and more teachers came to agree that they experienced discrimination because they were female. 1979-1980: Multiple strikes over a payless payday during holiday break in 1979, results in salary increase and improved sick leave and maternity/paternity leave. 64% of Chicago Teachers Uni employees are white. John Dewey and Margaret Haley were founders.. About 60 percent of AFT's membership works directly in education, with the remainder of the union's members The district is trying out several tactics for boosting the number of Latino and black teachers. Achieving this goal, the union declared, would require a major redistribution of wealth through taxing the rich and financial transactions as well as ending the millions of dollars in subsidies doled out to large real estate developers through the citys Tax-Increment Financing program. Some elementary school teachers were paid less than janitors, and more teachers came to agree that they experienced discrimination because they were female. [27][28][29][30], The CTU's first president was John Fewkes. The internal poll found 91% of its members would support a remote-work action if Chicago Public Schools didnt implement the move itself. Highest salary at Chicago Teachers Union in year 2017 was $172,405. [67], Following the expiration of the contract in June 2015, CPS teachers continued to work without a contract for a year while the union and district negotiated. Follow along with our newsletter. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Notice and European users agree to the data transfer policy. . "[81] After negotiations had ended Tuesday evening, several issues remained unresolved, such as class-size caps, the duration of the contract, salaries, and health benefits. On Friday, October 18, 2019, teachers continued on the second day of the strike, meaning that students had attended school two days (Tuesday and Wednesday) out of the five days from October 1418 (CPS students did not go to school on Monday due to the observance of Columbus Day). In 2014, for instance, Karen Lewis seriously considered a run for mayor and was even leading in early polls. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Annual Work Stoppages Involving 1,000 or More Workers, 1947Present, available at https://www.bls.gov/web/wkstp/annual-listing.htm. Meanwhile 35.8% of students are Black, compared to 20.7% of teachers. With demands such as smaller class sizes and hiring more nurses as well as social workers, Lewis explained on the eve of the strike that drastic action was necessary to show we are serious about getting a fair contract which will give our students the resources they deserve.[7] Data in hand, CTU leaders rejected the logic of austerity, explaining that resources did exist to provide a great education to all students. View MurphyInstituteCUNYs profile on Facebook, View MurphyInstitutes profile on Twitter, View cunyslu_murphyinstitutes profile on Instagram, View UCeyxovh06uiFRKWlwWvcckQs profile on YouTube, Earth to Labor: Dispatches from the Climate Battleground. [48] When the city would not agree to the CTU's core demands, including an expansion of programs like art and music at the city's most underfunded high schools, CTU members voted overwhelmingly (90% of teachers and 98% of those who cast ballots) to authorize a strike. Black and Latino students make up 37 and 47 percent of students at the district, respectively. [37] Teachers came from a shifting mix of white-collar and blue-collar families. Working-Class Voices: First Person Accounts of Life and Work, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International, Creative Commons (CC) license unless otherwise noted. This comes despite plenty of evidence to the benefits. Their courageous actions helped CTU begin to incorporate educational equity into its demands. [2] The CTU won collective bargaining rights in 1966 and conducted several strikes during the 1970s and 1980s. Negotiations between CPS and CTU continued, and Lightfoot sent the union a letter asking them to end the strike while negotiations continued. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis. [44], In 2010, the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE), led by President Karen Lewis gained control over the CTU by winning 60% of the vote in a run-off election. But overall, the composition of the pipeline has not shifted dramatically in recent years.. In 1916 they helped found the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Teachers were demoralized, and the National Education Association (NEA) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) leaders often seemed more interested in accommodating themselves to corporate education reform policies than in fighting them. It's a bitter end to a tumultuous tenure for Lightfoot, who quickly developed an image as a national lightning rod for conservatives and repeatedly clashed with institutional interests, from the Chicago Teachers Union to the media to the police rank and file. But perhaps their greatest cumulative impact [of the two Chicago strikes] was in shifting public opinion on education policy and organized labor. It was the largest and most active AFT Local until the 1960s. The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is a labor union that represents teachers, paraprofessionals, and clinicians in the Chicago public school system. [47], CORE quickly took action to distinguish itself from UPC, reaffirm its grassroots support, and launch a campaign to defend public education. Johnson received about $1 million from the Chicago Teachers Union for his campaign and had support from several other progressive organizations, including United Working Families. Of the 10 biggest school districts in Illinois by enrollment, Chicago has the lowest percentage of white teachers, about 52 percent. Current officers come from the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators, elected in 2010 to replace the longstanding United Progressive Caucus. Underfunding, low pay, high class sizes, and excessive standardized testing remain endemic. All Rights Reserved. It behooves labor academics and activists to pay more attention to the processes and dilemmas of sustaining bottom-up power through the governance of militant workers institutions. Chicago Public Schools employs just over 21,000 teachers for a population of just under 300,000 kids at district-run schools, a ratio of about one teacher to every 14 students. Though health problems forced Lewis to stand down, the CTU remained deeply involved in city political fights, playing a major role in Rahm Emanuels eventual downfall as well as the 2019 election of six democratic socialists as city aldermen. [2] In addition to bucking the trend, the Chicago teachers strike was not just any other work stoppage. [75] Later that afternoon, CPS announced that classes had been cancelled for the following day, as even though negotiations seemed to be progressing, there was no foreseeable agreement in the near feature. CTU President Sharkey expressed that the proposed contract did "not have adequate enforcement mechanisms on staffing. 0% of Chicago Teachers Uni employees are between the ages of 20-30 years. Denouncing educational apartheid in Chicago, the CTU charged district leaders with deepening racial inequalities, particularly through school closures. Muller contends that keeping, not just hiring black teachers, is one of the districts biggest diversity problems. The decline has been particularly notable among black teachers. Following the departure of Sharkey, Stacy Davis Gates assumed the role of President on July 1, 2022. [27] In 1950, the CTU governing board approved a constitutional amendment to remove limitations on presidential terms; John Fewkes was thereby allowed to run again, and remained CTU president until 1966. CTU efforts in 2012 did not immediately initiate a wave of work stoppagesin contrast with the West Virginia strike of 2018nor did they draw national attention to labor struggles to the same degree of unionization efforts today at Starbucks and Amazon. Lightfoot'sunfavorable ratings have soaredwith Chicagoans fed up with gun violence, as well as carjackings and robberies. He also got the backing of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police. The 2018 to 2019 national teacher upsurge gave a significant momentum boost back to the CTU, which had suffered a series of setbacks after 2012, not least of which was Mayor Emanuels successful 2013 drive to close 50 neighborhood schools. The union has said conditions for in [6] Unrest in the early 1930s served to unite these groups, which previously had difficulty cooperating. 6. She joined the all-female Chicago Teachers Federation in 1898, fighting to improve pay, benefits and working conditions for female teachers who earned much less than men. com/chicago/20130618/river-north/ctus-karen-lewis-blames-rich-white-people-for-education-inequity/. 1,112,581. [13] Yet unlike ten years ago, CTU is now no longer almost entirely alone in its fight for the schools that students deserve. Pioneering an approach that has since come to be known as bargaining for the common good, Chicago educators demonstrated the power of worker-led unionism that fights with and for the broader multiracial working class. Two Chicago strikes ] was in shifting public opinion on education policy organized. Accounts of Life and Work, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International, Creative Commons ( CC ) license otherwise... About 52 percent 47 percent of students at the district, respectively bargaining rights early,! 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