CPS leaders continue lying as strike date approaches... Letter and emails to parents repeat the talking points without key facts...
At the time they were put into power over the nation's third largest school system in July 2015, Forrest Claypool (above left) and Ronald Marmer (above right) had no experience, training or credentials in public school administration (Claypool) or legal affairs (Marmer). Above, the two, whose combined cost to taxpayers (pay and benefits is nearly three quarters of a million dollars a year) are seen during the April 27, 2016 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education. Substance photo by George Schmidt.The leaders of America's third largest public school system continued to repeat their mendacious talking points in an email to CPS parents now that the Chicago Teachers Union has set a strike date, nearly two years after the union began trying to negotiate a contract to follow the contract won by the union following the seven-day Chicago Teachers Strike of 2012. The last CTU contract expired on June 30, 2015, but instead of striking, the union's leadership, with (at first) the widespread support of the union's members, continued negotiating and allowed schools to open in September 2015 without a strike.
But throughout the 2015 - 2016 school year, the leaders of Chicago's public schools, all the major ones appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, continued feeding false of incomplete information to the public. As a result, teachers and others in the schools became more and more angry at the delays and obfuscations, and by September 2016 the demands for the union's leaders to lead another strike were nearly unanimous.
One of the main reasons was that the leaders of Chicago and CPS continued their attacks on the city's real public schools and the city's unionized public school workers by continuing to make cuts -- many of which the public has not yet understood, and would probably find unbelievable were people to know the facts. Also, CPS "Chief Executive Officer" Forrest Claypool, a career bureaucrat with no experience in education (his most recent job before being appointed to head the nation's third largest school system was "Chief of Staff" to Rahm Emanuel; prior to that he had headed the Chicago Transit Authority and the Chicago Park District, both of which he forced into major privatization deals that further reduced service to the city's poor and working class people). Claypool immediately appointed more than $3 million in new bureaucrats, most of whom, like Claypool, had no education training or experience. All were simply patronage workers who fulfilled on criterion: "diversity" in the most shallow form.
During the same time, Claypool continued repeating talking points that were generally as mendacious as those of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Claypool claimed "unprecedented gains" in CPS -- a claim that has been standard from the CPS propaganda outlets for the past decades -- and also claimed that there was "no money" for teacher union contracts (while authorizing spending hundreds of millions of dollars on bureaucracy, privatization, and the construction of new buildings for wealthy communities).
The day after the CTU House of Delegates (of which this reporter is a member) voted nearly unanimously to set the October 11, 2016 strike date, Claypool and the Board of Education's so-called "Chief Education Officer", Janice Jackson, sent the following email to parents (this reporter has two children attending Chicago's real public schools):
September 28, 2016
Dear George,
As you may know, last week the leadership of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) held a strike authorization vote. Following that vote, yesterday, the CTU’s House of Delegates issued a 10-day strike notice. With this action, should CTU leadership decide to strike, their members would be able to legally do so as soon as Tuesday, October 11.
We understand this may raise concerns and questions, and wanted to share what we know, and what the next steps are. What We Know
While a strike could occur as soon as October 11, it may begin later; CTU leadership will decide the specifics of any action. Regardless of the date, however, a strike is a serious step that affects everyone within the CPS community – and we will remain at the bargaining table in the belief that a strike can be averted.
We are committed to giving teachers the most generous contract we can afford within our severe financial constraints. This is why we’ve paired a raise over the life of the contract with historic changes to quality-of-life issues that CTU has prioritized for years.
This framework led us to a Tentative Agreement with CTU leadership once, and was supported by an independent fact-finder. We believe by continuing an open dialogue with CTU leadership we can avoid a strike and reach a fair deal for teachers and students.
Next Steps
While we continue negotiations in good faith, we will also finalize plans for our District, should a strike occur. We take our responsibility to provide a safe environment for our students seriously, and will use the coming days to determine the best course of action.
By signing up to receive emails from us, you’ll receive planning information in your inbox, as well as from your school. In both cases, you should expect to see more from us early next week. We know that a strike would challenge our students and families, and we remain committed to reaching a solution at the bargaining table.
As always, we thank you for your support.
Forrest Claypool Dr. Janice K. Jackson Chief Executive Officer Chief Education Officer
@ClaypoolCPS @CPSCEdO
